NemesysSoftware

Q: The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition

I've read multiple posts about this happening when your startup disk is already partitioned.

 

My problem is that the startup disk IS NOT partitioned. I specifically installed a clean version of El Capitan on an external FW disk and it is not partitioned. So, why am I getting this message? I don't want to install on my internal disk, I have a Thunderbolt drive that I would like to use for that. I thought that this was possible?

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Nov 21, 2015 11:48 AM

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Q: The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition

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  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Nov 21, 2015 11:51 AM in response to NemesysSoftware
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    Nov 21, 2015 11:51 AM in response to NemesysSoftware

    NemesysSoftware wrote:

     

    I've read multiple posts about this happening when your startup disk is already partitioned.

     

    My problem is that the startup disk IS NOT partitioned. I specifically installed a clean version of El Capitan on an external FW disk and it is not partitioned. So, why am I getting this message? I don't want to install on my internal disk, I have a Thunderbolt drive that I would like to use for that. I thought that this was possible?

    Are the FW and TB disks the same or different disks? Are you using a TB-to-FW adapter? What year/model is your Mac?

  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Nov 21, 2015 11:52 AM in response to NemesysSoftware
    Level 9 (53,581 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 21, 2015 11:52 AM in response to NemesysSoftware

    BootCamp does not support booting from an external disk drive. See How to run Boot Camp on External Hard Drive?

  • by NemesysSoftware,

    NemesysSoftware NemesysSoftware Nov 21, 2015 12:04 PM in response to NemesysSoftware
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 21, 2015 12:04 PM in response to NemesysSoftware

    I'm using a 17" MacBook Pro from early 2011. It's supported for Windows 7. The Windows 7 DVD I have is 32 bits. I had one external FW and a different, real Thunderbolt drive. I would like to repartition the Thunderbolt drive to have a Windows partition on it and boot Windows from it.

  • by Loner T,Helpful

    Loner T Loner T Nov 21, 2015 12:52 PM in response to NemesysSoftware
    Level 7 (23,828 points)
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    Nov 21, 2015 12:52 PM in response to NemesysSoftware

    1. It would be better to boot OSX from the internal disk, rather than the external FW disk. The FW disk should be disconnected.

    2. The TB drive should not be connected via any other TB devices (like TB hubs). Directly connect it to the MBP.

    3. You do not need BCA, if you do not want to use it. A FAT partition on the TB disk, with an appropriate MBR will let you install W7 from by booting from the DVD and pointing to the TB partition for Windows.

  • by NemesysSoftware,

    NemesysSoftware NemesysSoftware Nov 21, 2015 12:53 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 21, 2015 12:53 PM in response to Loner T

    Hello.

     

    Yes, that's what I was thinking. Just partition the TB drive with a FAT32 partition and boot from the Windows 7 installation DVD. Then use Boot Camp to download the drivers only. Thanks for confirming.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Nov 21, 2015 1:32 PM in response to NemesysSoftware
    Level 7 (23,828 points)
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    Nov 21, 2015 1:32 PM in response to NemesysSoftware

    Do not forget the MBR. You do not want an EFI installation of W7, you will have drivers issues, if you do use EFI Boot.

  • by NemesysSoftware,

    NemesysSoftware NemesysSoftware Nov 21, 2015 7:51 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 21, 2015 7:51 PM in response to Loner T

    What's the "MBR"?

  • by Loner T,Helpful

    Loner T Loner T Nov 25, 2015 7:06 AM in response to NemesysSoftware
    Level 7 (23,828 points)
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    Nov 25, 2015 7:06 AM in response to NemesysSoftware

    MBR = Master Boot Record. On Macs, to support Windows and legacy BIOS, the partition table is mapped to a MBR in a 1:1 mapping, called a Hybrid MBR. This needs to be also created after the partition is created. Newer versions of Disk Utility will also create a MBR when a FAT32 partition is created.

     

    Try via DU first, and from OSX Terminal check the output of sudo fdisk /dev/disk0 . Enter your password when prompted, and it will not be echoed back to you.

  • by NemesysSoftware,

    NemesysSoftware NemesysSoftware Nov 25, 2015 7:09 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 25, 2015 7:09 AM in response to Loner T

    Havent' had the time to spend on this. But my goal is to have a 100GB FAT32 partition on the Thunderbolt disk and the rest of the 6TB will be a journaled HFS+. From what you're saying, it seems that if I create a FAT32 partition on the TB disk, this MBR will be automatically created by DU? Maybe that's why I'm getting this error message in Boot Camp when I try to do the work from BC. My internal disk is partitioned in 2 and both partitions are HFS+. So, based on your explanation, I guess there is no MBR and maybe that's why Boot Camp doesn't want to proceed?

     

    Frankly, for an app that is supposed to help you and has the ability to resize and create partitions, you would think BC would be able to do whatever it needs...

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Nov 25, 2015 7:26 AM in response to NemesysSoftware
    Level 7 (23,828 points)
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    Nov 25, 2015 7:26 AM in response to NemesysSoftware

    NemesysSoftware wrote:

     

    From what you're saying, it seems that if I create a FAT32 partition on the TB disk, this MBR will be automatically created by DU? Maybe that's why I'm getting this error message in Boot Camp when I try to do the work from BC.

    This is dependent on DU versions. The Fdisk command can be used to verify the suitability of the disk structure created/modified.

    My internal disk is partitioned in 2 and both partitions are HFS+. So, based on your explanation, I guess there is no MBR and maybe that's why Boot Camp doesn't want to proceed?

    This will cause two issues. On a Mac, BIOS-based Windows versions (W7, W8+) cannot be installed on a disk which already has two user-visible partitions. W8 supports EFI installations, so it can installed on a GPT-only disk. W10 also supports EFI.

    Frankly, for an app that is supposed to help you and has the ability to resize and create partitions, you would think BC would be able to do whatever it needs...

    There are only so many variants BCA understands. Any variant outside such a list is new and is not handled well. External disks cause the most issues with BCA. BCA works well on a standard Mac. The more user-modifications, the less likely it is to work.

     

    Please post the output of the following commands with all the storage that you have currently connected.

     

    diskutil list

    diskutil cs list

    sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

    sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

     

    The "sudo" commands will prompt for your password, and it will not be echoed back. You may also see a warning about improper use of "sudo" and potential data loss due to "abuse" of the command.

  • by NemesysSoftware,

    NemesysSoftware NemesysSoftware Nov 25, 2015 7:39 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 25, 2015 7:39 AM in response to Loner T

    Sorry for the green on black!

     

    laurent@Laurents-MacBook-Pro-3:~> diskutil list

    /dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk0

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1

       2:          Apple_CoreStorage Mac OS X                599.5 GB   disk0s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3

       4:                  Apple_HFS MyData                  399.7 GB   disk0s4

    /dev/disk1 (internal, virtual):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:                  Apple_HFS Mac OS X               +599.1 GB   disk1

                                     Logical Volume on disk0s2

                                     0FC9A146-CFF7-44BB-ACD1-516EDDC70577

                                     Unencrypted

    /dev/disk2 (disk image):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:                            ESD-ISO                +3.3 GB     disk2

    /dev/disk4 (external, physical):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *3.0 TB     disk4

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk4s1

       2:                 Apple_RAID                         3.0 TB     disk4s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               134.2 MB   disk4s3

    /dev/disk5 (disk image):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        +157.3 MB   disk5

       1:                  Apple_HFS DivX for Mac            157.2 MB   disk5s1

    /dev/disk6 (external, physical):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *3.0 TB     disk6

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk6s1

       2:                 Apple_RAID                         3.0 TB     disk6s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               134.2 MB   disk6s3

    /dev/disk7 (external, virtual):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:                  Apple_HFS My Book Thunderbolt... +6.0 TB     disk7

    /dev/disk8 (external, physical):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:                                                   *1.0 TB     disk8

    /dev/disk9 (external, physical):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:     Apple_partition_scheme                        *250.1 GB   disk9

       1:        Apple_partition_map                         32.3 KB    disk9s1

       2:                  Apple_HFS Extra 250GB             249.9 GB   disk9s3

    /dev/disk10 (external, physical):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk10

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk10s1

       2:                  Apple_HFS MyBook 1TB              999.9 GB   disk10s2

    /dev/disk11 (external, physical):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *6.0 TB     disk11

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk11s1

       2:                  Apple_HFS MyBook 6TB              6.0 TB     disk11s2

     

    laurent@Laurents-MacBook-Pro-3:~> diskutil cs list

    CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)

    |

    +-- Logical Volume Group 4CB364CB-190A-4558-AE9B-94D1A89FA55B

        =========================================================

        Name:         Mac OS X

        Status:       Online

        Size:         599484215296 B (599.5 GB)

        Free Space:   729088 B (729.1 KB)

        |

        +-< Physical Volume 7209C3E6-D604-45CD-AD10-9D9D8EDC23F1

        |   ----------------------------------------------------

        |   Index:    0

        |   Disk:     disk0s2

        |   Status:   Online

        |   Size:     599484215296 B (599.5 GB)

        |

        +-> Logical Volume Family E7DF5F4D-D8F1-4A4A-B18C-73D8E1E3CF95

            ----------------------------------------------------------

            Encryption Type:         None

            |

            +-> Logical Volume 0FC9A146-CFF7-44BB-ACD1-516EDDC70577

                ---------------------------------------------------

                Disk:                  disk1

                Status:                Online

                Size (Total):          599131160576 B (599.1 GB)

                Revertible:            No

                LV Name:               Mac OS X

                Volume Name:           Mac OS X

                Content Hint:          Apple_HFS

     

    laurent@Laurents-MacBook-Pro-3:~> sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

    Password:

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: mediasize=1000204886016; sectorsize=512; blocks=1953525168

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: PMBR at sector 0

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: Pri GPT at sector 1

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: Sec GPT at sector 1953525167

           start        size  index  contents

               0           1         PMBR

               1           1         Pri GPT header

               2          32         Pri GPT table

              34           6        

              40      409600      1  GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B

          409640  1170867608      2  GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

      1171277248     1269536      3  GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

      1172546784   780716200      4  GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

      1953262984      262151        

      1953525135          32         Sec GPT table

      1953525167           1         Sec GPT header

     

    laurent@Laurents-MacBook-Pro-3:~> sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

    Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 121601/255/63 [1953525168 sectors]

    Signature: 0xAA55

             Starting       Ending

    #: id  cyl  hd sec -  cyl  hd sec [     start -       size]

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    1: EE 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [         1 - 1953525167] <Unknown ID>

    2: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     

    3: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     

    4: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Nov 25, 2015 10:11 AM in response to NemesysSoftware
    Level 7 (23,828 points)
    Safari
    Nov 25, 2015 10:11 AM in response to NemesysSoftware

    1. You have MyData on disk0. This precludes Windows installation of this disk.

    2. You have RAID set(s), which should not be connected when installing Windows.

    3. You may be able to install Windows on external TB disks.

    4. Your 2011 Mac will only support BIOS/MBR Windows. EFI Windows is not supported. Partial EFI installations will lead to unknown devices and driver issues on your specific 2011 Mac.

  • by NemesysSoftware,

    NemesysSoftware NemesysSoftware Nov 25, 2015 10:25 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (6 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 25, 2015 10:25 AM in response to Loner T

    Loner,

     

    Many thanks. You seem to know what you're talking about!

     

    A few remaining questions:

     

    1. So, if I was to reformat my internal drive as one partition, then I would be able to install a Windows partition that could be managed by Boot Camp?

    2. Not a problem. Would I have to disconnect it only for the installation or each time I would like to boot in Windows?

    3. I may be able to install Windows on the external TB. Why just "may be"? Is it possible that it could fail?

    4. Not too sure I understand the differences between BIOS/MBR and EFI. What I'd like to know is once the Windows partition is installed, suppose on the TB drive, would I be able to hold Option when booting and have the choice to boot from Windows?

  • by Loner T,Solvedanswer

    Loner T Loner T Nov 25, 2015 11:00 AM in response to NemesysSoftware
    Level 7 (23,828 points)
    Safari
    Nov 25, 2015 11:00 AM in response to NemesysSoftware

    1. If you move MyData to a different disk, you can install Windows on the internal disk. Please ensure you have a good backup of disk0.

    2. Just for the installation. The RAID set will be inaccessible from Windows, since Apple RAID drivers do not exist for Windows.

    3. Yes, it can fail. It entirely depends on the TB chain. A direct link is the most viable option. TB makes the external disk look like a PCI disk, which is supported. Windows requires a reboot to see TB hardware on older Macs. Since you will boot from it, there is no hot-plugging issue in your specific case. Please also see Thunderbolt ports and displays: Frequently asked questions (FAQ) - Apple Support and check the Bootcamp Q&A.

    4. W8 and W10 support EFI boot using the UEFI standard. 2011 Macs do not fully support UEFI. Late 2013 and later models are UEFI compliant. Please see http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/unified-exten sible-firmware-interface/efi-specificati… .Yes Option/Alt will work, as long as the TB is connected when the Mac is powered up. I would recommend hot-plugging of TB disk in your case.

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