Removing/merging partitions in Lion

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Level 1

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Removing/merging partitions in Lion

I recently partitioned my internal HDD to install Linux using Bootcamp. Worked like a charm. But I have about 6 partitions on my HDD! I have no idea how that happened and I can't figure out how to remove or merge them back to my "Macintosh HD". It says everytime time it needs to be HFS+ format. I erased all the partitions and formatted them to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Isn't that HFS+? If so, why is Disk Utility telling me it's not, and if not, how do I get it to that format? Can anybody help me and tell me how to erase all these partitions and just get it back to one 500 GB HDD?

FYI - I have a new, 2011 21.5" iMac and yes I do have full Time Machine backups of my system.

Posted on Sep 13, 2011 9:30 PM

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Answer 1

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Sep 13, 2011 9:43 PM in response to RSmith9512

Launch Disk Utility and choose the upper icon for the drive in the sidebar (the one with the name of the drive itself, not any of the volumes. Go to erase tab. Format Mac Os Extended (Journaled) It has replaced HSF+.

Click on erase. You will now have a drive with a single 500 GB volume.

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Answer 2

RSmith9512 Author

Level 1

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Sep 13, 2011 9:51 PM in response to macjack

OK, I've now manage to completely remove those other partitions (through using diskutil mergePartitions in Terminal, which merged all 6 of the new partitions into one and reformatted into HFS+ so i was able to remove them completely.) Now, I have my "Macintosh HD" and the "Recovery HD" and then a bunch of free space. I tried the resizeVolume command in Terminal but it says "Unable to find disk for Macintosh HD." Does the computer recognize this disk as something other than what it's named? I havent changed the name or anyhting, that is what it was named out of the box. Any ideas??

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Answer 3

ATILANO

Level 2

300 points

Sep 13, 2011 9:52 PM in response to RSmith9512

Select a partition and click the " - " sign (circled in red) to delete your partitons. Once all of the partitons are deleted, drag the lower right corner of the remaining partiton down to recapture all of that space.

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Answer 4

RSmith9512 Author

Level 1

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Sep 13, 2011 10:03 PM in response to ATILANO

Yeah I wished it was that simple lol. For some reason it wouldn't let me remove them that way. I managed to merge them through terminal, which reformatted and then i was able to remove the partitions. Then I was unable to resize my main disk. I had to remove the Recovery HD inorder to resize the disk fully. Oh well, I have an OS X Lion install DVD I made and Time Machine backups so I guess I didn't need the Recovery HD anyway. Thanks for everbodies input!

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