Changing the partition format without reinstall the Mac OS X

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Changing the partition format without reinstall the Mac OS X

Hi,

Does anyone know how to change the file system format of the partition without needed to reinstall the OS X ?

E.g. "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" > "Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)"

this link will give an idea of list of file system format available http://images.macworld.com/images/legacy/2006/10/images/content/pickformat.jpg

The main reason I need this is because of I wish to avoid reinstallation as it take time to install and update to latest patch...

I have MacBook with 3 partitions with formated to "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" on all 3 partitions. 1st and 2nd partition installed Mac OS X 10.6 and 10.7, and created an image (by using carbon copy cloner) for each partition and saved it into 3rd partition as backup.

I tried to below but it doesn't help:

1. Boot into 10.7.

2. Erase the 1st partition 10.6, reformat it to "Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)".

3. Restore 10.6 image that created previously.

4. After restore completed, the 1st partition file system format back to "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)".

Is there's anyway to change the partition file system format without needed reinstall Mac OS X ?

Posted on Nov 3, 2011 9:14 PM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

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209,739 points

Nov 3, 2011 9:40 PM in response to Cthoong

No. You can format the volume as case-sensitive, and then restore from a case-insensitive backup.

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Answer 2

Cthoong Author

Level 1

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Nov 3, 2011 9:44 PM in response to Linc Davis

Or is there any backup tool that it will only back file and folder level but not file system format ??

If so, then I can create a backup image of the existing entire partition file and folder only, then reformat the partition to case-sensitive, then restore back the file and folder...

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Nov 3, 2011 9:56 PM in response to Cthoong

Or is there any backup tool that it will only back file and folder level but not file system format ??

That what all backup tools do.

If so, then I can create a backup image of the existing entire partition file and folder only, then reformat the partition to case-sensitive, then restore back the file and folder...

Yes, that's what I'm suggesting. Be aware that it's a one-way conversion. Once you have a case-sensitive file system, you generally can't go back to case-insensitive without losing data. I hope you have a good reason for wanting to do this and that you know how to deal with the problems it may cause.

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Answer 4

Cthoong Author

Level 1

10 points

Nov 3, 2011 10:02 PM in response to Linc Davis

I used backup tool CCC (Carbon copy cloner) to create backup image and below is the case i tried...

1. Boot into 10.7.

2. Erase the 1st partition 10.6, reformat it to "Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)".

3. Restore 10.6 image that created previously.

4. After restore completed, the 1st partition file system format back to "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)".

So the result tells CCC backup the file system format as well.

I haven't try TimeMachine, you know any of the tool will not back the file system format ?

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Answer 5

Cthoong Author

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Nov 3, 2011 11:45 PM in response to Cthoong

hi linc davis, now only realized your 1st post has been modified, I saw the 1st post with "no" only. All my reply was based on that.

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Answer 6

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Nov 4, 2011 5:16 AM in response to Cthoong

You must have done a block-level copy. Don't use that option.

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Answer 7

Cthoong Author

Level 1

10 points

Nov 7, 2011 8:41 PM in response to Linc Davis

Normally I will use the default config, and I had double check the settings, block-level copy is not enable all the while. If enabled block-level copy, there will be a button appear on GUI, don't think I had ever used block-level copy to create backup image previously.

As I only tried once for the case I mentioned above, i will try more again and see how.

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Answer 8

Cthoong Author

Level 1

10 points

Nov 11, 2011 2:11 AM in response to Cthoong

Finally found a way with help from CCC. Please refer to the post.

http://help.bombich.com/discussions/questions/5807-how-to-restore-the-backup-ima ge-with-keeping-the-destination-file-system-format

Just use CCC to restore will do, it won't touch the file system format but just restore file and folder !

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