hoozr
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Q: 2 partitions - "Macintosh HD" Please help!

Hi 2 all. When I turning on my MacBook Pro and hold "Alt" there are two partions named "Macintosh HD". How can I delete one? This is the screenshot from the Disk Utility and there isn't any strange something.

The one thing I have done before it - I created Recovery HD partion by this method. Sorry for Russian, but I think commands will help you to understand what I have did.  Thanks in advance./___sbsstatic___/migration-images/185/18544928-1.png

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4), 2 partitions,help

Posted on Jun 2, 2012 12:36 PM

by Kappy,Solvedanswer
Kappy Kappy
Level 10 (271,811 points)
Desktops
A:

You cannot really do a completly new installation without repartitioning the drive. So, you should backup your files before you procede or they will all be lost.

 

Of course, you should always maintain a backup.

Posted on Jun 2, 2012 1:39 PM

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hoozr

Q: 2 partitions - "Macintosh HD" Please help!

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jun 2, 2012 12:42 PM in response to hoozr
    Level 10 (271,811 points)
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    Jun 2, 2012 12:42 PM in response to hoozr

    There is nothing in Disk Utility that is abnormal for a Lion installation.

  • by hoozr,

    hoozr hoozr Jun 2, 2012 12:47 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 2, 2012 12:47 PM in response to Kappy

    So, what should I do to delete one?

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jun 2, 2012 12:51 PM in response to hoozr
    Level 10 (271,811 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 2, 2012 12:51 PM in response to hoozr

    There's nothing in Disk Utility to delete. Lion creates two volumes, normally. One is the OS X volume usually named Macintosh HD. The other is an invisible volume called Recovery HD. This is a small volume used to boot the computer when you have to use Disk Utility or other utilities for which you used an installer DVD. It simply replaces the need for the DVD.

     

    That is what I see in your Disk Utility image. Your system is OK.

  • by hoozr,

    hoozr hoozr Jun 2, 2012 12:54 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 2, 2012 12:54 PM in response to Kappy

    I know that there are Macintosh HD and Recovery HD, but when I boot computer holding Alt there are two Macintosh HD partions, but not Macintosh HD and Recovery HD. Is it normal?

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jun 2, 2012 1:07 PM in response to hoozr
    Level 10 (271,811 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 2, 2012 1:07 PM in response to hoozr

    Most likely the result of how you created your Recovery HD. Normally, when you do a standard Lion installation the Recovery HD is made automatically. But if you created the small partition from the original Macintosh HD then installed or cloned a Recovery HD image onto the small partition, then the computer must not have picked up the renamed volume.

     

    Open Terminal in the Utilities folder and enter:

     

    cd /Volumes

    ls

     

    I think you may find two volumes listed as Macintosh HD. One is the "real" one and the other is actually your Recovery HD. This is an OS glitch for which I don't have a solution. I've had similar things happen to me over the years.

     

    EDIT:

     

    Oh, you will need to mount the Recovery HD before the above. Forgot to mention that.

  • by hoozr,

    hoozr hoozr Jun 2, 2012 1:16 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 2, 2012 1:16 PM in response to Kappy

    But if they were different partions, they would boot in different ways, but when I try to boot them - it is one result Lion starts.

  • by Kappy,Helpful

    Kappy Kappy Jun 2, 2012 1:24 PM in response to hoozr
    Level 10 (271,811 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 2, 2012 1:24 PM in response to hoozr

    Then you have not done something correctly in your installation. Did your computer come with Lion pre-installed or did you upgrade from Snow Leopard? If the latter, then I'd suggest you erase the drive, reinstall Snow Leopard, update it to 10.6.8, then re-download Lion from the App Store and reinstall it properly this time.

     

    If the computer came with Lion pre-installed then you will need to delete that Recovery HD partition you made and restore the drive to one volume. Then do a full reinstall of Lion via Internet Recovery - OS X Lion- About Lion Recovery.

     

    Also, see OS X Lion- Run Software Update to use Lion Internet Recovery and Using Lion Recovery when no DHCP service is available.

  • by hoozr,

    hoozr hoozr Jun 2, 2012 1:32 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 2, 2012 1:32 PM in response to Kappy

    Thanks for your reply. And there is another question. How can I reinstall Lion with creating new Recovery HD, but not deleting any files from my HDD? Because I have photos and some data there?

  • by Kappy,Solvedanswer

    Kappy Kappy Jun 2, 2012 1:39 PM in response to hoozr
    Level 10 (271,811 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 2, 2012 1:39 PM in response to hoozr

    You cannot really do a completly new installation without repartitioning the drive. So, you should backup your files before you procede or they will all be lost.

     

    Of course, you should always maintain a backup.