Macintosh HD partition is not visible in Windows

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Level 1

7 points

Macintosh HD partition is not visible in Windows

Hello

I've a MacBook Pro mid 2012.

A week ago I had a problem with OSX 10.9 and the Apple Premium Reseller fixed it with a clean instal of OSX. I've set everything back with my Time-machine backup. Because it was a software problem, my windows partition wasn't damaged. In Finder I can see the BootCamp-partition and of course my Macintosh HD-partition. But when boot with windows I can only see the Windows BootCamp-partition but not he Macintosh HD-partition. And that's my problem. I want to see the Macintosh HD-partition in windows. Before the clean install I could see the Macintosh HD-partition and now I want it back because I need it.

I've downloaded the newest BootCamp software (Boot Camp Support Software 5.1.5621) and installed it. Because the HFS+ driver is included in the BootCamp software you should think it solved the problem but it doesn't. I've read many communities and they told about only to reinstal the HFS+ driver which was exluded from the BootCamp software but this also didn't work.

I also tried to give the Macintosh HD-partition a 'disc-letter' because maybe that should be the reason why I can't see the partition but I can't give the partition a letter. I did it this way: Run => type: diskmgmt.msc. But it's impossible to give it a letter. (See additional photo at the bottom) I only can delete the partition when I right-click on it. (Is it normal that my disc have so much partitions which I don't know?)

Can someone solve my problem please?

Thank you very much for helping me out!

Joachim

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)

Posted on Aug 10, 2014 6:16 PM

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Answer 1

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Aug 10, 2014 6:25 PM in response to Joachim1207

Please post the output of sudo fdisk /dev/disk0 from OSX Terminal (it will prompt for your password which should have administrative rights)? Most likely there is no entry for OSX in the MBR side.

In Windows Control Panel -> Boot Camp, do you have the ability to switch to the OSX side?

You do not want to assign a drive letter to the OSX partition, it can cause problems.

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Answer 2

Joachim1207 Author

Level 1

7 points

Aug 10, 2014 6:38 PM in response to Loner T

Thanks for your answer Loner T!

This is the output:

sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

Last login: Mon Aug 11 05:23:34 on console

MacBook-Pro-van-Joachim:~ Joachim$ sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

WARNING: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss

or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your

typing when using sudo. Type "man sudo" for more information.

To proceed, enter your password, or type Ctrl-C to abort.

Password:

Sorry, try again.

Password:

Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 60801/255/63 [976773168 sectors]

Signature: 0xAA55

Starting Ending

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

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

1: EE 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 1 - 409639] <Unknown ID>

2: AC 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 409640 - 876953152] <Unknown ID>

3: AB 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 877362792 - 1269536] Darwin Boot

*4: 07 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 878632960 - 98140160] HPFS/QNX/AUX

MacBook-Pro-van-Joachim:~ Joachim$

The other question I'm going to check now!

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Answer 3

Joachim1207 Author

Level 1

7 points

Aug 10, 2014 7:04 PM in response to Loner T

The answer to the other question is yes I've the ability to switch to the OSX side:

Thanks again for your help! Further I'm not going to try to assign a drive letter to the OSX partition, thanks for telling me this!

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Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Aug 10, 2014 7:44 PM in response to Joachim1207

The number of partitions should be four (the ESP/EFI information, OSX, Recovery HD and Bootcamp) on a single disk Mac machine.

From a working system with bootcamp, the partition id for entry 2 is AF (not AC) as is shown in your MBR, and the Windows installation only understands MBR (if you do not install using Windows 8.x/EFI on late 2013 Macs).

sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

Password:

Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 121643/255/63 [1954210120 sectors]

Signature: 0xAA55

Starting Ending

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

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

1: EE 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 1 - 409639] <Unknown ID>

2: AF 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 409640 - 1452530904] HFS+

3: AB 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [1452940544 - 1269536] Darwin Boot

*4: 07 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [1454211072 - 499998720] HPFS/QNX/AUX

There is a simple fix for this. You may have to re-install Bootcamp drivers again, to allow the HFS driver to pickup the MBR entry or a reboot may be needed. Please use the following commands and stop if you see any errors. (the i386 boot error message at the start can be ignored safely). This is done by using the fdisk utility in interactive mode with the '-e' command line option.

sudo fdisk -e /dev/disk0

p

setpid 2

AF

p

w

y

Here is the help page for the fdisk utility.

sudo fdisk -e /dev/disk0

Password:

fdisk: could not open MBR file /usr/standalone/i386/boot0: No such file or directory

Enter 'help' for information

fdisk: 1> ?

help Command help list

manual Show entire man page for fdisk

reinit Re-initialize loaded MBR (to defaults)

auto Auto-partition the disk with a partition style

setpid Set the identifier of a given table entry

disk Edit current drive stats

edit Edit given table entry

erase Erase current MBR

flag Flag given table entry as bootable

update Update machine code in loaded MBR

select Select extended partition table entry MBR

print Print loaded MBR partition table

write Write loaded MBR to disk

exit Exit edit of current MBR, without saving changes

quit Quit edit of current MBR, saving current changes

abort Abort program without saving current changes

fdisk: 1>

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Answer 5

Joachim1207 Author

Level 1

7 points

Aug 10, 2014 7:57 PM in response to Loner T

Thanks!

Can you just tell me how I can get to fdisk utility in interactive mode with the '-e' command line option. This is where I have to put the following commands:

sudo fdisk -e /dev/disk0

p

setpid 2

AF

p

w

y

Is that correct?

Now I've also connected my Thunderbolt drive to my Mac and I can see it in Finder but NOT in Windows. It looks like it's the same problem. He recognised it but don't shows it in windows:

When I Eject my Thunderbolt drive, Windows completely freeze. I don't know what to do!

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Answer 6

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Aug 10, 2014 8:14 PM in response to Joachim1207

In OSX Terminal type sudo fdisk -e /dev/disk0 and press enter. This puts you in interactive mode inside the fdisk utility and you can see it in the example of the '?' command where I printed the help text.

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Answer 7

Joachim1207 Author

Level 1

7 points

Aug 11, 2014 3:34 AM in response to Loner T

Thanks for your answer. I tried the the commands you gave me and now I can see a drive in Windows with drive letter E, but I can't get access to it. I have to format the drive. Also the drive hasn't the name 'Macintosh HD', it's called 'local drive'. I also still have the same problem with my external Thunderbolt drive, I can't see it in Windows.

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Answer 8

Joachim1207 Author

Level 1

7 points

Aug 11, 2014 3:56 AM in response to Loner T

When I run Windows in Parallels I can see my Thunderbolt drive. That's how it should be also in BootCamp. How is it possible that it works in Parallels but not in BootCamp...:

Maybe this is important for you: every time that I run Windows (BootCamp or Parallels) I get a message that there is a problem with the paging file configuration.

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Answer 9

Joachim1207 Author

Level 1

7 points

Aug 11, 2014 4:15 AM in response to Loner T

Now I see also that all the printers I installed in Mac are not visible in Windows BootCamp. In Parallels I can see them. So it looks like there is a problem with the communication between Mac and Windows in BootCamp because in Parallels everything is fine as it should be.

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Answer 10

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Aug 11, 2014 4:16 AM in response to Joachim1207

If you can describe the steps that you took after Windows was successfully installed, and your drive was not showing up, it can help backtrack and figure out what is happening. Please make sure you have backup os your files? Is this a new Windows installation?

Parallels uses it's own drivers. Re-assigning drive letters can cause problems. You have drive letter 'E:'. It should be 'D:' as you can see in my example. It also shows up with the filesystem as HFS, in your case what is the filesystem for the E: drive. I do not have a TB drive, but can you check the filesystem for the 'W:' drive?

If you install the Bootcamp drivers after Windows is installed, the HFS+ drives show up automatically. My machine did not require any changes after the Bootcamp drivers were installed. These are 5.1.5621 drivers.

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Answer 11

Joachim1207 Author

Level 1

7 points

Aug 11, 2014 5:21 AM in response to Loner T

It's not a new Windows installation. Before there was a clean re-installation of OSX everything was fine with my BootCamp. I could see my Mac HD, TB drive, printers,... in Windows. After the clean instal of windows everything is gone in Windows.

The filesystem for the Mac HD is RAW and not HFS, this is strange not?

For the TB drive I can't see a filesystem because it doesn't have a drive letter. It's the same problem like my Mac HD. Only I can see now the E drive (That should be the Mac HD) but I can't get access to my Mac HD.

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Answer 12

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Aug 11, 2014 5:42 AM in response to Joachim1207

If you have tried installing older versions of drivers, made registry changes on windows side, tried to change drive letters, etc, then there is a difference between the original Windows and the current state.

Do you have a backup of Windows with all your files? Do you have the ability to backup/restore Windows, if necessary?

If OSX boots, when you are in Windows and choose it via Control Panel, at least it sees the partition correctly. I assume you can switch from OSX to Windows via Startup preferences as well.

Can you post the output of sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0?

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Answer 13

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Aug 11, 2014 5:59 AM in response to Joachim1207

There is no communication between Windows and OSX. You will need to install the printers as you normally would for Windows.

Parallels allows Windows and OSX to run concurrently, so allowing the use of the installed printers (in OSX). Boot Camp installations are entirely independent of the OSX installation. They are in effect 2 separate computers and must be treated that way. (As far as external devices are concerned)

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Answer 14

Joachim1207 Author

Level 1

7 points

Aug 11, 2014 6:00 AM in response to Loner T

I tried to start up OSX when I was in windows and I didn't get my username to login. Only an avatar with 'update needed' and I couldn't login. So I had to force Mac to shut down. So I think there is a big problem.

This is the output of sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0:

Last login: Mon Aug 11 16:53:13 on console

MacBook-Pro-van-Joachim:~ Joachim$ sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

Password:

gpt show: /dev/disk0: mediasize=500107862016; sectorsize=512; blocks=976773168

gpt show: /dev/disk0: Suspicious MBR at sector 0

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

gpt show: /dev/disk0: Sec GPT at sector 976773167

start size index contents

0 1 MBR

1 1 Pri GPT header

2 32 Pri GPT table

34 6

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

409640 876953152 2 GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

877362792 1269536 3 GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

878632328 632

878632960 98140160 4 GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7

976773120 15

976773135 32 Sec GPT table

976773167 1 Sec GPT header

MacBook-Pro-van-Joachim:~ Joachim$

Does my Mac HD have the filesystem hfs? I think before the clean instal it was hfs but now it's raw.

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Answer 15

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Aug 11, 2014 6:09 AM in response to Joachim1207

The partition type GUID for GPT #2 is incorrect. It should be 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

See this for reference. h ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table

Your partition was setup as a core storage which Windows does not have a driver for. It supports only

HFS+.

Can you post the output of diskutil cs list?

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