Josh99Ralla
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Can't format former Boot Camp partition

So I stupidly erased my Boot Camp partition using Disk Utility rather than in the Boot Camp Assistant. And now I the partition is stuck as free space and i can't change it. When i select the free space in Disk Util, I can change it to Mac OS Extended and ExFAT as usual, but when I press apply, the progress bar appears for a brief second and disappears. Then it acts as if I never pressed apply; when I close the window, it says that I have unsaved changes. The free space does not appear as a drive in the left sidebar.

 

I have tried reinstalling OS X, I've tried returning to a time machine backup, I've verified and repaired the disk, but nothing has worked.

I'm left with 67GB of space unusable on my macbook now.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)

Posted on Oct 11, 2014 9:36 AM

by Loner T,Solvedanswer
Loner T Loner T
Level 7 (24,825 points)
Safari
A:

If you are restoring a full TM backup, it will erase and restore the entire disk. Please try and post if you get any errors when you attempt a restore. If you want to test whether it works or not...

 

You can erase the  disk using...

diskutil eraseDisk

Usage:  diskutil eraseDisk format name [APM[Format]|MBR[Format]|GPT[Format]]

        MountPoint|DiskIdentifier|DeviceNode

Completely erase an existing whole disk.  All volumes on this disk will be

destroyed.  Ownership of the affected disk is required.

Format is the specific file system name you want to erase it as (HFS+, etc.).

Name is the (new) volume name (subject to file system naming restrictions),

or can be specified as %noformat% to skip initialization (newfs).

You cannot erase the boot disk.

Example: diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ UntitledUFS disk3

 

 

You can format the disk using...

 

diskutil reformat

Usage:  diskutil reformat MountPoint|DiskIdentifier|DeviceNode

Completely erase an existing volume with the same name and format as the

original.  Ownership of the affected disk is required.

You cannot erase the boot volume, nor can you reformat any device which

does not have a valid file system (instead use diskutil eraseVolume).

Posted on Oct 12, 2014 9:57 AM

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Josh99Ralla

Q: Can't format former Boot Camp partition

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  • by ic3johan,

    ic3johan ic3johan Jan 2, 2015 10:51 PM in response to ic3johan
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    Jan 2, 2015 10:51 PM in response to ic3johan

    can i just re-format the disk 5 in DU? really tempting

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 3, 2015 11:07 AM in response to ic3johan
    Level 7 (24,825 points)
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    Jan 3, 2015 11:07 AM in response to ic3johan

    I would not recommend it. Instead, disk1s4/s5 can be merged and formatted as FAT, a corresponding Hybrid MBR created and BCA installation (without partitioning or downloading BC software) can be attempted.

  • by ic3johan,

    ic3johan ic3johan Jan 3, 2015 7:57 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 3, 2015 7:57 PM in response to Loner T

    hi loner, i've read your Testdisk, but could not understand it. actually what i need to do now?

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 3, 2015 8:50 PM in response to ic3johan
    Level 7 (24,825 points)
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    Jan 3, 2015 8:50 PM in response to ic3johan

    You do not need Testdisk, unless you want to try and recover the deleted NTFS partition, if it has not been over-written yet.

     

    Since the BCA attempted an EFI install, the following command will create a Free Space partition after merging the parts (disk1s4 and disk1s5) into disk1s4 as Free Space. Please make sure there are no mistakes in picking the partitions, otherwise it may cause data loss if the incorrect partitions are used.

     

    diskutil mergePartitions free BOOTCAMP disk1s4 disk1s5

     

    Here is the help page from the mergePartitions command.

    diskutil mergePartitions

    Usage:  diskutil mergePartitions [force] format name

            DiskIdentifier|DeviceNode DiskIdentifier|DeviceNode

     

    Merge two or more pre-existing partitions into one.  The first disk parameter

    is the starting partition; the second disk parameter is the ending partition;

    this given range of two or more partitions will be merged into one.

     

    All partitions in the range, except for the first one, must be unmountable.

     

    All data on merged partitions other than the first will be lost; data on the

    first partition will be lost as well if the "force" argument is given.

     

    If "force" is not given, and the first partition has a resizable file system

    (e.g. JHFS+), it will be grown in a data-preserving manner, even if a different

    file system is specified (in fact, your file system and volume name parameters

    are both ignored in this case). If "force" is not given, and the first

    partition is not resizable, you will be prompted if you want to erase.

     

    If "force" is given, the first partition is always formatted. You should

    do this if you wish to reformat to a new file system type.

     

    Merged partitions are required to be ordered sequentially on disk.

    See diskutil list for the actual on-disk ordering; BSD slice identifiers

    may in certain circumstances not always be in numerical order but the

    top-to-bottom order given by diskutil list is always the on-disk order.

     

    Ownership of the affected disk is required.

     

    Example: diskutil mergePartitions JHFS+ NewName disk3s4 disk3s7

             This example will merge all partitions *BETWEEN* disk3s4 and disk3s7,

             preserving data on disk3s4 but destroying data on disk3s5, disk3s6,

             disk3s7 and any invisible free space partitions between those disks;

             disk3s4 will be grown to cover the full space if possible.

     

    Once disk1s4 is Free Space, use the USB with BC and Windows ISO, and reboot and hold Alt Key and select EFI boot. Point the installer to this Free Space entry and install Windows.

  • by ic3johan,

    ic3johan ic3johan Jan 3, 2015 10:32 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 3, 2015 10:32 PM in response to Loner T

    what i understand from ur explanation, based on my list. i need to delete disk3 and merge it with disk2 correct?

     

    Johan$ diskutil list

    /dev/disk0

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *121.3 GB   disk0

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1

       2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         121.0 GB   disk0s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               134.2 MB   disk0s3

    /dev/disk1

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk1

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1

       2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         749.5 GB   disk1s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.1 MB   disk1s3

       4:                        EFI NO NAME                 104.9 MB   disk1s4

       5:       Microsoft Basic Data                         249.7 GB   disk1s5

    /dev/disk2

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD           *864.3 GB   disk2

    /dev/disk3

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *32.5 GB    disk3

       1:                 DOS_FAT_32 WININSTALL              32.5 GB    disk3s1

    /dev/disk4

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk4

       1:               Windows_NTFS Seagate Backup Plus ... 1.0 TB     disk4s1

    /dev/disk5

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:                            HRM_CCSA_X64FRE_EN-... *3.6 GB     disk5

    /dev/disk6

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:                            Boot Camp              *1.4 GB     disk6

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ diskutil cs list

    CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)

    |

    +-- Logical Volume Group 733DDEBE-CA13-41A5-AEC5-02242FD39B98

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

        Name:         Macintosh HD

        Status:       Online

        Size:         870502473728 B (870.5 GB)

        Free Space:   98304 B (98.3 KB)

        |

        +-< Physical Volume 938679F7-B1EE-4DCE-BB6A-D98E0438054B

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

        |   Index:    0

        |   Disk:     disk0s2

        |   Status:   Online

        |   Size:     120988852224 B (121.0 GB)

        |

        +-< Physical Volume 7428B963-323E-4320-AB4E-90B0EA52D6C2

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

        |   Index:    1

        |   Disk:     disk1s2

        |   Status:   Online

        |   Size:     749513621504 B (749.5 GB)

        |

        +-> Logical Volume Family 17832D68-EA9B-4661-912A-E310ADF8DC8B

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

            Encryption Status:       Unlocked

            Encryption Type:         None

            Conversion Status:       NoConversion

            Conversion Direction:    -none-

            Has Encrypted Extents:   No

            Fully Secure:            No

            Passphrase Required:     No

            |

            +-> Logical Volume 4527AA97-DD06-43D4-9C7D-1D2E850F643C

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

                Disk:                  disk2

                Status:                Online

                Size (Total):          864315506688 B (864.3 GB)

                Conversion Progress:   -none-

                Revertible:            No

                LV Name:               Macintosh HD

                Volume Name:           Macintosh HD

                Content Hint:          Apple_HFS

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 3, 2015 11:14 PM in response to ic3johan
    Level 7 (24,825 points)
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    Jan 3, 2015 11:14 PM in response to ic3johan

    ic3johan wrote:

     

    what i understand from ur explanation, based on my list. i need to delete disk3 and merge it with disk2 correct?

     

    No. The following command is what you need.

     

    diskutil mergePartitions free BOOTCAMP disk1s4 disk1s5

  • by ic3johan,

    ic3johan ic3johan Jan 3, 2015 11:28 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 3, 2015 11:28 PM in response to Loner T

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ diskutil mergePartitions free BOOTCAMP disk1s4 disk1s5

    The chosen disk does not support resizing.

    Do you wish to format instead? (y/N) y

    Merging partitions into a new partition

         Start partition: disk1s4 NO NAME

         Finish partition: disk1s5

     

    Merging partitions encountered error "Couldn't read partition map (-69876)".

    The erase will not occur.

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$

  • by ic3johan,

    ic3johan ic3johan Jan 5, 2015 3:39 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 5, 2015 3:39 AM in response to Loner T

    hi loner, it failed. any move? ty

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 5, 2015 9:55 AM in response to ic3johan
    Level 7 (24,825 points)
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    Jan 5, 2015 9:55 AM in response to ic3johan

    Please try

     

    diskutil eraseVolume free BC1 /dev/disk1s4

    diskutil eraseVolume free BC2 /dev/disk1s5

     

    These may not work because they are slices of a PV that is part of a CS volume. This is to leave your OSX LV untouched.

  • by ic3johan,

    ic3johan ic3johan Jan 5, 2015 11:46 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 5, 2015 11:46 AM in response to Loner T

    Last login: Mon Jan  5 02:11:53 on ttys000

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ diskutil eraseVolume free BC1 /dev/disk1s4

    Started erase on disk1s4 NO NAME

    Unmounting disk

    Error: 2: POSIX reports: No such file or directory

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ diskutil eraseVolume free BC2 /dev/disk1s5

    Started erase on disk1s5

    Unmounting disk

    Error: 2: POSIX reports: No such file or directory

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$

     

    erms

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 5, 2015 7:12 PM in response to ic3johan
    Level 7 (24,825 points)
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    Jan 5, 2015 7:12 PM in response to ic3johan

    Try /dev/rdisk1s4 and /dev/rdisk1s5. The worst case scenario is a backup, erase and restore.

  • by ic3johan,

    ic3johan ic3johan Jan 6, 2015 5:10 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2015 5:10 AM in response to Loner T

    Last login: Tue Jan  6 21:05:14 on console

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ /dev/rdisk1s4 and /dev/rdisk1s5

    -bash: /dev/rdisk1s4: No such file or directory

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$

     

    i think we should go backup, erase and restore.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 6, 2015 7:42 AM in response to ic3johan
    Level 7 (24,825 points)
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    Jan 6, 2015 7:42 AM in response to ic3johan

    Please try

     

    diskutil eraseVolume free BC1 disk1s4

    diskutil eraseVolume free BC2 disk1s5


    or

     

    diskutil eraseVolume free BC1 /dev/rdisk1s4

    diskutil eraseVolume free BC2 /dev/rdisk1s5

  • by ic3johan,

    ic3johan ic3johan Jan 6, 2015 8:19 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2015 8:19 AM in response to Loner T

    Last login: Tue Jan  6 21:05:57 on ttys000

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ diskutil eraseVolume free BC1 disk1s4

    Unable to find disk for disk1s4

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ diskutil eraseVolume free BC2 disk1s5

    Unable to find disk for disk1s5

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ diskutil eraseVolume free BC1 /dev/rdisk1s4

    Unable to find disk for /dev/rdisk1s4

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ diskutil eraseVolume free BC2 /dev/rdisk1s5

    Unable to find disk for /dev/rdisk1s5

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$

     

    owh my haha

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 6, 2015 8:57 AM in response to ic3johan
    Level 7 (24,825 points)
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    Jan 6, 2015 8:57 AM in response to ic3johan

    Is the current size of your OSX volume less than 120GB? You can right-click on "Macintosh HD" choose "Get Info".

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