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 (24,835 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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Q: Can't format former Boot Camp partition

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  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 6, 2015 1:45 PM in response to Josh99Ralla
    Level 7 (24,835 points)
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    Jan 6, 2015 1:45 PM in response to Josh99Ralla

    Please backup the OSX installation before you attempt the following.

     

    Try these steps. If these do not work, then you will have erase the disk and restore from backup.

     

    1. Remove 1TB PV from CS volume - diskutil cs removeDisk 7428B963-323E-4320-AB4E-90B0EA52D6C2

    2. Initialize the 1TB disk - diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ MyHDD disk1

    3. Add 1TB PV back in CS volume - diskutil cs addDisk disk1s2

    4. Show the logical volume - diskutil cs list

  • by ic3johan,

    ic3johan ic3johan Jan 6, 2015 3:51 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2015 3:51 PM in response to Loner T

    Last login: Wed Jan  7 07:50:03 on ttys000

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ diskutil cs removeDisk 7428B963-323E-4320-AB4E-90B0EA52D6C2

    Started CoreStorage operation

    newfs_hfs: cannot create filesystem on /dev/rdisk1s2

    : Resource busy

    Mounting disk

    Could not mount disk1s2 with name (null) after erase

    Error: -69832: File system formatter failed

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ MyHDD disk1

    Started erase on disk1

    Unmounting disk

    Error: -69877: Couldn't open device

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ diskutil cs addDisk disk1s2

    Usage:  diskutil coreStorage addDisk lvgUUID NewMemberDeviceName

    Add a new physical volume to a CoreStorage logical volume group.

    Ownership of the affected disks is required.

    Example: diskutil coreStorage addDisk

             11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555 disk4s2

    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 ic3johan,

    ic3johan ic3johan Jan 6, 2015 10:32 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2015 10:32 PM in response to Loner T

    Screen Shot 2015-01-07 at 2.30.20 PM.png

    irk somehow it become freespace again

     

    Last login: Wed Jan  7 07:50:09 on ttys000

    Johans-iMac:~ 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_HFS                         749.5 GB   disk1s2

    /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                        *1.0 TB     disk3

       1:               Windows_NTFS Seagate Backup Plus ... 1.0 TB     disk3s1

    /dev/disk4

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *32.5 GB    disk4

       1:                 DOS_FAT_32 WININSTALL              32.5 GB    disk4s1

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ csdiskutil list

    -bash: csdiskutil: command not found

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ cs diskutil list

    -bash: cs: command not found

    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 ic3johan,

    ic3johan ic3johan Jan 7, 2015 12:09 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 7, 2015 12:09 AM in response to Loner T

    hi loner,

     

    after following your instruction, i restart it and restore OS from external hard disk. this is the result. does this man all okay now?

     

    Screen Shot 2015-01-07 at 4.06.24 PM.png

    Last login: Wed Jan  7 16:04:44 on console

    Johans-iMac:~ 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                         999.3 GB   disk1s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               650.0 MB   disk1s3

    /dev/disk2

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD           *1.1 TB     disk2

    /dev/disk3

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk3

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk3s1

       2:                  Apple_HFS backup                  999.9 GB   disk3s2

    /dev/disk4

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *32.5 GB    disk4

       1:                 DOS_FAT_32 WININSTALL              32.5 GB    disk4s1

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$ diskutil cs list

    CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)

    |

    +-- Logical Volume Group 10332F8A-160A-4149-BC1E-E8D27B3D2258

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

        Name:         Macintosh HD

        Status:       Online

        Size:         1120333979648 B (1.1 TB)

        Free Space:   16384 B (16.4 KB)

        |

        +-< Physical Volume B7E5B71F-2FDD-47DE-B34F-9271F32E0753

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

        |   Index:    0

        |   Disk:     disk0s2

        |   Status:   Online

        |   Size:     120988852224 B (121.0 GB)

        |

        +-< Physical Volume FC9A3CFB-0AB0-45DC-9CD0-FDB7CCCFDFAC

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

        |   Index:    1

        |   Disk:     disk1s2

        |   Status:   Online

        |   Size:     999345127424 B (999.3 GB)

        |

        +-> Logical Volume Family 1900D07D-46A7-4C39-B83E-3781CC9E9434

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

            Encryption Status:       Unlocked

            Encryption Type:         None

            Conversion Status:       NoConversion

            Conversion Direction:    -none-

            Has Encrypted Extents:   No

            Fully Secure:            No

            Passphrase Required:     No

            |

            +-> Logical Volume B79591FA-470E-4E43-9528-8BB6F4179725

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

                Disk:                  disk2

                Status:                Online

                Size (Total):          1114835501056 B (1.1 TB)

                Conversion Progress:   -none-

                Revertible:            No

                LV Name:               Macintosh HD

                Volume Name:           Macintosh HD

                Content Hint:          Apple_HFS

    Johans-iMac:~ Johan$

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 7, 2015 8:41 PM in response to ic3johan
    Level 7 (24,835 points)
    Safari
    Jan 7, 2015 8:41 PM in response to ic3johan

    Yes, after the restore, you now have

     

    /dev/disk1

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk1

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1

      2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         999.3 GB   disk1s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               650.0 MB   disk1s3

    as compared to

    /dev/disk1

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk1

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1

      2:                  Apple_HFS                         749.5 GB   disk1s2

     

    The commands to add/remove disks from CS volumes would also have worked in Local Recovery mode console.

  • by nikkovo,

    nikkovo nikkovo Jan 16, 2015 9:24 AM in response to Josh99Ralla
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 9:24 AM in response to Josh99Ralla

    Hi Josh99Ralla,

     

    I seem to have the same problem you did, i.e. "Can't format former BootCamp partition".

    However, the answer to your problem by "Loner T" wasn't clear to me.

    What did you do exactly? I ask because the "Free Space" is not a partition right? because it does not appear using "diskutil list" on Terminal.

    So, did you erase and reformat the complete HD? OR were you able to merge the unused free space to the main partition?

     

    Thanks for any help you can provide.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Jan 19, 2015 1:22 PM in response to nikkovo
    Level 7 (24,835 points)
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    Jan 19, 2015 1:22 PM in response to nikkovo

    In the previous case, the internal disk was erased and restored from a Time Machine backup.

  • by UsernameLalo,

    UsernameLalo UsernameLalo Feb 7, 2015 9:50 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 7, 2015 9:50 AM in response to Loner T

    Hi Loner, I have the same problem, I can't go back to my 500Gb, i got stuck with 130Gb of free space, can you help me?

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Feb 7, 2015 10:03 AM in response to UsernameLalo
    Level 7 (24,835 points)
    Safari
    Feb 7, 2015 10:03 AM in response to UsernameLalo

    Can you start a new thread and post the output of the commands as mentioned on this thread?

  • by UsernameLalo,

    UsernameLalo UsernameLalo Feb 7, 2015 10:31 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 7, 2015 10:31 AM in response to Loner T

    I have already created a new thread Loner T, I attached the of diskutil cs list

     

    Can't format former Boot Camp partition [Thread II]

  • by DeejayJeanP,

    DeejayJeanP DeejayJeanP Apr 15, 2015 12:30 PM in response to Josh99Ralla
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 15, 2015 12:30 PM in response to Josh99Ralla

    Hey everyone,

     

     

    I'm having the sort of same issue, but with a twist haha.

    I have deleted the NTFS or Bootcamp partition through Disk Utilities, without knowing that I couldn't do that, so now I'm stuck with a useless partition too.

    I've been trying for almost two days now, trying to figure out how to get this work but I can't, it's driving me crazy haha.

     

    Here's my setup; I have a 1 TB external USB harddisk, with a Mac partition, and a (former) NTFS or MS DOS partition on it, I don't know which one of them it is, I presume the latter.

    I can't do anything with it, I've tried going in the recovery mode (although it seemed useless because everything is on a external harddrive), I've tried reformatting the Bootcamp partition, making a new partition out of the space I have left on the Mac partition, but nothing worked.

     

    My goal here is, to make the Mac partition smaller, and put a larger (than before) new NTSF/MS DOS partition next to it. The Mac partition isn't full btw.

    I also don't run my Macbook from this drive, it's just a external drive I use for Time Machine, and other stuff I need to back up seperately.

     

    I hope someone could help !

     

     

    This is what I see after "diskutil cs list"

     

    CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)

    |

    +-- Logical Volume Group 193C7021-1DE4-46F6-9672-08221C735CF8

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

        Name:         JEAN P DISK HDD

        Status:       Online

        Size:         893679972352 B (893.7 GB)

        Free Space:   269634301952 B (269.6 GB)

        |

        +-< Physical Volume 9890496F-89F0-4C3D-BBD0-6E7473548E2F

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

        |   Index:    0

        |   Disk:     disk1s2

        |   Status:   Online

        |   Size:     893679972352 B (893.7 GB)

        |

        +-> Logical Volume Family CC6FC735-0DB8-4541-8406-798855B633A9

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

            Encryption Status:       Unlocked

            Encryption Type:         None

            Conversion Status:       NoConversion

            Conversion Direction:    -none-

            Has Encrypted Extents:   No

            Fully Secure:            No

            Passphrase Required:     No

            |

            +-> Logical Volume 37C9F6EC-412D-4792-B05A-7216BD0F13A0

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

                Disk:                  disk2

                Status:                Online

                Size (Total):          623710121984 B (623.7 GB)

                Conversion Progress:   -none-

                Revertible:            No

                LV Name:               JEAN P DISK HDD

                Volume Name:           JEAN P DISK HDD

                Content Hint:          Apple_HFSX

    Jean-P-Macbook:~ macbook$

     

    If that's any help haha.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Apr 15, 2015 12:39 PM in response to DeejayJeanP
    Level 7 (24,835 points)
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    Apr 15, 2015 12:39 PM in response to DeejayJeanP

    Is the diskutil cs list from your external disk?

  • by DeejayJeanP,

    DeejayJeanP DeejayJeanP Apr 15, 2015 1:28 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 15, 2015 1:28 PM in response to Loner T

    Yes, it is The disk is called Jean P Disk HDD

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Apr 15, 2015 1:48 PM in response to DeejayJeanP
    Level 7 (24,835 points)
    Safari
    Apr 15, 2015 1:48 PM in response to DeejayJeanP

    Posted in your new thread.

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