partition not available (greyed out)

Question

I just bought a new Mac Mini, and after having partitioned the hard disk once, the partitioning function has disappeared.  It is still there in Disk Utilities, but it is greyed out.  Is this normal.  Is there any way to make it usable again?

Japib · Answer

try repairing the drive in the Disk Utility, then restart your Mac.

keg55 · Answer

Can you provide a screen shot of the issue in Disk Utility?

Eric Root · Answer

Do you have Boot Camp installed?

Geoffrey Dyson · Answer

here it is

Geoffrey Dyson · Answer

Repairing the disk has not rectified the situation and Boot Camp is not installed.  Thanks for the ideas, but that&#x27;s not it.

keg55 · Answer

You have a Logical Volume Group (LVG) and with that type of format, you can only add 1 additional partition which is your Macintosh HD2. This is normal for an LVG.If your Mac Mini&#x27;s drive is NOT a Fusion Drive, you can delete the Macintosh HD2 Logical Partition and that space will be merged into the Macintosh HD Logical Partition above it. If you do this then you can revert the LVG into its native type without any data destruction by doing the following. THEN you would be able to partition more than just 2.Back up your system firstOpen Disk Utility.Select the Macintosh HD2 partition and click the &#x27;-&#x27; to delete it. The free space should automatically merge in with the Macintosh HD.After you see a single Logical Partition (Macintosh HD), open Terminal from /Application/Utilities.Type diskutil cs list and make sure you see what I have BOLDED toward the bottom of the Example (Revertible:  Yes). Ignore the unlock and decryption required in my Example as my Logical Partition is FileVault 2. If you have encrypted your Macintosh HD, you will need to turn OFF FileVault 2 before you revert it.Identify the Logical Volume (See BOLD Disk:  disk2 in the Example).Last, still in Terminal, type diskutil cs revert &lt;Logical Volume&gt;. Using my Example, diskutil cs revert disk2ExampleCoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)|+-- Logical Volume Group AF848A3F-9304-4563-9F2A-D9476DEC7F54    &#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;    Name:         Macintosh HD    Status:       Online    Size:         250140319744 B (250.1 GB)    Free Space:   24576 B (24.6 KB)    |    +-&lt; Physical Volume F34DBC61-2D5F-4154-AD63-8B9B62BD095F    |   ----------------------------------------------------    |   Index:    0    |   Disk:     disk0s2    |   Status:   Online    |   Size:     250140319744 B (250.1 GB)    |    +-&gt; Logical Volume Family 1B915FDE-1544-4E1B-B58C-B125C4A6A8B2        ----------------------------------------------------------        Encryption Status:       Unlocked        Encryption Type:         AES-XTS        Conversion Status:       Complete        Conversion Direction:    -none-        Has Encrypted Extents:   Yes        Fully Secure:            Yes        Passphrase Required:     Yes        |        +-&gt; Logical Volume E6314D59-8815-4A70-A91F-46C824F0D879            ---------------------------------------------------            Disk:                  disk2            Status:                Online            Size (Total):          249787973632 B (249.8 GB)            Conversion Progress:   -none-            Revertible:            Yes (unlock and decryption required)            LV Name:               Macintosh HD            Volume Name:           Macintosh HD            Content Hint:          Apple_HFS

Joe Bailey · Answer

You cannot repartition the boot volume. First you mist boot your Mac mini from the recovery drive by holding down Command+R during the boot process and running Disk Utility from there. Second while you can add a partition, you cannot remove the first partition on the drive. To be honest I didn&#x27;t think it was even possible to partition a Fusion drive, I know it is not recommended.

keg55 · Answer

Thanks for adding restarting into the Recovery HD before doing the revert IF the drive is a Fusion Drive..Yes, you can add 1 additional partition to a Fusion Drive.