queenie521

Q: Removing Bootcamp Partition

My startup disk is full and I never really use my Bootcamp partition anymore, so I want to delete my Bootcamp partition so I only have one Mac partition with the full about of memory.  When I open up Bootcamp to try to remove it, I get the error: "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition. The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows."

 

What do I do so I can remove it?

 

partition1.jpg

partition2.jpg

partition3.jpg

Posted on Feb 23, 2015 11:39 AM

Close

Q: Removing Bootcamp Partition

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Feb 23, 2015 11:53 AM in response to queenie521
    Level 7 (24,307 points)
    Safari
    Feb 23, 2015 11:53 AM in response to queenie521

    Can you choose "Install/Remove Windows..." (the last option)? How was Bootcamp installed on this machine? This can also happen, if there is insufficient contiguous disk space for partition manipulation.

  • by queenie521,

    queenie521 queenie521 Feb 23, 2015 1:01 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Feb 23, 2015 1:01 PM in response to Loner T

    no, I can't choose it.....thats the problem,....

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Feb 23, 2015 1:11 PM in response to queenie521
    Level 7 (24,307 points)
    Safari
    Feb 23, 2015 1:11 PM in response to queenie521

    Was the BC partition created/manipulated by Disk Utility or any tool other than BCA?

     

    Can you post the output of the following terminal commands? Enter your password when prompted by "sudo" commands, and it will not be echoed back to you.

     

    diskutil list

    sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

    sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

  • by queenie521,

    queenie521 queenie521 Feb 23, 2015 2:16 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Feb 23, 2015 2:16 PM in response to Loner T

    I did erase the bootcamp partition using Disk Utility

  • by queenie521,

    queenie521 queenie521 Feb 23, 2015 2:18 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Feb 23, 2015 2:18 PM in response to Loner T

    diskutil list:

    /dev/disk0

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk0

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1

       2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            849.0 GB   disk0s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3

       4:                  Apple_HFS BOOTCAMP                150.2 GB   disk0s4

    /dev/disk1

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *2.0 GB     disk1

       1:                 DOS_FAT_16                         2.0 GB     disk1s1

    /dev/disk2

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk2

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk2s1

       2:                  Apple_HFS Backup Drive            999.9 GB   disk2s2

    /dev/disk3

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk3

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk3s1

       2:       Microsoft Basic Data TOSHIBA                 499.9 GB   disk3s2

     

    :~ Q$ sudo gpt -vv -r show /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:

     

    now i'm afraid to enter my PW since it said it can delete important file systems

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Feb 23, 2015 2:42 PM in response to queenie521
    Level 7 (24,307 points)
    Safari
    Feb 23, 2015 2:42 PM in response to queenie521

    It will execute the command entered after the "sudo" which is

    gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

     

    Here is a sample output from my Mac.

     

    sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

    Password:

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: mediasize=1000555581440; sectorsize=512; blocks=1954210120

    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 1954210119

           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  1448624648      2  GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

      1449034288     1269536      3  GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

      1450303824        1712        

      1450305536   503904256      4  GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7

      1954209792         295        

      1954210087          32         Sec GPT table

      1954210119           1         Sec GPT header

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Feb 23, 2015 3:49 PM in response to queenie521
    Level 7 (24,307 points)
    Safari
    Feb 23, 2015 3:49 PM in response to queenie521

    When you erased the partition it became HFS+ rather than NTFS, you did not remove it. It is still there. See the following.

     

    4:                  Apple_HFS BOOTCAMP                150.2 GB   disk0s4

     

    It should not be removed with anything other than Bootcamp Assistant.

  • by queenie521,

    queenie521 queenie521 Feb 24, 2015 11:10 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Feb 24, 2015 11:10 AM in response to Loner T

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: mediasize=1000204886016; sectorsize=512; blocks=1953525168

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: PMBR at sector 0

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

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: Sec GPT at sector 1953525167

           start        size  index  contents

               0           1         PMBR

               1           1         Pri GPT header

               2          32         Pri GPT table

              34           6        

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

          409640  1658203136      2  GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

      1658612776     1269536      3  GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

      1659882312        1208        

      1659883520   293379464      4  GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

      1953262984      262151        

      1953525135          32         Sec GPT table

      1953525167           1         Sec GPT header

  • by queenie521,

    queenie521 queenie521 Feb 24, 2015 11:12 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Feb 24, 2015 11:12 AM in response to Loner T

    ~ Q$ sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

    Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 121601/255/63 [1953525168 sectors]

    Signature: 0xAA55

             Starting       Ending

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

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

    1: EE 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [         1 - 1953525167] <Unknown ID>

    2: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     

    3: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     

    4: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused

  • by queenie521,

    queenie521 queenie521 Feb 24, 2015 11:12 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Feb 24, 2015 11:12 AM in response to Loner T

    so how do I do that then?

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Feb 24, 2015 11:20 AM in response to queenie521
    Level 7 (24,307 points)
    Safari
    Feb 24, 2015 11:20 AM in response to queenie521

    Please see Set up a Windows partition on your Mac - Apple Support and the 'Remove the partition' section. If it does not provide the last "Install/Remove..." option, there are alternative steps.

  • by queenie521,

    queenie521 queenie521 Feb 24, 2015 11:24 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Feb 24, 2015 11:24 AM in response to Loner T

    as you can see in my second screen shot, I tried that and was unable to do so.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Feb 24, 2015 11:43 AM in response to queenie521
    Level 7 (24,307 points)
    Safari
    Feb 24, 2015 11:43 AM in response to queenie521

    1. Backup your OSX Installation using Time Machine (or any tool you use for backups).

     

    2. The following steps erase your BC and Recovery HD both. The Recovery HD can be rebuilt. The order of disks is critical for this to work properly.

         a. Merger Recovery HD (disk0s3) and BOOTCAMP (disk0s4) into Macintosh HD (disk0s2) -

              diskutil mergePartitions JHFS+ "Macintosh HD" disk0s2 disk0s4

         b. Power-Cycle your Mac and hold Command+Opt+R (Reference - OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support) and

              re-install OSX to get Recovery HD back.

     

    3. If you do not want to follow this, the simpler solution is to backup OSX, use Internet Recovery to erase your internal drive, and restore from TM backup. The backup/restore is much more time consuming then step 2.

     

    Please be aware of limitations of Internet Recovery.

    Which version of OS X is installed by OS X Recovery?

    • If you use the Recovery System stored on your startup drive to reinstall OS X, it installs the most recent version of OS X previously installed on this computer.
    • If you use Internet Recovery to reinstall OS X, it installs the version of OS X that originally came with your computer. After installation is finished, use the Mac App Store to install related updates or later versions of OS X that you have previously purchased.

     

    The command being used is documented for reference. Please read the highlighted part before you proceed.

     

    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.