Problem with merging partitions

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Problem with merging partitions

Hi all,

I am having a bit of trouble partitioning the HD on the MBP. I hope you guys can help me. I would like to reformat the drive and have made a partition entitled "Backup" (see image link above) to store the files I need.

Now, I would like to merge "Macintosh HD" and "Macintosh HD 2" together but it won't do it. I have tried in recovery mode and I have tried deleting Mac HD 2 and pulling down Mac HD. Both methods did not work. Appreciate any help. Thank you and sorry if this problem has been posted in the forum.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Apr 7, 2015 8:02 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 7, 2015 8:07 PM in response to furrman

Delete Macintosh HD 2. Then extend Macintosh HD using the gadget on the lower right corner. Pull it down as far as it will go until it reaches the top of the Backup partition.

If this did not work what was the given reason for the failure? Did you try it from a separate hard drive?

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Answer 2

furrman Author

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Apr 8, 2015 9:19 PM in response to Kappy

Hi Kappy. When I pulled the MacHD, nothing happens. It reverts to the original size. I tried to restore the partition but it says "not enough space on /dev/disk0s4 to restore". Advice?

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 9, 2015 10:03 AM in response to furrman

Something is messed up in the partition map which means you will have to repartition the entire drive from scratch.

Drive Partition and Format

1. Boot from a bootable external drive. Open Disk Utility.

2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.

3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.

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Answer 4

furrman Author

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Apr 12, 2015 9:53 PM in response to Kappy

Ok I will try that and let you know. If I backup all my data into an external HD, and then reformat the whole computer, will that solve the partition issue? Will it merge all the partitions into one?

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 25, 2015 12:23 AM in response to furrman

If you follow the steps, then it will create a single new partition of the entire drive.

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Answer 6

furrman Author

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Apr 13, 2015 10:27 PM in response to Kappy

Ok cool. One last one, I hope. I have the OSX installer in my HD. Will I be able to install the OS straight from the HD? Thanks.

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Answer 7

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 25, 2015 12:23 AM in response to furrman

You will erase the drive in this process, so anything you want to save you should first backup. You will need to install OS X from scratch. That in turn depends on the specific model you have and if it supports Network Recovery or if it came with Software Restore discs.

If you have a bootable system currently installed on the HDD, then I suggest you clone it to an external drive using Disk Utility.

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