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Q: Can't use Bootcamp because of partitions. Need HELP

Hello.

 

I can't set up bootcamp again after deleting the bootcamp partition before. For some reason I have 1 Mac partition with 250GB and 1 Untitled with 16MB. This untitled is PCI Physical Volume OS X Extended. I have tried to delete it, recover it, aid but nothing works.

 

Please help

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)

Posted on Mar 16, 2016 6:21 AM

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Q: Can't use Bootcamp because of partitions. Need HELP

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  • by keg55,

    keg55 keg55 Mar 16, 2016 6:38 AM in response to Mallcoin
    Level 6 (8,407 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 16, 2016 6:38 AM in response to Mallcoin

    Can you show a screen shot of Disk Utility with your Mac partition selected? Also, open Terminal and type diskutil list and post the results here.

  • by Mallcoin,

    Mallcoin Mallcoin Mar 16, 2016 11:56 AM in response to keg55
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 16, 2016 11:56 AM in response to keg55

    Screen Shot 2016-03-16 at 7.52.49 PM.pngScreen Shot 2016-03-16 at 7.52.52 PM.pngScreen Shot 2016-03-16 at 7.53.31 PM.pngScreen Shot 2016-03-16 at 7.52.46 PM.png

  • by keg55,

    keg55 keg55 Mar 16, 2016 12:26 PM in response to Mallcoin
    Level 6 (8,407 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 16, 2016 12:26 PM in response to Mallcoin

    Ok, you have a CoreStorage volume for your OS X install which, at times, makes it difficult to delete/merge partitions into it.

     

    So, there may be a way to recover that 16mb and let you use Bootcamp again. But, remember to always use the Bootcamp Assistant to remove your Bootcamp partition. Never use Disk Utility to do so. I'm not saying you did anything wrong. Just something to remember. Normally, the Bootcamp partition is AFTER the OS X partition.

     

    Open Terminal and type diskutil cs list. Towards the bottom of the output should be a line that says Revertible:  and to the right of that it should tell you whether your CoreStorage volume is revertible or not. Let me know or post the output from the command.

  • by Mallcoin,

    Mallcoin Mallcoin Mar 17, 2016 11:57 AM in response to keg55
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 17, 2016 11:57 AM in response to keg55

    Thanks for the help. It said, "Yes (no decryption required)"

  • by keg55,

    keg55 keg55 Mar 17, 2016 12:16 PM in response to Mallcoin
    Level 6 (8,407 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 17, 2016 12:16 PM in response to Mallcoin

    Great!

     

    So, now do a full system back up. After that, you can open Terminal and type diskutil cs list again. Above the Revertible line should be a line that says Disk:. You want the value to the right of that line. For example, it may say disk1. Now, you can revert your CoreStorage volume by typing diskutil cs revert <value from Disk: line>. For example, diskutil cs revert disk1. This should revert your file system back to the native file type. This command is a non-destructive command so you shouldn't lose anything. But the back up is just in case. From there, open Disk Utility and see if you can deal with that small 16mb partition. Or post screen shots here.

  • by Mallcoin,

    Mallcoin Mallcoin Mar 17, 2016 1:05 PM in response to keg55
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 17, 2016 1:05 PM in response to keg55

    Well, the command worked in terminal but nothing changed. I can't merge them stil :/

  • by keg55,

    keg55 keg55 Mar 17, 2016 1:19 PM in response to Mallcoin
    Level 6 (8,407 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 17, 2016 1:19 PM in response to Mallcoin

    What does diskutil list show now? Does it still show your 16mb partition as the 1st partition? I remember DU shows it under your Macintosh HD.

     

    You might have to back up your system, boot from an external source into a Recovery HD using the OS X Disk Assistant and a USB thumb drive; then use Disk Utility to repartition your internal drive into one. Then you can either Reinstall OS X and during the Setup, migrate your user account, settings, data and apps or Restore Your System from your Time Machine back up.

  • by Mallcoin,

    Mallcoin Mallcoin Mar 17, 2016 1:29 PM in response to keg55
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 17, 2016 1:29 PM in response to keg55

    Ye it is still 1st.

     

    How do I do that?

  • by keg55,

    keg55 keg55 Mar 17, 2016 1:33 PM in response to Mallcoin
    Level 6 (8,407 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 17, 2016 1:33 PM in response to Mallcoin

    Actually, your best solution is to re-download OS X El Capitan from the App Store / Purchases tab then create a USB installer thumb drive (8GB) using this link.

     

    Then you can use the above to boot from, fix your internal drive and re-install OS X all from that USB thumb drive. Then during Setup, use Migration to migrate everything over from your Time Machine back up. I assume you use TM to do your system back ups.

  • by Mallcoin,

    Mallcoin Mallcoin Mar 17, 2016 1:38 PM in response to keg55
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 17, 2016 1:38 PM in response to keg55

    ok nice. I will try it. Is there a change that I still can't merge them even if I use this method?

  • by keg55,

    keg55 keg55 Mar 17, 2016 1:44 PM in response to Mallcoin
    Level 6 (8,407 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 17, 2016 1:44 PM in response to Mallcoin

    With Disk Utility, you can only merge downwards. Because your 16mb Untitled partition is the top one, you have to delete everything below it then merge the freespace into Untitled. It's better to delete all partitions and repartition into 1 partition. This way you start clean with one partition. Just make sure to back up your entire system with Time Machine.

     

    NOTE: El Capitan will probably recreate that CoreStorage volume during install. That's what it's designed to do with some laptops. This isn't a problem and you can always revert it back like you already know how to do.

  • by Mallcoin,

    Mallcoin Mallcoin Mar 17, 2016 2:09 PM in response to keg55
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 17, 2016 2:09 PM in response to keg55

    Thanks for your help, it means a lot to me. I will try it the first thing in the morning and post the result later in the day.

     

    Thanks again!!

  • by Mallcoin,

    Mallcoin Mallcoin Mar 17, 2016 11:53 PM in response to Mallcoin
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 17, 2016 11:53 PM in response to Mallcoin

    HEy.

     

    I Can't merge them from the recovery either. I tried to erase And all but nothing works.  When I hold option key to change bootsource, it shows Windows, recovery hd and osx install.

  • by keg55,

    keg55 keg55 Mar 18, 2016 5:19 AM in response to Mallcoin
    Level 6 (8,407 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 18, 2016 5:19 AM in response to Mallcoin

    Restart using the USB thumb drive installer.

    Go into Disk Utility and select the drive not any of the partitions. Click the Partitions button in the toolbar.

    Select the Untitled partition and change the Format to OS X Extended (Journaled). Click the '-' sign then Apply.

    Select the Mac partition (larger one) and click the '-' sign. Make sure the Format is OS X Extended (Journaled). Click Apply. The format needs to be the same for all your partitions to let them merge. The Mac partition should merge with the Untitled after you delete/format it. And your blue pie chart should be all blue with the label of Untitled.

     

    With this newer Disk Utility, it's difficult to use. I'm still learning and experimenting. When things go wrong for me, I use Terminal and clean up the disk that way with diskutil commands. Needless to say, I'm not fond of this newer GUI Disk Utility.

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