dubai mac

Q: Help Required with MacMini Fusion Drive

Hello all

 

I recently purchased a second hand late 2012 MacMini i7 wth a fusion drive. The previous owner had created a windows partition. I won't to return the machine to its original out of the box factory setup for my use as I have no need to run windows on it.

 

I am struggling to get the fusion drive to fuse. Currently I have two separate disks which I have named 329GB and 781GB. Disk Utility shows both drives are fine. I have rebooted in Recovery Mode to use the online disk utility and  the drives do not show up as red and so there is no option to fix them.

 

I have used Terminal (following some reading online) and it provides the following information:

 

 

+-- Logical Volume Group F92C23DE-59E6-48E1-9525-07BAA362792C

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

    Name:         Macintosh HD

    Status:       Online

    Size:         790333857792 B (790.3 GB)

    Free Space:   98304 B (98.3 KB)

    |

    +-< Physical Volume 5E674D49-E043-46E0-8B68-4A1BE6F198D6

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

    |   Index:    0

    |   Disk:     disk0s2

    |   Status:   Online

    |   Size:     120988852224 B (121.0 GB)

    |

    +-< Physical Volume 7BA0BD21-C934-4179-B432-8CE91651DA29

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

    |   Index:    1

    |   Disk:     disk1s2

    |   Status:   Online

    |   Size:     669345005568 B (669.3 GB)

    |

    +-> Logical Volume Family 9350CC2D-8020-42E4-9C64-A2F1C4BC3DFB

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

        Encryption Type:         None

        |

        +-> Logical Volume C94C8E95-391F-48B9-8920-2BF7C0646691

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

            Disk:                  disk2

            Status:                Online

            Size (Total):          781826392064 B (781.8 GB)

            Revertible:            No

            LV Name:               781GB

            Volume Name:           781GB

            Content Hint:          Apple_HFS

            LVG Type:              Fusion, Sparse

 

None of the data on the drive(s) is critical as it is all available on my old Mac mini and can be re-migrated again later.

Any advice on how to return the Fusion drive to its original out of the box state please?

Airport Time Capsule 802.11ac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Jul 29, 2016 10:35 PM

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Q: Help Required with MacMini Fusion Drive

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  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Jul 29, 2016 10:38 PM in response to dubai mac
    Level 10 (312,590 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 29, 2016 10:38 PM in response to dubai mac

    Open the Boot Camp Assistant and return the drive to a single-partition setup.

     

    (143720)

  • by dubai mac,

    dubai mac dubai mac Jul 29, 2016 11:02 PM in response to Niel
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 29, 2016 11:02 PM in response to Niel

    Thanks.

     

    Opened BootCamp Assistant and following message received:

     

    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.

  • by dubai mac,

    dubai mac dubai mac Jul 30, 2016 12:31 AM in response to dubai mac
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Jul 30, 2016 12:31 AM in response to dubai mac

    Further info from terminal:

    diskutil list

    /dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

      #:                      TYPE NAME                    SIZE      IDENTIFIER

      0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *121.3 GB  disk0

      1:                        EFI EFI                    209.7 MB  disk0s1

      2:          Apple_CoreStorage Macintosh HD            121.0 GB  disk0s2

      3:                Apple_Boot Boot OS X              134.2 MB  disk0s3

    /dev/disk1 (internal, physical):

      #:                      TYPE NAME                    SIZE      IDENTIFIER

      0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB    disk1

      1:                        EFI EFI                    209.7 MB  disk1s1

      2:          Apple_CoreStorage Macintosh HD            669.3 GB  disk1s2

      3:                Apple_Boot Recovery HD            650.1 MB  disk1s3

      4:                  Apple_HFS 329GB                  329.3 GB  disk1s4

      5:                Apple_Boot Recovery HD            650.0 MB  disk1s5

    /dev/disk2 (internal, virtual):

      #:                      TYPE NAME                    SIZE      IDENTIFIER

      0:                  Apple_HFS 781GB                  +781.8 GB  disk2

                                    Logical Volume on disk0s2, disk1s2

                                    C94C8E95-391F-48B9-8920-2BF7C0646691

                                    Unencrypted Fusion Drive

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Jul 30, 2016 12:39 AM in response to dubai mac
    Level 10 (188,724 points)
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    Jul 30, 2016 12:39 AM in response to dubai mac

    I would just backup any data you want for the disk. Then boot to Recovery

    About OS X Recovery - Apple Support

    and format the disks and reinstall OSX. With both a HD and SSD present, a Fusion drive will automatically be created.

     

    Also see:

    What to do before selling or giving away your Mac - Apple Support

  • by dubai mac,

    dubai mac dubai mac Jul 30, 2016 12:47 AM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Jul 30, 2016 12:47 AM in response to lllaass

    Thanks

     

    No back-up required as all data is on another mac and can be migrated again later.

     

    So do I need to name the two parts of the fusion drive during the process? If I do won't this create two separate drives rather than the once combined drive I should have?

     

    I have tried doing this or similar previously and was not succesful

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Jul 30, 2016 1:10 AM in response to dubai mac
    Level 10 (188,724 points)
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    Jul 30, 2016 1:10 AM in response to dubai mac

    With the latest iOS versions, a Fusion drive will automatically be created. Yo have to take overt action to have separate drives as many users have posted here.

  • by dubai mac,

    dubai mac dubai mac Jul 30, 2016 1:16 AM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Jul 30, 2016 1:16 AM in response to lllaass

    So

     

    1. Use Recovery or Internet Recovery? any difference?

     

    2. Format both parts of the fusion drive as OS X Extended Journaled? Do I have to name both parts? If so does this have no impact?

     

    3. Which part is most advisable to install OS X onto the small SSD part?

     

    4. Should the outcome be one single drive showing as the Macintosh HD?

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Jul 30, 2016 1:23 AM in response to dubai mac
    Level 10 (188,724 points)
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    Jul 30, 2016 1:23 AM in response to dubai mac

    Internet Recovery will install 10.8.5 which might not automatically create a Fusion drive

    The Recovery partition will install the OSX version that was on the Mac.

     

    I would just boot to the Recovery partition and click on install OSX and then follow the instructions

  • by dubai mac,

    dubai mac dubai mac Jul 30, 2016 3:06 AM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Jul 30, 2016 3:06 AM in response to lllaass

    Update:

     

    I tried booting into recovery mode but internet recovery mode opened automatically and then presented a no entry sign. Repeated same outcome. I installed a bootable usb flash drive and held down Option on restart and was presented with a choice of start up disks. I chose Recovery 10.11 rather than the usb. I erased and reformatted both partitions of the fusion drive as OS X extended journaled and then reinstalled OS X from Recovery.

     

    The machine is now set up but when I choose in Finder preferences to see disks it mounts both parts of the Fusion drive separately on the screen. Is this as it should be or does this mean I have failed to achieve my desired outcome?

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Jul 30, 2016 8:16 AM in response to dubai mac
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    Jul 30, 2016 8:16 AM in response to dubai mac

    This will help you determine if you have a fusion drive

    Is the Fusion Drive option installed on my knew imac?

    Did 10.11 install via Recovery?

     

    If not a Fusion drive try again by seeing:

    How do you format a Fusion drive in El Capitan - won't combine SSD and non-SSD into Fusion drive like it did in prior OS versions

    If still problem yo can do it via Terminal I Recovery by:

    http://create.pro/blog/how-to-create-a-fusion-drive-in-os-x-from-a-hdd-ssd-diy-s shd-for-mac/

  • by dubai mac,

    dubai mac dubai mac Jul 31, 2016 2:38 AM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Jul 31, 2016 2:38 AM in response to lllaass


    Unfortunately it is unclear whether I have a fusion drive installed. "About my mac" refers to a fusion drive but then shows it as two separate drives...

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Jul 31, 2016 3:29 AM in response to dubai mac
    Level 10 (188,724 points)
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    Jul 31, 2016 3:29 AM in response to dubai mac

    Can you post an image(s) of ""About my mac" refers to a fusion drive but then shows it as two separate drives..."?

  • by dubai mac,

    dubai mac dubai mac Jul 31, 2016 3:54 AM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Jul 31, 2016 3:54 AM in response to lllaass

    Ill be home in a couple of hours and post then

  • by dubai mac,

    dubai mac dubai mac Jul 31, 2016 8:35 AM in response to dubai mac
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    Jul 31, 2016 8:35 AM in response to dubai mac

    Untitled.jpg

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