Level 1

8 points

Missing Windows 10 Partition - Huge problem!

Hello tech experts of Apple,

I own a Late 2013 MacBook Pro 512GB.

I was installing Windows 10 via a USB drive, and I allocated 100GB for the Windows Partition.

Towards the end of the partitioning process, my laptop crashed. I rebooted the computer, holding down the 'option' key, and I was able to choose and boot into the Windows installation screen. However, during the installation process, the partition page did not show the 100GB of storage I allocated for Windows, instead it only showed the total storage of my computer, which was 467GB. This means the 100GB partition was missing!

So I rebooted back to MacOS. I opened Bootcamp and the uninstall Windows partition option was greyed out. I opened Disk Utility and in the partition page I can't even see the Windows Bootcamp partition!

Now what do I do?

Thank you!

Posted on Apr 10, 2017 1:37 PM

52 replies

13yhby Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 10, 2017 7:43 PM in response to Loner T

gpt show: /dev/disk0: mediasize=500277790720; sectorsize=512; blocks=977105060

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 977105059

start size index contents

0 1 PMBR

1 1 Pri GPT header

2 32 Pri GPT table

34 409606

409640 975425848 1 GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

975835488 1269536 2 GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

977105024 3

977105027 32 Sec GPT table

977105059 1 Sec GPT header

Bens-MacBook-Pro-2:~ beny$

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Apr 11, 2017 5:35 AM in response to 13yhby

We need to rebuild the GPT. We can do it using the built-in GPT command, or using GPT Fdisk. GPT Fdisk is not available on OS X by default, unless installed. Check the GPT man page for the explanation of each command. You may need sudo in front of each command.

gpt destroy -r /dev/disk0

gpt create /dev/disk0

gpt add -i 1 -b 40 -s 409600 -t refi /dev/disk0

gpt add -i 2 -b 409640 -s 975425848 -t hfs /dev/disk0

gpt add -i 3 -b 975835488 -s 1269536 -t 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC /dev/disk0

After you complete these, please post the output of

sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

Do not reboot till the GPT is verified and stay away from other YouTube and similar tutorials 😉.

13yhby Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 11, 2017 6:05 AM in response to Loner T

So should I type "sudo" in front of all those commands? And by entering these into terminal:

gpt destroy -r /dev/disk0

gpt create /dev/disk0

gpt add -i 1 -b 40 -s 409600 -t refi /dev/disk0

gpt add -i 2 -b 409640 -s 975425848 -t hfs /dev/disk0

gpt add -i 3 -b 975835488 -s 1269536 -t 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC /dev/disk0

I won't risk losing data right?

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Apr 11, 2017 6:47 AM in response to 13yhby

Disable System Integrity Protection temporarily using the following steps and try again. Boot into Local Recovery (using Command+R - not Internet Recovery) and click on Utilities -> Terminal and type

csrutil status

csrutil disable

csrutil status

Boot normally and check the output of csrutil status which should now be disabled.

Now you can try running the GPT commands.

13yhby Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 11, 2017 6:59 AM in response to Loner T

csrutil status is disabled. I re-entered GPT commands and got this. 😟

Last login: Tue Apr 11 14:58:32 on ttys000

Bens-MacBook-Pro-2:~ beny$ gpt destroy -r /dev/disk0

gpt destroy: unable to open device '/dev/disk0': Permission denied

Bens-MacBook-Pro-2:~ beny$ gpt create /dev/disk0

gpt create: unable to open device '/dev/disk0': Permission denied

Bens-MacBook-Pro-2:~ beny$ gpt add -i 1 -b 40 -s 409600 -t refi /dev/disk0

usage: gpt add [-b lba] [-i index] [-s lba] [-t uuid] device ...

Bens-MacBook-Pro-2:~ beny$ gpt add -i 2 -b 409640 -s 975425848 -t hfs /dev/disk0

gpt add: unable to open device '/dev/disk0': Permission denied

Bens-MacBook-Pro-2:~ beny$ gpt add -i 3 -b 975835488 -s 1269536 -t 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC /dev/disk0

gpt add: unable to open device '/dev/disk0': Permission denied

Bens-MacBook-Pro-2:~ beny$

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Apr 11, 2017 7:55 AM in response to 13yhby

Restart your Mac and hold Command+R. Click on Utilities -> Terminal, and run

csrutil status

csrutil disable

csrutil status

Boot normally and check the output of csrutil status which should now be disabled.

Now run the individual gpt commands in the sequence.

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Apr 11, 2017 8:55 AM in response to 13yhby

Does diskutil list show disk0? Here is an example session on an external USB flash drive.

$ sudo gpt destroy /dev/disk1

$ sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk1

gpt show: /dev/disk1: mediasize=16008609792; sectorsize=512; blocks=31266816

gpt show: /dev/disk1: MBR not found at sector 0

start size index contents

0 31266816

$ sudo gpt create /dev/disk1

$ sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk1

gpt show: /dev/disk1: mediasize=16008609792; sectorsize=512; blocks=31266816

gpt show: /dev/disk1: PMBR at sector 0

gpt show: /dev/disk1: Pri GPT at sector 1

gpt show: /dev/disk1: Sec GPT at sector 31266815

start size index contents

0 1 PMBR

1 1 Pri GPT header

2 32 Pri GPT table

34 31266749

31266783 32 Sec GPT table

31266815 1 Sec GPT header

$ sudo gpt add -b 40 -i 1 -s 409600 -t efi /dev/disk1

/dev/disk1s1 added

$ sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk1

gpt show: /dev/disk1: mediasize=16008609792; sectorsize=512; blocks=31266816

gpt show: /dev/disk1: PMBR at sector 0

gpt show: /dev/disk1: Pri GPT at sector 1

gpt show: /dev/disk1: Sec GPT at sector 31266815

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 30857143

31266783 32 Sec GPT table

31266815 1 Sec GPT header

$ sudo gpt add -b 409640 -i 2 -s 30857143 -t hfs /dev/disk1

/dev/disk1s2 added

$ sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk1

gpt show: /dev/disk1: mediasize=16008609792; sectorsize=512; blocks=31266816

gpt show: /dev/disk1: PMBR at sector 0

gpt show: /dev/disk1: Pri GPT at sector 1

gpt show: /dev/disk1: Sec GPT at sector 31266815

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 30857143 2 GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

31266783 32 Sec GPT table

31266815 1 Sec GPT header

diskutil list disk1

/dev/disk1 (external, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *16.0 GB disk1

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1

2: Apple_HFS TESTGPT 15.8 GB disk1s2

13yhby Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 11, 2017 9:09 AM in response to Loner T

Bens-MacBook-Pro-2:~ beny$ diskutil list

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *500.3 GB disk0

1: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 499.4 GB disk0s1

2: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s2

This is what I have after entering diskutil list.

13yhby Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 10, 2017 2:03 PM in response to Loner T

Done! I see the missing 100GB!

What's the next step?

13yhby Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 10, 2017 1:45 PM in response to tjk

Is there a way to find the missing partition without the need to reinstall my entire MacOS?

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Apr 10, 2017 2:06 PM in response to 13yhby

Please post a text version. 😉

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Apr 10, 2017 2:24 PM in response to 13yhby

Yes, please type 'y' and press Return/Enter.

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Apr 10, 2017 3:36 PM in response to 13yhby

What is the version of OS X on your Mac?

13yhby Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 10, 2017 4:34 PM in response to Loner T

Version 10.12.4, macOS Sierra.

13yhby Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 10, 2017 5:10 PM in response to Loner T

I apologise, for specific circumstances, I am not able to connect to the WiFi during Internet Recovery. Is there anyway I can get around this roadblock?

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Missing Windows 10 Partition - Huge problem!