Bootcamp "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition" error.

Here are the results:

diskutil eraseVolume jhfs+ BC1 disk1s4

Started erase on disk1s4 NO NAME

Unmounting disk

Erasing

Initialized /dev/rdisk1s4 as a 100 MB case-insensitive HFS Plus volume with a 512k journal

Mounting disk

Finished erase on disk1s4 BC1

Admins-iMac:~ kris$ diskutil eraseVolume jhfs+ BC2 disk1s5

Started erase on disk1s5 NO NAME

Unmounting disk

Erasing

Initialized /dev/rdisk1s5 as a 100 MB case-insensitive HFS Plus volume with a 512k journal

Mounting disk

Finished erase on disk1s5 BC2

Admins-iMac:~ kris$ diskutil eraseVolume jhfs+ BC3 disk1s7

Started erase on disk1s7

Unmounting disk

Error: -69874: Couldn't modify partition map

Admins-iMac:~ kris$ diskutil mergePartitions jhfs+ BCMP disk1s4 disk1s7

Merging partitions into a new partition

Start partition: disk1s4 BC1

Finish partition: disk1s7

Started partitioning on disk1

Merging partitions

Waiting for partitions to activate

Growing disk

Finished partitioning on disk1

/dev/disk1 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *2.0 TB disk1

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1

2: Apple_CoreStorage Macintosh HD 1.7 TB disk1s2

3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk1s3

4: Apple_HFS BC1 266.9 GB disk1s4

Admins-iMac:~ kris$ diskutil list

/dev/disk0 (internal):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme 121.3 GB disk0

1: EFI EFI 314.6 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_CoreStorage Macintosh HD 120.9 GB disk0s2

3: Apple_Boot Boot OS X 134.2 MB disk0s3

/dev/disk1 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *2.0 TB disk1

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1

2: Apple_CoreStorage Macintosh HD 1.7 TB disk1s2

3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk1s3

4: Apple_HFS BC1 266.9 GB disk1s4

/dev/disk2 (internal, virtual):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD +1.8 TB disk2

Logical Volume on disk0s2, disk1s2

F688A158-319F-446D-B17E-0B4D2B6CABB5

Unencrypted Fusion Drive

/dev/disk5 (disk image):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme +9.3 GB disk5

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk5s1

2: Apple_HFS InstallESD 9.0 GB disk5s2

**I went to Disk Utility and now see that the partition is now named BC1 and the - is available to press:

Now waiting on next steps!

Wow thanks for that link, I have added that to my list.

I'm running into another issue when trying to run Bootcamp. It seems the computer is having an issue portioning the hard drive as it stalls during the portioning disk progress bar, and then an error appears:

So, I run the First Aid in Disk Utility and everything checks out fine. I look up the error and find another post of yours that mentions to try and "manually" add the partition using Disk Utility, making sure to use FAT32. I couldn't because of this error:

Not sure what to do at this point. I ran the follow per your post (Bootcamp Cannot Partition Disk):

diskutil repairDisk disk0

Repairing the partition map might erase disk0s1, proceed? (y/N) y

Started partition map repair on disk0

Checking prerequisites

Checking the partition list

Adjusting partition map to fit whole disk as required

Checking for an EFI system partition

Checking the EFI system partition's size

Checking the EFI system partition's file system

Checking the EFI system partition's folder content

Checking all HFS data partition loader spaces

Checking booter partitions

Checking booter partition disk0s3

Verifying file system

Volume is already unmounted

Performing fsck_hfs -fn -x /dev/rdisk0s3

Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume

Checking extents overflow file

Checking catalog file

Checking multi-linked files

Checking catalog hierarchy

Checking extended attributes file

Checking volume bitmap

Checking volume information

The volume Boot OS X appears to be OK

File system check exit code is 0

Restoring the original state found as unmounted

Reviewing boot support loaders

Checking Core Storage Physical Volume partitions

Verifying storage system

Performing fsck_cs -n -x --lv --uuid 0F34B518-B384-480A-8603-F77D4074DFBF

Checking volume

disk1s2: Scan for Volume Headers

disk0s2: Scan for Volume Headers

disk1s2: Scan for Disk Labels

disk0s2: Scan for Disk Labels

Logical Volume Group 0F34B518-B384-480A-8603-F77D4074DFBF spans 2 devices

disk0s2+disk1s2: Scan for Metadata Volume

Logical Volume Group has a 66 MB Metadata Volume with double redundancy

Start scanning metadata for a valid checkpoint

Load and verify Segment Headers

Load and verify Checkpoint Payload

Load and verify Transaction Segment

Load and verify Transaction Segment

Load and verify Transaction Segment

Load and verify Transaction Segment

Load and verify Transaction Segment

Incorporate 4 newer non-checkpoint transactions

Load and verify Virtual Address Table

Load and verify Segment Usage Table

Load and verify Metadata Superblock

Load and verify Logical Volumes B-Trees

Logical Volume Group contains 1 Logical Volume

Load and verify E23859DD-F40F-485B-878A-4D0C31084FEB

Load and verify FB7B9C03-3203-43DA-A86A-6D8CF4CB7017

Load and verify Freespace Summary

Load and verify Block Accounting

Load and verify Live Virtual Addresses

Newest transaction commit checkpoint is valid

Load and verify Segment Cleaning

The volume 0F34B518-B384-480A-8603-F77D4074DFBF appears to be OK

Storage system check exit code is 0

Repairing storage system

Performing fsck_cs -y -x --lv --uuid 0F34B518-B384-480A-8603-F77D4074DFBF

The volume disk1s2+disk0s2 cannot be repaired when it is in use

Checking volume

disk1s2: Scan for Volume Headers

disk0s2: Scan for Volume Headers

disk1s2: Scan for Disk Labels

disk0s2: Scan for Disk Labels

Logical Volume Group 0F34B518-B384-480A-8603-F77D4074DFBF spans 2 devices

disk0s2+disk1s2: Scan for Metadata Volume

Logical Volume Group has a 66 MB Metadata Volume with double redundancy

Start scanning metadata for a valid checkpoint

Load and verify Segment Headers

Load and verify Checkpoint Payload

Load and verify Transaction Segment

Load and verify Transaction Segment

Load and verify Transaction Segment

Load and verify Transaction Segment

Load and verify Transaction Segment

Incorporate 4 newer non-checkpoint transactions

Load and verify Virtual Address Table

Load and verify Segment Usage Table

Load and verify Metadata Superblock

Load and verify Logical Volumes B-Trees

Logical Volume Group contains 1 Logical Volume

Load and verify E23859DD-F40F-485B-878A-4D0C31084FEB

Load and verify FB7B9C03-3203-43DA-A86A-6D8CF4CB7017

Load and verify Freespace Summary

Load and verify Block Accounting

Load and verify Live Virtual Addresses

Newest transaction commit checkpoint is valid

Load and verify Segment Cleaning

The volume 0F34B518-B384-480A-8603-F77D4074DFBF appears to be OK

Storage system check exit code is 0

Incorrect size for volume "Macintosh HD"

Adjusting volume "Macintosh HD"

Growing Logical Volume

Resizing Core Storage Logical Volume structures

Resized Core Storage Logical Volume to 2,114,568,323,072 bytes

Growing file system

The partition map appears to be OK

Finished partition map repair on disk0

Hey Loner T,

I am also having some issues with trying to remove the windows partition through boot camp assistant and it says that "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition". I have tried using "diskutil eraseVolume fat32 BOOTCAMP disk0s4" but still doesn't help. Here is my diskutil list:

Please help me. I have been stuck trying to figure out how to get rid of this bootcamp. Thank you.

Hi Loner T,

Thanks for the quick responses. I'm having the same error. In my case, I never actually managed to install Windows. Rather, the error resulted from me not completely finishing the partitioning process after deciding I might want to allocate more space (originally, I only allocated 50 GB). When it asked for my admin credentials to finish the process, I decided to just click cancel and redo the process, but ran into the error. This is what I see from diskutil list:

Just want to make sure I do this correctly. Could you provide the commands I need to do so?

Hi Loner,

First of all, I'd like to thank you for being so active these past few years helping everybody out on this issue! You are truly a godsend!!! However, I've read through several pages of this thread and I couldn't find a case the same as mine.

Here's my diskutil list :

I've only tried diskutil eraseVolume fat32 BOOTCAMP disk0s4 but the problem of "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored into a single partition" error still remains.

Any help is appreciated, Loner!

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *251.0 GB
disk0

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB
disk0s1

2: FFFFFFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFF-FFFFFFFFFFFF 210.0 GB
disk0s2

3: Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP 40.7 GB disk0s3

/dev/disk1 (synthesized):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: APFS Container Scheme - +210.0 GB
disk1

Physical Store disk0s2

1: APFS Volume Macintosh HD 198.7 GB
disk1s1

2: APFS Volume Preboot 44.0 MB disk1s2

3: APFS Volume Recovery 512.4 MB
disk1s3

4: APFS Volume VM 5.4 GB disk1s4

It shows that I have 40GB on bootcamp it means the windows has been delete it right?

How I can move the space to Macintosh? the error message still appear when I open BootCamp

Hi Loner T,

I'm getting the same error message as the thread heading. trying to install windows and it suddenly stopped, saying my drive can't be partitioned. I'm not at all tech savvy, so please bear with me! I took a screen shot of what seems to be useful to you judging from the other posts. thanks so much!

zayn6ix wrote:

Hello Loner T,

I followed what you said earlier and now I am trying to install windows using BCA.
I keep getting this error:

The disk util output is here:

You have missing disk space in the container. Run

diskutil apfs resizeContainer disk1 0g

and post the output of

diskutil list

Hey Loner T

Can you help me with this issue. At first, I had the Windows Partition and a Windows Recovery, so I did the "diskutil eraseVolume jhfs+ BC1 disk0s3" as mentioned on one of the earlier posts. But I couldn't do the disk0s4 because it doesnt exist. I end up with these instead.

In Terminal run

diskutil eraseVolume fat32 BOOTCAMP disk0s4

and retry removing the partition using BC Assistant only. Do not use Disk Utility.

Thanks for the swift reply, loner, i have posted a new discussion: Bootcamp "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition" error.

And unfortunately, i can't, i've been on beta software for over a year now and i have a lot of files on my pc now that i cant afford to lose by going back with time machine.

chkchk33 wrote:

Out of curiosity - where can I find out more about this? For instance, why did neither diskutil list nor diskutil apfs list show any reference to there being a 'fat32' formatted BOOTCAMP disk from what I can see, but instead showed APFS?

The remaining container has Macintosh HD, so it should not be touched. The standard High Sierra layout has only one container, so the second container is not expected. The second container was created, due to failure of BCA to remove the Windows partition correctly.

chkchk33 wrote:

What made you want to run diskutil apfs list in the first place and why did you delete in the order Volume-Container-Volume.

A Container is created first, a volume is created within a container, so the deletion order is reversed. It also exposes the underlying disk partition (disk0s3 in your case), which is formatted by default as HFS+.

chkchk33 wrote:

Sorry, I don't expect a full answer, but I am curious to learn more about this.

See these additional references.

Prepare for APFS in macOS High Sierra - Apple Support

How to choose between APFS and Mac OS Extended when formatting a disk for Mac - Apple Support

If you have a test Mac that you are willing to wipe and re-install, it is the easiest method of teaching yourself this stuff. Apple also offers courses, which I highly recommend (despite never having taken one myself - https://training.apple.com/us/en/courses).

Also being the Home IT Tech support person for gadgets and computers, it is also a bit of fun to play with this stuff. I did Storage and SysAdmin work in the 80s/90s and learned some of this stuff. ASC will also help you learn new things. Lots of avenues, if you have an interest. Peer training/learning/mentoring is very useful. 😉

nicojbn wrote:

Hello I have the same problem I want to restore the startup disk as a single partition

Here is the diskutil list:

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *251.0 GB
disk0

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB
disk0s1

2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 141.4 GB
disk0s2

3: Microsoft Basic Data 650.0 MB
disk0s3

4: Apple_HFS BOOTCAMP 100.2 GB
disk0s4

5: Windows Recovery 471.9 MB
disk0s5

Can you start a new discussion in Boot Camp? The 650MB disk0s3 should be your local Recovery HD, but it is incorrectly formatted? Were the partitions modified in any way before you arrived at this state?

So I can restart without fear?

Yes.

Is there something I can do clean up the leftovers from BootCamp?

Can you start a new discussion Boot Camp - Apple Community to avoid confusion with this discussion?