Cannot Partition or Create Volume in Disk Utility

I have a 3 TB disk that I used for video files that I now want to use for backup. So I wanted to erase and partition the drive to wipe it clean. So after going into Disk Utility and "trying" to erase and partition the drive, it now only shows the drive and no volumes. The problem is everything is pretty much greyed out and I cannot create or partition volumes. I don't know what I did wrong or what to do to fix it. I tried verifying and repairing the disc but that didn't do anything. The only buttons available are Verify, Info and Burn. What do I do to use the drive again? Please help, thank you

Apple has not provided an easy way to recover from this condition. If you can connect the drive to a computer running Windows or a version of OS X older than 10.7, erase it that way. Otherwise see this thread.

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Can't see partition option or button on Disk Utility

I just bought a 500G backup hard drive for 2 computers. I want to partition it into separate portions for each computer and possibly a third smaller portion for my portable drive.
My problem is that using Disk Utility v10.5.6 running on OS 10.4.9 I cannot anywhere see a button or pulldown menu item that will allow me to create partitions as directed in the Disk Utility help files. I've searched for information in apple.com and can only find articles identical to what I see in my help file. Am I missing something obvious? I know about partitioning, but have never actually done it before.
btw- my external backup drive is "My Book" with Retrospect 6.1 software. However I haven't started up the software to do a backup yet because I wanted to partition the disk first. Any ideas, help, advice?!?!?
This is my first use of this forum. Must I visit the webpage often, or will the replies post to my email address as well as this webpage? Thanks! dsimmonsusc
iMac G5 and iMac24" intel duo Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Hi dsimmonsusc
Welcome to the forums!
For your first question, does the hard drive appear at all in the left hand pane of Disk Utility? Make sure you select the top level of the hard drive, and not any existing partitions inside it. For example, on my Powerbook, I see the following:
55.9 GB HTS72606M9 ...
Macintosh HD
I have to select the "55.9GB..." level to see the Partition tab, which will appear between "Erase" and "RAID" in the right-hand pane. It sounds like "My Book" will be the equiivalent of "Macintosh HD", so you need to select the level above that.
About forum replies, you can set the preference yourself - go to My Settings in the sidebar to the right, scroll to the bottom, and you should see the default settings - "Always subscribe to topics I create" and "Send subsccription emails immediately". Change these if you like, but as they are, you'll get a new email whenever someone responds (like this one)! But you will have to click the link in the email and go to the site to view the reply.
Matt

Why is the "Partition" tab gone from my Disk Utility???

Why is the "Partition" tab gone from my Disk Utility? How do I partition a disk?

1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc One if you are trying to partition your startup drive and after the installer loads select your language then click on the Continue button. After the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
If you are trying to partition an external drive or a non-startup drive then simply open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
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. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process will take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending upon the drive size.
Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.

How can I reformat my hard drive if erase and partition don't work in disk utility and I get an error when I try to erase and install from the Leopard install disk? I have had several kernel panics, but the volume shows up in startup disk.

I have had several kernel panics on my iBook G4; the panic message shows up just after the desktop appears. Although the startup volume shows up in Startup Disk, the installation disk reports an error when I attempt an erase and install. Disk utility is unable either to erase or partition the hard drive. The hard drive shows up in disk utility, but the startup volume doesn’t HELP!!!

Do you have the original system discs that came with the iBook when it was new?
Which exact iBook model is it?
You can choose from this list:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/index-ibook.html
Erasing the disc and installing Mac OS X 10.5 will result in loss of the other applications (such as the iLife applications) which came pre-installed on the iBook.

How do I fix a volume if Disk utility says cannot be repaired?

Greetings all,
Am having some annoying issues with my PowerMac G5 hard drive, nothing very specific, just lots of small issues like crashes and hangs and the fan going into hyper-drive every now and then. Started up from my system disc/Disk Utility and ran repair permissions and repair disc.
On repair disk it gets to the end then says:
1 HFS volume repaired
1 volume could not be repaired
I cannot find out what this means so can anyone advise?
I also run repair permissions over and over and it never stops finding something to repair.
Any advice much appreciated.

Started up from my system disc/Disk Utility and ran repair permissions and repair disc.
Do you mean the System install DVD? - that's what you should do as you cannot repair an HD you're booted from.
On repair disk it gets to the end then says:
1 HFS volume repaired
1 volume could not be repaired
This is a little odd: is there another hard disk connected? Or possibly it was trying to repair the install disk as well?
I also run repair permissions over and over and it never stops finding something to repair.
Repairing permissions does thrown up a lot of things which can't be repaired: this is a bug arising from a system update and is harmless: you can ignore it.
You could try downloading Applejack which you run in single-user mode and provides an easy way of using the built-in disk repair procedure: this is quicker than starting from the DVD and you won't get any confusion with the DVD. It's quite safe: it doesn't do the check itself, just invokes the repair that you would get by typing arcane Linux codes. But note that you must run it only in single user mode (starting up and holding command-s while booting), never while booted normally.

Cannot repair disk errors for OSX boot volume using Disk Utility while booted from different disk

I have tried three times to repair my boot volume (OSX 10.6.8 Snow Leopard) permissions using Disk Utility while booted up on a different volume (running Snow Leopard 10.6.4). After hours of Disk Utility reporting that it HAD fixed the problems, an immediate click of "Verify permissions" immediately results in the apparently same continuous stream of permission errors.

Then better luck next time around. Here are some ideas for then:
How to Install Lion Successfully - You must have Snow Leopard 10.6.7 or 10.6.8 Installed
A. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions:
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.3.) if DW cannot fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall Snow Leopard.
B. Make a Bootable Backup Using Restore Option of Disk Utility:
Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
Select the destination volume from the left side list.
Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
Check the box labeled Erase destination.
Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the backup volume. Source means the internal startup volume.
C. Important: Please read before installing:
If you have a FireWire hard drive connected, disconnect it before installing the update unless you will boot from this drive and install the update on it. Reconnect it and turn it back on after installation is complete and you've restarted.
You may experience unexpected results if you have installed third-party system software modifications, or if you have modified the operating system through other means. (This does not apply to normal application software installation.)
The installation process should not be interrupted. If a power outage or other interruption occurs during installation, use the standalone installer (see below) from Apple Downloads to update. While the installation is in progress do not use the computer.
D. To upgrade to Lion:
Purchase the Lion Installer from the Mac App Store. The download will start quickly. Lion is nearly 4 GBs so a fast internet connection is essential. Download time could run upwards of 4 hours depending upon network conditions and server demands at the time.
Boot From The Lion Installer which is located in your Applications folder.
Follow instructions for installation.

Partition Tab not showing in Disk Utility

Hello again everyone,
I'm attempting to partition my LaCie 2TB (RAID1) Disk in Disk Utility, however the partition tab is not showing up..
There are 4 items visible in the Disk Utility window:
1) the Internal OS Disk
2) the LaCie 2TB (RAID1) Disk
3) & 4) the two slices/partitions of the LaCie mirrored RAID
I select the 2TB LaCie RAID1 Disk, however it only shows the "First Aid" & "RAID" tabs.
The "Partition" (as well as "Erase" & "Restore") tabs are not available or shown.
When I select the Internal OS Disk all the Tabs are shown, and when the 2 slices or partitions of the RAID1 are selected it shows the "First Aid, Erase, Partition, Restore" tabs..
Am I missing a step here?? I know I'm not supposed to select the slices/partitions of the RAID, but instead to select the LaCie 2TB Disk itself, however this is the only option which does not show any "Partition" Tab..
Any assistance is GREATLY APPRECIATED.. Thank you!

Have you tried this:
Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. 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 two. 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 Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
I'm sort of confused as to why you would partition a 3 GB drive into just a single 1 TB partition, but that's what I understood you to say. Is this 3 TB drive installed in an enclosure that actually supports a drive of that size? Older enclosures may not and should not be used.

Erasing Volumes using Disk Utility

I used Disk Utility to make copies of numerous cds and dvds. Doing this created a long list of volumes on my harddrive that I can not delete using erase or erase empty space (these fields are grayed out). I tried booting from the OSX disc however when I did that the volumes weren't even visibile. I also tried converting the disk images to a writeable format. All this did was make a copy of the existing volume. Does anyone know how to delete Volumes in another way, either using disk utiltiy or other software?
Thanks,
Dean
Macbook Mac OS X (10.4.7) disk utility, delete or erase volumes

If you are getting nothing for file system what has gone wrong is something in your computer/operating system, not on the iPod.
Try running Scandisk first, then formatting or, at this is not recommended generally, if that doesn't work partition the iPod and then format it.
But you might also want to consider a reload of XP. I reiterate, if it gave you nothing to select under file system this is most likely a problem with your operating system or USB chain.

Are you able to do a non destructively enlarge a volume using Disk Utility?

I have searched a number of articles in the forums, many archived, and I haven't found a clear answer to whether you can enlarge a volume non destructively using Disk Utility.
I am running a G4 PPC OSX 10.4.11 and am working with a Maxtor 300GB FireWire HDD. The volume I am trying to enlarge is the second volume on the Maxtor with free space following it.
I have followed the *Disk Utility Help file* on how to *enlarge a volume*, but cannot complete the procedure because *Step 5 refers to an Apply button*, *but there is none apparent*. There is a Partition button available but then that warns of destroying all the volumes on the disk.
Disk Utility Version 10.5.6.
Thanks for the help.

Your drive just be partitioned using GUID which is only available for Intel machines. An APM partitioned drive cannot be resized on the fly using Disk Utility on a PPC Mac. There are some third-party partitioning utilities like iPartition that may be able to do so on a PPC machine.

Problem partitioning external hard drive with Disk Utility

I'm trying to create a new partition in disk utility in an external hard drive using disk utility and every time I click Apply it says that "Disk Utility has lost its connection with the Disk Management Tool and can't continue. Quit and relaunch Disk Utility". It is a 3TB hard disk and I already created the first partition of 2 TB, and when I click the + symbol to add a 1 TB partition and click Apply is when the error shows up. I have restart the mac, unplugged the hard disk but the error still shows up. Anyone has any idea??? Thanks for your help in advance
David

I solved this issue. I was able to create the partition with the format MS-DOS and then I erased it to the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format.
Now it is working OK. Hope this help someone

External HDD is seen as drive but no as volume in Disk Utility (unmountable

I've unplugged my external HDD without unmounting it and tried to hook it up via eSata to my MBP.
Now Leopard won't see the Drive neither via USB neither via eSATA (i use expresscard/34).
The drive is seen as USB device in Disk Utility, but not as Volume.
The Dtive is formatted and partitioned for OSX. Has data on it.
What can I do to make the drive appear again?
Resetting PRAM and SMC didn't help.

of course you should be aware that to run esata external drive is not hot swappable. user must power on before Mac and power off after Mac.
even though you did the smc reset did you in fact disconnect all devices, and that means the externals to the point of powering them down and removing the connecting cables from all devices.

Format External Drive for HFS+ volume and FAT32 volume with Disk Utility

I just bought a Seagate 1tb external drive from OWC and I want to partition it into a HFS+ (journaled I assume) volume and a NTFS volume. Objective: To manually backup critical folders from my wife’s Dell (running XP) to the NTFS volume and critical Mac folders from my PowerBookG4 to the HFS volume.
My plan was to have my Mac (10.4.11) do the partitioning into a 350gb FAT32 volume for Windows and a 650gb HFS+ volume for Mac – then take the external drive to the Dell and have the Dell reformat the 350gb FAT drive to NTFS.
First question – Is this possible overall?
Second question – I haven’t been able to get my Disk Utility on my Mac to do the initial partitioning into one HFS volume and one FAT32 volume the way I want it. Is this step possible?
I’m happy to be more specific about the steps I’ve taken if the basic plan is good. From what I’ve found in some forums so far, I think I’m on the right track but am unable to execute it. Thank you.

Thank you Limnos for all your help. Last night I tried again and it worked! I’ not totally sure on what I did right but:
• Both volumes on the new ext. driver were HFS (from my last attempt the other day) so I looked into a simple erase of one partition/volume into a different format, but DU did not offer a way of erasing it into MS-DOS(FAT32). But I think I did a simple HFS erase anyway of the volume I wanted to format to FAT32. There was nothing “in” that volume because this was a new external drive but I figured it could not hurt anything.
• So then, I think I went back to Partition, locked the partition/volume that I wanted to keep in HFS+ for my Mac files, and (re)partitioned the other just erased volume to MS-DOS. I think I did it under the MBR option.
• It worked! Not sure why but my Mac recognized both volumes one as HFS, the other as FAT32. Maybe someone will find this useful some day!!
• Then, I hooked up the drive to my work Dell, the Dell found only the FAT32 drive (as expected), and I executed a short simple easy command I found on ehow.com (search for ‘convert FAT32 to NTFS’) to make that volume NTFS.
Thanks again Limnos and everyone else!

Boot Camp partition won't mount in Disk Utility all of a sudden

I used to have a Windows 7 Boot Camp partition set-up and working perfectly.
Turned on my 2009 Mac Mini today and couldn't see it in the Finder. Opened Disk Utility, it was there, but grayed out. Right clicked and selected "Mount BOOTCAMP", got "mount failed"
Tried verifying and repairing disk, but no joy. So I removed the boot camp partition using Boot Camp Assistant and started again. Went fine, installed Windows 7 fine.
Booted back into Snow Leopard so I could unpair my bluetooth keyboard (I've found that I can only set-up the bluetooth keyboard in Windows 7 if I unpair it in OSX first). Again, Boot Camp partition doesn't show in the finder, and is grayed out in Disk Utility.
I googled this problem, and found a few people mentioning that NTFS drivers in OSX (e.g. MacFUSE, paragon etc) can cause issues because they conflict with Snow Leopard's own NTFS driver. I did have MacFUSE installed, so I removed it, but it didn't seem to change anything.
Any suggestions?

solution!
install NTFS-3G (http://macntfs-3g.blogspot.com/)
open disk utility and mount your greyed out partition (NTFS-3G will mount it)
unmount it
open system preferences, go to tuxera NTFS pref, second tab (Volumes)
make sure your windows 7 partition is selected from drop down menu then click "disable tuxera NTFS"
at this point i rebooted into windows, then rebooted back into snow leopard. my windows partition was once again mounted and visible in Finder
hope this works for you guys!
Message was edited by: colmiak

Failed Volume in Disk Utility

In Disk Utility I'm getting this message, as best that I can remember: "thread count is 420 should be 0, one volume cannot be repaired." Any suggestions?

In Disk Utility I'm getting this message, as best that I can remember: "thread count is 420 should be 0, one volume cannot be repaired." Any suggestions?
When Disk Utility can't repair something, in most cases a program like Disk Warrior or TechTool Pro can make the repair. Most people use Disk Warrior.

How to move a partition to the top of Disk Utility pile?

I had Lion and SL installed in two separte partitions. But since I didnt like Lion I decided to erase Lion's partition and then fuse the free left space with the SL partition so I could have more HD space. The thing is disk utility only alows to expanded downwards from the down border of the partition. As you can see I've got tons of free space above Macintosh HD 2. 224GB. I want to move Macintosh HD 2 up so then I can expand it to "catch" all that free space. Do I make any sense? I don't want 2 Partitions, just one! With SL. But I can't expand it up only down
Please help guys Its killing me... didnt find any solution to this particular problem here.
Thanks in advanced
- Tiago

Like Neil said, you have to clone your SL off to a external drive, option boot from it, format the internal drive again so it's one partition, then reverse clone SL back onto it.
Doing it all on the same drive is rather risky and might not be possible if the second partition is larger with data than the first. A clone on a external drive will also give bootable backup in case all heck breaks loose.
Important thing is that the entire drive is erased, (select the Toshiba, Western Digital, or Seagate internal "media" on the far left side) as there is a hidden Lion Recovery partition that also needs to be removed.
So you really have 3 (actually 4 counting EFI partition) partitions on your boot drive if Lion is installed so you need to reduce that to two (SL and the hidden EFI, Disk Utility creates)
It's easier than it sounds really, make sure all other drives, media is removed so there are no accidents.
1: get a blank external drive, use Disk Utility to Erase Security Option > Zero All Data and format 1 partition, Option: GUID OS X Extended in the Partition Tab.
2: free Carbon Copy Cloner to clone internal SL to external (default settings are fine for first clone)
3: hold option boot the external SL drive, use Disk Utility (on the external drive!) to erase the whole internal drive media
4: use CCC to reverse clone onto the internal drive
5: use free Onyx and run ALL maintainence and cleaning aspects and reboot at the end when finished (cleans up caches, makes your machine run faster)
http://www.titanium.free.fr/
You can learn all how to do that in my huge thread here
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201

Cannot Partition or Create Volume in Disk Utility

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