Disk Utility doesn't erase a partition...

Hi.
I know, there are many topics about partitioning and BootCamp, but none could help me so far...
I just tried to install Windows 7 on my iMac...I got the black screen, now I found the solution on the AppleSupport page, but that's not the point.
Since I couldn't use the Windows Partition, I tried to erase it with BootCamp. It said that after the repartitioning, the size my Macintosh HD would have been 465 GB (it was 500 at the beginning) so it was deleting Windows, but not resizing the partition.
So I tried to initialize with Disk Utility, and I ended up with a partition initialized in HFS+, but that I cannot edit.
I'd like to erase it and get free space, in order to expand my Mac OS X partition, but for some reason I can't.
I even downloaded the Demo of Drive Genius, and it says that that partition is "read only" so it cannnot erase it.
How can I get my 40GB back??

You blew whatever chance you had.
And no, using Boot Camp Assistant, which is correct way to remove it, does not "return" all the space in every case. Some is "lost."
Using DU though your only choice is to delete the volume you created and go from there, and try to extend.
But never work without a safety net, a backup or two.
You don't need DG3. It is good to have Disk Warrior. But your issue is with the partition tables, and not a file system error. iPartition might. But in reality, SuperDuper is your best bet: clone your system and reformat your drive (booted from your clone) and do a restore.
Try again with Disk Utility to remove the space.

Similar Messages

Disk utility doesn't allow to partition

when I pressing the button "apply" it sends this error what's wrong?

Unfortunately, your computer's age has nothing to do with a disk failure.
Take no offense, but you seem to know little about computers and Mac, and I'm curious of why you wish to partition your disk. Usually, only advanced users need other partitions, for very specific use. You NEVER partition your disk for the pleasure, or just because someone told you to do so. You need to know exactly what you want to do.
Anyway, as CSound1, Eric Root and el_mancebo said, you need to :
1- check your disk health. To do so :
- boot in recovery mode (+R or ALT on boot)
- go to disk utility
- choose your disk
- in SOS tab, repair permissions and repair disk
2- backup your stuff (always in recovery) :
- get an external disk (blank and bigger than the datas on your disk, for instance, if you have 310GB used on your hard disk, your need a 320 GB external disk at least)
- go to disk utility
- choose your hard disk
- go to Restore tab
- choose your hard disk as Source, your external disk as Destination and click on Restaure.
BEWARE : you need a blank external disk, as it will wipe out all datas on this disk
When everything above is done, and only at that moment (or you may lose everything on your computer),
3- partition your disk (recovery mode) :
- go to disk utility
- choose not your system disk, but the physical hard disk (1st line, with a name dispalying disk capacity, name the manufacturer gave to it, and "Media"
- go to Partition tab
- choose how you want to partition your disk
Afterwards, you may need to recover your backup.

Lion Disk Utility doesn't finish erase

Since installing Lion (clean install) disk utility doesn’t finish erasing or partitioning external disks. I used the disk utility from the install drive to erase the internal drive before installing Lion, this worked fine, but ever since it failed to erase any of my external drives. It starts of as normal but the progress bar stops half way and just never finish. Disk Utility does respond.
I tried different format options, repair and verify but none of the processes finish.
I went back to the install drive that I used to erase the internal drive before Lion install and it also didn’t want to finish.
I copied the old disk utility from Snow Leopard to my desktop, it opens with a warning, but gives the same outcome.
Any advice?

I'm having the same problem on my late 2010 Air with Lion installed over Snow Leopard.
I've tried several usb memory drives and several external harddrives...all the same problem with the progress bar getting stuck halfway. wether I select 'partition' or 'erase'.
the 'genius' at the mac store told me that he advises a clean install of Lion. I did...or I thought I did but all my files were still in place and the problem was still there. Guess I will have to wipe the drive first.
Also, unable to repair permissions on the MAC drive.
But it is remarkable how few people seem to experience this problem thus far. A google search hardly returns any results.

Disk Utility: MediaKit reports no such partition

What is up with my disk?
On my brand new mac mini, I played around with resizing partitions in Disk Utility, it worked fine, and I eventually returned it to the original single-partition state.
Then, I ran boot camp, and told it to create a 10 GB partition.
Then, I installed Linux (64-bit Ubuntu) -- from the Linux installer I deleted the windows partition, and a zero-size partition before it, and put Linux swap and ext3 partitions in that space.
Now, from the mac side, if I try to shrink the boot partition again, I get the error "MediaKit reports no such partition".
Help? One potentially related anomaly is that Disk Utility shows my Linux ext3 partition format as "MS-DOS (FAT)" but the "fdisk" command correctly lists it as "Linux files*"
Another disturbing thing is that if I type "sudo pdisk" on the Macintosh command line, and give the 'L' command to list partitions on all disks, pdisk exits with the error "Floating point exception"
Here's the log from Disk Utility:
2007-11-04 00:09:19 -0400: Disk Utility started.
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Preparing to partition disk: “Hitachi HTS541612J9SA00 Media”
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Partition Scheme: GUID Partition Table
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: 3 volumes will be created
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400:
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Partition 1
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Name : “Macintosh HD”
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Size : 90.1 GB
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Filesystem : Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Do not erase contents
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400:
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Partition 2
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Name : “Linux Swap”
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Size : 488.3 MB
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Filesystem : Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Do not erase contents
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400:
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Partition 3
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Name : “DISK0S4”
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Size : 10.2 GB
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Filesystem : MS-DOS (FAT32)
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Do not erase contents
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400:
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Modifying partition map.
2007-11-04 00:09:40 -0400: Partition failed for disk Hitachi HTS541612J9SA00 Media MediaKit reports no such partition.
2007-11-04 00:09:41 -0400: Partition complete.
2007-11-04 00:09:41 -0400:
2007-11-04 00:09:41 -0400: Error with partition: MediaKit reports no such partition.

It doesn't sound like you've actually tried reformatting the entire drive, just resizing partitions. There is absolutely no reason why mountability should enter into the picture at all since you can't format a drive if any volumes are mounted.

Disk utility can't repair a partition on external hard drive

I have a 1TB Western Digital external FW drive that's only a couple years old (2 or 3, probably). I have it split into partitions, one of which I'm using for Time Machine. The non-Time Machine partition checked out fine with DIsk Utility, but when I ran Disk Utility on the Time Machine partition, I received this message:
Disk Utility stopped reparing "Time Machine." Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
Does this mean the drive itself is failing? I erased the Time Machine partition and recreated it through Disk Utility, and then I verified it. Everything checked out okay, but I want to make sure, especially since I'm hosting my iTunes music in the other partition (it's backed up to a 2nd external drive, so if the drive does die, at least I don't lose everything).
Before this problem happened, both partitions dropped off the Finder and the light on the drive went off. I unplugged the drive and plugged it back in again a couple times, but nothing happened. Finally, the light went back on after plugging it back in for the 3rd or 4th time, but I'm wondering if the drive could be going bad, which would surprise me since it isn't very old.

Brad Cook wrote:
Disk Utility stopped reparing "Time Machine." Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
Does this mean the drive itself is failing?
Possibly, but not necessarily. The File System on the disk was so badly corrupted that Disk Utility couldn't fix it. That might indicate a problem with the drive. It's not unusual for consumer-quality (ie, inexpensive) drives to fail after 2-3 years, although many will run for several years. It's a bit of a crapshoot.
Before this problem happened, both partitions dropped off the Finder and the light on the drive went off.
Whatever caused that is another good possibility -- if a drive is improperly disconnected, OSX can't "close it out" properly, and that can cause damage to the file system. Sometimes Disk Utility can fix it, sometimes it can't. And sometimes heavy-duty 3rd-party disk repair apps like DiskWarrior can fix things Disk Utility can't.
A power dip or spike could have caused it, or an overheated electronic component, etc. If it has it's own power supply, be sure it's on a good (ie, not cheap) surge protector or U.P.S. system.
Otherwise, keep an eye on it. If you don't have "secondary" backups, this would be an excellent time to get another drive for that purpose. See #27 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions for some suggestions.
Bottom line: personally, I'd not trust my only backups to that drive.
(But then, I'd never trust my backups to any single drive, no matter how new or high-quality.)

Are my photos completely gone if i went into disk utility and clicked erase, or can i recover them?

i wanted to put my macbook pro back to factory settings and re installl the disk. so i went into disk utility and clicked erase, after that i realized i did not put my pictures on my external drive and now i'm wonder even though i pushed erase in disk utility for my HD are my photos just gone off my computer and hidden in files that i have to recover. because i tried a few softwares that i downloaded and i found some of my photos but couldnt get them cause the software was a demo.
main question is even though i clicked erase HD and my pictures aren't on when i re install the mac DVD can i still recover them somehow??

I'm assuming that you were booted from the Mac install disk or recovery partition when you clicked Erase? (It's impossible to erase a disk you're booted from, at least using Disk Utility).
Do you have a backup of your computer, perhaps using Time Machine?
If not, and you still want to recover your pictures, first, STOP. Do not re-install Mac OS X. Installing the system and applications will overwrite your hard drive and potentially permanently lose your deleted files.
The only way you can retrieve your files is by using data recovery software such as Data Rescue. No, it's not cheap, but you have to decide what your photos are worth to you. You would need to run it from another Mac, ideally, and connect to your Mac using target mode.
If you're uncomfortable with that, you should seek a local reputable Mac/data recovery consultant.
The utility kaz-k points you to is not a solution to your problem. It's an Unerase Trash program.
Matt

Disk Utility missing the Erase tab

Tonight, I was attempting to reformat my Mac Mini FileVault encrypted hard drive. I have Mountain Lion 10.8 installed on it, and I have a bootable Mountain Lion USB stick.
I booted from the USB device, and first tried to format. Everything was greyed out. I had to "Unlock" the encrypted drive and then it was available.
I then tried to do an Erase, and it failed with an error I didn't catch, and then only "Macintosh HD" shows up (no volume below it in Disk Utility) and the Erase tab is unavailable. The Partition tab is also locked and nothing can be chosen.
I can Verify and Repair with no problems, but I am unable to repartition or erase the drive.
Any thoughts?

I ran in to this issue once again, when trying to clean install Mountain Lion on my MacBook. I rebooted to the Recovery partition, and tried to format/erase using Disk Utility and that failed and left the system where only the drive (Macintosh HD) would show up, and Erase was greyed out. I was unable to format using the command line due to seeing the message:
"The disk is in use by Core Storage as a Physical Volume"
I found a solution here:
http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/59026/how-to-install-mountain-lion-on-a -disk-that-cannot-be-formatted-in-recovery-mode
See the post by Anderson, where he shows how to clobber this Core Storage volume:
Basically, you need to run diskutil CoreStorage list from Terminal. Identify the logical CoreStorage volume from that list and note the UUID string.
Then type diskutil CoreStorage delete UUID where UUID is the string you identified.
You can then partition with Disk Utility and run a Mountain Lion install.
This did the trick for me, and I was then able to 0-byte format the drive and do a clean install over the internet.

Disk Utility doesn't recognize HD. Installed new one, same problem.

Hello,
I have a MBP. It suddenly wouldn't boot up, and had the flashing question mark folder upon starting up, so I figured that the HD needed to be replaced. I ordered a brand new drive, and when I try to install Leopard, it doesn't see the new hard drive. I open Disk Utility to partition the drive to GUID, but Disk Utility doesn't even see the new drive. Just my optical drive is listed.
I hooked up the old hard drive externally to another mac, and it appears to be working just fine. So it isn't a bad drive as I had originally thought.
What else could be wrong? The laptop fails to see any internal hard drives. Is there anything else that I can do to fix this problem? Thanks.

Purely conjecture, your serial ATA controller may be bad (or the cable). I assume nothing shows in System Profiler/Hardware/Serial-ATA either. Maybe try the SMC reset?
-If the computer is on, turn it off.
-Disconnect the AC Adapter and remove the computer's battery.
-Press and hold down the power button for 5 seconds and then release the button.
-Reconnect the battery and AC Adapter.
-Press the Power button to restart the computer.

Disk Utility failure to erase/initialize

I have a 1 TB WD MyBook Studio Edition. I sent this drive to a firm that does video conversions (from film to digital). Drive returned with expected (good) results, but now I can't write anything onto the drive - says I can only read. So I copied all files on the drive to another disk, then used Disk Utility to initialize. First Aid tab action buttons are all greyed out. Erase tab shows default format as MS DOS. I changed to Apple Extended (Journaled) and pressed OK. Process starts, but fails after a few seconds with error "Write Failure". Now disk won't mount when I attach it - only Disk Utility "sees" drive, but fails each time I try to Initialize/Erase.
What's up, and how do I correct?
Thanks

If you haven't fixed this yet, you may be able to use Disk Utility to completely erase and reformat the disk.
Click the top line of the drive, then the Partition tab. Click +1 partition+ (or however many you want) under *Volume Scheme*, then Options at the bottom. Select GUID for an Intel Mac, +Apple Partition Map+ for a PPC Mac. Setup the partition(s) you want to use on the Mac as +OSX Extended (Journaled),+ then click Apply.

Macbook Pro: Disk Utility doesn't see my HD

Hi guys,
My Macbook Pro has been running slower lately, but I honestly didn't think too much about it...until today. It's just over a year old, running Mac OS X, and I mostly use Safari as my browser, but I have to use Firefox for my online classes. Today, Firefox froze up and quit responding, so I Force Quit it. A few minutes after this, Safari did the same thing, and then it was my entire desktop. Nothing was responding; I had to shut down by pushing the power button.
And then, it wouldn't turn back on. The chime sounded, the apple appeared, and the spinning circle underneath it. And it spun, and spun...until a generic "stop" symbol replaced the apple logo. I immediately shut it back down and did an online search. I followed every fix recommended for this issue. I tried reseting the PRAM, and then the SMC, and still the same thing happened. I tried to boot in Safe Mode, and if seemed to be working...right up until an hour passed and nothing new was happening. I shut it down again, and tried booting from the install disc of Snow Leopard. That worked, and I tried to do Disk Utility with the intention of following the online apple directive of running first aid on my HD. Except Disk Utility doesn't see my HD, only the boot disc and DVD drive. I'm guessing this is a bad sign. I tried calling Apple Care, but they are closed right now. I will call them in the morning, but in the meantime, I thought I'd see if anyone here had any advice I haven't already tried. Sadly, I haven't run Time Machine in...months. I'll end up losing a lot of stuff because I just didn't do that if my HD is toast.
Any suggestions?

Sure seems to be a failed(ing) hard drive. If you happen to get it into safe mode again, the ONLY thing you should immediately do is copy off your Home folder to an external USB disk, SD card, something. Then just get it to an Apple store for check.
Try to copy your files off first and don't try anything else to get at that disk until you copy your home folder. If the disk is failing and you're trying to do things to it you'll loose the chance to get that data.

Disk Utility doesn't refresh when inserting new DVDs

I'm in the process of copying a few DVDs by making an image of them first and then burning the image onto a blank DVD through Disk Utility.
After I'm done with one and insert a new DVD to copy, Disk Utility doesn't refresh to show me the new disk is in the drive. Is it normal?
If it is, is there something I can press so that Disk Utility manually refresh its listing of drives?
I find that quitting and restarting Disk Utility just to make a new image is so inefficient.

I am suddenly having the same problem. When I insert a blank disc either cd or dvd it does not show up in the left column in disc utility. I have tried closing and then relaunching disc utility but nothing. The disc shows up on my desk top but not in disc utility. I fear this is a Snow Leopard problem. Toast has no problem recognizing the disc and burning to it.

IPod Shuffle not recognized, device not recognized, disk utility doesn't...

...disk utility doesn't show up.
It's all on my wife's computer as it's her iPod. Up until yesterday - and she didn't change ANYTHING - iTunes 7.01 had no problem wiht the iPod. Today, however, iTunes nor her Mac recognizes the iPod. Can't do a thing with it. It displays a nice green light, but that's it. All connections checked and re-checked. Looked at the disk utility and there's no image for her iPod.
I plugged it into my own Mac and iTunes 7.02 tries to upload/access her library from her iPod and 1) after an interminable wait, say four to five minutes, it recognizes that there's a shared library available, and 2) then it says there's some firewall that won't let iTunes access the liberary.
I don't have an iPod of my own, so my experience is really limited. She uses her iPod all the time and, again, hasn't done anything different than she did last night.
What is to be done? Thanks in advance for GOOD tips.

Turns out she's running iTunes 7.1...
Still nothing.
Anyone out there, please?

My disk utility refuses to erase my hard drive

I've been trying for a few years to find some way to reset my mac to factory settings. Every last thing I've tried has failed. I was hoping the disk utility thing to erase it would work but the erase button never lets me to click on it

If you previously encrypted your hard drive (FileVault2) then your drive was enrolled in apple's CoreStorage format. If so, diskutility won't let you perform certain operations, and you'd first need to use advanced diskutil options from the command line ( $ diskutil cs delete ... ) to trash the CoreStorage volume.

Airport Disk Utility Doesn't See External Drive, But Airport Utility Does?

Hey! I am a recent Apple convert and just got a brand new MacBook and Airport Extreme. I am trying to get my Maxtor OneTouch 320GB HDD to work with the Extreme, but to no avail. The Airport Utility sees my HDD, but the Airport Disk Utility doesn't? Any hints/tips on how to fix this problem? Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

All I can think of is that the drive is formatted in NTFS which I have heard cannot be read by the AEBS(Airport Extreme Base Station), but I am confirming this right now in a different message. If you can copy the files, format your drive in HFS+(the Mac's standard file system), then reload the files. See if it works and reply back.

Disk Utility doesn't recognise inserted DVD-R DL

I upgraded to Leopard from Tiger a few week ago and Disk Utility has been working fine for a while. I bought a few blank DVD-R DL disks with 8.5Gig storage capacities, but, when inserted, Disk Utility doesn't show them in the top of the pane on the left side.
It shows the Super Drive, but doesn't show an inserted DVD below it like it usually should.
Any suggestions?
Message was edited by: jemorris55

Alright, so instead of burning to the disk specifically, I burned to the superdrive which automatically burned to the disk. It worked alright and now that the DVD has something on it, its icon pops up in Disk Utility. I don't know why it chenged...

Disk Utility doesn't erase a partition...

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for