Disk Utility: "Modifying Partition Map"

Good Afternoon all. Im not sure whether this is a problem or not but i have run disk utility to partition my hard drive, and as of now it has been running for over 24 hours.
700 Gb Hdd Partitioned at 487 ( Mac OSx ) and 210 ( Windows NTFS )
The 210 was partitioned by Bootcamp and xp is installed and runs fine
I am attempting to partition the 210 by 55 to allow for the inclusion of Vista
I ran Disk utility yesterday around 9 or 10 and since then it has been saying modifying partition map.
i dont believe it's frozen or has stalled because it responds and i have burned a disk using disk utility. however if i attempt to close it it warns me of damage.
so my issue is whether or not i should just wait it out or if there is something safe i can do. Additionally if installing vista there is a bad idea i would like to be advised.
Thanks In Advance

It's most likely stuck and not going to finish. I experienced this once while creating a new partition for testing purposes. Force quiting will loose any unsaved changes including a partition that's being modified but it looks like your only option at this point. It should not affect your current Mac partition however I'm unsure if it will affect your XP partition. Boot camp works well but in general I would say it's not a good idea to try and re-size or split existing partitions that have data. To do what you want to do you could use Boot camp to create another partition but it would only take the space from your Mac volume. You would probably have to backup or make an image of your XP system then start over using Boot Camp to create the 2 partitions of the size you want.
FYI: You would probably have a better chance getting an answer for this question over in the Boot Camp forum.
George

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HI all,
This issue has been in discussion (actively) since last August here:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4218970?start=0&tstart=0
After months and months of new reports, it's pretty clear that this is an Apple Mountain Lion problem and one that Apple needs to address. As one frustrated user noted :
>>There is no consistent solution for a user. Apple has to supply it. All you can do is submit a bug report to
>> http://www.apple.com/feedback
Please, if you are encountering this problem you will save yourself a lot of wasted time and energy simply by joining me and others in asking Apple to fix this problem: Make a bug report.
Thanks!

Disk Utility - Still 'Modifying Partition Map'

I had a 64gb windows partition on my newest revision MacBook Pro, and I didn't really need windows anymore, so I wanted to resize it to 32gb.
I still want to keep windows for LANparties (games), so I decided to remove Windows, shrink the partition, and reinstall it...
Easily said, I removed the partition in Disk Utility, then I added a partition (just HFS for now), and resized everything the way I wanted it..
But now the Disk Utility has been 'Modifying Partition Map' for the last 2,5 hours, and I dare not interrupt it, so I set all the energy settings and sleep stuff to 'Never', because it might kill something :P
Any advice? Is it normal that it takes this long, or am I screwed (I do have a time machine backup).

Okay, I understand that I can't create one for Windows using Disk Utility, but I think it's a bit stupid that now my partition / HDD might be broken ..
Maybe a warning or something? I didn't even think of the fact that Bootcamp could also delete partitions...
So I will now boot the install DVD and try to repair, I have a full Time Machine backup, so I'm glad I did that ..
thanks for the advice, but I think this should be noted as a bug, as I think Disk Utility should not 'break' my partition map if I use it to delete a non-HFS partition..

When i was partitioning my hard drive i ran out of power (so it closed in the middle of the process). now when i try to partition it says Couldn't modify partition map because file system verification failed.

When i was partitioning my hard drive i ran out of power (so it closed in the middle of the process). now when i try to partition it says Couldn’t modify partition map because file system verification failed.

You'll have to select the entire external hard drive by the hardware name itself and then apply a new partition table to it under the Partition tab of Disk Utility. Erase and format the drive.
GUID for OS X.

Disk utility message "partition failed". What to do??

HI,
I just downloaded Lion and was trying to make a seperate partition for it do I didnt delete Snow Leopard..
WHen i was doing it, my computer froze for a while so i had to turn it off manually...
Now when i try to create a partition i get this message..
Partition failed with the error:
Could not modify partition map because filesystem verification failed
how can i fix this so i can install Lion on a partition??
PS I dont have a external HD so i dont want to risk losing all my files...

Well the first thing you need to do is get yourself a external powered drive, format it HFS+ Journaled in Disk Utility and transfer a copy of your Users folders off the computer.
If you can't boot off the internal hard drive, you can hold c and boot off the 10.6 installer disk and under the Utilities menu is Disk Utility which you can then (careful!) select the external hard drive to Erase and format Hfs+ journaled.
Once you do that quit and your back into the installer where you can (careful!) install OS X 10.6 onto the external drive.
Once that's completed reboot holding the Option key and select the external drive to boot from, then go through the setup using the same user name as before. Access the internal boot drive and grab your files.
If you can't access the internal boot drive in a normal fashion, you might have to install DataRescue to read your files off the platters via the 1's and 0's that make up the files themselves, not what the screwed up partition map says.
Once your files are off the computer and the drive disconnected, your free to wipe everything and reinstall OS X and programs if necessary, just follow the same steps.
Next time have a Carbon Copy Clone of your boot drive on another external HFS+ journaled formatted drive already prepared before experimenting. This drive is hold option bootable and you can erase and reverse clone if need be.

I want to partition an external device for OSX and Windows. Opened Disk utility but Partition is not an option

I want to partition an external drive for OSX and PC. Went to Disk Utility but Partition is not an available option.

Why not? does the partition tab not exist?

Can Lion disk utility dynamically partition a drive?

Can Lion disk utility dynamically partition a drive? I see many posts that Leopard Disk utility can but nothing about Lion.

Yes. I'll post a link to instructions. Be sure to create a full reliable backup before you begin (don't just do the backup, test the backup to be sure it's good), and the only application that should be running until the process is complete is Disk Utility.
http://osxdaily.com/2009/11/20/resize-partitions-in-mac-os-x-with-disk-utility/
Some people have problems resizing partitions because of the hidden Recovery HD partition. It sometimes gets in the way because Disk Utility can move it "up" but cannot move it "down".

BootCamp nor' Disk Utility will Partition my Drive.

Alright, So Im back again, And this time I have a totally different topic.
Today I tried to Partition my drive to add another OS, to be specific, Windows 7 (Don't hate me! :P)
The first step I took was using BootCamp SINCE, It is for windows installation on Mac OS X.
WELL, I tried partition and BootCamp wouldn't let me, The Boot Camp Assistant will usually get stuck at the "Partitioning Disk..." stage, Or sometime it will say. "Partitioning Disk..." for about 5 minutes then a warning message will pop up saying, "Verification failed. This disk could not be partitioned. Use disk utility to repair this disk."
I hit okay, then go to Disk Utility, And try to partition my disk from there, I will select how big of a partition I want leaving about 6 gigs on my main partition. I hit "Apply" and then it starts to partition, but the only thing it does is, "Modifying the partition map" for about 5 minutes and then I get a warning message saying, "Partition failed. Partition failed with the error: Filesystem verify or repair failed." Im not really sure what this means, but after this, I try to Verify and Repair my disk. It does the "Verifying" stage for about 8 minutes and then tells me "First Aid Failed. Disk Utility stopped verifying "Macintosh HD" because the following error was encountered: Filesystem verify or repair failed." In the "Details" box, this is what it says,
"Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”
Performing live verification.
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.
Invalid volume file count
(It should be 410899 instead of 410900)
Invalid volume directory count
(It should be 117223 instead of 117222)
The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.
Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed."
Can someone please help me out here, All I want to do is make one stinkin partition for Windows 7! Whats going on here?!

If you are going to repair a startup volume then you must do this:
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger and Leopard.) 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 (4.0 for Tiger, and 4.1 for Leopard) and/or TechTool Pro (4.6.1 for Leopard) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
Your error suggests some major defect with the hard drive. If it cannot be repaired you will have to re-partition the drive. This will erase everything on the drive, so be sure to backup first.
Also, you cannot install Windows on a partition your create with Disk Utility. You must use Boot Camp Assistant on a drive with a single partition/volume using GUID partition map and formatted Mac OS Extended, Journaled.

Data loss Lacie 500GB external drive_ disk utility changed partition!

Details of problem. I have a 500GB Lacie mini hub HDD which is used with an iMac angle poise. Recently it has been playing up- unable to access folders/files etc. and since I know the PSU fails on these items (capacitors fail -5V and 12V go haywire- already fixed another one - I have a 320GB with a mac mini setup) I removed unit from the imac and connected in place of the 320GB lacie on the mac mini, using the known good PSU. The iMac is running latest 10.4 and mac mini is running latest snow leopard 10.6.1
The Lacie spun up and mounted OK and I was able to access all files folders with no issue, so since I was keen to make sure it was 'fixed' I ran disk utility. It ran and said it verified and then I realised I hadn't run repair so re-did this. Big mistake!
It did the same run and said no problems found, but it then said something like updating partition! Horrified I waited and it seemed to finish or had finished straight away. Not sure. I looked at folders and yes main 2 items in place, but nothing showing below this. ****. It got worse. I ejected and tried to reconnect and low and behold it says drive needs formatting now. Disk utility even shows this 500GB as having 2.2TB of space, which I see in other posts is another issue.
I have important data backed up elsewhere, but there are a large number of files I do not have copies of and suspect there is a way to recover these. I have since seen all the 'data loss' guest account issues and wonder if this is yet another bug in snow leopard.
Have tried running Techtool Pro 5.0.6 to see if it can see the data but its not seeing anything. Will try Diskwarrior and others, but may well shelve to see if apple gets an os update released for data loss issues.
Any thoughts on how to recover? Anyone with a similar issue? I am pretty certain this is not a failed hard drive as it sounds 100% normal. Thanks for any help or guidance.

Thanks for all the comments recieved. V.K. made me re-evaluate what I had proved or not. I was fairly certain (not 100%) that the drive mech was OK, because the psu had failed, but should have proved drive mech was actually OK. So I removed the mech (as USB abd firewire can't do SMART etc.) and hooked up to an old G4 Powermac. I then found that the SMART verified, but had forgotten the 128GB limitation on older macs. So removed and got a PC to hook it up and run latest IBM_Hitachi drive fitness and other diags. (its a Deskstar HD and I have had almost zero issue with these drives over the years.) It checks out fine, so I was correct in my initial thoughts, only the PSU was faulty.
So back to my initial suspicions that Snow Leopard or disk utility has screwed things up, maybe a bug, maybe not. And I did run verify first and it said it was OK, only when I re-ran the repair did it then do a "partition update" (or whatever it said - should have done a screen capture - searched apple but can't find listing of all mesgs avail. must be in developers site I expect). So I am back at looking at how to recover, if at all possible, but as Alsoft have said this is not something Diskwarrior can do directly. Files must still be there just partiton map is now in a ... needs to be initialised mode. Not that I will do that.
So I guess summary is possible bug/funny in 10.6 and/or disk utility.
sounds like I will be contacting Alsoft now
may read up on partition map damage first, so I get a better picture of whats involved.
Cheers and thanks for all the help/ideas.
BTW - been using macs_pcs for decades now and helping friends & family fix things as and when. This is first time needed to post on forum as always found answers to questions I had previously. Must remember the old adage of not jumping onto new technology until it has bedded down I bet if I had hooked up to the old G4 Powermac I wouldn't be in this position. Thanks again.

Stuck in Disk Utilities "creating partition map"

I don't know if this is the right place for this topic but here goes.
I just bought a new Maxtor One Touch 4 Plus 500 gig external drive to back up my stuff. I thought Maxtor, for Macs, were pretty much plug and go but it says that I must prepare the drive as Mac OS Extended (journaled)..aka..partition it in order for Mac to recognize it and be able to copy data onto it. Fair enough...but when I go to disk utilities and hit "partition" it starts "creating partition map". The little blue bar starts going...not even an 1/8 of an inch or so annnnnd then just stays there. I waited about 20 minutes before force quiting Disk Utility (in hopes I didn't just hose the drive). I rebooted and tried again...same thing....as a matter of fact it's still going as I write this. I'm so tired of running into issues lately I could scream. WHAT IS UP? Does it take that long to create a single partition on a 500gig drive? (I have it connected through the firewire, not the USB 2.0 port). Help PLEASE! thanks!

It does not take more than about 20 seconds to create a partition map If every block is good. You may have a bad block in the first part of the drive.
I suggest you initialize the drive with the "Zero all data" option, while you do not have much written to it. This process takes several hours, but when it completes successfully, you are assured that any bad blocks have been eliminated and the drive has substituted good spare blocks (kept aside for just this purpose).

Disk utility not partitioning usb thumb drive

Here is the log from disk utility
Dec 15 23:49:38: Disk Utility started.
Unmount of “disk1s1” succeeded
Eject of “LEXAR JUMPDRIVE SECURE Media” succeeded
Preparing to partition disk: “LEXAR JUMPDRIVE SECURE Media”
Partition Scheme: PC Partition Scheme
1 partitions will be created
Partition 1
Name : “Untitled 1”
Size : 121.5 MB
Filesystem : MS-DOS File System
Creating Partition Map
Partition failed for disk LEXAR JUMPDRIVE SECURE Media Input/output error
Partition complete.
error with partition Input/output error
This particular drive has two partitions on it currently, one of which is a DOSFAT_16_SHidden. I have been trying to play around and get this thing to format for a few days now on Linux, windows and my Mac. Should I just give up on it or what?

Master Boot Record. Do this:
Extended Hard 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 one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to MBR then click on the OK button. Set the format type to MSDOS. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.

Disk Utility - Resizing partition

I'm currently in the middle of resizing an external disk partition. It's a 250 gig partition on a 500 gig drive. Disk Utility progress bar indicates "Shrinking disk" and it's been doing this for the past 12 hours uninterrupted.
Is this normal? How long should I continue to wait? Is there any way I can safely abort the procedure? How can I tell if it's still working normally?

Ok, I aborted the procedure. It had been running about 32 hours until then. Thought I'd post an update in case this happens to anyone else.
Disk Utility was still responsive -- I told it to quit, and it warned me it was in the middle of the operation. Finder crashed in shutdown and after waiting a few minutes I killed the power by holding in the power button. Unplugged the external drive's power and the firewire cable to my mac, powered back up, plugged it in, and ... all files, folders are still there. Disk Utility shows no changes were made to partition.
I have no idea what the cause of this may have been. I captured sample processes from the Disk Utility.app and diskmanagementd. Someone knowledgeable about that this process might be make a determination.
I'm taking this as a lesson not to modify partition sizes of external drives. Backing up the entire drive and completely repartitioning the drive is the only safe way to go.

Disk Utility options - partitioning types

I'm wondering what the Options button in the disk utility actually does.
When I click on a hard drive then click on partition, and the press the options button, I am presented with three options: GUID partition table, apple partition map and master boot record.
What do each of these do? I am trying to put to format my new eSATA enclosure work fast with my MBP in OSX as well as windows. Ideally I'd like to format it with HFS+ and NTFS.

In order to make a bootable disk for an Intel Mac you must select the GUID partition map option. Once partitioned you format the drive using Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) If you intend to install Boot Camp, then you should use the Boot Camp software to create the Windows partition. If you make the Windows partition with Disk Utility, then you can not remove the partition without re-partitioning the drive with Disk Utility. If you use the Boot Camp software then you can also use it to remove the Windows partition if you decide to at a later date.
Most if not all this info is available if you read the MBP User Guide and the user guide PDF that accompanies the Boot Camp software. Use Disk Utility Help from the DU Help menu to find out about all of DU's options. This is what documentation is for. Consult the documentation before you post questions here.

Using Disk Utility to partition drive

After downloading a system update yesterday my mac mini hard drive is no longer bootable. The recovery HD is unbootable, too.
When I boot up using the install CD I can run Disk Utility and see that there are no problems reported with the hard drive, but I cannot repair permissions (No valid packages).
If I restore the operating system from the CD my only option is to erase the hard drive.
But what if ...
I create a new partition using Disk Utility?
There's loads of free space on the drive, but if I attempt to create a new partition will I wipe out existing data?
If I succeed in creating a new partition would I be able to restore the operating system there without erasing the hard drive?
Would it be possible then in some way to restore my user account data?
I'm just trying to avoid the hassle of re-installing my applications and recovering my data files from backup. It seems like the data is still all there on the hard drive except that something went wrong during the system update that renders the disk unusable.
Any help appreciated.

Yep, that is too old...
Mac mini
Mac OS X Install Disk 1
Mac OS X version 10.4.7
AHT version 3A102
Disc version 1.1
2Z691-5887-A
Mac OS X Install Disk 2
Disc version 1.0
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Recovery/Disk Utility/Verifying Partition

Hello and thanks in advance for any help you can offer!
My 1 year old started typing away as I booted up my laptop yesterday morning (MacBook Pro). Somehow she sent me into Recovery Mode and I can't get out. I haven't used Time Machine, I can't reinstall osx via the internet because my backup harddrive is the only one visible, and now (not initially) when I try to verify in Disk Utility so that I can back up via external drive the partition (disk0s2) has errors. I foolishly tried to find answers and terminal command fixes so I don't know if I've irreparable caused damage that way. The errors I receive when I try to verify and fix the partition: invalid content in journal; invalid b-tree node sizes; volume could not be verified completely; invalid content in journal; error: disk utility can't repair disk... M'aidez!

When I reboot this way (holding down Shift) I do get returned to Recovery Mode. In Disk Utility, here are the drives listed:
500.11 GB Apple HDD...Media
disk0s2
HL-DT-ST DVDRW
disk1
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Invalid content in Journal
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volume could not be verified completely
invalid content in journal
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Disk Utility: "Modifying Partition Map"

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