Startup Disk: Recovery HD partition not shown

Every time I boot up, I get a message saying 'your computer had problems last time it shut down....'
I've been doing some looking around (removing all peripherals, disabling all s/ware from starting up etc) to no avail.
So I was thinking of reinstalling the OS.
BUT - when I went to start up from the recovery partition, it only shows the SSD where the usual copy of the OS resides. It doesn't show the option to reboot from the Recovery partition, nor the TechTool Pro eDrive I also have installed. Rebooting with CMD-R also doesn't show the other drives.
If I go to Disk Utility and check the 'show all partitions' in the Debug menu, the Recovery partition and the eDrive are shown, but greyed out.
What I am thinking of doing is going to the App Store, downloading Yosemite from there and reinstalling - in the hope that this will recreate the recovery partition, but I have a feeling I should create a bootable USB drive with the Yosemite installer on it and do it that way.
Am I right, or can I just download and install from the App Store directly?
Obviously - backing up all data etc in advance!
Of course this may not solve the original error message problem - but needs doing I think!
Thanks
Message was edited by: Alasdair Mackie1

FWIW, I did a clean install of Mavericks with a bootable USB drive, which I created following the instructions in this link:
http://www.gottabemobile.com/2013/10/22/perform-clean-install-os-x-mavericks/
The short method did not work. I succeeded with the longer method.
Mavericks installed without a hitch, after which I spent hours customizing settings, clean installing applications and restoring data from my prior Mountain Lion backup. No problems at all, just very time consuming.
However, I could not activate "Find my Mac" because the installer had not created a a Recovery HD. I trawled the forums and was discouraged by the apparent complexity of creating one.
This is what I did, which worked perfectly and required very little attention. It is almost automatic, fail proof and done in under an hour (with a fast internet connection to download Mavericks at just over 5GB).
1.- Back up the system. Better still, clone your system to an external HD using Carbon Copy Cloner.
2.- Download Mavericks from the App Store.
3.- It will warn you that you already have 10.9 installed. Download anyway.
4.- When it finishes downloading you'll get a window prompting you to install. Confirm.
5.- Enter your user password when prompted.
6.- Go for a walk. In about 45 min your system will have restarted Mavericks and all your settings, applications and data will be there.
7.- Check that you now have a Recovery HD by restarting the system, holding the Option key down when you hear the startup gong. You'll (hopefully) see the system HD and the Recovery HD (10.9).
Hope this will help someone.

Similar Messages

Trying to get rid of error "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition". Recovery HD visible.

Hello,
I've been stuck for some hours now trying different things to install Windows 7 on my Macbook Air, and I think now is the time to call for some custom help.
I'm using OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks.
So some months ago I just wanted to run Linux on my laptop so I installed rEFInd, shrunk the Macintosh HD partition by 25GB and booted on a linux live USB flash I burned using dd.
Then I used gparted to create my linux partitions.
It worked just fine, even though disk utility from OS X seemed quite unhappy about this (it seemed to have incorrect informations about the filesystem on these partitions, seeing them as journaled Mac OS while they were clearly not). At this point already, the Recovery HD from mac showed up in disk utility, which I found weird but didn't bother me.
But recently I needed windows on my Mac. So after a few tries for the triple boot, I managed to create a bootable USB stick with boot camp, which already showed me the message "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition" and hence refused to partition/install himself.
So I thought "OK, that's no big issue, I can just partition with disk utility and then boot on the USB stick and everything will work fine". But when EFI booting on the USB flash drive I got stuck at the beginning of Windows installer with no keyboard or mouse support.
After some hours spent googling, I was unable to find a working fix for that, and as there was no support for my case (where I used bootcamp to create the bootable flash but NOT to partition/reboot) I decided to give bootcamp a try.
So I erased my linux partitions, and cleaned up everything I could on the HD with disk utility. That means I now have two partitions showing in disk utility : Macintosh HD and Recovery HD.
When using disk utility from terminal, the list is :
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *121.3 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            80.0 GB    disk0s2
   3:                  Apple_HFS Recovery HD             650.1 MB   disk0s3
But boot camp still isn't happy, and the message "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition" keeps popping after the intro and I can't partition/boot from bootcamp.
So, as I don't understand what is wrong here anymore, any help would be greatly appreciated!
I will be watching the thread a lot because I really would like this resolved (or windows installed one way or another) this weekend; so any questions on my past manipulations or config just ask!
Thank you.

keyboard issues are also something of a common issue.
I wish the best threads were voted to the top of forums, something! Me, I literally burned out here, but after installing 10 Preview, wanted to "see what was going on" after hiatus of a couple years and see if anything had changed (no, not really!)
Also, these new Communities are not putting "more like this" and failing to help too.
I think rewriting Boot Camp Assistant's built in help and pdf would help a lot, and needs to be clearer and go into details. And Yosemite was not it seems tested against Boot Camp, and drivers for new Macs + new OS also lag behind. Again, common and no sign of improvement or change.
One of the tricks to the "can't partition" is rather simple - of course backup is step #1 and is spelled out - SHRINK the main HFS+ partition! then stretch it back to full length. Sometimes a reboot is needed, and sometimes even do a Safe Boot - not sure what but Recovry Mode might be a good option too. That does seem to consolidate free space, move files that are locked and cannot be moved otherwise, and allow BCA to partition, jusst be sure to have enough space left and large enough for a proper Windows install (and fudge factor).

Boot Camp error: The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition. The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extended (Jounraled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows.

Hi!
I am getting the error:
"The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition. The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extended (Jounraled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows."
I read up some on google, but all of them says that they have crated a partition and that is the problem, I only have the standard "Macintosh HD".
I tried to create a partition manually in disk utility but then the error message: "Partition failed with error message: Could not unmount disk."
Can anyone help me? It's driving me crazy.
Thanks.

This message, and threads like yours got asked daily for over two years, now it is only a couple times a week!!
Is it so hard to follow through? you were to have backup already, clones are best, then erase/format and restore.
Then partition.
Some have been able to use Disk Utility booted from OS X DVD or another drive, and repair the drive.
You have to use Boot Camp Assistant (99.9% anyway) to create and achieve a proper Windows Master Boot Record partition.

The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition

Am trying to install Windows 7 using Boot Camp. Am receieving the following message in Boot Camp "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition"
In Disk Utilty, I get the following message after clicking Verify Disk and Repair Disk buttons
Problems were found with the partition map which might prevent booting
Error: Parition map check failed becuse no slices were found
Any solution for above message?

You will need to repartition your drive:
You will have to backup your OS X partition to an external drive, boot from the external drive, use Disk Utility to repartition and reformat your hard drive back to a single volume, then restore your backup to the internal hard drive.
Get an empty external hard drive and clone your internal drive to the external one.
Boot from the external hard drive.
Erase the internal hard drive.
Restore the external clone to the internal hard drive.
Clone the internal drive to the external drive
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 external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager appears. Select the icon for the external drive and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
After startup do the following:
Erase internal hard drive
Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
After DU loads select your internal 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.
Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Do not quit Disk Utility.
Restore the clone to the internal hard drive
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 internal hard drive. Source means the external startup drive.
Note that the Source and Destination drives are swapped for this last procedure.

Startup disk cannot be partitioned - Message

I have a new iMac with the Intel 3.06 and running 10.5.6. I am trying to use Boot Camp. I cannot get to the point to partition the drive. I have a 1 tb drive with 700GB of space. I launch Bootcamp Assistant and get the following message:
*The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition.*
The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows.
This is a stock imac and I have not done anything to the HD. It says that it is Mac OS Extended Journaled.
What am I missing? Do I have to boot from the Mac OSX DVD?

Asked and posted, the number of identical threads is almost 'staggering.'
Try seeing if you understand the tips that error message mentions:
backup and boot from another drive and format, and then restore.
SuperDuper, Apple Restore in Disk Utility.
You NEED an external backup drive.
http://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?objID=f1244&search=Go&q=cannot+partitio ned

Bootcamp error, 'the startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition.'

I am trying to set up bootcamp for gaming purposes.
I attempted this several months ago and was able to proceed to the point of accessing the Windows disk utility but noticed that I was running out of memory on the partition. I believe I deleted the partition through mac OS, thinking I would simply re-run Bootcamp. Honestly, I have forgotten the details but now am unable to get past an error message on Bootcamp saying, "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition."
Also, when I look at my disk utility settings I see I have two Macintosh HD with exactly the same numbers, i.e. 1.94 TB free of 2.09 TB.
Any assistance with this would be appreciated.
Thank you.

/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *3.0 TB     disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         1.3 TB     disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
   4:          Apple_CoreStorage                         905.9 GB   disk0s4
   5:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               134.2 MB   disk0s5
   6:          Apple_CoreStorage                         801.4 GB   disk0s6
   7:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               134.2 MB   disk0s7
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD           *2.1 TB     disk1
                                 Logical Volume on disk0s2, disk0s6
                                 3D3FBA3D-8C26-4550-AD7E-CBF1FC688185
                                 Unencrypted
CoreStorage logical volume groups (2 found)
|
+-- Logical Volume Group 31DCB352-9C95-43EC-8F16-FBFFAEF2EC92
|   =========================================================
|   Name:         Macintosh HD
|   Status:       Online
|   Size:         2093598998528 B (2.1 TB)
|   Free Space:   0 B (0 B)
|   |
|   +-< Physical Volume 2D83E3CA-C968-4A83-9900-7FE4325B15F6
|   |   ----------------------------------------------------
|   |   Index:    0
|   |   Disk:     disk0s2
|   |   Status:   Online
|   |   Size:     1292162457600 B (1.3 TB)
|   |
|   +-< Physical Volume 91499DB6-ED61-4BD9-A5FA-A3A469461673
|   |   ----------------------------------------------------
|   |   Index:    1
|   |   Disk:     disk0s6
|   |   Status:   Online
|   |   Size:     801436540928 B (801.4 GB)
|   |
|   +-> Logical Volume Family 1AC34EBA-7E2E-4483-868A-9C1208206E73
|       ----------------------------------------------------------
|       Encryption Status:       Unlocked
|       Encryption Type:         None
|       Conversion Status:       NoConversion
|       Conversion Direction:    -none-
|       Has Encrypted Extents:   No
|       Fully Secure:            No
|       Passphrase Required:     No
|       |
|       +-> Logical Volume 3D3FBA3D-8C26-4550-AD7E-CBF1FC688185
|           ---------------------------------------------------
|           Disk:                  disk1
|           Status:                Online
|           Size (Total):          2092978229248 B (2.1 TB)
|           Conversion Progress:   -none-
|           Revertible:            No
|           LV Name:               Macintosh HD
|           Volume Name:           Macintosh HD
|           Content Hint:          Apple_HFS
|
+-- Logical Volume Group 02021BDF-4B53-4A05-AE99-111B5ABAA416
    =========================================================
    Name:         BOOTCAMP
    Status:       Online
    Size:         905864802304 B (905.9 GB)
    Free Space:   905512476672 B (905.5 GB)
    |
    +-< Physical Volume 15BED824-E4C1-4AAF-8BB3-D4D4FAFA7ABE
        Index:    0
        Disk:     disk0s4
        Status:   Online
        Size:     905864802304 B (905.9 GB)
gpt show: /dev/disk0: mediasize=3000592982016; sectorsize=512; blocks=5860533168
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 5860533167
       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 2523754800      2 GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
2524164440     1269536      3 GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
2525433976        1928
2525435904 1769267192      4 GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
4294703096      262144      5 GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
4294965240 1565305744      6 GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
5860270984      262144      7 GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
5860533128           7
5860533135          32         Sec GPT table
5860533167           1         Sec GPT header
Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 97451/255/63 [1565565872 sectors]
Signature: 0xAA55
         Starting       Ending
#: id cyl hd sec - cyl hd sec [     start -       size]
1: EE 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [         1 - 4294967294] <Unknown ID>
2: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused
3: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused
4: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused

Bootcamp Yosemite 10.10.1 "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition."

I'm trying to install Windows on my Mac via Bootcamp. I start up Boot Camp Assistant, the introduction pops up, I press continue and then I get this error message.
"The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition.
The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows."
So I head over to Disk Utility, the only partitions I have are Macintosh HD and EFI. I thought there might be some hidden partition, so I went into debug mode in Disk Util and there's nothing (Also used terminal, I'll put results below*). So that brings me to my current problem; it's already "formatted as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume" and I can't make it "partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows." because this error message prevents me from doing that. Maybe there's an easy fix, but the information provided is so unhelpful/circular it makes me want to laugh and punch something at the same time. I saw that someone fixed this problem by merging their partitions, but as I already have the minimum number of partitions so that wouldn't fix anything (unless EFI is unnecessary, which I'm fairly sure it isn't).
-Running 10.10.1 OSX Yosemite
-Trying to install Windows 8.1
diskutil list
sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0
sudo fdisk /dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *3.0 TB     disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            3.0 TB     disk0s2
Thanks for your help in advance ;3, I hope this is an easy fix

I had a similar issue after doing a fresh install of Yosemite. Bootcamp assistant seems to want a Core Storage scenario before it will continue.
To convert your drive use the following command in Terminal:
diskutil cs convert disk0s2
Bootcamp will then let you proceed as normal. Be warned though!
After the windows install completes you may end up with something like my situation:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/27472857?ac_cid=op123456#27472857

How to fix this error? The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition.

Hey guys,
I am trying to install windows 7 ultimate 64 bit via bootcamp assistant. I open bootcamp assistant from utilities and i get the second window and try to click continue and i get a pop up, saying "The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extneded (journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows." I looked around on the internet, i found that my internal HD must be set to OS Extended (Journaled). I went into disk utility and i clicked partition tab and the option was set to OS extended (journaled). Any ideas on how to overcome this error so i can install windows 7?

Error is:
1: common
2: misleading and poorly worded
3: space must be:
A: contiguous, that means unfragmented and in ONE section, not multiple
B: files cannot be loced, anchored or in such a manner as to prevent or block partition operation
C: to move, unlock and shuffle files requires booting from another drive or device
Shrink the HFS+ volume by as much or more than you need to set aside to use
If that does not,
Try iDefrag from another hard drive or by burning and using its own CD that is just for consolidating free space
Clone your system (should have backups already, clone is just bootable)
Erase and restore from clone - SuperDuper does consolidate files and free space and result in unfragmented (99% success rate)
None of which has to do iwth what that error message says. This error has been almost a daily threat topic - has gotten less but has not "gone away."

Firewire Target DIsk Mode Mac partition not Boot Camp partition

Hi I'm having issues starting up my Mac and would like to Firewire mount the drive then image it. However, when I do so the Boot Camp partition mounts instead of the Mac partition. I've tried using Disk Utility on the host machine to mount the Mac partition (it does show up in Disk Utility) without success, Is there anything I can do.
(Yes I have yesterday's Time Machine backup, but would still prefer to do a full image before wiping and installing the OS).

Are you talking about starting up one computer in Target Disk Mode and then seeing it with a second computer (and if so, which model computer and which OS)?
[How to use FireWire target disk mode|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661] includes description of hardware and software requirements.
[What to do if your Mac doesn't enter FireWire Target Disk Mode|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75414], also read about [Open Firmware Password Protection|http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/openfirmwarepassword.html] which can disable Target Disk Mode.
[Technical Note TN 1189|http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1189.html#TargetMode] - driver details for TDM

NetBoot appears in startup disks but clients will not boot to the images

I recently upgraded a 10.6.8 server to 10.7.4 server. I did a clean update but saved all the needed information off of it.
The problem I am having is with Netboot. I have the service enabled and the images are in place again. These are the same images from the old server, so I know they worked at one point in time.
Now I can goto the Startup Disk option and see the disks there, but when I try to Netboot I just get the folder with the question mark.
This is in a school so we do have multiple subnets, however the IP address on the server remained the same, so the helper addresses are still working.
I have tried to create a new netboot image, but I am new to all of this and it didn't work (I blame me not knowing how to make one, so yeah).
I am currently trying to use Deployment Studio (as was suggested here https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3962094?start=0&tstart=0), but I really think there is something wrong with my set up of the server and not the images.
Any help is greatly apprecaited.
Thank you,
Keegan

It is possible that one of underlying services required isn't running or configured properly. Here's a little script I wrote to help diagnose issues like this.
If the output doesn't help you figure it out on your own, paste it back into this thread.
-Brian
#!/bin/sh
# netboot_service_states.sh
httpNetBootPath="/Library/Server/Web/Data/Sites/Default/NetBoot"
nfsExportsPath="/etc/exports"
tftpNetBootPath="/private/tftpboot/NetBoot"
serviceDataPath="/Library/Server/NetInstall"
savedClientsPath="${serviceDataPath}/ClientData"
savedImagesPath="${serviceDataPath}/ImageData"
# Dump state pertaining to the bootp service
isRunning=`sudo launchctl list | grep bootpd`
serviceState="enabled"
if [ "${isRunning}" == "" ]; then
          serviceState="disabled"
fi
echo "bootp service is ${serviceState}\n"
# Dump state pertaining to the TFTP service
isRunning=`sudo launchctl list | grep tftp`
serviceState="enabled"
if [ "${isRunning}" == "" ]; then
          serviceState="disabled"
fi
echo "TFTP service is ${serviceState}"
echo "TFTP Service data folder"
if [ -d "${tftpNetBootPath}" ]; then
          ls -lsa "${tftpNetBootPath}"
fi
# Dump state pertaining to the HTTP service
echo "\nHTTP service data folder"
if [ -d "${httpNetBootPath}" ]; then
          ls -lsa "${httpNetBootPath}"
fi
# Dump state pertaining to the NFS service
echo ""
nfsd status
if [ -e "${nfsExportsPath}" ]; then
          echo "Contents of ${nfsExportsPath} is:"
          cat "${nfsExportsPath}"
fi
# Dump state pertaining to the re-promotion data cache
if [ -e "${savedClientsPath}" ]; then
          echo "\nSaved client share points"
          cat "${savedClientsPath}"
fi
if [ -e "${savedImagesPath}" ]; then
          echo "\nSaved image share points"
          cat "${savedImagesPath}"
fi

"startup disk almost full" message - NOT TRUE! I have about 900 GB of free space. What can I do about this?

I have been getting repeated messages "startup disk almost full". I am on a very new iMac running Lion with the most up to date OS. This is a 1 TB iMac. When I first got the message, I cleaned almost everything but the applications off the disk. I now have more than 900 GB of space but again I am getting the message. I found someone reporting the same problem and he said Apple Care reported a but in the mail system. He found a Fix but it is not working for me. (He clicked the option key and opened finder, then went to Library/mail/mailbox/recovered messages and deleted the recovered messages. But I do not have any folder called "recovered messages" so can't pursue that fix. Any ideas?

I'm don't know about the new systems, but I remember that I set the % full to warn me. Your % might be set to 20% or something rather than 10% which is a preferable safety margin for many uses. I solved this start up disk problem by installing a 2 Tb internal drive and keeping my data files on external, raided, drives. A real show-stopper is when your 45 Tb external drive warns you that you're too close to OUT for comfort. And, Yes, I do keep it trash free.

10.9 Startup Disk preference panel will not work on Firewire disk

On my 2008 Mac Pro I have a OWC FireWire attached cloned copy of Macintosh HD. I select the drive in Startup Disk preference panel. Then click on Restart. I get error “Preferences Error There was an error in Startup Disk preference pan.” Using a USB cable it works fine.
Process:         com.apple.preference.startupdisk.remoteservice [494]
Path:            /System/Library/PreferencePanes/StartupDisk.prefPane/Contents/XPCServices/com.a pple.preference.startupdisk.remoteservice.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.preferenc e.startupdisk.remoteservice
Identifier:      com.apple.preference.startupdisk.remoteservice
Version:         6 (322)
Build Info:      StartupDisk-322000000000000~3
Code Type:       X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process: ??? [1]
Responsible:     System Preferences [488]
User ID:         501
Date/Time:       2013-10-26 04:49:45.475 -0400
OS Version:      Mac OS X 10.9 (13A603)
Report Version: 11
Anonymous UUID: F4E841D5-BF33-96B4-7E59-07F8D9741CBE

It turns out that the error has nothing to do with Firewire. It is Mavericks.
In the Systems Preferances, open the Startup Disk Panel. While pressing the Option key, click on Restart. The restart fails every time. (The Option key should bypass the "Are you sure you want to Restart.)

HP Envy 17-1181NR, Startup Repair / Recovery Manager / etc. not working

Okay, I've read some other similar threads made recently ("HP DV7 Recovery Issues", "HP Envy 17-2100ex") but feel I need to ask for help for my specific circumstances.
Model: HP Envy 17-1181NR
Product No.: YL747UA#ABA
SN: CNF0414VRL
Hardware: 17.3" Notebook, Intel Core i7-720QM processor, 750 GB HDD, 6 GB mem ...
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Noticed computer was running really slow last night and this morning, ctrl+alt+del to bring up task manager, eventually saw that somehow (maybe with a recent upgrade?) msmpeng.exe was started and running, though I had disabled it long ago. I killed the process tree within task manager.
Looked online and read how much of a bother this msmpeng.exe can be and resolved to disable it again to keep it from starting automatically at Windows startup. So following what I read, ctrl+r, typed msconfig, used that to disable the antimalware services that launch/use msmpeng.exe and a couple other services that seemed completely unnecessary (I was 95% sure).
Restarted machine to have changes take effect, came back to it minutes later frozen at a wallpaper that's blue with light rays coming down through it, as with sunlight through water. Mouse cursor moves, but unresponsive to all keyboard and mouse button input. Later discovered this screen is the background to the Recovery Manager, which was hung...
Later discovered what had happened: that on the first restart, starting Windows normally, it reached a BSOD with message:
"UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME" ...blah, blah, blah, * * * STOP: 0x000000ED (0xFFFFFA80064D8C00,0xFFFFFFFFC0000185,0x00000...,0x00000...
Which flashed for a split second before auto-restart, this time stopping at "Windows Error Recovery" screen giving choice between "Launch Startup Repair" and "Start Windows Normally" again. The former happened automatically after 30 second or whatever time delay, and then after loading files, hung at the water-screen described earlier. I can repeatably encounter these two outcomes for the two choices on the "Windows Error Recovery" screen.
Hitting escape after restart, and hitting F11 for "System Recovery" takes me to same water-screen hang point. I tried looking at system info, then doing system diagnostics, tried different scans and eventually the system tune-up scan. This failed with:
Memory Test: PASSED
SMART Check: PASSED
Short DSTL FAILED
FAILURE ID: 94UFL3-5B65QF-XD002K-6OUL03
PRODUCT ID: YL747UA#ABA
Hard Disk 1
This made me think of a disc error and that I can't trust Recovery Manager to be launched correctly from the recovery partition, D:, so I popped in my recovery DVD (first of 5 burned from recovery partition much earlier). Choosing repair options in the startup from this disk, after changing the boot device order in the BIOS settings (F10), brought me to the very same hanging at the water-screen.
I then tried F8 for "Advanced Boot Options" and various safe modes with the intent of reaching a command prompt to run "chkdsk /f /r" and/or "fixboot". But it can't get past loading the CLASSPNP.SYS driver. And without a command prompt now, I can't very easily copy in a pristine CLASSPNP.SYS from matching model / OS.
Is this HDD gone bad, just coincidentally with what I'd changed? Or is this a software issue as I'd be inclined to believe? Any thoughts or inputs from anyone will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Hi
I found some info that may help you
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c01890478
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c01867124
Hope this helps.
***** Click the KUDOS Thumbs UP (Like) on the left to say 'Thanks'*****
****Make it easier for other people to find solutions, by marking my answer “Accept as Solution”&"Kudos"if it solves your problem.****
-VJ
Although I am an HP Employee, I am speaking for myself and not for HP.

Windows 7 will only install on an NTFS Formatted disk: boot camp partition not formatted right?

I recently tried to install windows 7 on my Macbook (early 2008 white). Boot camp made the partition and I even got to the Windows install screen, but the partition made by boot camp could not be used to install windows on, because it was in the wrong format, evidently (Error: windows can only be installed on a NTFS disk, or something like that). I tried to find someway to reformat the partition in disk utility, but I don't see anything that could change the format. Please help! (If there isn't a way to fix this, is there at least a way to delete the partition? It's rather annoying having 100 gbs of your harddrive just siting there, unable to be used)
And just a side question, does it matter whether you install Windows 64 bit or 32 bit? The printed-out boot camp guide said only the 32-bit version, but it didn't include anything about Windows 7)
Thank you!
Computer: Early 2008 White Macbook
OS X (10.6.7)
500 GB hard drive
4 GB DDR2 RAM

Hi,
Windows 7 needs its system to be installed on a NTFS formatted partition.
There 's no way to use FAT32 as file system for this.
Pages 8 - 10 of the BootCamp Install Guide http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/ describe how-to reformat the partition to NTFS during the Windows installation.
Officially 64-bit Windows 7 is not supported on a 2008 MacBook.
However, there are instructions to be found on how-to do it nonetheless.
Regards
Stefan

BootCamp - Startup disk cannot be Partitioned....

... or restored to a single partition. Backup the disk and use disk utility to format it as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume. Restore you information to the disk and try using Boot Camp Asisstant again.
Hi all,
I just cloned my C2D iMac's factory disk with SuperDuper to a new larger drive and took the plunge installing it myself. (out of warranty anyway...) All went well and the new drive boots and works like a charm.
However, I get the error above when starting to install Boot Camp. One of the reasons I did this in the first place was to run XP for some old games that won't work with my current Parallels install.
Disk Utility shows my 500 GB HD as one partition, with Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and 465.6GB total capacity and using Apple Partition Map. The disk is verified and permissions correct. Running 10.5.3.
Any ideas? I am new to Boot Camp and am thus confused about what the cause could be. I am not too excited about a complete reformat and install of 10.5.0 as I have already taken the time to clone in order to avoid doing just that!
Thanks in advance!
Stu

It must be GPL / GUID partition map. Which is native format for Intel Macs.
There must be a large enough unfragmented amount of free space. If not, then format the disk to GUID and restore. SD will restore so free space is maximized and your files are organized on one end.
Use Partition to change to one new partition, click on Options... at the bottom and insure it will be GUID.

Startup Disk: Recovery HD partition not shown

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for