Stuck on Creating Partition Map

I was using the Install disk....the disk utility.....to erase my hard drive and now it is stuck on "Creating Partition Map". What do it do?
I am giving this i-Mac away so I want to make sure the disk is erased. Was it?

No, it sounds like there's been a problem. Do the following:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. 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 or Leopard.)
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. 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 (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs) then click on the OK button. 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 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 can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.

Similar Messages

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-erasing a HD, creating partition map hanging

Hi all,
I have been given an external Maxtor USB drive, 120 BG, with the need to securely wipe the old information on it. I have used Disk Utility, and zeroed the HD with a 7 times pass. This took 17 hours, and it moved to the "create partition map" stage. It's been doing that for 24 hours and still the progress bar is rolling. All other options are greyed out and nothing can be selected in Disk Utility. I have chosen to format it in Mac OS X Extended, Journaled. There was about 45 GB data on the drive.
Would this amount of time be expected, or has something gone wrong? I hesitate to force quit DU, in case I render the drive unusable. If I do that or shut down the computer, what's likely to happen to the HD? Will I be able to mount it again and start over. Any tips much appreciated.
Frances

Hi Frances,
17 hours for the 7-times pass is normal (and usually completely unnecessary unless you work for the CIA). However, the hang at the "create partition map" stage is not normal. I would interrupt it and reformat the drive, since the zeroing is finished anyway.
If this answered your question please consider granting some stars: Why reward points?

Windows 8 installation gets stuck during create partition step in bootcamp. Any suggestions?

windows 8 installation gets stuck during create partition step in bootcamp. I tried to restart the bootcamp with same results. I have given it more than 6 hrs for last 3 times but I was able to go past this step previously where I got stuck during registering windows8.

Hi,
According to your description, it seems that your all Windows 8.1 computers connect to network via normal wireless network.
Did you have wireless router for them?
Please delete this adhoc, then check if these computer could connect to network.
If no, follow below guide to create and connect to adhoc :
Create adhoc in Windows 8.1
http://tipsandtricksforum.com/thread-210.html
connect to adhoc with Windows 8.1
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/56ff83ff-1f15-4fc1-aa37-6651340d46fa/windows-81-connecting-to-ad-hoc-networks
Please Note: Since the website is not hosted by Microsoft, the link may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.
Karen Hu
TechNet Community Support

How can I reset my macs partition map?

I have an MBP mid 2012 with 750GB HD (the higher model, with i7 2.9GHz and 8 gigs of ram) which I am possibly passing on to someone. I have the latest version of Mavericks, triple booted to include Windows 8.1 and Linux Ubuntu.
To reset the computer I will likely use this method:
Step One - Back up your data:
       A. If you have any Virtual PCs shut them down. They cannot be in their "fast saved" state. They must be shut down from inside Windows.
       B. Clone to an external drive using using Carbon Copy Cloner.
          1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner.
          2. Select the Source volume from the Select a source drop down menu on the left side.
          3. Select the Destination volume from the Select a destination drop down menu on the right
              side.
          4. Click on the Clone button. If you are prompted about creating a clone of the Recovery HD be
              sure to opt for that.
               Destination means a freshly erased external backup drive. Source means the internal
               startup drive.
Step Two - Prepare the machine for the new buyer:
          1. De-authorize the computer in iTunes! De-authorize both iTunes and Audible accounts.
          2, Remove any Open Firmware passwords or Firmware passwords.
          3. Turn the brightness full up and volume nearly so.
          4. Turn off File Vault, if enabled.
          5. Use Boot Camp Assistant to remove a Windows partition, if there be one.
          6. Disable iCloud, if enabled: See.What to do with iCloud before selling your computer
Step Three - Install a fresh OS:
     A. Snow Leopard and earlier versions of OS X
          1. Insert the original OS X install CD/DVD that came with your computer.
          2. Restart the computer while holding down the C key to boot from the CD/DVD.
          3. Select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu; repartition and reformat the internal hard drive.
              Optionally, click on the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
          4. Install OS X.
          5. Upon completion DO NOT restart the computer.
          6. Shutdown the computer.
     B. Lion and Mountain Lion (if pre-installed on the computer at purchase*)
         Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because
                   it is three times faster than wireless.
          1. Restart the computer while holding down the COMMAND and R keys until the Mac OS X
              Utilities window appears.
          2. Select Disk Utility from the Mac OS X Utilities window and click on the Continue button.
          3. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the left side list. Click
              on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
          4. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on the Security button
              and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
          5. Click on the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
          6. Quit DU and return to the Mac OS X Utilities window.
          7. Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
          8. Upon completion shutdown the computer.
But, due to having three partitions on my computer and multiple operating systems installed, I at some stage needed to mess with the partition map (I remember doing this at one point: Repairing Boot Camp after creating new partition). Will using the above steps completely reset any custom "bios" I had installed and reset the partition maps/remove all partitions (Assuming I likely delete all the partitions and then re allocate all the space to OSX?
And if the above would not work, what do I need to do to remove these and will it be possible to restore the mac fully to the "factory default"?
Thanks,

So this will completely overwrite any of the steps in this process?
sudo gdisk /dev/disk0
If you get any error messages at this point, report the error messages, don't proceed further.
You're now in gdisk interactive mode. Menus/commands are single characters followed by return/enter. So type ? and <enter> and you'll get the main menu listing commands. Type p <enter> and it will print (display) the current GPT. Since you have 5 GPT entries, you can't use a 1 for 1 GPT to MBR scheme like Apple does. The following suggestion is safe, but all hybrid MBRs are non-standard inventions, and therefore I can't tell you how Boot Camp Assistant or Disk Utility will react to this hybrid MBR should you decide to make changes later. What I can tell you is Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X themselves have no problem with this MBR scheme.
r <enter>        go to the recovery & transformation menu
h <enter>        create a new hybrid MBR
5 <enter>        add partion 5 to the MBR
<enter>          accept the default MBR hex code of 07
y <enter>        set the bootable flag
n <enter>        do not protect more partitions
o < enter>       print (display) the MBR
You should have two entries. One type EE, one 07, with the 07 entry marked with * under Boot. If you don't, report back. If you do, write out the update partition information, and hope a power failure doesn't occur for the next few seconds...
w <enter>     write partition table to disk
reboot. hold down option - you should be able to boot into either Mac HD, Recovery HD, or Windows.
I just tested this same five partition GPT and 2 partition MBR on a working system and the instructions above worked.
Note, so long as CSM-BIOS and thus MBR are required for Boot Camp instead of EFI booting Windows, we're stuck with flaky MBR problems, as well as the 2TB disk limitation for Windows boot disks.
If so, problem solved, thanks!

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

Windows borked my external drive's partition map

I have two partitions on my 1 TB external drive, a ~750 GB HFS+ partition full of huge files (games, iTunes, etc.) and a 150 GB NTFS partition for Steam games (derp TF2 derp). The hard drive was originally in GPT, but now is in MBR due to Windows being... unkind.
While trying to create the NTFS partition, Windows 7's Disk Management asked me to convert the partition map to a "simple" partition scheme. I obliviously clicked OK and let it do its thing, then moved my Steam games over to the new NTFS partition and played TF2 for a few weeks. When I finally rebooted into OS X, I wondered why the two partitions weren't appearing on my desktop, and so I opened up Disk Utility, looked at my external HD's description and immediately started spewing out expletives. The disk reported as having one 1 TB "Windows_LDM" partition (Windows says otherwise, with the NTFS partition being recognized and the HFS+ not appearing anywhere) with MBR instead of GPT.
Disk Warrior and Drive Genius both refuse to do anything, since it doesn't report an HFS/HFS+ partition. Disk Management in Windows won't let me change it back to GPT. Be there anything I CAN do?
Here's the DU Command-I output of the HD:
Name : WD
Type : Disk
Partition Map Scheme : Master Boot Record
Disk Identifier : disk1
Media Name : WD My Book Media
Media Type : Generic
Connection Bus : FireWire
Connection ID : 40718345779727391
Device Tree : IODeviceTree:/PCI0@0/PCIB@1E/FRWR@3/node@90a91ea80acc1f/sbp-2@c000
Writable : Yes
Ejectable : Yes
Location : External
Total Capacity : 1 TB (1,000,204,886,016 Bytes)
S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported
Disk Number : 1
Partition Number : 0
And of the "partition":
Name : disk1s1
Type : Volume
Disk Identifier : disk1s1
Mount Point : Not mounted
Connection Bus : FireWire
Device Tree : IODeviceTree:/PCI0@0/PCIB@1E/FRWR@3/node@90a91ea80acc1f/sbp-2@c000
Writable : Yes
Capacity : 1 TB (1,000,203,836,928 Bytes)
Owners Enabled : No
Can Turn Owners Off : No
Can Be Formatted : No
Bootable : No
Supports Journaling : No
Journaled : No
Disk Number : 1
Partition Number : 1
...Help?

You cannot convert the drive's partition map back to GPT without repartitioning the entire drive. I doubt you can change it even using a Windows or Linux partitioning tool. Even if you could the other partition is probably lost.

Disk Utility - Partition map needs repair because a data partition needs loader space.

I just finished setting up both my OSX and Windows installs from scratch after fitting an SSD, which in-turn was right before my logic board died and Apple replaced it, now it looks like I have some sort of hard drive issue brewing.
This was my plan for the SSD, and how it currently displays in Disk Utility although that wasn't the case earlier:
And in Terminal:
My intention was to have two boot partitions for each OS, 'Macintosh HD' and 'Win 7 Pro' and a third shared data partition 'Projects' on the SSD, which I made in Drive Genius after installing Boot Camp. I don't want Macintosh HD accessible from Windows because I'll be using Paragon HFS+ or MacDrive to give write access and don't want OSs stomping on other OSs turf, hence needing three partitions. Everything looked fine until I just checked Disk Management under windows and realised it couldn't see the Projects volume. Even though it's fine in OS X, it was just marked black/unallocated space.
So I booted back into OSX, all my files look fine so I ran Disk Utility and the Partition tab looked really odd - unfortunately I didn't get a screenshot. All volumes reported their size correctly but visually, Macintosh HD took up most of the drive. I could see 'Windows 7 Pro' under this, but the Partition Layout section had a scrollbar, which if I scrolled down showed 'Projects' squished into a tiny gap at the bottom. I ran a Verify, which reported no problems, and at some time since the Partition Layout has reverted to how it should look (as in the screenshot above), with 'Projects' book-ended by "Macintosh HD' and 'Windows 7 Pro'.
Now when I run a Verify on Macintosh HD or Projects volumes, it says there's no problem, but if I run one on the drive, I get this message:
Volume Macintosh HD on disk0s2 has 0 bytes of trailing loader space and it needs 134217728 bytes
Problems were found with the partition map which might prevent booting
Error: Partition map needs repair because a data partition needs loader space.
I've only managed to find one other mention of this error here, but the fix is not relevant to me because I don't have Sophos installed. I've tried Single User/Safe Mode but it just boots into normal mode, so I can't do a fsck -fy.
** /dev/rdisk0s2 (NO WRITE)
Can't open /dev/rdisk0s2: Permission denied
That value in bytes is exactly 128mb, so I suspect the problem lies with one of the invisible partitions that show up in iPartition and Disk Management under Windows, but not in Disk Utility. I have backups and I suspect the root of the problem is partitioning in iPartition after installing Boot Camp, but I've never had issues with this approach in the past so I'm wary of just giving up and reinstalling Windows again will be massive hassle because I no longer have a SuperDrive and last time it refused to install from USB.
Anyone have any idea what's going on? It seems like the sort of issue Disk Utility should just handle, at least in Recovery mode, but it's not playing ball. It also doesn't seem like a massive problem since my files all look fine and performance is OK, so I'm reluctant to do anything major.
I'll update with a shot of the drive in Disk Management from Windows in a few minutes, in case that sheds light on anything. Thanks!

Similar issue here. I manually partitioned my hard disk for triple boot (using Gparted on Linux), then everything was just fine until I ran bootcamp, to do something as simple as create a boot USB.
I get the same error as a result and have to work my way into booting, by resorting first to a Linux live USB, then restarting from the live USB, to finally reach my rEFInd boot manager, or whichever boot manager should be initialized at startup.
I suppose that the cause in my case is that some operation "scratched" the protective MBR. See this:
http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.23/23.03/APMtoGPT/index.html
I am hoping to fix it using an external Yosemite installation media: see this guide -
http://www.macworld.com/article/2367748/how-to-make-a-bootable-os-x-10-10-yosemi te-install-drive.html
And as a last resort to reinstall.
I'll admit I am negatively surprised. I need this computer for professional reasons, and for the sake of "preserving the integrity of OSX", measures defined by Apple instead tend to make partitions far easier to damage. And this problem seems to affect a number of users.
As for what I have to go through to fix it: a 5GB download, during which I have to register my credit card to the Apple Store. "Pay first, get your free software next."
IF Disk Utility can fix it, from the external media, then fair enough. The hassle is unpleasant but it files as "a choice".
Otherwise you can file it safely under software design calamity.

Install error : disk cannot be used to start up your computer [or] MediaKit reports partition (Map) too small

Greetings,
I am aware that this problem has been discussed, but in long and vague discussions that I had to sift deeply to find an answer. Therefore I am posting a clear message, as this problem can be very troublesome for someone who just received a Mac OS installation disk and cannot install it.
Situation : you cannot install/update your new system because the installer does not consider your volume.
Error message : this disk cannot be used to start up your computer.
Version française : Ce disque ne peut pas être configuré pour démarrer votre ordinateur.
Also discussed below error: "MediaKit reports partition (Map) too small"
Note : although this occurred with a Snow Leopard (10.6) install DVD, it can alo occur with Lion (10.7) according to discussions on Apple web site.
IF YOUR CONDITIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS :
- You are using an official Apple installation DVD of Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) [or 10.7 Lion] or an official download/upgrade of those systems.
- Your main Mac partition scheme is in GUID as it should be (check with Disk Utility). That partition contains a Mac system that can start-up.
- Your volume format is: Mac OS Extended (journaled) [the format should not be Case Sensitive.]
- You have the hardware requirements to install Mac OS 10.6 (Intel processor; internal or external DVD drive or a linked DVD drive; 1 GB of RAM; a screen controlled by your computer graphics card; at least 5 GB space on the hard disk or 7 GB if you install all components).
- Using Disk Utility, you of course tried the disk Repair Tool and the Repair Permissions tool.
- Your hard disk does not have a file called Backups.backupdb (if it does, this means Time Machine has once used this hard disk for its back-ups). Anyhow, if it were the case, the installation would give a different error message (with the word TimeMachine). This file may block the installation: Apple Support suggest to place it in the garbage, *without* deleting it, and placing it back on the disk later. Mind you, if you do not use this hard disk as such to save your Time Machine back-ups, you can simply delete this file.
HOW TO FIX :
1. Boot with the 10.6 install DVD (Tip: you can either select Mac 10.6 as the boot DVD in your Start-up Preferences or simply press down c during the start-up).
2. Above the install screen, you have a Utilities tab from where you can run Disk Utility. Select your hard disk and select the Partition tab. Resize the primary Mac partition (don't add a new one) by decreasing it by about 5 GB.
It will look like this http://i.imgur.com/jHTbr.jpg
( That image shows only one partition, but the same principle applies even if you have two or more partitions on your disk.)
Also see the official Apple how to: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3926
Version française: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3926?viewlocale=fr_FR
3. Commit the change by hitting "Apply"
3.b. If you get the error "MediaKit reports partition (Map) too small", this is a rare error where the partition that follows (for example Bootcamp) is slightly overlapping your main Mac partition. You will need to reduce that other following partition. Once you have reduced the other partition, you will probably need to return to step 2 and 3 and try again.
[ For example, in my case, I had resized my Bootcamp with CampTune software and it would seem that the file system ended-up somehow larger than the actual partition container. I simply asked CampTune to reduce the partition a bit (barely 2 GB) and that fixed it.]
4. Reboot, again into the 10.6 install DVD.
5. You can then install 10.6.
6. Once 10.6 is installed, use the Disk Utility on the desktop (you can boot into the primary HD at this point) to resize the primary partition back to its original or maximum size.
SOURCE (main fix): http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=774410 [and] http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3926
SOURCE (explaination for MediaKit error): some Apple discussion post.
nb: in my case, it was on a MacBook Pro (late 2008).

GasMan4932 wrote:
When I click on the icon for this drive, the warning message below states "Mac OS X cannot be installed on 'iMac HD', because this disk cannot be used to start up your computer." Obviously that's not true, since that's where the OS is installed.
How did you partition this drive, if you did that? Does it contain start up or utility partitions for any other OS (for instance Linux)? There have been reports that the "cannot be used to start up your computer" message will appear if a third party utility was used to create a 'triple boot' system or such, apparently because SL is picky about the format GUID partition scheme table info & how partitions are allocated space on the drive by other formatting/partition methods.
For some users with these partitions, the fix has been as simple as "tickling" (slightly changing) the partition size of some partition with Disk Utility, which apparently updates the GUID partition scheme table info so that the SL installer accepts it as safe to use with SL.( In this sense, the message may be trying to say the installer thinks the disk can't be used to reliably start up your computer with SL, not in general.)
See the discussions topic Cannot install Snow Leopard over 10.5.8 for more about this.

Can I keep my Lightroom 3 catalog on a PowerMac hard drive with Apple Partition Map

I want to keep my LR3 catalog on a HD in my Power Mac (Intel chip) that I had formatted and used to store my pre-LR3 photo folders on my G5 tower. The 1TB drive is half full, and was formatted as an Apple Partition Map. On swapping the drive into an empty bay in my Power Mac, I can open photos saved on the drive, although I can't seem to rename them. I created my brand new LR3 catalog on the drive as well, but haven't done anything other than import the LR3 catalog I had already created and exported from my MacBook. Other than the drive not being bootable on my Intel Power Mac, are there any risks to managing my LR3 catalog from this drive? Or should I only keep my LR3 catalog on a GUID partitioned drive?
This HD is not of course my startup drive, but only to be used to store my photos.

Oops, I should have used "Mac Pro" to describe my Intel machine, not "Power Mac"

Partition Map Schemes: HFS+ and FAT32 partitions with OSX and Windows

OK so I know this question has been practically beaten to death, but I keep finding conflicting information. I am using a 2011 MacBook Pro, on which I will set up Windows through Boot Camp. I recently purchased a 750 GB WD external hard drive to use with time machine for a backup on my Mac. However, I also need to be able to use part of this for Windows files. SO.. I intend to use the HFS+ partition for the the Mac (500GB) and create a FAT 32 partition (250GB) to use for backing up windows files (using it for solely computer modeling and need to be able to transfer/share files with Mac users who use Parallels as well as copying to PC desktops). My question is what to use as the partition map scheme. I have heard that when using these two partition types, a Master Boot Record is needed (so Windows can recognize the FAT32 partition) and also that a GUID partition map is required for use with time machine, meaning windows would no longer be able to read the FAT32 partition. Is there a way to reconcile this? Either using Time Machine with HFS+ partition that is set to MBR or uisng FAT32 on Windows with a GUID partition map? Also if I were to use Parallels (with a GUID setup) instead of Boot Camp, could that be the way to save the windows files to the FAT32 Partition and avoid problems with Time Machine not working with MBR? Thanks for any expertise, as I have heard that both setups that I have mentioned both will work and both will not work. Any experience with a similar situation?

Wow. Thanks for the extremely quick responses. Just for a few points of clarification.. I'm a complete newb at backing up strategies.
Steve, you would recommend to not backup files from my Mac OSX and files from Windows (also on my Mac) on the same drive, correct?
I appreciate the strategy of using it only as a backup, that makes quite a bit of sense. However, if I want to only backup my OSX files, and also store (solely as backup copies) say, a number of computer models (Rhino, Revit, etc.) that were created in Windows programs (not needing to store the entire Windows disk), would it not make sense to store these on the same drive in a different partition, creating the need for two different partition formats? And if I were to do this, maybe I should use NTFS instead of FAT32 (and reformat to GUID since that seems to be a standard for Apple and Windows 7 recognizes it..?) to keep them completely separate since the computer model files cannot be opened unless running the Windows programs.
How do you use your drive with HFS+ and NTFS if not for backups? I will not need to access the HFS+ backup files in Windows, nor need to access files from an NTFS partition in OSX, so that seems to simplify things in that, at least at the moment, I will not need any Paragon software.
Currently my drive is partitioned as HFS+ and FAT32 as MBR, with the HFS+ partition set up with Time Machine. It appears to be successful, I see my files in Mac HD -> "users" and all my docs, desktop items, etc. are listed. Seems that there is in fact no limit on TM's use of MBR maps, or else it is way above 160GB.
Third, are you using CarbonCopyClone in place of Time Machine or in addition to it? If in addition would it create the bit-wise clone on the same HFS+ partition as TM is backing up to? Or a separate drive? I'd like to only have one external that I am backing up to for simplicity's sake. I've never used TM before, so this is all new to me. Also, I suppose I have been missing the distinction between storing copies of files, and making a complete backup of a disk image... just now realizing the difference. Thanks so much.

Problems were encountered during repair of the partition map.

I had too much time on my hands yesterday and I decided to try to remove an unused kernel extension that I saw in my EtreCheck report. The kext was for the PACE iLok, for Pro Tools, which I no longer use. I found the item that was installing the kext and removed it, and EtreCheck reported that the kext was gone.
Some time after that I was troubleshooting another issue I have with Mavericks (shutdown time: my shutdown time with ML was almost instantaneous; with Mavericks, it takes about 12 seconds.), and I used the recovery partition and Disk Utility to repair my HD and permissions.
DU reported that my usual boot volume was OK, and permissions repaired on it without problems.
When I have DU look at the drive itself, it reported: Problems were encountered during repair of the partition map.
And then, in ominous red text: error: live file system repair is not supported.
I tried repairing again, and also got this message: The partition map needs to be repaired because there's a problem with the EFI system partition 's file system.
I tried a few things to get these error messages to go away. I booted with a DiskWarrior disk and it was unable to do the repair.
I did a little reading about the EFI partition, and in Macs it appears to be a partition related to firmware updates.
My mac has not had any symptoms at all during this, aside from the slower shutdown.
Even so, I did not like the idea of a partition that could not be repaired on my HD, so I did a clean install. Seemed to work, DU reported a healthy drive and volume.
This morning, as I was preparing for a TM backup, I ran DU again, and the error messages were back. Not good.
This time I tried TechTool, and it was able to repair the HD from the TechTool eDrive (TechTool's version of the recovery partition).
I've looked in these discussions and there are some mentions of these error messages, but usually in the context of failing hard drives or drives that must be erased and the OS reinstalled.
I'm wondering if anyone can shed some light on this for me, what these error messages mean, why they are occurring, and if I can just ignore them. My internal HD is not a stock Apple drive, but a Samsung SSD that I installed some time ago, and which otherwise works fine. My current suspicions are that either:
there is something inherent in Mavericks that creates some problem with the EFI partition map over time, which then shows up in the error messages in DU
or there is some incompatibility with this SSD and Mavericks that creates the same error messages.
Here's my EtreCheck report:
Hardware Information:
          MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011)
          MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,2
          1 2 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4 cores
          8 GB RAM
Video Information:
          Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB
          AMD Radeon HD 6490M - VRAM: 256 MB
Audio Plug-ins:
          BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0
          AirPlay: Version: 1.9
          AppleAVBAudio: Version: 2.0.0
          iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3
System Software:
          OS X 10.9 (13A603) - Uptime: 0 days 0:51:29
Disk Information:
          Samsung SSD 840 PRO Series disk0 : (512.11 GB)
                    EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
                    Untitled (disk0s2) /: 499.12 GB (418.57 GB free)
                    Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB
                    eDrive (disk0s4) /Volumes/eDrive: 12 GB (4.65 GB free)
          HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS31N
USB Information:
          MICRONET FANTOM DRIVE     1 TB
                    EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
                    Fantom (disk1s2) /Volumes/Fantom: 999.86 GB (941.3 GB free)
          Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
          Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
          Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
          Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
                    Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
FireWire Information:
Thunderbolt Information:
          Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus
Kernel Extensions:
          at.obdev.nke.LittleSnitch          (4052)
Problem System Launch Daemons:
Problem System Launch Agents:
Launch Daemons:
          [loaded] at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist
          [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist
          [loaded] com.raynersw.nshctldo.plist
          [loaded] org.cindori.AuthHelper.plist
Launch Agents:
          [loaded] at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist
User Launch Agents:
User Login Items:
          iTunesHelper
          Dropbox
3rd Party Preference Panes:
          Flash Player
Internet Plug-ins:
          Default Browser.plugin
          Flash Player.plugin
          FlashPlayer-10.6.plugin
          QuickTime Plugin.plugin
User Internet Plug-ins:
Bad Fonts:
          None
Time Machine:
          Auto backup: YES
          Volumes being backed up:
                    Untitled: Disk size: 499.12 GB Disk used: 80.55 GB
          Destinations:
                    Fantom [Local] (Last used)
                    Total size: Zero KB
                    Total number of backups: (null)
                    Size of backup disk: Too small
                              Backup size Zero KB < (Disk used 80.55 GB X 3)
Top Processes by CPU:
              13%          WindowServer
               2%          hidd
               2%          EtreCheck
               2%          backupd
               1%          com.apple.prefs.backup.remoteservice
               1%          fontd
               1%          com.apple.WebKit.Networking
               0%          Safari
               0%          cookied
               0%          coreservicesd
Top Processes by Memory:
          131 MB             backupd
          131 MB             Safari
          115 MB             com.apple.IconServicesAgent
          74 MB              Dropbox
          66 MB              WindowServer
          56 MB              com.apple.WebKit.WebContent
          49 MB              TechTool Pro 7
          49 MB              Messages
          41 MB              App Store
          41 MB              mds
Virtual Memory Statistics:
          4.65 GB            Free RAM
          1.84 GB            Active RAM
          370 MB             Inactive RAM
          1.13 GB            Wired RAM
          415 MB             Page-ins
          0 B                Page-outs
thanks

this is the list it gives, hope it helps
Verifying and repairing partition map for “ST9160314ASG Media”
Checking prerequisites
Checking the partition list
Checking for an EFI system partition
Checking the EFI system partition’s size
Checking the EFI system partition’s file system
Checking all HFS data partition loader spaces
Reviewing boot support loaders
Checking Core Storage Physical Volume partitions
Checking storage system
Problems were encountered during repair of the partition map
Error: Storage system verify or repair failed.

How to apply GPT partition maps?

Hi.
I am trying to create a backup of my Macintosh HD to my external HD which has been partitioned into two separate drives. When I go into Disk Utility from booting up and try to restore the Macintosh HD onto the external partitioned drive which is 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' a prompt comes up saying "Restore Failure: Recovery partition restores can only be done on GPT partition maps'.
What does this mean and what do I need to do to make the sufficient changes in order to complete this process? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciate, Thanks.
Ravi.

In Disk Utility, with Partition tab selected, highlight the drive to partition, then select how many partitions (probably one), then click on the Options button below. There, select GUID partition table. Now finish the partitioning.
(this process deletes any files already on the drive - copy them to another drive first!)

TS4272 erase free space stuck on creating temporary file

I upgraded to 10.7.4 and followed instructions in http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4272
At step 9 Disk Utility is stuck on 'creating temporary file' for the last 24 hours. I have canceled and tried more than once.

This may be a problem with Disk Utility on your boot drive. Try rebooting to the Recovery HD and using Disk Utility on that partition (it should appear in the OS X Tools menu). You might also try running a disk verification and repair to ensure the filesystem and partition structure are intact.
Alternatively you can also bypass the disk utility application by using the Terminal to erase free space, which can be done with the following command:
sudo diskutil secureErase freespace 0 disk0s2
Note that while the device "disk0s2" is commonly the boot drive for systems with a single hard drive, this may be different for you system. Check the device by opening Disk Utility and getting information on your boot volume, and you should see the proper device name listed as "device identifier."

Unable to repair disk (Partition map) Please HELP !

Hi,
I have the weirdest problem with my 15" retina macbook pro.
Earlier today, OS X automatically rebooted after some kind of bug. I was then unable to start the computer, wether it was through recovery or as usual.
Started in Safe mode, Backed up with time machine, and restored system.
I'm now able to boot as usual but when I launch Disk Utility, I detects an error. Please find DU log at end of this message.
When I click Repair Disk, I continuously get the same error message (this disk needs to be repaired).
Any ideas how I can get this error fixed ?
Thanks so much !
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Verifying and repairing partition map for “APPLE SSD SM1024F Media”
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Starting repair tool:
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Checking prerequisites
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Checking the partition list
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Adjusting partition map to fit whole disk as required
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Checking for an EFI system partition
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Checking the EFI system partition’s size
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Checking the EFI system partition’s file system
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Checking all HFS data partition loader spaces
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Checking booter partitions
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Checking booter partition disk0s3
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Repairing file system.
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Invalid number of allocation blocks
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: The volume could not be verified completely.
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: File system check exit code is 8.
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Reviewing boot support loaders
2015-02-14 19:10:03 +0100: Checking Core Storage Physical Volume partitions
2015-02-14 19:10:04 +0100: Updating Windows boot.ini files as required
2015-02-14 19:10:04 +0100: Problems were encountered during repair of the partition map
2015-02-14 19:10:04 +0100: Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk.

If you have a backup (for both OS's: OS X and Windows) you might try with booting to single user mode and use fsck tool: Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck - Apple Support
But if that would be my own mac i would probably create myself a Recovery USB Disk or Bootable OS Yosemite Installer Disk and repartition my Hard Drive and then reinstall OS X and restore data to it. If Disk Utility is reporting an issue with Partition Map Scheme i would be a bit anxious about my data stored on this drive...
Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support
OS X: About Recovery Disk Assistant - Apple Support
Create a bootable installer for OS X Mavericks or Yosemite - Apple Support
How to move data to your new Mac using Mountain Lion and earlier - Apple Support also Yosemite

Stuck on Creating Partition Map

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