Volumes Won't Drag Over in Disk Utility

I'm in Disk Utility. I am trying to mirror the 250gb drive that came with the computer with a 250gb partition I've made of another drive. I am following the directions in the disk utility help page to the T, and there is a weird problem. I can't drag the disks into the list.
first disk info:
http://thepunctuator.net/LBWS/raid1.png
Mount Point : / Capacity : 232.6 GB (249,715,376,128 Bytes)
Format : Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Available : 208.6 GB (223,937,794,048 Bytes)
Owners Enabled : Yes Used : 24.0 GB (25,777,582,080 Bytes)
Number of Folders : 112,925 Number of Files : 499,501
second disk info:
http://thepunctuator.net/LBWS/raid2.png
Mount Point : /Volumes/Macintosh HD2 Capacity : 232.9 GB (250,053,931,008 Bytes)
Format : Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Available : 232.8 GB (249,976,754,176 Bytes)
Owners Enabled : Yes Used : 73.6 MB (77,176,832 Bytes)
Number of Folders : 4 Number of Files : 9
When I first loaded up Disk Utility, I couldn't even drag the disks at all. I would click&hold and start moving, and the disks didn't pop into icons and start dragging. I quit the program and loaded it back up, and now they pop into icons, but when I hover them over the list box, nothing happens. It doesn't add them to the list. No amount of quitting and restarting the application fixes it. Restarting the computer did not resolve the issue either.
Here is kind of what it looks like when I drag the disks over, if you pretend the cursor is there as well:
http://thepunctuator.net/LBWS/raid3.png
When I release, the disks are not added to the list.
If no one knows how to resolve this issue, does anyone know a way to do this operation from the terminal?
Mac Pro 8-core Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Re: "
In Disk Utility, go to Help menu and read how to use the program to create RAIDs."
I've read that manual (as I mentioned in my original post, thanks for reading). Here is what it says:
"If you booted your computer from a disk that has multiple partitions, you cannot create a RAID set that contains partitions from your boot disk. To create a RAID disk that contains partitions from that disk, you must boot your computer from another disk first."
That's fine, but I can't believe I have to format the partition in order to RAID it. Why can't I just mirror it and have it rebuild the information onto the second partition? That seems like a simple and obvious bit of functionality. What is it about HFS that prevents this from happening? To be honest, I just don't believe you.
Re: "Apple Disk Utility RAIDs will only use the smaller capacity for building parts. You would be better to format each drive, with a 2nd partition on the larger. However, using drives of unlike capacity and speed (seek times do vary and just like with SCSI it is best if they are identical DNA down to firmware)."
Thank you, but if you spent five seconds looking at my original post you would have seen that the partitions I'm using are the same size. (Ok, they're not exactly the same size, but less than .1% difference). As far as having identical DNA, shrug. I have a server with 3.5 tb RAID5 array sitting by my knee that has, not only disks from different manufacturers, but also a mishmash of SATA and IDE devices. It hasn't had a problem in three months. The performance is great.
Anyway, I am trying to get help with a specific issue which I recounted in my original post. I am not here to discuss the finer points of disk management with you guys - I am trying to deal with this specifically Mac issue of the Disk Utility application. I know how to handle myself in *nix, and if it fails, that's fine, I have a backup.
Thanks for your administration advice, but then again, no thanks. Does anyone have any help for the above issue?
Mac Pro 8-core Mac OS X (10.4.9)

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Hello jukim,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Great troubleshooting done so far. Since you're still booting to the flashing question mark, even after repairing the disk, the next step would be to reinstall OS X.
A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac
https://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440
OS X Mavericks: Reinstall OS X
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13871
Take care,
Alex H.

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I kind of feel like drawing a flowchart to show all that I've tried. Its difficult to keep everything intelligible while listing the entire last week's efforts at 2:45am. :-/
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41951
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Hi ..
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Hi,
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No Destination Volume; Disk Utility problems too!

I have an Imac G5. I was having problems with my old OS (panther)--basically it was corrupted and kept crashing and then wouldn't even load. So I ran out and bought Tiger (as I had lost my original Panther install CD, I figured I might as well upgrade since I was doling out the cash for the software).
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In re-installing Tiger, however, the system seemed to crash. I re-booted the computer and now the installer doesn't recognize my hard drive--there aren't any icons to choose in the destination volume section.
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You probably will. It's possible that it became unplugged, in which case it needs to be plugged in again.
(67555)

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I'm absolutely astounded by this.
I have a new MacBook Pro 17". I restored my files to it and in short order, had it too full/fragmented to re-partition it for Boot Camp.
So I decided to image the disk and store that image file on a FireWire drive, wipe the system disk and restore it cleanly from the image file backup, hoping that would result in contiguous blocks used so that I could then re-partition for Boot Camp.
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You can use an external bootable drive with a MacBook Pro -- check your manual or the built in help. Your problem is that for some reason, you can't install a bootable system on one. There are several reasons why Installer won't enable you to do so: insufficient space, incompatible partition scheme (should be GUID) or file system (should be HFS+ or similar), or wrong installation option selected.
It is possible this is related to why you can't drag the startup volume to the destination box in Disk Utility. It must be an HFS+ variant file system.
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Leopard volume won't start up all of sudden. Utilities find nothing amiss.

I have a Leopard partition on the hard drive of my iMac G5 (non-Intel) computer that, all of a sudden, refuses to start-up. When I attempt to start-up the computer via that partition, which is one of four start-up volumes on the iMac G5, all I can get now is a perpetually spinning gear that never quite turns the crank to start-up the computer, even if I let the gear turn for an hour or so.
Since I do have a current, cloned backup of that volume, I am not concerned about losing data or time in restoring it to its former functionality. But I am mystified as to what is preventing that volume from starting up, so I'm reporting on it here in an attempt to canvas for ideas as to what might have gone wrong and what my options are to bring it back to its normal state, even if that includes re-installing Leopard.
Over the past few days, I have run every disk maintenance utility I have, and none report any problem with the volume in question. I have gone through the entire suite TechTool Pro tests and repairs. I have used DiskWarrior in the CD-ROM start-up mode to rebuild the directory so that zero items are out of order. I have used Drive Genius to defrag the volume. I have also used Disk Utility to rebuild permissions. No files are reported corrupt. Get Info reports no anomalies regarding disk ownership or permissions: the Leopard volume in question is set exactly like the other partititions, which do start-up OK. The volume always shows up an eligible start-up volume in System Preference's start-up disk control panel. Yet, the volume will NOT boot up, and I cannot figure out why.
At this juncture, the only options I can see to getting me past this frustrating stuck point are: (1) restore from the clone, which is starting up fine from the external Firewire drive; or (2) re-install Leopard from the Apple system disk.
Before I try either one of those options, though, I wonder if anyone has any theories on why this volume won't boot up and what else I could do to get it back to normal.
bowerboy_jmb

If there's nothing wrong with the drive or its directory, then there are corrupted system files preventing normal startup. You will have to reinstall OS X. Try:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
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.) 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, then quit DU and return to the installer.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

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