Windows Partition Won't Mount in OS X

Hi,
I just used Boot Camp to install Windows. I had Windows XP installed on my MacBook Pro awhile ago, but after I got it back from a hard drive repair I didn't put Windows back on. I recently downloaded the Windows 7 RC from Microsoft's site and used boot camp to install it. The install seemed to go fine, and I was in Windows setting up stuff for awhile. When I booted back into OS X, my Windows partition would not show up on the desktop, and would not appear in the Startup Disk preference. In Disk Utility, it shows up as grayed out with the generic name "disk0s3". When you try to mount it from there, it gives the error "The disk "disk0s3" could not be mounted. Try running First Aid on the disk and then retry mounting." Since I formatted it as NTFS (no other choice for Windows 7), I can't do a verify or repair on the disk.
Going into Terminal and doing a "diskutil list", I see the 50 GB windows partition labeled as "Microsoft Basic Data." I've been looking around for a fix but can't find anything. Many people were complaining about this issue on these discussion boards back in 2007 but there was no real solution found.
While I can still boot into Windows by restarting and holding option, it's very frustrating to not see the disk in OS X. Does anyone have a permanent fix for this? I know it can't just be something with Windows 7 because people were having this issue years ago. Could really use some help with this. Although I don't really have anything installed beyond Safari, Firefox, iTunes etc it would just be a hassle to have to reinstall, and it may end up doing the same thing.
Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Adam

Alright, well I finally made progress! I had heard from other people who had this issue that installing NTFS-3G and MacFUSE didn't help, so I didn't bother before. However, I tried it just for the **** of it, and it definitely improved things. When I first restarted after installing both NTFS-3G and MacFUSE, I got a message saying that the Windows partition was unmounted "uncleanly" or something to that effect. I was given two options: to Ignore, or to Force the partition to mount. When I chose Force, it actually mounted successfully. The name on the partition was for some reason "Untitled", even though when I boot while holding option it shows the partition as "Windows". But it mounted fine, and I could write to it. I booted back into Windows, and found that under Windows the drive was also unnamed. So I named it Windows, went back into OS X and the name stuck.
The only remaining issue is that OS X still doesn't recognize it as a startup volume in the Startup Disk system preference. So in order to boot into Windows, I still need to restart with option held down; however, that's not a major issue. I was mainly concerned with being able to see files on the Windows 7 partition and transfer files from OS X to Windows and vice versa. So I'm basically happy, although I'd still be a bit happier if Startup Disk would see it as a bootable volume.
I'd still be interested to hear any other thoughts about this issue. It must be a known issue by now, since there was a very similar thread about this back in 2007, and still not fixed in Leopard seemingly. If anyone knows what may have caused this issue, or how one would have gone about fixing it without installing ntfs-3g/MacFUSE, I'd be interested. Still hoping the issue will be fixed under Snow Leopard.
Adam

Similar Messages

  • After Lion upgrade Windows partition won't mount

    I have been running a partition for Windows, originally set up with Bootcamp and Windows SP using Parallels, for several years and generations of OS - Leopard and Snow Leopard without trouble. I just upgraded to Lion and now my Windows partition won't mount. I can see it in Disk Utility, but it is greyed out.
    I have done several searches without finding a solution. There seems to be all sorts of advice. If I need to upgrade to Windows 7, fine. But how can I get the partition to mount? Does it have to do with Lion writing a recovery partition that breaks the partitioning I had? Is it an NTFS issue, whatever that is?
    I would appreciate someone giving me some simple detailed steps to get my partition to mount, since I know nothing about Windows.
    If I have to wipe the partition, buy Windows 7 and install it, OK. But I don't want to wipe the whole drive and my Mac side. Does Lion even need Bootcamp anymore? You can see I'm totally confused. I just need to get my Windows partition back and running through Parallels.
    Thanks.

    Never a good idea to go for years with the same drive and new OS generations and not reformat to implement new changes in partitioning.
    ALWAYS clone your system(s) before an upgrade.
    Installing Lion on an external hard drive would have saved you.
    Windows is now +1 partition ID.
    Windows 8 RC will be out in a couple weeks for public for free.
    Asked on Parallels community....
    Do you have latest Lion version of Parallels?
    Try editing BCD with Windows DVD/CD.
    No it is not an NTFS issue.
    Lion added a new recovery partition that bumped Windows from #N to N + 1 is all.
    Apple's GPT changed a number of times since 10.5.x too.
    Bad sectors that occur on a drive can't be mapped out if they are part of the hidden partitions or without losing data (usually) and Lion uses and insures that features that were 'optional' or "for future use" were implemented and changed.
    Windows SP sounds like Windows 7 SP1 or in your case I guess XP SP3 but isn't clear until you get to "upgrade to Wiindows 7" and yes I would upgrade to Windows 8 RC (free) or 7 64-bit System Builder ($99).

  • OS X and Windows partitions won't appear

    I created a 60 gig partition for Windows 7 in boot camp a few weeks ago. Today, I decided to erase the Windows partition, split it in two, and install Windows 7 on one and Windows XP on the other. Windows XP installed fine, but now the other partitions won't show up in the boot screen, or in target disc mode. Are they just lost now?

    Did you erase the partition with bootcamp before creating the other 2?

  • Boot Camp partition won't mount in Disk Utility all of a sudden

    I used to have a Windows 7 Boot Camp partition set-up and working perfectly.
    Turned on my 2009 Mac Mini today and couldn't see it in the Finder. Opened Disk Utility, it was there, but grayed out. Right clicked and selected "Mount BOOTCAMP", got "mount failed"
    Tried verifying and repairing disk, but no joy. So I removed the boot camp partition using Boot Camp Assistant and started again. Went fine, installed Windows 7 fine.
    Booted back into Snow Leopard so I could unpair my bluetooth keyboard (I've found that I can only set-up the bluetooth keyboard in Windows 7 if I unpair it in OSX first). Again, Boot Camp partition doesn't show in the finder, and is grayed out in Disk Utility.
    I googled this problem, and found a few people mentioning that NTFS drivers in OSX (e.g. MacFUSE, paragon etc) can cause issues because they conflict with Snow Leopard's own NTFS driver. I did have MacFUSE installed, so I removed it, but it didn't seem to change anything.
    Any suggestions?

    solution!
    install NTFS-3G (http://macntfs-3g.blogspot.com/)
    open disk utility and mount your greyed out partition (NTFS-3G will mount it)
    unmount it
    open system preferences, go to tuxera NTFS pref, second tab (Volumes)
    make sure your windows 7 partition is selected from drop down menu then click "disable tuxera NTFS"
    at this point i rebooted into windows, then rebooted back into snow leopard. my windows partition was once again mounted and visible in Finder
    hope this works for you guys!
    Message was edited by: colmiak

  • External Iomega Drive Partition won't mount

    Hi:
    I have a partition on my Iomega external drive that won't mount. The drive has 2 partitions. One I use for back up works fine. This other one is visiable but won't mount. I have run disk utitility and it says everything is fine but says it isn't journaled. It won't let me turn on journaling and won't let me get it mounted, what can I do?

    Hi Dennis:
    Thank you for your attempt at helping me. I opened Disk Utility and saw the greyed out "video Editing" partition, clicked on it and tried to mount it. It says it cannot mount the volume. I then clicked on the greyed out drive partition and clicked on disk first aid. It gives me the following screen.
    Verify and Repair volume “Video Editing”
    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.
    The volume Video Editing appears to be OK.
    It just plain won't mount but I have in the past been able to see the contents inside and the other partition for which I use as back up for my iMac works just fine so I know the drive is working fine. I just cannot get this partition to mount.
    Any other ideas?
    Thank you,
    Reid

  • Disk Partition Won't Mount

    My hard drive is partitioned. [I'm sure that this isn't a physical problem with my hard drive, because my hard drive has been replaced.]
    I have a partition that won't show up on the desktop. When I run Disk Utilities, it shows the drive, but says it is unmounted. I repair the partition and try to 'mount' it. I press the Mount button and nothing happens.
    [I had this problem on the old drive, too. The only suggestion I got was not to partition into six partitions, although my previous machines had no problem with six partitions.]
    Does anybody know what's going on?
    iMac G5   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  
    iMac G5   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  

    Hi ottertree;
    If you are using Norton Disk Doctor on a disk with OS X on it, you are living dangerous. NDD has been know to repair disk so that are no longer usable. Norton corrupted my disk for me so I remove everything from Symantec from my system to prevent that from happening again.
    Personally, I look at using Norton as a false economy.
    My recommendation is to trash it and save up for a real utilty instead.
    Allan

  • Security Update - Disk Utlity crashes, disk partitions won't mount

    After I installed the original security update (2006-002) released the week of 3/13/06 I encountered the following problems:
    - Firewire startup disk did not show firewire icon.
    - Firewire startup disk did not mount with all partitions. Only the system partition mounts.
    - Cannot mount any drives or disk images.
    - Disk Utility crashes every time.
    - Spotlight returns results for a search but when choosing Show All nothing happens.
    I really need to mount the second partition of my firewire startup disk as all my data is on it.
    If I boot from my Mac mini's internal drive everything works fine. I should note that the internal drive of my mini has 10.4.2 installed. My firewire startup drive has 10.4.5 with the security update.
    I installed security update 2006-002 using Software update and things went wrong.
    I tried re-applying the 10.4.5 combo update to no avail. I installed the latest security update (2006-002 v 1.1) to no avail. I repaired disk permissions from the install DVD to no avail.
    Any help will be greatly appreciated.
    Jaime
    1.25G4 Mac mini| 512MB RAM | 80GB HDD | Superdrive | 512 Mb Shufle   Mac OS X (10.4.5)   security update 2006-002

    I really need to mount the second partition of my firewire startup disk as all my data is on it.
    To me that sounds like your data is not backed up there. Never install anything without first backing up. You may still be able to salvage information there using Prosoft Data Rescue:
    http://www.prosofteng.com/
    and another external hard disk.
    As for the data on the other drive where you are having crashes, are you running any third party utilities like Norton Personal Firewall or others which may be impacted by a security update?

  • OS X partition won't mount

    I am using a PowerBook G3 Wallstreet with Sonnet Crescendo G4 daughter card installed. I was downloading security updates in OS 10.2.8 and an upgrade to Norton Internet Security 3.0 (internet access was to a USB modem via a Belkin "Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Notebook Card") when the system crashed (completely froze; updates did not appear on the desktop upon completion of download; unable to make any inputs via the keyboard). I reset the system (shift, fn, cntrl, power) and restarted. The system rebooted in OS 9, but the OS X disk did not appear on the desktop. A message box appears stating that "the OS 9 disk may be damaged". Disk First Aide shows no problems with the OS 9 disk. The OS X disk (the hard drive is partitioned) shows in Disk First Aide, and DFA lists two problems: "custom icon missing" and "missing thread record". DFA states it cannot repair the problems. Disk Utility states that the OS X drive cannot be mounted or freezes the computer. The OS X disk does not appear in "startup drive" in control panels.
    Ever the optimist, I am attempting to remount the OS X partition from OS 9 but have so far been unsuccessful. I am working from the assumption that the OS X partition is recoverable. I would appreciate feedback from anyone that has had a similar experience.
    Thank you, and Happy New Year.

    Cornelius,
    DW repaired the disk (had to wait for it to arrive in the mail). Nice to have my disk back. Thank you for your assistance.
    CPS:
    I don't understand why you can't use TTP or DW on a
    G3 PB. However, here is a procedure by Kappy for
    manually repairing the
    directories.Overlapping extents can be a
    difficult problem to fix. If the extent of the
    problem is mild, then it may be repairable, but Disk
    Utility generally cannot fix overlapping extents.
    However, Disk Warrior can although it can take some
    time to repair a drive where the problem is extensive
    - hours to days.
    It is possible to repair overlapped extents using
    fsck provided the problem is not too extensive. The
    following KB article discusses how that's done:
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25770.
    The following is another discussion of how to fix
    overlapped extents:
    Manually fix Overlapped Extent Allocation Errors
    without Disk Warrior
    Overlapped overlapped extent allocation errors can be
    the bane of any Mac user's existence. Often, these
    errors go unnoticed until the problem becomes
    visible: your Mac might refuse to boot, crash
    unexpected, or worse, critical data might disappear
    from the Finder. Disk Utility can detect, but not fix
    overlapped extent allocation errors, and certain
    third-party utilities, such as Alsoft Diskwarrior,
    can fix them, but generally without reporting the
    consequences.
    Overlapped extent allocation error occur when the
    file system thinks that two files are occupying the
    same area on the hard disk, hence overlapping on the
    same "inode," which is the structure which holds the
    location of the data blocks the file occupies, and
    also file permissions and flags.
    Clearing the "overlapped" or "overallocated" extent
    allocation essentially means that you'll have to lose
    some data, because the only way to remove the overlap
    is to delete the file that's occupying the inode. So,
    if you suspect, or find out, that the guilty file is
    a critical system file that resides in one of the
    hidden system directories such as /etc /var /usr/ or
    visible system directories such as /System or
    /Library, and you don't want to reinstall the whole
    OS (which might not fix the overlapped extent
    allocation anyway), it's good to have another disk
    available to copy the files back to your original
    disk if necessary: a second bootable hard drive or a
    firewire drive connected to your Mac when you remove
    the misbehaving file. Just make sure that when you
    copy the file back to your boot disk that the
    permissions are correct, so it's best to use the
    "ditto" command, so that all sticky bits, flags, and
    permissions are preserved.
    In case you didn't know, you don't have to boot from
    an install CD in order to check for overlapped extent
    allocations. All you need to do is restart your Mac,
    while holding down command + S to boot in
    "single-user mode."
    At the command prompt that appears, type:
    $ fsck -fy
    If you have an overlapped extent allocation, you'll
    see:
    "Overlapped Extent Allocation" (File 123456d)
    No matter how many times you run fsck -fy, you'll
    never be rid of the error.
    So, simply issue the following command:
    find / -inum 123456 -print
    Note the "d" was dropped, or any extra letter that
    appears after the inode number.
    The find will return a file name that matches with
    the inode number, and the path to that file. If you
    remove the file then the fsck will not return this
    error next time you run it.
    However, before you can delete the file(s) in
    single-user mode, you'll need to mount the file
    system. Type:
    $ mount -uw /
    When done, issue the "sync" command, and that will
    flush the write cache so that all pending writes are
    written from memory to the disk. Also, since most OS
    X 10.3 Macs use the HFS+ Journaled file system, it
    might be a good idea to disable the journal before
    booting into single-user mode by typing:
    $ sudo diskutil disableJournal /
    then re-enable it when done fixing the overlapped
    extents and rebooting normally:
    $ sudo diskutil enableJournal /
    Chris Anderson is a long-time Linux propellerhead who
    just got his first Mac, an ibook G4, and can't keep
    his hands off of it. He currently works as a "The
    Architect" and general visionary for a maker of
    world-class collectibles.
    If the problem is not fixable then reformatting the
    hard drive is the only other way to repair the
    drive.
    Good Luck.
    cornelius
    PB G3
    Pismo400, 100 GB 5400 Toshiba internal, 1 GB RAM
      Mac OS X (10.3.9)   Beige G3 OS 8.6

  • How to recover partition (with encrypted sparse bundle disk image) that won't mount?

    I have a Late 2013 27" iMac running OS X 10.9.4.  I have an external drive that I use for Time Machine backups which also has an encrypted sparse bundle disk image.  Yesterday, the drive stopped showing up in Finder, so I went to Disk Utility and tried to mount it.  No go.  So I tried repairing it, and it said it couldn't.  I'm not worried about the Time Machine backup since my iMac is find so I can just make a backup to a new external drive.  However, the encrypted sparse bundle disk image has some files in it that I don't have elsewhere.  Is there a way to recover these files without sending it in to a drive recovery service (since those would cost a LOT of money)?

    No such options.  As I mentioned in the post title and in my first post, the partition won't mount.

  • [ SOLVED ] Connecting to windows partition help

    Hi All
    I dual boot with Windows 7 & Arch ... I have some files on my windows partition that i need to be able to access and transfer between windows & Arch.  What is the best way to be able to do this with a GUI ?
    Many Thanks
    Last edited by whitetimer (2010-10-25 17:17:43)

    I have changed my /etc/fstab file to this
    /dev/sda2 / ext4 defaults 0 1
    /dev/sda5 /home ext4 defaults 0 1
    /dev/sda1 /mnt/windows ntfs-3g defaults    0 0
    But when i reboot, my windows partition does not mount.  If i do this
    sudo ntfsmount /dev/sda1 /mnt
    It mounts just fine.  But how do i set it so it will mount automatically on boot ?
    Many thanks
    Last edited by whitetimer (2010-10-25 12:14:34)

  • Time Machine Drive won't mount, mounts on windows

    Hi guys, I have a Seagate GoFlex Desk for Mac, it's a 2TB external Firewire 800 and USB 2.0 drive.
    My machine is a 2011 iMac 27" i7 16GB RAM 2TB HD
    I use the external drive for my Time Machine Backup, my mac had to be brought in to have the display replaced so i did a backup before i brought it to the service center.
    After getting the mac back i noticed my time machine drive was not showing on the desktop so i tried doing a time machine backup but i got an error that there was not TM drive.
    I ran Disk utility and it shows the drive with the Time machine partitioned grayed out and at the bottom "Mount Point : Not mounted", i tried mounting it from DU but nothing, i did a verify disk and right away i got a message that the disk needs to be repaired. I ran the repair but DU would get stuck trying to unmount the disk.
    I tried restarting my computer, and i changed to other firewire cables i had using the firewire port and using the thunderbolt to firewire adaptor but no luck, also i tried USB.
    Then i tried it on my windows partition with USB and it showed on windows, i was able to recover my data but i couldn't delete any from the drive, when i tried deleting anything i got a message that said "the files are too big" or something like that, I also tried formating the drive on windows but no luck with that.
    I have no idea what's going on, the drive won't mount and it can't be ejected even though it's recognized (the time machine partition is grayed out)
    Any suggestions? i really don't want to throw it away and if  do i would at least like to wipe it out.
    Thank you in advance for any suggestions

    Other than the Disk Repair from the Disk Utility, I would suggest resetting the PRAM: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11243.
    Tha's kind of a last ditch effort though. Can you put it in another mac computer with the mac os? Does it show up there?

  • MacBook Pro Won't Boot. Kernel Panic. Only Windows Partition Works

    So one day I was using my mac when it froze for no apparent reason, i was just running iTunes, so i held the power key and it shut down. After a while, i turned it back on and it got to the apple but then i got a bunch of errors i guess, around the lines of kernel panic. So i went online and read other peoples problems but none of them seamed to work. It wont start up normally, not in safe mode, recovery drive wont boot, only the windows partition works. i reset my PRAM i think its called and that failed. someone online said to re-install lion. i dont have a lion recovery usb thingy, but i have a lion disk, but my disk drive no longer works due to hardware damage. so i need to back up my files from my mac partition and re-install lion OR just get rid of the Kernel Panic Thingy.
    ps. everytime i try to boot mac, i get a different error message.
    any help is greatly appreciated

    Are you willing to lose the data that isn't backed up? If not, you have to try to back up now, before you do anything else.
    There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to fully boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
    1. Boot into Recovery (command-R at startup; 10.7 or later), from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup; 10.7.2 or later), or from your installation disc (C key at startup; 10.6.8 or earlier.) Launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in the support article linked below, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
    How to back up and restore your files
    2. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode by holding down the key combination command-T at the startup chime. Connect the two Macs with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. The internal drive of the machine running in target mode will mount as an external drive on the other machine. Copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
    How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode
    3. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.

  • Can't Mount Windows Partition in OSX After Upgrading to 10.5 and BC 2.0

    I just installed Leopard today, using the upgrade option (as opposed to a clean install). I was happy to see that I could boot into Windows still, and installed all of the Boot Camp 2.0 drivers while booted into Vista. However, I can no longer mount my Windows partition in OSX. While using Tiger, I did use MacFuse and ntfs-3g to get read-write support, but in Leopard, I can't even read. When I try to mount the Windows volume in Disk Utility, I get an error stating that it cannot be mounted. I also do not have the option to perform "First Aid" or "Repair" on the volume.
    I realize that the latest version of ntfs-3g isn't proven to work with Leopard, but I would at least like read access in OSX. Is it possible that some settings were left over from my Tiger configuration that would not allow Leopard to mount the partition? Any ideas?
    Thank you.

    Ok. I'm in the club with the same problem...
    Strange things:
    * For the first days after Leopard's install, my BootCamp disk0s3 partition (I'll name it "BillGates") was mounted correctly. Then, after a few days (but BEFORE upgrading to 10.5.1), it disappeared.
    * If I launch DiskUtility "BillGates" is shown, but (in the right device navigation bar) it's named "-n BillGates". If I click the Erase menu, it's named "-nBillGates" (without the space between "-n" and "BillGates"). If I launch SystemProfiler it's named "-n BillGates", but the mount point is "/Volumes/billgates". Can't understand where this "-n" thing is coming from!
    * If I try to mount "-n BillGates" from DiskUtility it doesn't work and the log says "Mount of -n BillGates failed".
    * In the FSTAB there were no instructions: it was empty.
    Now, I tried the MacFUSE-solution: no results (meaning BillGates was not mounted on startup).
    I tried the modify-the-FSTAB-solution: no results (with "BillGates", "-n BillGates" nor "-nBillGates".
    I tried the chkdsk-solution: all tests were ok, but nothing happened.
    The only trick that worked was mounting the partition with Terminal's commands (thanks rtracy!!). It made appear "BillGates" on the desktop (without the "-n thing", that is still present in DiskUtility).
    Problem is at the first reboot, the Boot Camp partition disappears again. Any ideas for a permanent fix?!
    Giangiacomo.
    ADDENDUM: I've tried to move a file from desktop to an unlocked folder in BillGates and System did not copy them. "The item could not be moved because "BillGates" cannot be modified" !!!!!!!!
    Message was edited by: Giangiacomo Castelfranchi1

  • New partition on external hard drive won't mount

    I have an 2TB external drive connected by FireWire to my 24-inch, Early 2009 iMac. I created 2 partitions 1 that is about 35 GB and another that is the rest of the 2TB. The 2nd largest partition mounts fine and is being used by Time Machine for my back up. The 2nd one I wanted to use for a Tech Tool Pro eDrive. However the 35 GB drive won't mount. Well it mounts, but after a few seconds it unmounts itself. This is the message I get as it unmounts itself:
    8/18/13 7:18:45.788 PM fseventsd[43]: Events arrived for /Volumes/eDrive after an unmount request! Re-initializing.
    8/18/13 7:18:45.789 PM fseventsd[43]: creating a dls for /Volumes/eDrive but it already has one...
    8/18/13 7:18:46.039 PM fseventsd[43]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/eDrive/.fseventsd/00000000030d4f84 (No such file or directory). mount point /Volumes/eDrive/.fseventsd
    8/18/13 7:18:46.039 PM fseventsd[43]: disk logger: failed to open output file /Volumes/eDrive/.fseventsd/00000000030d4f84 (No such file or directory). mount point /Volumes/eDrive/.fseventsd
    Any ideas?
    I've checked the partition with Disk Utility and no errors.
    Regards,
    Chris Johnson

    If the drive has more than one interface (USB, FireWire, Thunderbolt, eSATA), try one of the other interfaces.
    Check that the data cable is securely inserted at both ends.
    Try a different cable.
    If you're connecting the drive through a hub, connect it directly to a built-in port on the Mac.
    If you're connecting it directly, try a different port.
    Disconnect all other devices on the bus, or as many as possible.
    Test the drive with another Mac. Test another drive with this Mac.
    If the drive is bus-powered, but has an AC adapter, connect the adapter.
    Boot into Recovery and launch Disk Utility. Does the volume mount?
    Start up in Safe Mode and test.
    If the drive doesn't work under any of the above conditions, and if another drive does work with the same Mac, then the drive has failed. You may be able to salvage the mechanism by removing it from the enclosure and installing it in another one, or in a drive dock.

  • Grub doesn't detect Windows partition (UEFI)/ xorg won't start either

    Hey guys,
    1) Looking for some help here. I've installed Arch on to my desktop and I'm running into some issues with my dual boot (UEFI).
    When I went to create my Arch partitions I was running into some issues with cgdisk, but I was able to fix it and able to create a successful partition table. However, I don't think for some reason my windows installation had an EFI partiton. Which is odd, because I'm pretty sure it was setup with GPT & UEFI, which if I understand it correctly needs an EFI partition. Anyways I created my own efi partition and made a directory in /boot/efi for grub. I installed grub and it worked fine, detected Arch and everything. I followed the step to install os-prober first too. I think the error lies in the fact that I didn't mount the windows EFI, I created my own. Which again brings me back to: should I have had an EFI partition created by windows? I'd like to be able to get back to my windows system if possible, if I messed something up with the windows bootloader and it's not salvageable, it's not a huge deal.
    The table is the following
    sda1 ntfs system reserved (windows)
    sda2 ntfs (windows partition)
    sda3 ext4 (root partition)
    sda4 fat32 (efi boot partiton-not windows)
    sda5 ext5 (home partition)
    2) I'm also having issues get X started. I think it is a driver issue but I can't be sure. I have 2 nvidia GTX 660s in SLI. I installed xorg-server and then installed both nvidia and nvidia-304xx. But whenever I try to run startx I get the following error
    (EE) no screens found(EE)
    xinit: giving up
    this is with gnome installed and my .xinitrc file in my user directory.
    I check out the log file of /var/log/Xorg.0.log and get the following errors
    (EE) Failed to load module "nouveau" (module does not exist, 0)
    (EE) Failed to load module "nv" (module does not exist, 0)
    (EE) Failed to load module "modesetting" (module does not exist 0)
    (EE) Failed to load module "fbdev" (module does not exist 0)
    (EE) Failed to load module "vesa" (module does not exist, 0)
    (EE) no drivers available
    (EE) so screens found
    Not sure what I am missing here. I've tried reinstalling xorg and gnome and all the drivers I could think of that the error above listed. However it always throws the same error.
    Thanks for you time, if you need anything else I would be happy to provide it!

    FWIW: reFind doesn;t mind multiple GPTs. I can't speak for GRUB. But shouldn't you be able to boot into the setup (what used to be "BIOS") and see if there is a boot order there or something? If your firmware is similar to mine, you can set "boot options" and allow the machine to let you pick a boot device. Windows should show there if it's available.

Maybe you are looking for