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brou

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 7, 2010
14
0
First off, I hope this is in the correct place on the forum. It's a long post, but I feel everything is pertinant. It's also a copy/paste from the Apple Support forums which hasn't had any response.



I have a late 2009 iMac that has been backed up with Time Machine. I recently picked up a late 2012 iMac with the 1TB Fusion drive. When I first plugged in my Time Machine drive, I was asked if I'd like to transfer my files over. I did, and everything was working fine. I was using about 800GB of my 1.12TB Fusion Drive.


I recently decided to add a new partition to the Macintosh HD in order to put Windows on it. I did this through the Disk Utility. I noticed that it was taking an inordinately long time to create this partition. Finally, I realized that the Disk Utility was locked up. I was forced to reboot to fix it.


I went back and tried again and I got an error stating that the drive had errors and I couldn't make a new partition. So I attempted to "repair disk". That gave me an error "Error: This disk needs to be repaired using the Recovery HD. Restart your computer, holding down the Command key and the R key until you see the Apple logo. When the OS X Utilities window appears, choose Disk Utility."


So I rebooted into recovery. Recovery was absolutely no help either. It couldn't repair the drive, even though it had me erase all the data. So I downloaded 10.8.2 on my Mac Mini and made a boot disk out of my Thunderbolt drive. I booted into OS X and tried again to repair, thinking it would work since the Fusion was no longer the boot drive. No such luck. I then booted back into recovery and had recovery download and install a fresh version of 10.8.2. 2+ hours into the download/install, I get an error that says "OS X couldn't be installed because the disk Macintosh HD is damaged and can't be repaired."


Ok, so as a final attempt, I had recovery use my time machine to start over. That worked, kinda. It now shows my Fusion drive as being completely filled in Disk Utility (49KB remains, only about 800 or so was used before), and Finder shows the Fusion drive as being 860GB capacity with 837GB used (discrepancy between the two sizes). I still can't repair the disk. And now my Time Machine acts like I'm working on an entirely new computer and says there's not enough room on the drive unless I format my Time Machine drive and start over.


Yeah, TL;DR, but does anybody have any idea how I can get this issue resolved? I wonder if doing the TM restore from my 2009 iMac may have introduced the non-Fusion version of Disk Utilities that doesn't know how to fix my issue.
 
Last edited:

jido

macrumors 6502
Oct 11, 2010
268
125
Call AppleCare.

Btw with 800GB used you didn't have much space left for the Windows partition.
 

brou

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 7, 2010
14
0
Call AppleCare.

Btw with 800GB used you didn't have much space left for the Windows partition.

I don't use Windows much. I just wanted to be able to play a few steam games.

Besides, I was trying to follow the instructions on how to make a Thunderbolt drive bootable with Windows. (create partition, install windows, run windows, get Thunderbolt drivers, clone partition and put onto Thunderbolt drive)
 

sounddesigner

macrumors regular
Dec 22, 2012
107
0
I agree call apple with it being new but 800gb of 1tb the computer is going to run kinda slow cuz the ssd is completely full and so is the hard drive why did u not go with 3tb w/ being that close to filling up a new hardrive
 

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
Your new iMac uses a slightly newer version of OS X 10.8.2 and will not run from the version on your older Mini, 2009 iMac, or App Store Mountain Lion download or backup.

Any possibility that you did a Time Machine backup from the new iMac either before or after you migrated your data? If so, you might be able to recreate the Fusion drive manually, then restore from that backup set.

Of course, next time use BootCamp to create your Windows partition on the Fusion drive rather than messing with the partitions with Disk Utility. :)
 
Last edited:

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,920
3,800
Seattle
Right. Just use BootCamp. Don't use Disk Utility (pointless for your use case). I think you need to start over. I can't see a hardware problem at this point.
 

Lava Lamp Freak

macrumors 68000
Jun 1, 2006
1,564
617
Have you tried fixing it from Internet Recovery? That is booting with Command-Option-R.

Following the troublshooting information here.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5446

Caution: If this is successful, it will erase all content on the computer.

If that doesn't work, try using the Boot Camp Assistant to create a Windows partition.
 

brou

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 7, 2010
14
0
Is it the same issue as this? (I've only briefly read the post, but I do recall someone else having the same issue as you in the past).

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1511648/

Yes! That issue looks identical. Reading through it now, thanks.

----------

Have you tried fixing it from Internet Recovery? That is booting with Command-Option-R.

Following the troublshooting information here.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5446

Caution: If this is successful, it will erase all content on the computer.

If that doesn't work, try using the Boot Camp Assistant to create a Windows partition.

Internet recovery fails to install ML. It says the drive is damaged.

One thing I noticed, is that even in Recovery, my Disk Utility never gives me the popup with "fix" on it like the one in the bottom of your link.

Is there any place in which I can download the Fusion version of Disk Utilities?
 

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
I believe it is "command R", no "option key" required, to enter Recovery Mode. I think Fusion drives create this normally on the Hard Disk, but in this case, it appears the partitioning on the hard disk has already been compromised. However, the Apple link below contains a link to create a USB thumb drive with Internet Recovery on it.

http://www.apple.com/osx/recovery/

http://www.macworld.com/article/116...ions_os_x_recovery_and_internet_recovery.html

On most Macs, you can access recovery mode by simply restarting or starting up the Mac while holding down Command+R. Keep holding these keys until you see a window with OS X Utilities in large text across the top.


I am not sure if 2012 iMacs receive the proper build of OS X required when doing a Internet Recovery download. If they do, I would use the methods widely discussed here to manually rebuild the Fusion drive (see DIY Fusion Drive threads), then try the Internet Recovery process to rebuild it. It will create the Recovery Partition as a part of the process.


-howard
 

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
AFAIK, you cannot have a Windows partition with the 3tb fusion drive. Not yet, anyway.

There are several threads here showing how to create a Windows partition on the 3TB Fusion drive. It is being done, but you have to backup your data, use some simple Terminal commands, then restore your data.

These methods "break" the Fusion drive, then partition the 3TB hard disk into 3 partitions with the middle one observing the 2.2TB Windows limit, then rebuilding the Fusion drive with just the first partition and the SSD. The leftover 3rd partition can be used for static OS X data (video, photo, music, etc) ... or ... for the more ambitious you may be able to join it as a 3rd Fusion partition (this is currently being explored, see the threads).
 

dandrewk

macrumors 6502a
Apr 20, 2010
662
315
San Rafael, California
There are several threads here showing how to create a Windows partition on the 3TB Fusion drive. It is being done, but you have to backup your data, use some simple Terminal commands, then restore your data.

These methods "break" the Fusion drive, then partition the 3TB hard disk into 3 partitions with the middle one observing the 2.2TB Windows limit, then rebuilding the Fusion drive with just the first partition and the SSD. The leftover 3rd partition can be used for static OS X data (video, photo, music, etc) ... or ... for the more ambitious you may be able to join it as a 3rd Fusion partition (this is currently being explored, see the threads).

Thanks, didn't know that.
 

starscript

macrumors member
Dec 21, 2012
46
0
Glasgow, Scotland
have you tried reformatting the drive using disk utility in recovery mode before starting the ML download sounds like your disk table is squid.
reformatting before the install should clean up the errors
 

torana355

macrumors 68040
Dec 8, 2009
3,609
2,676
Sydney, Australia
There are several threads here showing how to create a Windows partition on the 3TB Fusion drive. It is being done, but you have to backup your data, use some simple Terminal commands, then restore your data.

These methods "break" the Fusion drive, then partition the 3TB hard disk into 3 partitions with the middle one observing the 2.2TB Windows limit, then rebuilding the Fusion drive with just the first partition and the SSD. The leftover 3rd partition can be used for static OS X data (video, photo, music, etc) ... or ... for the more ambitious you may be able to join it as a 3rd Fusion partition (this is currently being explored, see the threads).

I think im the only one to get that method to actually work, it seems this is the most successful way
http://dice.neko-san.net/2012/12/how-to-install-boot-camp-on-a-3tb-fusion-drive-mac/
 

Shpenza

macrumors regular
Mar 12, 2010
127
3
Barcelona
First off, I hope this is in the correct place on the forum. It's a long post, but I feel everything is pertinant. It's also a copy/paste from the Apple Support forums which hasn't had any response.



I have a late 2009 iMac that has been backed up with Time Machine. I recently picked up a late 2012 iMac with the 1TB Fusion drive. When I first plugged in my Time Machine drive, I was asked if I'd like to transfer my files over. I did, and everything was working fine. I was using about 800GB of my 1.12TB Fusion Drive.


I recently decided to add a new partition to the Macintosh HD in order to put Windows on it. I did this through the Disk Utility. I noticed that it was taking an inordinately long time to create this partition. Finally, I realized that the Disk Utility was locked up. I was forced to reboot to fix it.


I went back and tried again and I got an error stating that the drive had errors and I couldn't make a new partition. So I attempted to "repair disk". That gave me an error "Error: This disk needs to be repaired using the Recovery HD. Restart your computer, holding down the Command key and the R key until you see the Apple logo. When the OS X Utilities window appears, choose Disk Utility."


So I rebooted into recovery. Recovery was absolutely no help either. It couldn't repair the drive, even though it had me erase all the data. So I downloaded 10.8.2 on my Mac Mini and made a boot disk out of my Thunderbolt drive. I booted into OS X and tried again to repair, thinking it would work since the Fusion was no longer the boot drive. No such luck. I then booted back into recovery and had recovery download and install a fresh version of 10.8.2. 2+ hours into the download/install, I get an error that says "OS X couldn't be installed because the disk Macintosh HD is damaged and can't be repaired."


Ok, so as a final attempt, I had recovery use my time machine to start over. That worked, kinda. It now shows my Fusion drive as being completely filled in Disk Utility (49KB remains, only about 800 or so was used before), and Finder shows the Fusion drive as being 860GB capacity with 837GB used (discrepancy between the two sizes). I still can't repair the disk. And now my Time Machine acts like I'm working on an entirely new computer and says there's not enough room on the drive unless I format my Time Machine drive and start over.


Yeah, TL;DR, but does anybody have any idea how I can get this issue resolved? I wonder if doing the TM restore from my 2009 iMac may have introduced the non-Fusion version of Disk Utilities that doesn't know how to fix my issue.

Hey There,

I had the same issue while i was partitioning my HD using "bootcamp" the partition stage never finished and i had to reboot, finding out that the size i had "partition" never recovered back and my HD was damaged like you have mentioned.

I Called Apple and make them swap my computer because i couldnt do anything else anymore.

Is there a problem with BootCamp or any partitioning while the Phisycal HD is in Fusion mode? is there something Apple is not telling us?
 

brou

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 7, 2010
14
0
OK, so deleting the UUID in Terminal in Recovery Mode worked. :D

After I deleted the UUID, I went back into Disk Utilities and it offered to "fix" my drive for me. I let it do it's thing and then I re-downloaded and installed ML. It seems to be an "easy" fix, but it sure takes a while to re-download, install ML, and reinstall all my software.

For those that say I shouldn't have 800GB used on a 1TB drive; what else are HDDs for than to put stuff on them? What's the point in having 1TB of space if I'm not supposed to put more than 1TB-X amount of data on the drive?
 

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
Hey There,

I had the same issue while i was partitioning my HD using "bootcamp" the partition stage never finished and i had to reboot, finding out that the size i had "partition" never recovered back and my HD was damaged like you have mentioned.

I Called Apple and make them swap my computer because i couldnt do anything else anymore.

Is there a problem with BootCamp or any partitioning while the Phisycal HD is in Fusion mode? is there something Apple is not telling us?

I tried that on my DIY Fusion in a MacBook Pro and found that the process to create the BootCamp partition under Fusion took a long ... long ... really long ... time to finish. But it did eventually finish and I was able to install Windows to the created hard disk partition. If you give up thinking it is dead and reboot, I would not be surprised that the disk would be unusable without some reformatting.

I have since (yesterday) revised my configuration on the MacBook Pro and put the Windows partition on the SSD, then used the remaining SSD and most of the hard disk as a Fusion drive, with 200GB partition free on the hard disk for either OS X static data, or Windows data storage. I also put a OS X Recovery partition on the SSD. However, I pre-partitioned both drives before creating the Fusion join. (I have a 500GB SSD and a 750GB hard disk in that MB Pro)

-howard
 
Last edited:

jido

macrumors 6502
Oct 11, 2010
268
125
OK, so deleting the UUID in Terminal in Recovery Mode worked. :D

After I deleted the UUID, I went back into Disk Utilities and it offered to "fix" my drive for me. I let it do it's thing and then I re-downloaded and installed ML. It seems to be an "easy" fix, but it sure takes a while to re-download, install ML, and reinstall all my software.

For those that say I shouldn't have 800GB used on a 1TB drive; what else are HDDs for than to put stuff on them? What's the point in having 1TB of space if I'm not supposed to put more than 1TB-X amount of data on the drive?

How did you delete the UUID? Please share.

The free disk space is used by the OS to do its magic, if you fill the disk up it is bad for overall performance.

Plus in the case of a SSD, the free space is used by the disk itself to keep things clean and fast. Always try to stay under 80% full.
 

Shpenza

macrumors regular
Mar 12, 2010
127
3
Barcelona
I tried that on my DIY Fusion in a MacBook Pro and found that the process to create the BootCamp partition under Fusion took a long ... long ... really long ... time to finish. But it did eventually finish and I was able to install Windows to the created hard disk partition. If you give up thinking it is dead and reboot, I would not be surprised that the disk would be unusable without some reformatting.

I have since (yesterday) revised my configuration on the MacBook Pro and put the Windows partition on the SSD, then used the remaining SSD and most of the hard disk as a Fusion drive, with 200GB partition free on the hard disk for either OS X static data, or Windows data storage. I also put a OS X Recovery partition on the SSD. However, I pre-partitioned both drives before creating the Fusion join. (I have a 500GB SSD and a 750GB hard disk in that MB Pro)

-howard

Thanks for providing that info, but dont you think that Apple should have updated the BootCamp utility with even a small messege which says, "please do not restart the computer as this process could take up to x amount of time" if you agree with me, partitioning the bootcamp drive is not something that takes more than 2 minutes usually.

Either way, when i called Apple and explained them the situation of my drive, they quickly said to replace my machine (which i hope will arrive ok and with a WD drive instade of Freaking cheap SEGATE HDD).
 
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