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Bootcamp cannot partition disk

J

JolyGolf_

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 18, 2020
3
0
I'm currently running MacOS Big Sur and every time I try to install Windows 10 I get the same "disk could not be partitioned error message". I don't use time machine of filevault I've tried running first aid. I also attempted to run /sbin/fsck -fy from single user mode but it told me that repairs aren't available on mounted disks yet. I also tried to format the disk to HFS+ but when I went to erase my disk from recovery mode that wasn't an option.
 
IowaLynn said:
You will find that is common going back even to 2007. You need contiguous free space and can't have files locked that can't be moved.

Search of Google Apple BC Assistant you see
support.apple.com

If Boot Camp Assistant says that your disk could not be partitioned - Apple Support

Boot Camp Assistant might say that an error occurred while partitioning the disk for Windows.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
Click to expand...
Yes I did everything in that guide and more (including single user mode manipulations) and nothing changed
 
Sometimes booting from a clone it can complete the process partitioning while worst case, erase the drive, then install system. Use migration assistant after.

It has been common issue - for years
 
Last edited:
Either what IowaLynn said above -- repartition your drive, install clean MacOS, run Bootcamp
I have had to do this several times.

or

Use Hasleo's WinToUSB to install Windows 10 to an external USB Drive. You will need to run it on a Windows device.
 
merseysideRed said:
Hey, I have the same issue after updating to Big Sur (2017 15" MBP). Did you manage to solve it?
Click to expand...
I have the same issue as both of you, and also have exhausted all of the troubleshooting steps I could find online. Which macs do you have? Mine has the Fusion Drive, which I think is causing my problems
 
EastHillWill said:
I have the same issue as both of you, and also have exhausted all of the troubleshooting steps I could find online. Which macs do you have? Mine has the Fusion Drive, which I think is causing my problems
Click to expand...
I have the same Issue too mine being a (15-inch, Mid 2015) tell me if any of you find a fix
 
Real misery loves company hours here. Have any of you tried reformatting and reinstalling MacOS? I've seen folks have success going that route, but it's my wife's primary machine and she hates when I do this stuff. I'm worried if I go that route and still can't run Bootcamp she may actually kill me.
 
Same issue here with Mac Mini 2018. I tried every official and unoffical path. Only thing that worked for me was the last resort, which was to create Time Machine backup, wipe entire disk and recreate Mac partition and reinstall OS cleanly in Recovery Mode. Then I applied the backup on initial setup. And now it works on first try.
 
Adamz Asah said:
Same issue here with Mac Mini 2018. I tried every official and unoffical path. Only thing that worked for me was the last resort, which was to create Time Machine backup, wipe entire disk and recreate Mac partition and reinstall OS cleanly in Recovery Mode. Then I applied the backup on initial setup. And now it works on first try.
Click to expand...
I’m glad to hear the nuclear option worked. Did you wipe the disk like you would when selling it? I’ve only done so once or twice before and it’s been a while.
 
EastHillWill said:
I’m glad to hear the nuclear option worked. Did you wipe the disk like you would when selling it? I’ve only done so once or twice before and it’s been a while.
Click to expand...
Yes. Normally. Booted into Recovery OS via (Command + R). Then I accessed Disk Utility selected whole root Apple SSD Drive, clicked Erase option, choose "Macintosh HD" as partition name, APFS as format, GUID as scheme and then clicked Erase. After the partition was created, I quit Disk Utility. Then in the main menu again I choose Reinstall macOS Big Sur, choose Macintosh HD and after reinstall was complete I applied Time Machine backup as I would do on a brand new Mac.
 
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Adamz Asah said:
Same issue here with Mac Mini 2018. I tried every official and unoffical path. Only thing that worked for me was the last resort, which was to create Time Machine backup, wipe entire disk and recreate Mac partition and reinstall OS cleanly in Recovery Mode. Then I applied the backup on initial setup. And now it works on first try.
Click to expand...

I have done the same a couple of times with my 2015 27" iMac.

  1. Backed up (thrice, once with Time Machine, once with Carbon Copy Cloner and a third copy just of the Users folder (Paranoid, I am))
  2. Gone into Recovery Mode, rebuilt Fusion Drive with 'diskutil resetFusion'. This splits the drive, rebuilds it, reformats it. Absolutely clean.
  3. Used "Reinstall macOS" command to install a fresh new system directly from the Apple servers. (This takes some time, so you can go away, harvest some coffee beans from the tree, dry them, roast them, grind them, make coffee.)
  4. Reboot, set up users (I have three), restore their files, re-install essential apps.
This gives me an absolutely brand, spanking-new system, with no baggage from my previous system.
 
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Adamz Asah said:
Yes. Normally. Booted into Recovery OS via (Command + R). Then I accessed Disk Utility selected whole root Apple SSD Drive, clicked Erase option, choose "Macintosh HD" as partition name, APFS as format, GUID as scheme and then clicked Erase. After the partition was created, I quit Disk Utility. Then in the main menu again I choose Reinstall macOS Big Sur, choose Macintosh HD and after reinstall was complete I applied Time Machine backup as I would do on a brand new Mac.
Click to expand...
Wednesday project for me, perhaps. Thank you for the outline
 
DaveFromCampbelltown said:
I have done the same a couple of times with my 2015 27" iMac.

  1. Backed up (thrice, once with Time Machine, once with Carbon Copy Cloner and a third copy just of the Users folder (Paranoid, I am))
  2. Gone into Recovery Mode, rebuilt Fusion Drive with 'diskutil resetFusion'. This splits the drive, rebuilds it, reformats it. Absolutely clean.
  3. Used "Reinstall macOS" command to install a fresh new system directly from the Apple servers. (This takes some time, so you can go away, harvest some coffee beans from the tree, dry them, roast them, grind them, make coffee.)
  4. Reboot, set up users (I have three), restore their files, re-install essential apps.
This gives me an absolutely brand, spanking-new system, with no baggage from my previous system.
Click to expand...
I did this but it wouldn't work, I restored my files using Time Machine though after reinstalling the OS, do you think this re-introduced the bug? If so is there any way I can restore my files differently (wife will kill me if I lose her data!)?
 
rick_x said:
I did this but it wouldn't work, I restored my files using Time Machine though after reinstalling the OS, do you think this re-introduced the bug?
Click to expand...

You want to do the bootcamp first before using migration assistant to restore.

That gives bootcamp the best chance of getting a partition created.
 
I had to delete all the local snapshots to get past this error - turning TimeMachine off was not enough.
 
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