cannot merge partition on external drive

[zalle]

Hi guys,

I want to start by thanking all the help you've given me in the past, and I've been a very happy OSX user.

So, my issue is I would like to merge 2 partitions into 1 on an external HDD, and I can't. I had 350GB as a separate partition for time machine, but I don't need it anymore, so I'd like to merge the partition so I only have 1 disk. The problem is "you cannot remove the first volume on the disk"

Here's what I see in Disk Utility:

 

[chabig]

The answer is simple, remove the second partition. That will probably cause the data on the second partition to be lost, so be sure to make a backup of your data so you can copy it back to the drive after you merge the partitions.

 

[zalle]

Hi, The second partition has all my data. The first is clean.

 

[chabig]

Right.

 

[zalle]

Ok, thank you, but is there any other way?

 

[chabig]

If your data is less than 350GB you could copy it to the Time Machine side before merging. Otherwise, I think you need to copy everything to another drive. Once you do that, merging won't even be necessary. Just repartition the old drive to a single partition before copying the data back.

Wait...I can creatively think of one more possibility but it's risky. Since the 2.65GB partition isn't full, copy 300GB of that data to the Time Machine partition. Then delete that from the data partition. Resize the partitions by increasing the Time Machine partition about 300GB. Data should survive resizing. Then repeat this until you have all of your data on the Time Machine partition. Finally, delete the data partition and rename the resulting single partition.

 

[Fishrrman]

The following method is GUARANTEED to work:

1. Backup the good partition to another drive.
2. Use Disk Utility to ERASE the problem drive. Choose Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format.
3. Choose ONE partition.
4. When the erase is done, RESTORE your data from the backup drive.
5. Done.

 

[zalle]

I guess you had it right first time. It's just the way to do it. Erase e

The following method is GUARANTEED to work:

1. Backup the good partition to another drive.
2. Use Disk Utility to ERASE the problem drive. Choose Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format.
3. Choose ONE partition.
4. When the erase is done, RESTORE your data from the backup drive.
5. Done.

Yes, I did that overnight! Thanks