Can't Delete BOOTCAMP Partition....?

[solomanii]

Hi all,

In the middle of the partitioning of my HD for bootcamp my IMAC inexplicably restarted. This broke my OS. After reinstalling I now have my core OSX partition and a bootcamp partition. I can not delete the BOOTCAMP partition using Bootcamp Assistant or Disk Utility (the minus sign is greyed out) in both recovery mode and from OSX. Any suggestions on how to fix this? I hazard to guess I am going to need to use terminal?

Thanks in advance.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Did you back-up prior to installing bootcamped windows? Can you boot into OS X?

 

[solomanii]

Yes, I have a full time-machine backup going back a few months. I thought about deleting all partitions but I cant do that - I can delete the OSX one but not the bootcamp.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Yes, I have a full time-machine backup going back a few months. I thought about deleting all partitions but I cant do that - I can delete the OSX one but not the bootcamp.

Do you have a recovery partition on your HD? If so reboot, when chime comes in hold the [alt]-key untill the bootscreen comes up. Boot from the recovery partition, run Disk Utilities, delete the bootcamp partition from here.

 

[IlikeMacsSoMuch]

Do you have a recovery partition on your HD? If so reboot, when chime comes in hold the [alt]-key untill the bootscreen comes up. Boot from the recovery partition, run Disk Utilities, delete the bootcamp partition from here.

this

 

[Quackers]

Is this on a 3TB drive?

 

[solomanii]

Do you have a recovery partition on your HD? If so reboot, when chime comes in hold the [alt]-key untill the bootscreen comes up. Boot from the recovery partition, run Disk Utilities, delete the bootcamp partition from here.

No good unfortunately. Just tried this, only option is my hard-disk elektra (renamed Macintosh HD).

Is this on a 3TB drive?

Yes, 3TB Fusion. I had no problems installing win8.1 previously but been problematic this time around.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

No good unfortunately. Just tried this, only option is my hard-disk elektra (renamed Macintosh HD).



Yes, 3TB Fusion. I had no problems installing win8.1 previously but been problematic this time around.

Start all over again - erase HDD / install OS X & Windows - will be my next best shot! Doing a clean install is way better then work arounds with to many trials-and-errors.

Good luck & Cheers

 

[solomanii]

Hi,

I am happy to wipe and restart from scratch but how do I do that if I can’t delete that particular partition? I can delete/erase the OSX one just fine but without being able to delete the BOOTCAMP one I can’t recover the space (at least, I don't know how).

I am happy to hack away at the terminal level if that will help as I am familiar with Linux and UNIX but I can’t say I am an expert in OSX yet and don't want to screw up the fusion drive by being too quick to delete things in the inittab J

Thanks!

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Hi,

I am happy to wipe and restart from scratch but how do I do that if I can’t delete that particular partition? I can delete/erase the OSX one just fine but without being able to delete the BOOTCAMP one I can’t recover the space (at least, I don't know how).

I am happy to hack away at the terminal level if that will help as I am familiar with Linux and UNIX but I can’t say I am an expert in OSX yet and don't want to screw up the fusion drive by being too quick to delete things in the inittab J

Thanks!

I overlooked the 3TB Fusion in your post sorry! As I don't have any experience with the Apple Fusion Drive I googled:

Fusion Drive and Boot Camp

Since Fusion Drive depends on software technology built into OS X, Windows doesn't support it. This doesn't mean Windows can't be installed on a Mac with a Fusion Drive, but Boot Camp Assistant will only create a partition on the hard drive.

However, there is an issue with installing on a 3TB drive, whether that's a Fusion Drive or a garden-variety hard drive. Apple acknowledges that Boot Camp Assistant won't work with drives of this capacity. The maker of WinClone, an app which backs up Boot Camp partitions from within OS X, detailed the reason for this and how to overcome it.

Some commenters on the blog entry report stumbling at the final step, and even if it works for you, there's a side effect that might discourage you from trying it. It splits the hard drive portion of your Fusion Drive into three partitions. OS X continues to see the first one as part of the Fusion Drive, Windows can be installed on the second one, and the last 1TB of the drive becomes a separate volume. It's usable, but OS X no longer sees it as part of the Fusion Drive, so it loses the ability to include that capacity in its shifting around of data.

source: TechRadar May 2013

Or check this thread here 3tb+fusion+drive

Hope other members can be of better help for you here...

 

[solomanii]

Great, thanks. Wasn't aware you lost fusion capability on the third partition (though it still shows as one big partition). I know Fusion/3tb had issues with bootcamp last year but as of October last year I thought that was all fixed? I was able to previously install windows fine. Issue this time is the sudden reboot which screwed up the drive.

After a bit more investigating I suspect its something to do with FileVault and Fusion combo. My iMAC is now in transit to Australia will look at it again once I get it back.