Can't delete partition on my Sonoma 16" 2019 Intel MacBook Pro

[Rizvi1]

Hey all, I had a test partition on my old 16" 2019 Intel MacBook Pro I was using. Now I want to get rid of it, but I can't do the "-" on it to delete. The error I'm seeing is "You can't remove this volume because the preceding volume can't be resized."

I've never had issues deleting partitions in the past. I'm not sure what's changed with the either new OSes or newer Macs, whatever the culprit is here.

I did do an erase of all the contents I did do a restart of the computer to get it into Recovery Mode to do it, but that's not helping.
I think one thing that could make this easier if I delete the Bootcamp partition as well. It's just such a headache getting Bootcamp and Windows setup I'd like to avoid that. But if there is a benefit in doing a clean wipe that for example makes the hard drive perform better, etc, then I'd do it.

Here's the main partition. This would get bigger when I can delete the partition and bring that space into here. I also want to do a clean wipe on this main partition, while leaving the Bootcamp partition alone.

 

[chrfr]

I think one thing that could make this easier if I delete the Bootcamp partition as well. It's just such a headache getting Bootcamp and Windows setup I'd like to avoid that. But if there is a benefit in doing a clean wipe that for example makes the hard drive perform better, etc, then I'd do it

You can use a tool like Winclone to back up and restore the Windows partition, but it's not free.

Winclone 10 Standard

twocanoes.com

Personally, I'd want that extra space back in the main volume so I'd probably erase the whole thing and start over.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

It's gonna require an erase. Once you have it set up back how you want it (with Boot Camp partition), in the future if you want a test environment - create a Volume, not a Partition. MUCH easier to deal with.

 

[Bigwaff]

Should you add a new APFS Container or Volume?

Adding volumes in APFS is quick and simple. But why would you ever want to add a container to a disk? An exploration of their differences, and when containers are useful.

eclecticlight.co

 

[Fishrrman]

What you need to do:

1. Backup the Mac partition (use either SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner, both are FREE to use for 30 days and will work well for this job)

2. Boot to INTERNET recovery (NOT to "the recovery partition):
Command-OPTION-R
at boot.
(hold down this key combo CONTINUOUSLY and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN until you are prompted for your wifi password).

3. Once the internet utilities load (it takes a while), open disk utility and go to the "view" menu.
You MUST choose "show all devices" from the "view" menu (or else you can't see the internal drive).

4. Look at "the list on the left". The topmost item should represent the physical SSD inside. Click on it to select it, and then click "erase". Erase it to APFS, GUID partition format. When the erase is done, open the OS installer.

5. Start "clicking through". The Mac will reboot one or more times, and the screen will go dark for up to a minute or more with no other indication of activity. BE PATIENT.

6. When the install is done, you should see the initial setup screen (choose your language).
CONNECT YOUR BACKUP DRIVE now.
Start clicking through.

7. When the setup assistant asks if you wish to migrate from a backup drive, "point the way" to the backup and give SA time to digest everything.

8. Setup assistant will present you with a list of stuff to migrate. I suggest you choose it all (the default setting), and just let it go.

9. When done, you should see the login screen -- so log in and look around.

If you do this, the unwanted partitions will be gone.

 

[Rizvi1]

What you need to do:

1. Backup the Mac partition (use either SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner, both are FREE to use for 30 days and will work well for this job)

2. Boot to INTERNET recovery (NOT to "the recovery partition):
Command-OPTION-R
at boot.
(hold down this key combo CONTINUOUSLY and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN until you are prompted for your wifi password).

3. Once the internet utilities load (it takes a while), open disk utility and go to the "view" menu.
You MUST choose "show all devices" from the "view" menu (or else you can't see the internal drive).

4. Look at "the list on the left". The topmost item should represent the physical SSD inside. Click on it to select it, and then click "erase". Erase it to APFS, GUID partition format. When the erase is done, open the OS installer.

5. Start "clicking through". The Mac will reboot one or more times, and the screen will go dark for up to a minute or more with no other indication of activity. BE PATIENT.

6. When the install is done, you should see the initial setup screen (choose your language).
CONNECT YOUR BACKUP DRIVE now.
Start clicking through.

7. When the setup assistant asks if you wish to migrate from a backup drive, "point the way" to the backup and give SA time to digest everything.

8. Setup assistant will present you with a list of stuff to migrate. I suggest you choose it all (the default setting), and just let it go.

9. When done, you should see the login screen -- so log in and look around.

If you do this, the unwanted partitions will be gone.

Thanks for this. The one thing is that I don't really need to keep any of the data that's on the main MacOS partitions. I'm fine with a clean wipe there. What I wanted to try and do was combine the two original MacOS partitions and do a clean wipe on that. I'd like to preserve the Bootcamp partition to avoid having to deal with the headache of installing Windows from scratch again on the Mac. But, I'm thinking the easiest route to go is just wipe everything, kill all partitions and start over.

 

[Rizvi1]

Should you add a new APFS Container or Volume?

Adding volumes in APFS is quick and simple. But why would you ever want to add a container to a disk? An exploration of their differences, and when containers are useful.

eclecticlight.co

I'm going to be honest, I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what's being relayed here. What did I do vs what should I have done?

 

[Rizvi1]

You can use a tool like Winclone to back up and restore the Windows partition, but it's not free.

Winclone 10 Standard

twocanoes.com

Personally, I'd want that extra space back in the main volume so I'd probably erase the whole thing and start over.

yeah that's what I'm thinking too. I don't want to spend the $50 for Winclone just to avoid having to reinstall Windows from scratch. There's no real data of note on my Bootcamp partition, it's just for PC gaming mainly, which I don't do too often to begin with.

 

[Rizvi1]

It's gonna require an erase. Once you have it set up back how you want it (with Boot Camp partition), in the future if you want a test environment - create a Volume, not a Partition. MUCH easier to deal with.

Ok got it. So for bootcamp, do the partition. And for Test volumes, don't do a partition, do a Volume. And just to confirm, that's what went wrong here right? I did a partition for my Testing area and not a volume?

 

[Rizvi1]

Alright, I tried one thing that was suggested which was to make sure the partitions weren't encrypted and then see if they can be combined but that didn't work. Went ahead and just wiped the whole hard drive today and am currently reinstalling macOS Sonoma.

Once that's installed, I'll create a ~200gb partition and install Bootcamp. Does anyone got a good set of instructions to follow to do that again? It's been a while. I'm planning to go with Windows 10, which I hope is still free to get (you just gotta deal with no background or whatever limitation they give).

 

[Bigwaff]

Does anyone got a good set of instructions to follow to do that again? It's been a while.

Boot Camp Assistant User Guide for Mac

Learn how to use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows on your Intel-based Mac.

support.apple.com

 

[chrfr]

Once that's installed, I'll create a ~200gb partition and install Bootcamp. Does anyone got a good set of instructions to follow to do that again? It's been a while. I'm planning to go with Windows 10, which I hope is still free to get (you just gotta deal with no background or whatever limitation they give).

As with the post above: follow Apple's instructions and use the Boot Camp Utility to make the partition.

 

[Fishrrman]

I've never used bootcamp (I have very little software that requires windows).

Have you considered a "virtual machine" solution, such as Parallels or VMWare Fusion ??

 

[Rizvi1]

I've never used bootcamp (I have very little software that requires windows).

Have you considered a "virtual machine" solution, such as Parallels or VMWare Fusion ??

My interest in Bootcamp is really for PC gaming so my assumption is that going with a native usage would be better than a virtualization.

I also will say that the interest in everything as a whole is more of a novelty. I'm casual with gaming and mainly play on consoles. I'm going through the rigamarole out of an interest, but nothing's major.

UPDATE

Not sure how big a deal this is but via Windows, I was able to carry out a software update on the Graphics card. I'm not sure if this an upgrade on the actual graphics card itself or just how windows interacts with the graphics card. But I do know that with certain hardware, you can only update its software via a Windows PC, not a Mac.

 

[Rizvi1]

Boot Camp Assistant User Guide for Mac

Learn how to use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows on your Intel-based Mac.

support.apple.com

As with the post above: follow Apple's instructions and use the Boot Camp Utility to make the partition.

Thanks both for the advice. This install I did was really smooth. I'm not sure if I'm remembering correctly, but last time I think I had to make a windows image USB and use that for the install? All I did this time was download the latest Windows 10 ISO and had a straightforward install with Boot Camp's assist.

A couple things that confused me along the way were (1) Secure Boot not being enabled and (2) what version of Windows to do:

But I just clicked on the Secure Boot question and went with the 64 bit version.

Also where the yellow exclamation is, it looks like that's the culprit on why the partitions couldn't be changed could be here?


I'd take this to mean that just the windows related partition couldn't be adjusted but looks like it means all partitions get affected. At least based on my experience in this thread.