Can't format my Windows partition on a 3TB Fusion Drive (iMac 2012/27")

[Sankel]

Hi all,

In 2012 I bought a new iMac, with a 3TB HDD and the 128GB Fusion Drive. I immediately formatted my disk to partition it for Windows.

3TB's fusion drives are not supported, so it was a difficult way (for me) to accomplish it. Had to disable fusion drive, make partitions in terminal etc etc.

But now my Windows partitions isn't working properly. Can't change format the partition, or instal Windows on it, because it's a Journaled HFS+. When formatting it via Recovery Mode, it's says "the disk is in use by CoreStorage as a physical Volume"

How can I format my partition to ExFat?

Here's my diskutil list;

/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *121.3 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         121.0 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               134.2 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *3.0 TB     disk1
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         499.4 GB   disk1s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.1 MB   disk1s3
   4:          Apple_CoreStorage                         749.9 GB   disk1s4 (Windows Partition)
   5:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               134.2 MB   disk1s5
   6:          Apple_CoreStorage                         1.8 TB     disk1s6
   7:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               134.2 MB   disk1s7
/dev/disk2
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD           *2.4 TB     disk2
                                 Logical Volume on disk0s2, disk1s2, ...
                                 EBD12F9C-7876-4BFB-A135-A93F9FFA6665
                                 Unencrypted Fusion Drive

And here's my CoreStorage List; (the Windows partitions is Disk1s4, 750GB)

faCoreStorage logical volume groups (2 found)
|
+-- Logical Volume Group 5AAFEB78-BA3A-4164-AFA8-0F0F1CF74B8F
| =========================================================
| Name: Macintosh HD
| Status: Online
| Size: 2370588463104 B (2.4 TB)
| Free Space: 73728 B (73.7 KB)
| |
| +-< Physical Volume DFABFEF9-10D4-465B-B356-B9B42DE863A1
| | ----------------------------------------------------
| | Index: 0
| | Disk: disk0s2
| | Status: Online
| | Size: 120988852224 B (121.0 GB)
| |
| +-< Physical Volume E20AA558-46E9-4239-99C9-34497D8BBE83
| | ----------------------------------------------------
| | Index: 1
| | Disk: disk1s2
| | Status: Online
| | Size: 499350691840 B (499.4 GB)
| |
| +-< Physical Volume 01F562A6-4AC7-475C-8FD8-94308E80EDBD
| | ----------------------------------------------------
| | Index: 2
| | Disk: disk1s6
| | Status: Online
| | Size: 1750248919040 B (1.8 TB)
| |
| +-> Logical Volume Family 3BE037CA-B73C-40A1-9CC6-0A999A73C097
| ----------------------------------------------------------
| Encryption Status: Unlocked
| Encryption Type: None
| Conversion Status: NoConversion
| Conversion Direction: -none-
| Has Encrypted Extents: No
| Fully Secure: No
| Passphrase Required: No
| |
| +-> Logical Volume EBD12F9C-7876-4BFB-A135-A93F9FFA6665
| ---------------------------------------------------
| Disk: disk3
| Status: Online
| Size (Total): 2358029189120 B (2.4 TB)
| Conversion Progress: -none-
| Revertible: No
| LV Name: Macintosh HD
| Volume Name: Macintosh HD
| Content Hint: Apple_HFS
|
+-- Logical Volume Group 8C3ADA84-BF42-43E4-A745-110BD0DE6540
=========================================================
Name: WINDOW
Status: Online
Size: 749865009152 B (749.9 GB)
Free Space: 749512683520 B (749.5 GB)
|
+-< Physical Volume D6E2AF94-7BA3-44E7-8377-694C9521AB16
----------------------------------------------------
Index: 0
Disk: disk1s4
Status: Online
Size: 749865009152 B (749.9 GB)

EDIT: Added more information

 

[kernowRE]

can you not delete the CoreStorage logical volume group from the terminal? (the windows one)

diskutil cs delete *logicalvolumegroupid*

then the partition should be free to do whatever you want

apologies if I've misunderstood what you're trying to achieve

 

[Sankel]

can you not delete the CoreStorage logical volume group from the terminal? (the windows one)

diskutil cs delete *logicalvolumegroupid*

then the partition should be free to do whatever you want

apologies if I've misunderstood what you're trying to achieve

Well, I have a 3TB HDD + Fusion, formatted in multiple partitions. Now the Windows Partition is Journaled-HFS. And in Disk Utility i can't format the partition.

Now you're saying that I can delete the CoreStorage logical volume group. Do I need to re-enable it again? If so, how? And is it different with a Fusion Drive?

Edit: Thanks for replying!!

 

[kernowRE]

I think you are unable to change your windows partition because it is tied into a logical volume group, deleting that logical volume group should free it up to do with as you want.

as far as i know a bootcamp partition does not need to be in a logical volume group, is sits as a physical partition on the HDD

My knowledge of CoreStorage only comes from making my own fusion drive and is limited, I wouldn't want to give any more advice for fear of it being bad advice and would wait for someone more knowledgeable to offer a solution.

 

[Sankel]

Will the deleting of my Logic Core Storage Volume effect my other drives? In other words, do I need to backup everything and prepare for a fresh installation?

And again, do I need to enable the logic CoreStorage Volume with my other drivers, except the Windows partition?