Convert Case-sensitive formatted hard disk without re-formatting

[mayuka]

Hi.

Years ago, I used to format my hard disks case-sensitive (option Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Case-sensitive)). Now, I need to install Photoshop CS3 but this doesn't work properly on case-sensitive formatted HFS+ volumes. I know that there are certain workarounds but they don't work.

Anyway, the easiest option for me would be converting the whole volume to non-case-sensitive. But this isn't possible without re-formatting and thus loosing all of the data on it. Time Machine is no option. Is there a way or a tool to accomplish this as easy as possible? I don't want to re-install the whole Mac OS X...

I hope some experts are still around here.

 

[Dronecatcher]

I offer this advice speculatively as I haven't tried this myself.

If you're running an intel Mac, a G-Parted boot disk might be able to do it:

http://gparted.org/

If it's PPC, then Norton System Works might be capable:

http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/norton-systemworks

I've only changed a file system on a 'live' PC once, years ago using Norton Partition Magic - it took a long time and afterwards couldn't get the suspicion out of my mind that every glitch and grumble came from that operation.

Personally, I'd backup the data and do a fresh install - it'll be quicker, 100% effective and safer.

 

[Gamer9430]

If you have another Mac, and both of these systems have either FireWire 400/800, you can connect a FireWire cable between the two and do something called Target Disk Mode. This allows you to copy the entire hard drive of the Case Sensitive HDD onto the other Mac, if space allows. Then, after making sure your files are ok, go back to the Case Sensitive Mac and format the drive. Then in install assistant, select the option to restore files from a different Mac or something like that. Then you can restore the files from the other Mac back onto the freshly formatted one. I'm sure there are plenty of guides on how to do this online, and they'll probably better elaborate on how to do it than I did, but this is just a rough idea of how to do this.

 

[mayuka]

Thanks for your answers.

Of course, I'm on a PPC Mac.

Norton System Works does not work for Mac OS X 10.5 and new HFS+ volumes. Apple added extended attributes and Norton does not support them.

The method with the Install Assistant might work. However, how do I copy the files from the image to the freshly formatted disk? A simple "cp -Rp" (R = recursive, p = preserve extended attributes) may not be enough? Sorry to ask, but I need to get the files from A to B somehow in the right way.

I already tried to restore from a Time Machine backup, but the application Traktor DJ creates an unique identifier for each computer and Native Instruments dropped support for that app long ago and, hence, also for the activation software.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Of course, I'm on a PPC Mac

I only queried that as there were no PPC Macs in your signature

Another avenue is this:

http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20050302225659382

Again, I haven't had cause to use the method myself but it's worth investigating - it might bypass your software validation worries.

 

[eyoungren]

Here's my suggestion if you have a spare hard drive and either an enclosure or a dock.

Use Carbon Copy Cloner (or SuperDuper) to clone your case sensitive drive to the spare drive. Reformat the old drive to be the correct formatting. Clone back from the spare drive.

I recently partitioned a drive for my MBP as GUID and cloned the drive from my PowerBook (APM) to the MBP. The MBP booted right up and retained the GUID partioning. So this method works.

 

[mayuka]

That's true. My signature does not list any PPC Macs anymore. But I'm still using them from time to time. My Powerbook and both my Mac mini G4s are working like a charm.

I already did the dd-method to create an image of the whole hard disk. Something like dd if=/dev/rdisk0 of=something.img bs=1m . Writing the image back with dd if=something.img of=/dev/rdisk0 bs=1m works, but obviously the partition is still case-sensitive formatted.

Right now I'm copying the files from the image to the hard disk with cp -fpR. This will take some time...

If that doesn't work, I'll try Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper. Didn't know they work for PowerPC Macs...

I have my fingers crossed.

 

[eyoungren]

If that doesn't work, I'll try Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper. Didn't know they work for PowerPC Macs...

PowerPC is where both apps got their start. I've used them on every version of OS X since Jaguar.

Keep in mind that the latest online versions are paid and Intel only, so if you need them do a search for previous versions.

Worst case scenario, almost everyone on this forum will have a copy so just ask if you need it.

 

[MacCubed]

OldApps would be a good place to start, along with the PPC Archive

 

[Dronecatcher]

If that doesn't work, I'll try Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper.

If you use these, I'd check the restore image first before you erase the original drive - I've used CCC successfully in the past but recently, SD failed five times creating a restore image - each time, the restore process in Disk Utility would fail to recognise it.

 

[mayuka]

First attempt failed. Will try again tomorrow after I've had some sleep.

 

[mayuka]

Okay....

Here's how I did it. So far it works. Let's hope everything will still work out fine in the future.

At first, I booted my trusty Powerbook from the Leopard DVD. There, I chose Disk Util from the main menu and unmounted the whole hard disk. Then, I plugged in my USB hard disk. I chose Terminal from the main menu. Then, I made a 1:1 copy of the whole hard disk with the command "dd if=/dev/rdisk0 of=hd.img bs=1m" (took about 6 hours, but I have a 320 GB drive inside, note that the bs=1m speeds up copying significantly).

Then, I restarted the laptop and held down "T" after the Apple chime. The laptop started in Target Disk Mode. In my Mac mini G4, I plugged in the Firewire 400 to Firewire 400 cable and the external USB drive with the image I just made. From there, I formatted the 320 GB drive in my Powerbook non-case-sensitive. Then, I mounted the image with the following command in Terminal: "hdiutil attach -readonly -imagekey diskimage-class=CRawDiskImage hd.img". Still on my Mac mini, I started Carbon Copy Cloner (version 3.4.4) and copied everything from the image to the just non-case-sensitive formatted drive in my Powerbook. That took approx. 12 hours!

Then, I unmounted all drives and shut down my Powerbook. The first boot of my Powerbook took very long (4 minutes or so). But so far, everything seems to work fine. Carbon Copy Cloner was not able to copy all files, but the important apps such as Photoshop CS3, MS Office, Traktor and Ableton Live seem to work.

Just as a note. Starting Carbon Copy Cloner from the Leopard DVD does not work.

 

[weckart]

Academic now as you have done it but iPartition claims to be able to convert one format to the other and back again; however it is not free and getting an older version for PPC Macs might be near impossible.

http://coriolis-systems.com/iPartition

 

[grahamperrin]

For future reference:

Converting HFS from case sensitive to case insensitive (Martin Englund's Weblog) (2008-03-07)

I have not tried that method, or any other. Proceed with caution (how to deal with conversion of Foo and foo in the same directory, and so on).

 

[mayuka]

Carbon Copy Cloner isn't magical too. It uses rsync as a copying method. However, it somehow makes the disk bootable.

 

[Yang2 Gui3zi]

Here's my suggestion if you have a spare hard drive and either an enclosure or a dock.

Use Carbon Copy Cloner (or SuperDuper) to clone your case sensitive drive to the spare drive. Reformat the old drive to be the correct formatting. Clone back from the spare drive.

I used this approach today with Carbon Copy Cloner to remove the case sensitivity from an El Capitan boot partition. It worked for me on a Late-2011 17"-display MacBook Pro.

 

[DonKnize]

I used this approach today with Carbon Copy Cloner to remove the case sensitivity from an El Capitan boot partition. It worked for me on a Late-2011 17"-display MacBook Pro.

Can I ask how? Do you have some tutorial?

 

[Cox Orange]

Carbon Copy Cloner isn't magical too. It uses rsync as a copying method. However, it somehow makes the disk bootable.

Could you elaborate for non-techies (I consider myself a non-techy)? Does SuperDuper use the same method? I know that SuperDuper does basic defragmentation during backup (copying one file after the other), which is why it takes considerably longer than ccc.