iMac - Disk Utility Issue - Storage

[JackB0524]

Hi - So, I completely erased all my data to start fresh on my iMac. I was running Big Slur at the time. I ran into some problems and had to delete the volumes in the Disk Utility to start all over. Everything downloaded fine and now Im back to High Sierra. When I went to do a software update, it said there is not enough storage. For some reason, it's only using the Flash Storage SSD (28GB). It's not using the HDD SATA Disk storage (1TB).

ISSUE - I'm not sure how to get the iMac to start using the HDD storage (1TB). Can anyone help? Did I mess up something in the Disk Utility?

(I've added screenshots below for reference)

~~ iMAC INFO ~~
OS = High Sierra
Version = 10.13.6
Processor = 3.4 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory = 24 GB RAM


~~ STORAGE INFO - SSD ~~
Apple SSD SM0032L Media
Capacity = 28GB
Available = 13.11 GB
Used = 11.82GB
Type = APFS Volume
Owners = Enabled
Connection = PCI-Express
Device = disk2s1
Partition Map = GUID Partition Map



~~ STORAGE INFO - HDD ~~
Apple HDD ST1000DM003 Media
Capacity = 1 TB
Available = 999.86 GB
Type = SATA Internal Physical Volume
Connection = SATA
Device = disk0
Partition Map = GUID Partition Map



Screenshots -- https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ufm37r0xrfwh6ey/AADvKIuadVT__m7br5I898afa?dl=0


Please let me know if there is anything else you'd like to know. I appreciate the help.

Thank you,
Jack

 

[Imac Sam]

I am assuming your machine was setup originally as a fusion drive. Some how you deleted the link between the drives.

Go to the apple menu and select "about this mac" then click on the storage tab. If you see each drive listed there individually then your fusion drive is not set up properly and you will need to start over and link them together before you re-install the OS. A properly setup fusion drive will show as one drive in the storage tab.

To re-link the two drives as a fusion drive you will need to follow the instructions here:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207584

 

[Fishrrman]

iMac Sam's provided link is good.

Sounds like you have an iMac with a fusion drive inside
and
The fusion drive has "the small SSD" (28gb) and a 1tb HDD portion
and
Somehow during the install process the fusion drive got "DE-fused" into separate component drives.

What you need to do (if you want to run with the factory-configured fusion drive) is to boot EXTERNALLY (boot to INTERNET recovery if you have to, or from a High Sierra USB bootable flash drive)
then
Use disk utility or terminal to RE-fuse the two component drives back into "fused" status
then
Re-install the OS, and restore your data.

An alternative course of action you might consider:
The iMac is a 2017, is this correct?
With 2 USBc ports on the back?

If all of the above is correct, you might consider buying a pre-assembled USB3.1 gen2 drive (such as the Samsung t7), plug it into the USBc port, and set that up to be "the new external boot drive".

It will give you read speeds in the 850-925MBps or so range, but the BIG advantage is it will be larger than the tiny internal SSD portion of the fusion drive.

You could then use the external SSD as your "primary drive", and make the INTERNAL fusion drive into your "backup" drive. Now you'll have an immediately-accessible backup if something happens to the external SSD.

 

[JackB0524]

Thanks! This solved the issue.

I re-linked the 2 drives and all works well now.