Reformatting startup drive to eliminate partition

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wjakub0

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I would like to reformat my previously partitioned startup drive into a single
partition. (G4 dual 533 running OS 10.4.11) I have carbon-cloned the startup drive contents to an external fire-wire drive which I hope to re-transfer back after reformatting my original drive into a single partition. I have designated the fire-wire drive to be the new startup disc. In trying to restart
my computer it seems to have trouble finding the new startup drive. Is this because it is an external drive and it is looking for an internal one? Anyways
after much rebooting It has finally found the new startup drive. NOW...
using Disk Utilities I tried re-partitioning into a single drive but cannot.
The message I get is "This disk contains the startup volume and can't be partitioned". So the question is how do I accomplish this task. Do I need a
third party application? A second computer to assist? I have an i-book I can
use if it will help. Thankyou!
 
I've just been through this exercise. You will need to use an install or restore cd/dvd to do the erase/format function on the internal HD. Boot from the optical disk holding the C key down straight after the startup 'bong'. Choose Disk Utility from the File menu and then go through the partition/erase process. It's a straightforward task.
 
Thanks, I will give this a try. Actually I also thought of another solution.
If I replace the original hard drive with another of higher capacity (which I could certainly use) that should be straight forward as well ....I think.
I will post my result.
 
I too get the message "This disk contains the startup volume and can't be partitioned" in Disk Utility, this time when I try to create a partition.

"You will need to use an install or restore cd/dvd to do the erase/format function on the internal HD. Boot from the optical disk holding the C key down straight after the startup 'bong'. Choose Disk Utility from the File menu and then go through the partition/erase process."

Does creating a partition from the install CD, as you describbe, necessarily mean loss of all data from the original disk? I am currently running Tiger on an Intel core duo Mac, and want to create a partition so that I can also have Snow Leopard or Lion on the computer.


Thank you.

James.
 
You're seeing that message because you can't destroy or modify a partition that's in use. Since you're using that partition to start up your computer, you cannot modify the partition -- that's why you need to boot from a CD or DVD in order to make modifications to the partition.

Kind of like telling a guy to fix your bicycle, who, in turn, looks at you funny and says, "Buddy, you're going to have to stop riding around and dismount the bicycle before I can do a damn thing!" -- in other words, you can't have your bicycle repaired or modified while you're still using the bicycle...

Creating a new partition or modifying the partition in any way always loses data -- in fact, 100% of the data on the partition will be lost. This is why you need a backup (preferrably, a bootable backup) of the data on the partition before you go modifying the partition.

I would recommend this:

1) Create a bootable backup of your boot partition using a utility like Carbon Copy Cloner.
2) Boot from the CD or DVD, and repartition your drive using Disk Utility into the number and size of partitions you'd like.
3) Restore your bootable backup to the correct partition.
4) Install Snow Leopard or Lion on another partition.
 
I am really confused now, because I seem to have conflicting advice.

I asked someone at Carbon Copy Cloner if I would loe data by making a partition and he said I probably wouldn't lose data, and that I need to make the partition by insterting the installer DVD for Snow Leopard. Here is what CCC said:

"Making the clone of Tiger to the external hard drive is nothing more than a safety net. If something went wrong with creating a new partition on your internal disk, you'll have a backup of your Tiger installation to fall back to. You should have to do anything more than:

Clone your Tiger installation to the external hard drive
Partition your internal hard drive while booted from the Snow Leopard installation DVD
Install Snow Leopard on your new partition
You will install Snow Leopard onto the new, blank partition, leaving your Tiger partition alone. You won't have to reinstall Tiger at all. Mike
12 Posted on August 12, 2011 @ 06:23 PM


ANd so I asked again "And there may well be no loss of data i.e music files, photos, settings on my TIger side?"

And CCC Replied: "That's correct, your Tiger volume should be unscathed in this whole process."


I have ordered Snow Leopard now, and so I am committed to this process, but please could someone give me some definitive answers:

1) I plan to make a clone anyway, but will I lose data necessarily
2) Do I make the partition when I put the Snow Leopard installer in, or by putting in the Tiger installer, as suggested on this forum

Thank you very much,


James.
 
Tiger (OS X 10.4.x) and its Disk Utility does not allow for adding another partition without wiping the drive completely. You would lose everything that is not backed up to another drive. 10.5 (Leopard) or newer OS X versions can add partitions to the existing partitions without needing to wipe everything first. That's why you see some conflicting information about that.
Even though adding another partition is a possibility, I think the best way to proceed is to back up your existing drive, then boot to another volume (which can be a Snow Leopard installer if you have that), and partition the drive as you like. I suggest that you use the newest system that you have (Snow Leopard is fine) to create the new partitions, so the partition table is as current as your newest bootable partition.
Restore your original volume to one of your new partitions from your back up. Install Snow Leopard (or whatever) on your other new partition. Be sure that when deciding how large those partitions will be - that you leave space for each system to work. A minimum of 25% free space on each partition is a good goal, I think.

final note - If you actually have a Core Duo Mac (and not a newer Core 2 Duo), keep in mind that you won't be able to upgrade to Lion. Snow Leopard is the newest that you can use.
 
Thank you so much, I think that has answered virtually all my questions and makes sense to me.

Two final queries:

1) When I use the Snow Leopard to boot up in order to access the Disk Utility function, how do I avoid inadvertently fully installing SL at that point i.e. do I have to hold down any keys and will there be instructions to guide me.


2) When I need to put the cloned Tiger back onto one of the newly made partitions, how exactly do I go about this. I am cloning with Carbon Copy Cloner.

Thanks for replying so quickly and comprehensively - I now feel I might actually be able to do this!

James.
 
Both are simple answers:
1. When booted to the Snow Leopard installer, (continue until you see menus at the top of the screen) then Disk Utility is available from the Utilities menu. Just don't continue with the install until you are ready to do that.

2. Boot to the clone, and run Carbon Copy Cloner to put back the clone (essentially you are cloning from the clone, I suppose :D ) to your newly made partition.

Even easier - boot to your Tiger installer DVD, and install Tiger. When that completes, your Mac will reboot, and ask you as part of the setup - if you want to restore from another drive. That will restore from your back up, and you only need to follow those instructions, choosing the correct partition to get that backup from. That process will also give you a leaner system than transferring every 'bump and glitch' that your backed up system might still have. You'll need to run your Software Update to assure that everything is properly up-to-date about your Tiger system.
And - don't forget to choose the correct partition for the destination to install Snow Leopard, when you begin doing that. You wouldn't want to upgrade the Tiger partition when you really don't want to do that yet.
Let us know how it all goes for you ...
 
That's wonderful! Thank you.

I will start this process tomorrow – I'm quite excited now – and will definitely post an update on this thread; In case there's ever anyone else with a Tiger who's thinking about doing the same.

By the way, it looks like I could install Lion (my computer is n Intel 2 Core). However, I spoke to someone on the phone who said a) Lion is a very big OS and could possibly slow things down for me and b) my computer's chipset model (i have a NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT) might not support Lion. So SL it is, and that's OK because it means I can hopefully, funds allowing, upgrade my Pro Tools in the future (apparently the latest version is currently only supported by Snow Leopard).

Thanks again.
All the best,
James.
 
Hello again, unfortunately I have got one more question, just as I am starting to prepare for the process of cloning.

On the Carbon Copy Cloner website, in their instructions on "preparing your backup disk for a backup of Mac OS X", it says that I must re-format Tiger as an HFS volume. Which is fine. But unless I'm missing something, the instructions on how to do this include making a partition of the hard drive. Surely, knowing now what I do about making partitions on a Tiger, surely this will make all the data disappear, so there will effectively then be nothing to clone?

I have pasted their instructions below. Please, Delta Mac, you have been so helpful already, but could you tell me if my interpretation is right or not?



"When you purchase a new hard drive, or if you have a hard drive that you use with a Windows computer, that hard drive is often pre-formatted as FAT32. While the hard drive's volume may mount just fine in the Finder, and you are able to access files on the volume, CCC may report "configuration concerns" when you specify this volume as a destination because some filesystem metadata would not be transferred. Most notably, you'll lose ownership and permission metadata as well as any Access Control List settings. These types of metadata are very important for maintaining the security of your data and your Mac's operating system.

Additionally, Macintoshes can only boot from hard drives partitioned with either the Apple Partition Map (APM) scheme (PowerPC-based Macs) or the GUID Partition Table (GPT) scheme (Intel-based Macs). The hard drive icons that you see in the Finder are volumes. The partition scheme of a hard drive describes how volumes are physically defined on the hard disk. Every hard drive has exactly one partition scheme and at least one volume. When you "partition" a hard drive, you simply create multiple volumes on that hard drive.

Follow these steps to format your hard drive as an HFS+ volume:

Launch Disk Utility
Click on the hard drive device in the list on the left (the volumes have names that you see in the Finder, like "Macintosh HD" whereas the hard drive device has a name that includes the size of the hard drive and a vendor name or serial number, like "111.8 GB ST9129876A")
Click on the Partition tab
Choose "1 Partition" from the "Volume Scheme" popup menu (or more if desired).
Click on the "Options" button at the bottom of the partitions table and choose a partition scheme appropriate for the way you intend to use the hard drive (APM for PowerPC Macs, GPT for Intel-based Macs), then click the "OK" button:
Provide a name for your volume that will allow you to easily identify it as a backup volume.
Specify "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" as the volume format.
Click on the "Apply" button"
 
Silly Me! Sorry, I think the link in my previous quick reply (currently being moderated, so you may see it after this one in the thread) is an article about putting a partition on the external drive, in preparation of cloning. Please ignore, and, sorry Delta Mac.
 
I have just used CCC to clone Tiger, I think.


When I click on the external drive icon, I was expecting to have another desktop open, with a dock at the bottom and it look like what I usually see when booting up. Instead I get as is attached. Is this normal? Have I created a bootable volume on my external drive?

Thanks,
James.
 

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