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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Hd Partition

s_leijon - Apr 15, 2005 - 11:33 pm

I just bought a powerbook (pismo) for my wife on eBay and when it arrived, the first thing I noticed was that there were two HD icons on the desktop. I have been trying to "undo" the partition ever since I got this computer, but no luck so far. I tried any number of things in Disk Utility. I tried to select one of the HD's and hit "erase" in Disk Utility and that removed the icon in the Desktop, but when I rebooted from the OSX installation CD the other HD was back.. How do I permanently "combine" the split HD back to normal?

Thank You.. /Stefan

bobw - Apr 16, 2005 - 11:15 am

Hi Stefan

Boot from the OS CD by holding the C key down. After the Installer Window appears, go up to the Installer Menu and go to Disk Utility. You should see the drive listed first, with the two partitions listed under that. Choose the top drive name, above the two partitions, and erase. This will completely erase both partitions. When you click Erase, you'll have a choice of partitioning if you want to do that, if not, it will reformat the drive with no partitions, which is what you want, one drive. Put a check in the OS 9 drivers.


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s_leijon - Apr 17, 2005 - 11:12 pm

After I reboot from the CD and I open Disk Utility, I selected the top drive name and then selected "erase" from the choices on the menu of "buttons" above the "window" in disk utility. The window then shows everything "greyed out" and I'm unable to do anything.
Any other options to take care of this?

Thanks.. /Stefan

bobw - Apr 18, 2005 - 9:38 am

Stefan

Try this. Boot from the CD and go through with the installer window. That should also give you the option of installing and erasing the drive.


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s_leijon - Apr 18, 2005 - 10:38 am

I tried that already.. That was the first thing I tried actually..
Any other ideas? Or am I stuck with the partition?

Thanks..

bobw - Apr 18, 2005 - 11:13 am

Stephan

There's a Firmware update for this model. You can get it here;

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75132

You need to be booted into OS 9 to install this or have an OS 9 disk.

What disk are you trying to install OS X from?


--------
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s_leijon - Apr 18, 2005 - 11:20 am

I just got this computer for my wife - it came with no CDs but I have 10.3.6 CD's that I bought for my TitaniumBook, so that's what I have to work with.
Is there a way using these CDs?

bobw - Apr 18, 2005 - 11:26 am

Stephan

Are the 10.3.6 CD's full install disks or upgrade disks?
If their upgrade disks, that would explain this problem.

What system is installed on the machine now?


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s_leijon - Apr 18, 2005 - 12:00 pm

I would have to check if they're the "full" version or an upgrade. I bought it from the Apple store and it was the only one available. I'll check when I get home from work.
I was able to install this system on the computer in question, but it puts system files on one partition and applications on the other, which is probably the reason whay I would have to boot from the CD to make any changes..
I'll get back to you whether the disks are full or upgrade.
If they're upgrades, what do you suggest I do?

bobw - Apr 18, 2005 - 12:06 pm

Stefan

If the disks are upgrade disks, you would need to get full version disks.

When you install the system, everything should install on the same partition.


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Bobw - MacOSX.com Tech Support
bobw@macosx.com

s_leijon - Apr 18, 2005 - 1:37 pm

When doing the installation, I'm given an option to put the new installation on either one of the two partitions, but even though I select just one of them, some things get installed onto the other partition. Anyway - I'll check to see if I have the full version or the upgrade when I get home from work..
Thanks for all your help so far..

s_leijon - Apr 18, 2005 - 10:09 pm

As far as I can tell - the Software is the full version.
Am I stuck with this partition?

bobw - Apr 19, 2005 - 9:40 am

Stefan

Open the Terminal Application in your Utility folder in the Application folder. Type this

disktool -l (small L)

paste the results here for me.

Also, take a look at this page;


http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...21119053614569


--------
Bobw - MacOSX.com Tech Support
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s_leijon - Apr 20, 2005 - 7:23 am

Results from disktool -l:

***disk appeared ('disk0',mountpoint = ' ', fstype = ' ', volname = ' ')
***disk appeared ('disk0s1',mountpoint = ' ', fstype = ' ', volname = ' ')
***disk appeared ('disk0s2',mountpoint = ' ', fstype = ' ', volname = ' ')
***disk appeared ('disk0s3',mountpoint = ' ', fstype = ' ', volname = ' ')
***disk appeared ('disk0s4',mountpoint = ' ', fstype = ' ', volname = ' ')
***disk appeared ('disk0s5',mountpoint = ' ', fstype = ' ', volname = ' ')
***disk appeared ('disk0s6',mountpoint = ' ', fstype = ' ', volname = ' ')
***disk appeared ('disk0s7',mountpoint = ' ', fstype = ' ', volname = ' ')
***disk appeared ('disk0s8',mountpoint = ' ', fstype = ' ', volname = ' ')
***disk appeared ('disk0s10',mountpoint = '/', fstype = 'hfs', volname = 'hd')
***disk appeared ('disk0s12',mountpoint = '/volumes/hd2', fstype = 'hfs', volname = 'hd2')

bobw - Apr 20, 2005 - 10:22 am

Stefan

At this point, I'm out of ideas. I haven't seen a disk that couldn't be partitioned with Disk Utility, unless it may have previously been formatted with a non Apple formatter.

Do you have OS 9 installed on this machine, and if you do, can you boot from it?


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bobw@macosx.com

s_leijon - Apr 20, 2005 - 12:49 pm

How would I do that? (boot from OS 9)
And if I could, what then?

bobw - Apr 20, 2005 - 12:53 pm

Stefan

Open the Startup PreferencePane in the System preferences under the Apple. It will show if both volumes are bootable and what systems are on each.

Do you have an OS 9 CD?


--------
Bobw - MacOSX.com Tech Support
bobw@macosx.com

s_leijon - Apr 20, 2005 - 3:17 pm

I have the CDs that came in the box when I bought os 10.3.6
I might have some old CDs with os9 somewhere, but honestly, I doubt it..
It seems odd that it would be this complicated removing a partition..

bobw - Apr 20, 2005 - 3:58 pm

Stefan

it shouldn't be complicated. I've never seen a problem like this. Normally, you can boot off the OS CD, open Disk Utility and erase any drive.

Another thought. Do you have another Mac that has Firewire?
If you do, you can connect using Target Disk Mode and try that way.


--------
Bobw - MacOSX.com Tech Support
bobw@macosx.com

s_leijon - Apr 21, 2005 - 12:33 am

I have two other Macs with firewire - what steps do I take and what exactly is it I'm looking to do in "Target Disk Mode"?

bobw - Apr 21, 2005 - 8:47 am

Stefan

What you need to do is find a FireWire cable, and connect one end from your PowerBook to your other Mac. Then, restart your PowerBook, and right after you select Restart in the Finder, hold the "t" key on your keyboard. The PowerBook will boot into FireWire Target Disk Mode. This allows the other Mac to see your PowerBook's hard drive as if it was an external FireWire hard drive connected to that computer. Then, on your other Mac, restart into the Mac OS X installer, and it will let you choose the PowerBook's hard drive to install 10.3 on.


--------
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bobw@macosx.com

s_leijon - Apr 21, 2005 - 2:58 pm

Aha.. That sounds like it will definitely work..
I'll try it as soon as I get home.
I'll let you know what happens..