MacOS – OS X Partition not resizable

core-storagedisk-utilitymacospartition

3 weeks ago I installed Yosemite public beta onto a brand new Macbook Air which arrived with Mavericks pre-installed. To carry out the installation I created a new partition for Yosemite and so had the option of a dual boot.

Last week the public beta 4 came through and my existing Yosemite partition was not big enough to allow installation.

I figured that because it was a brand new machine with no data to be lost I could risk using Yosemite as my only OS, and so I decided to remove Mavericks with the intention of having one single partition with Yosemite. What has happened is that I have now 2 partitions – one prescribed Macintosh HD and the other my Yosemite partition. But I am unable to merge the two partitions or to grow the Yosemite partition from it's initial 20Gb, furthermore the partition entitled Macintosh HD is inaccessible.

Diskutil showing partitions

Through using Terminal commands I was able to resize the Macintosh HD, but I am still unable to resize the Yosemite partition drive.

Drive partitions - terminal

I have discovered that then Yosemite partition was made into CoreStorage, and so have used the Terminal commands to try to resize this – both the Logical Volume Group and the Physical Volume – but the Physical Volume command reports the volume is too small to be made larger, whilst the resizeStack command on the Logical Volume Group generates the following report "60DF5D65-41F2-41D1-A56E-9C74FFFD3E6D does not appear to be a valid Core Storage Logical Volume UUID or disk"

CoreStorage Partition

Best Answer

Boot into Recovery HD, open Disk Utility. Choose Yo Drive in the list and select the Restore tab. Make Yo Drive the Source and Macintosh HD the Destination. This will erase all content on Macintosh HD and replace it with the contents of Yo Drive. Back up anything important on Yo Drive before hand in case of failure during the restore. After that you should be able to erase the second partition and extend to take up the whole drive.

Related Solutions

MacOS – Resizing or expanding a CoreStorage volume

After gaining some experience with CoreStorage volumes, I reworked my first answer to generalize and facilitate it by adding some scenarios and deleting some dispensable steps.

Basically there is one undocumented command to resize or expand a CoreStorage volume group and an inherent logical volume:

diskutil cs resizeStack LVUUID size

The command expands or shrinks the whole CoreStorage Volume Group including the physical volume(s), the logical volume family and the logical volume in one step to the desired size.

While shrinking it down to the size of the occupied space in the logical volume shouldn't be problem at all (but not recommended because at least 10% free space should be left), any blocking partition except the recovery partition has to be deleted or diminished before expanding the CoreStorage stack.

The command comes in handy in several scenarios:

expanding a CoreStorage volume after deleting a 2nd old-style JHFS+ volume on the same device (this may happen after splitting your disk in two partitions in Mavericks and then updating to Yosemite. The first partition - your system volume - might be converted to a CoreStorage volume, while the 2nd volume is left alone.)

enter image description here

expanding a CoreStorage volume after manually deleting a Boot Camp NTFS volume

enter image description here

resizing a CoreStorage volume to create 2nd old-style JHFS+ volume on the same device

enter image description here

Beware: The command is vastly undocumented and as such potentially destructive.

Preparation:

Backup your data.
Detach any external drive (especially your external Time Machine backup drive).
Restart to Internet Recovery Mode by pressing alt cmd R at startup.
The prerequisites are the latest firmware update installed, either ethernet or WLAN (WPA/WPA2) and a router with DHCP activated.
On a 50 Mbps-line it takes about 4 min (presenting a small animated globe) to boot to a recovery netboot image which usually is loaded from an apple/akamai server.

I recommend ethernet because it's more reliable. If you are restricted to WIFI and the boot process fails, just restart your Mac until you succeed booting.

Alternatively you may start from a bootable installer thumb drive (Mavericks or Yosemite) or a thumb drive containing a full system (Mavericks or Yosemite).

Modify CoreStorage stack:

Open in the menubar Utilities/Terminal

First you should get an overview of your disks and the partition layout:

Enter diskutil list
Example listing:

/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *68.7 GB    disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                    209.7 MB    disk0s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         53.7 GB    disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD            650.0 MB    disk0s3
   4:                        EFI No Name EFI            100.0 MB    disk0s4
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     Apple_partition_scheme                         *1.3 GB    disk1
   1:        Apple_partition_map                         30.7 KB    disk1s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS OS X Base System        *1.3 GB    disk1s2
/dev/disk2
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                  Apple_HFS System                 *53.5 GB    disk2
/dev/disk3-disk12 ...belong to the OS X Base System (your recovery system you booted to previously)

Disk0 is your main internal disk device containing the EFI-partition (dis0s1), the CoreStorage partition (disk0s2) and the Recovery HD (disk0s3). The No Name EFI (disk0s4) only exists if you had a Boot Camp partition previously and deleted it manually.

Disk1 is a logical disk created by booting to the netboot image which contains a recovery system (OS X Base System = disk1s2) similar to the Recovery HD.

Disk2 is also a logical disk residing in disk0s2 and it contains the CoreStorage stack.

Enter gpt -r -vv show /dev/disk0
Example listing:

gpt show: /dev/disk0: mediasize=68719476736; sectorsize=512; blocks=134217728
gpt show: /dev/disk0: PMBR at sector 0
gpt show: /dev/disk0: Pri GPT at sector 1
gpt show: /dev/disk0: Sec GPT at sector 134217727
      start       size  index  contents
          0          1         PMBR
          1          1         Pri GPT header
          2         32         Pri GPT table
         34          6         
         40     409600      1  GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
     409640  104974016      2  GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
  105383656    1269536      3  GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
  106653192     204800      4  GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
  106857992   27359703         
  134217695         32         Sec GPT table
  134217727          1         Sec GPT header

The partition with the index number 1 is the regular EFI-partition, the partition with index number 2 is your CoreStorage partition and the partition with index number 3 is your Recovery HD.
The partition with index number 4 (=No Name EFI) only exists if you had a Boot Camp partition previously and deleted it manually. All the rest is unallocated free space (in the example 27359703 blocks à 512 B).

Enter diskutil cs list
Example listing:

  CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)
|
+-- Logical Volume Group A629E051-D7B0-4B8C-A803-074F62704636
    =========================================================
    Name:         System
    Status:       Online
    Size:         53946696192 B (53.9 GB)
    Free Space:   16777216 B (16.8 MB)
    |
    +-< Physical Volume 90C09FC0-4215-4871-901B-70E2C9C7D464
    |   ----------------------------------------------------
    |   Index:    0
    |   Disk:     disk0s2
    |   Status:   Online
    |   Size:     53946696192 B (53.9 GB)
    |
    +-> Logical Volume Family F6962E38-50E4-4458-BFE6-CF2E179352F5
        ----------------------------------------------------------
        Encryption Status:       Unlocked
        Encryption Type:         None
        Conversion Status:       NoConversion
        Conversion Direction:    -none-
        Has Encrypted Extents:   No
        Fully Secure:            No
        Passphrase Required:     No
        |
        +-> Logical Volume BD36C73D-860D-4DC6-B125-AD624F448B88
            ---------------------------------------------------
            Disk:                  disk2
            Status:                Online
            Size (Total):          53496696192 B (53.5 GB)
            Conversion Progress:   -none-
            Revertible:            Yes (no decryption required)
            LV Name:               System
            Volume Name:           System
            Content Hint:          Apple_HFS

to resize the CoreStorage volume you have to delete any blocking partition first (the Recovery HD doesn't count because it usually will be moved with the resizeStack command).
First you have to unmount all mounted volumes on disk0 (first the CoreStorage volume, which has its own disk identifier disk2 but resides on disk0, then all other mounted volumes on disk0 - check this with df):
```
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2
```
then additional volumes (if you have any at all). Example:
```
diskutil unmount /dev/disk0s5 
```
If you have a NoName EFI partition delete it by entering:
```
gpt remove -i 4 disk0
```
Remount any previously unmounted volume in the reverse order with
```
diskutil mount /dev/disk0s5
diskutil mount /dev/disk2 
```
Since any blocking partition is deleted you may now resize the CoreStorage volume with
```
diskutil cs resizeStack LVUUID size 
```
with LVUUID: UUID of the logical volume and size: the final size of your CoreStorage volume.
Examples:
```
diskutil cs resizeStack BD36C73D-860D-4DC6-B125-AD624F448B88 60g  
```
to expand it to 60 GB
```
diskutil cs resizeStack BD36C73D-860D-4DC6-B125-AD624F448B88 40g  
```
to shrink it to 40 GB
```
diskutil cs resizeStack BD36C73D-860D-4DC6-B125-AD624F448B88 0g 
```
to expand it to the full available size (0g is a magic number here).

Your Recovery HD should be moved automatically - regardless of whether shrinking or expanding the CS volume - to the very end of it.
In case of shrinking the CoreStorage volume you may now create a 2nd partition with gpt.
Enter the following to get the new partition scheme:
```
gpt -r -vv show /dev/disk0
```
and
```
gpt add -b StartBlock -s NumberOfBlocks disk0
```
to create a new partition. StartBlock is the number of the first block in the unallocated space and NumberOfBlocks is the number of free blocks or smaller. NumberOfBlocks has to be dividable through 8!
Enter exit and quit Terminal.
Open Disk Utility (and format your newly created partition if you have created a new partition in the second last step).
Then check your expanded CoreStorage volume for errors.
Quit Disk Utility.
Reboot to your main volume.

MacOS – How to add free space to a Logical Volume Group? (Resizing Partitions)

You can't move the start block (=380677208 for LVG2 or "Macintosh HD 2" in your case) of a CoreStorage Volume (Group) non-destructively. The same is valid for non-CoreStorage partitions with on-board tools. AFAIK for the latter only iPartition and gparted work. Therefore you can't easily reclaim empty space with a lower start block and an arbitrary size and add it contiguously to existing CoreStorage or non-CoreStorage volumes.

Or with other words: You can expand volumes (CoreStorage or non-CoreStorage) from the ending block to higher block numbers but not from the starting block to lower ones.

You have 2 options though:

Recreating a larger second CoreStorage volume
Creating a new partition in the empty space and adding it as physical volume to your second Logical Volume Group. This will scatter your second Logical Volume Group over several Physical Volumes (PV2 & PV3 - the latter build in the empty space) on the same drive but might be unavoidable if another partition like your Recovery HD or a Data volume exists between LVG1 and immediately before PV2.

Both methods require you to backup/move the content of the second Logical Volume to another volume and its deletion afterwards.

For both methods force-backup all your data.

Then boot to an external thumb drive containing a bootable system or to Internet Recovery Mode (hit altcmdR immediately after the start-up chime)

open Terminal.app in the menubar (Utilities/Terminal)
enter diskutil cs list and diskutil list
enter diskutil cs deleteVolume LV2UUID to delete the second Logical Volume
in your case diskutil cs deleteVolume 976CA58C-E8FF-492A-9968-6FEF64C58A31

Now the 2 different methods divert:

Recreating a larger second CoreStorage volume (recommended):

enter diskutil cs delete LVG2UUID to delete the second Logical Volume Group
in your case diskutil cs delete 4793C4C8-0F56-4673-A2B6-98B15403CD33
Your second Logical Volume Group will be converted to a classical volume with the name "Untitled". This will take some time because it also has to be decrypted.
If you enter diskutil cs list repeatedly you will see the progress of the decryption task (in %).

after the conversion completed enter sudo gpt -r -vvv show -l /dev/disk0*
you have to enter an admin password then
result (some parts omitted):

...
         40       409600      1  GPT part - "EFI System Partition"
     409640    244763224      2  GPT part - "Macintosh HD"
  245172864      1269536      3  GPT part - "Recovery HD"
  246442400(s) 134234808(a)         
  380677208    108287968(b)   4  GPT part - "Untitled"
  488965176      1269536      5  GPT part - "Recovery HD"
...

enter diskutil list
enter diskutil unmountDisk /dev/DiskIdentifierLV (probably disk1) to unmount "Macintosh HD"
enter diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk0
enter sudo gpt remove -i IndexNumber DiskIdentifier to remove a partition
in your case sudo gpt remove -i 4 disk0 to remove the partition named "Untitled"
enter sudo gpt add -b StartBlock(s) -s NumberOfBlocks(a+b) DiskIdentifier to create a new partition filling the empty space.
in your case probably sudo gpt add -b 246442400 -s 242522776 disk0
enter diskutil list to get the DiskIdentifier of your newly created partition (probably disk0s4)
enter diskutil cs create Name /dev/DiskIdentifier to recreate your second LVG
in your case probably diskutil cs create "Macintosh HD 2" /dev/disk0s4
enter diskutil cs list to get the UUID of LVG2. Copy it.
enter diskutil cs createVolume LVG2UUID jhfs+ Name 100%
in your case diskutil cs createVolume <-PasteTheLVG2UUIDHere-> jhfs+ "Macintosh HD 2" 100%
enter exit, quit Terminal and reboot to "Macintosh HD"
Open "Disk Utility", check the newly created CoreStorage volume "Macintosh HD 2" and quit the app
open the Info window of the volume in Finder and uncheck the box labeled 'Ignore ownership on this volume'.
enable FileVault for the volume/encrypt it
restore "Macintosh HD 2" from your Time Machine backup

Scattered ~~brain~~ PhysicalVolumes method (not recommended but sometimes necessary):

This method is necessary if sudo gpt -r -vvv show -l /dev/disk0 shows following result (some parts omitted):

    ...
             40       409600      1  GPT part - "EFI System Partition"
         409640    244763224      2  GPT part - "Macintosh HD"
      245172864      1269536      3  GPT part - "Recovery HD"
      246442400     83034808
      329477208     51200000      4  GPT part - "Data"         
      380677208    108287968      5  GPT part - "Macintosh HD 2"
      488965176      1269536      6  GPT part - "Recovery HD"
    ...

This partition layout may occur if you have an additional Data partition between your 2 CoreStorage volumes.

enter diskutil list
enter diskutil unmountDisk /dev/DiskIdentifierLV (probably disk1) to unmount "Macintosh HD"
enter diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk0
enter sudo gpt add -b StartBlock -s NumberOfBlocks DiskIdentifier to create new partition filling the empty space.
in the case above sudo gpt add -b 246442400 -s 83034808 disk0
enter diskutil list to get the DiskIdentifier of the newly created partition (probably disk0s6 - check the size!)
enter diskutil cs list to get the LVG2UUID
enter diskutil cs addDisk LVG2UUID DiskIdentifier to add a physical disk to LVG2
in your case diskutil cs addDisk 4793C4C8-0F56-4673-A2B6-98B15403CD33 disk0s6
enter diskutil cs createVolume LVG2UUID jhfs+ Name 100% to create a new Logical Volume in LVG2
in your case diskutil cs createVolume 4793C4C8-0F56-4673-A2B6-98B15403CD33 jhfs+ "Macintosh HD 2" 100%
enter exit, quit Terminal and reboot to "Macintosh HD"
Open "Disk Utility", check the newly created CoreStorage volume "Macintosh HD 2" and quit the app
open the Info window of the volume in Finder and uncheck the box labeled 'Ignore ownership on this volume'.
enable FileVault for the volume/encrypt it
restore "Macintosh HD 2" from your Time Machine backup

*You don't have to enter 'sudo gpt...' if you are logged in as root (e.g. Internet Recovery Mode)

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MacOS – Resizing or expanding a CoreStorage volume

MacOS – How to add free space to a Logical Volume Group? (Resizing Partitions)

Related Question