Can't access Boot Camp partition on Macbook Pro after removing Ubuntu

N

Nes


Joined
Jan 30, 2015
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hello, everyone. :)

Up until several weeks ago on my Macbook Pro (mid 2012) I could switch with no problems between OS X, Ubuntu and Windows 7 (installed through Boot Camp) using rEFInd. Then I decided to remove the Ubuntu partition and maybe go back to Fedora, and that's when the problems began.

I have to specify that I set up my triple boot system when I had OS X Mavericks. I'm writing this because I noticed that after the upgrade to Yosemite I had a new partition I did not create called "Recovery HD".

After I removed Ubuntu I couldn't boot into Windows anymore, as apparently its bootloader had been overwritten by grub. I googled for a while and somehow managed to remove grub. Obviously this left me with no way to access the Windows partition.

I think I may have made some mistake in removing Linux seeing as in rEFInd it still shows up as a possible boot, but there is no Linux partition on my disk; also, the EFI partition disappeared.

I tried to fix the Boot Camp partition by creating a Windows live usb to access the Recovery tools, but every time I make one I get a "No bootable device found" error. I tried several methods to create a bootable usb (dd via OS X terminal, rufus on another Windows installation on VM, Boot Camp Assistant and unetbootin on OS X), but none really worked.

I also tried basic stuff such as verifying and repairing my volumes on Disk Utility, but got this error:
"This disk doesn't contain an EFI partition. Back up your data and partition the disk"

So earlier I used a gParted live usb to create a 200 MB FAT32 partition (with "boot" and "esp" flags) in the space where the old EFI partition used to be. While I was there I tried to use ntfsfix but got no apparent results.

I went back to Yosemite and tried again to Verify the disk on Disk Utility and this time I got:
"Error: couldn't find the target disk for this operation"

In short, I don't know what to do anymore. It seems one thing led to another and now I can only work on Yosemite. I thought about wiping the entire disk clean but I have no backups and no time to make some; also, I haven't got any backups of the Boot Camp partition. I hope someone here can help.

Thank you. :D
 
chscag

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
In short, I don't know what to do anymore. It seems one thing led to another and now I can only work on Yosemite. I thought about wiping the entire disk clean but I have no backups and no time to make some; also, I haven't got any backups of the Boot Camp partition. I hope someone here can help.
Click to expand...

You've got quite a mess there... :( One thing that I don't understand is why you did not have a "recovery partition" when you were running Mavericks. Every version of OS X since Lion has installed a recovery partition.

You're going to need to wipe that drive and start over. There's no way to sort out the partitions any more. If possible, purchase a copy of WinClone and backup your Windows 7 partition, but that means you would have to be able to boot to OS X in order to make the backup. If you can't boot to OS X, there's probably no way to make backups of anything.

One of the problems you run into when using rEFInd or rEFIt is that it alters the EFI boot partition - which normally is OK if everything else is working. But that nasty fellow called GRUB has a bad habit of overwriting the EFI partition which also contains the boot loader for Windows 7 (if you installed using Boot Camp).

If you can boot to Yosemite, you can backup Windows 7. You can always reinstall Linux later on if you choose to do so. You can download WinClone from here.

Good luck with everything and let us know how it turns out.
 
OP
N

Nes


Joined
Jan 30, 2015
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
chscag said:
You're going to need to wipe that drive and start over. There's no way to sort out the partitions any more. If possible, purchase a copy of WinClone and backup your Windows 7 partition, but that means you would have to be able to boot to OS X in order to make the backup. If you can't boot to OS X, there's probably no way to make backups of anything
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for answering.

291pap2.jpg


I tried using WinClone, seeing as I can boot to OS X, but it doesn't detect my Boot Camp partition. Does that mean that I can't access it anymore? At this point I'm willing to erase that partition and just start over. I just wish there'd be a way not to touch the Yosemite partition, as that is working well, and just erase all the rest. Is there? :(

Thank you again.
 
S

Slydude

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
17,612
Reaction score
1,078
Points
113
Location
North Louisiana, USA
Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
you might wait for confirmation from others but I think that's exactly what it means. There might be an alternative to deleting the Windows partition but I don't see one.

Since you can boot into OS X you should be able to run the Boot Camp Assistant and this time choose to uninstall the Windows 7 partition. You can then add it back if need be. If you go this route use the Setup Assistant. Do not try to remove it manually. That usually leads to other headaches.

Using the Boot Camp Assistant should leave the Yosemite installation untouched but it wouldn't hurt to have a backup.
 
OP
N

Nes


Joined
Jan 30, 2015
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Slydude said:
Since you can boot into OS X you should be able to run the Boot Camp Assistant and this time choose to uninstall the Windows 7 partition. You can then add it back if need be. If you go this route use the Setup Assistant. Do not try to remove it manually. That usually leads to other headaches.

Using the Boot Camp Assistant should leave the Yosemite installation untouched but it wouldn't hurt to have a backup.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your answer!

I tried doing as you said but when I launch Boot Camp Assistant I get this error message:

2egfbzs.jpg


I can't say I was surprised to get more errors, but anyway I couldn't do as you said.
So I used Drive Genius to get some info on my Boot Camp volume and I got this:

Display Name: disk0s4
BSD Name: disk0s4
Drive Title: APPLE HDD HTS545050A7E362 Media
S.M.A.R.T.: Verified
Whole: No
Leaf: Yes
RAID Slice: No
Writable: Yes
Mounted: No
BSD Major: 1
BSD Minor: 3
Block Count: 91.631.616
Block Size: 512 bytes
Size: 46,92 GB (43,69 GiB, 46.915.387.392 bytes)
Formatted As: Windows NTFS
Volume Block Count: 91.631.615
Volume Block Size: 512 bytes
Volume Size: 46,92 GB (43,69 GiB, 46.915.387.392 bytes)
Unique ID: ACE2-2806-E227-D2FE
Journal: Unknown
Connected Via: SATA
Removable: No
Ejectable: No
Content Hint: ExFAT
Content: ExFAT

It appears that it is not mounted, and thinking about it I remember that I used to be able to access it from my Mac and, if not write, at least read contents using Finder. So I tried mounting it using Disk Utility and I got an error saying it couldn't be mounted, also suggesting to try First Aid on the volume. Only, First Aid is unavailable for it.

I guess at this point I should only ask: how can I go about erasing the whole disk, excluding the Yosemite and Recovery partitions? Is there some app for that, or do I use the Terminal (maybe the diskutil command)?

Thank you.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top