Install utility silently fails to create partitions on macbook pro 11,1

[kumikumi]

The installer doesn't do anything after asking how many gigabytes I would like to allocate to Elementary OS. I have a Macbook pro 11,1 running OS X Yosemite.

Here's what I did:

1. Download elementary os Freya beta ISO
2. Download this install utility (version 6.0.2)
3. Extract and run install utility
4. the installer window comes up, select "Full install"
5. Installer asks how many GB to allocate, type in: 100
6. click 'Enter'

Expected behavior: Installation process continues in some way and the installer indicates what's going to happen next, OR an informative message comes up telling me why it failed and what to do next.

Actual behavior: Nothing happened. The window asking for input just closed and I'm left with the main installer menu window. I also checked with Disk Utility and it didn't appear to create any partitions either.

I'll be happy to help and provide more information as needed.

[sdaitzman]

Is your disk encrypted? This is now the default with Yosemite. Check in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > FileVault

[kumikumi]

FileVault is turned off.

[sdaitzman]

Could you open up Terminal, type $ diskutil list and paste or gist the results? Let me know if you need any help with this.

Just so you know, this will include the names and sizes of all attached disks but not any information on them

[kumikumi]

diskutil list
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *251.0 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         250.1 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                  Apple_HFS Dell OS                *249.8 GB   disk1
                                 Logical Volume on disk0s2
                                 E5502048-6BC3-46A6-9FA8-879DAF181198
                                 Unencrypted

Dell OS is just a name I have given to the partition.

[sdaitzman]

It appears that your partitions are formatted correctly, but your disk is partitioned as a logical volume group with GPT. Unfortunately I have not yet been able to test this configuration. Usually a silent installation fail indicates that filesystem verification failed. Could you open Disk Utility and verify both the Logical Volume Group and your disk? Both are likely called "Dell OS" and will have hard disk icons. Thanks for the information so far!

[kumikumi]

I re-partitioned this computer some time ago when I did a clean install of Yosemite. It appears you're right, both are called Dell OS.

Name :  Dell OS
    Type :  Logical Volume Group

    Disk Status :   Online
    Total Capacity :    250,14 GB (250 140 434 432 Bytes)
    Free Space :    18,9 MB (18 882 560 Bytes)
    Physical Backing :  disk0s2

Name :  Dell OS
    Type :  Logical Partition

    Disk Identifier :   disk1
    Mount Point :   /
    Disk Status :   Online
    File System :   Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

Would you kindly tell me what kind of configuration is better supported than my current one? I might reinstall/re-partition this machine to meet your requirements.

(In case you're wondering, that Dell OS thing is a joke; my laptop is called Dell and has a Dell logo sticker on top of the Apple logo)

[sdaitzman]

Update for the sake of openness: we've been discussing this issue over email. It appears that the drive cannot be partitioned into more than 2 partitions: the boot partition and one additional. This does not include the ESP or Recovery HD. This would normally indicate an MBR partition scheme; the drive is definitely formatted with GPT as a logical volume group. The command $ diskutil resizeVolume / 226518113304B 2 MS-DOS ELEMENTARY 21474836480B MS-DOS EOSINSTALL 2G returns: Error starting volume resize: Couldn't modify partition map (-69874)

This happens whether run with or without su permissions.

[kumikumi]

Just so you know, I tried "Verify disk" and "Repair disk" from the Disk utility menu, and it caused no difference. Partition map appeared to be ok during verification.

I noticed that my Disk Utility had this following text (before trying to create any extra partitions): "You may only split this partition into two. To do this, click +". This can also be seen on the screenshot that I posted earlier.

I did a quick search and here's some things I found on the internet:

This following post describes exactly my symptoms: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/151562/yosemite-disk-utility-you-may-only-split-this-volume-in-two

Here's something about creating a third partition first and then splitting it into two: http://blog.twocanoes.com/post/42453643591/bootcamp-on-a-3-tb-fusion-drive (Please note, though, that I don't think I have a "fusion drive". Instead, I have a 256 GB SSD, or "256GB PCIe-based flash storage", as Apple describes it.)

And this third one may have something in common with my problem, I just can't remember having had any encrypted partitions on my drive. But I might be wrong. My drive doesn't have an "Erase" tab either. http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/83596/how-can-i-reformat-a-drive-that-contains-an-encrypted-volume

I didn't actually try following any of the above instructions myself, I'll look forward to your recommendations.

[sdaitzman]

The first link sounds similar to your issue... the second and third seem like separate things. The solution I know for sure would work is reformatting your drive from another computer, but that would take about an hour and you'd need to back your data up first.

Could you install GPTfdisk? Download and run the PKG here

Then run $ sudo gdisk /dev/disk0. This will enter gdisk; type p and press enter, then copy all of the output and paste it here. This will read directly from the GPT (partition table), so if the issue is the same as the first stackexchange post it will show up.

Thanks!

P.S. GPTFdisk is a very powerful tool, so don't run any other commands without reading the help. It won't apply any changes until you actively tell it to and confirm it, but still be careful.

[kumikumi]

Here goes:

sudo gdisk /dev/disk0
Password:
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.10

Warning: Devices opened with shared lock will not have their
partition table automatically reloaded!
Partition table scan:
  MBR: protective
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: present

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.

Command (? for help): p
Disk /dev/disk0: 490234752 sectors, 233.8 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 5B3A4210-BAA4-4B76-A57A-CDCF466A7E6C
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 490234718
Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries
Total free space is 13 sectors (6.5 KiB)

Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1              40          409639   200.0 MiB   EF00  EFI System Partition
   2          409640       488965175   233.0 GiB   AF05  Dell OS
   3       488965176       490234711   619.9 MiB   AB00  Recovery HD

[sdaitzman]

A note about progress so far:

Apparently some users have experienced a related issue with Yosemite in which CoreStorage is enabled but says it is not. The following command may have fixed it (output included):

hostname:~ user$ diskutil cs revert disk1
Started CoreStorage operation on disk1 nameOfDisk
Switching partition from Core Storage type to original type
Reclaiming space formerly used by Core Storage metadata
Even though the disk is now fully reverted, you should reboot soon to
re-mount your reverted disk from the actual original partition
Removing Physical Volume
Destroying Logical Volume Group
Remounting former Physical Volume as normal disk
Core Storage LV UUID: UUID-GOES-HERE
Core Storage disk: disk0s2
Finished CoreStorage operation on disk1 nameOfDisk

[sidaphextwin]

Hi, I have a Macbook Pro 8,1 with Yosemite with same issue. When I launch the full installation of Elementary Os Freya nothing happens.

This is my two partitions on a Logical Partition Group:

/dev/disk0 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme *320.1 GB disk0 1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1 2: Apple_HFS Sin título 1 160.0 GB disk0s2 3: Apple_CoreStorage 159.0 GB disk0s3 4: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s4 /dev/disk1 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: Apple_HFS Sin título 2 *158.7 GB disk1 Logical Volume on disk0s3 80856894-1A36-45FD-95AA-D2C84E0DA1F5 Unencrypted

I have a external HDD with 1Tb space. Can install Elementary Os in this HDD?

Can you help me? I don´t know hoy resolve this problem...