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user11722
Asked: 2010-08-02 07:00:12 +0800 CST

how to convert a case-insensitive FS to case-sensitive on MacOS X 10.6.1

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I have a Snow Leopard with a case-insensitive file system. I wonder is there a way to convert the FS to case-sensitive without having to format and then reinstall the whole OS. In Linux there are utils like parted that enable to change the partition FS (at least ext2 to ext3 for one), is there something similar for Mac OS X. I mean that case-sensitivity seems to be a small option to change, does it absolutely require a format+reinstall of hd?

mac-osx mac hfs+

3 Answers

  1. I haven't used it, but iPartition claims to be able to convert in-place between case-sentitive and case-insensitive HFS+ formats.

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  2. This can't be done unless you reinitialize the volume in question.

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  3. What might work is if you create an image of your installed system (with Disk Utility or Carbon Copy Cloner) and then restore this to a case-sensitive file system.

    Be careful, though, as switching to a case-sensitive FS might have some strange issues with programs not really tested for this.

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