Can't see "Mackintosh hd - data" partition in finder
Discussion
I have a 2019 27" Imac with a 1 tb fusion drive and an external 1tb SSD drive.
Although I can see the data drive partition in disk utility, I cant see it in my Finder sidebar.
How do I enable its viewing in the sidebar? I have hard drives ticked in finder preferences so unsure what else to do.
Although I can see the data drive partition in disk utility, I cant see it in my Finder sidebar.
How do I enable its viewing in the sidebar? I have hard drives ticked in finder preferences so unsure what else to do.
Edited by andygo on Sunday 22 March 14:32
Have you tried mounting the drive on another Mac, if it's the external drive just plug it in using the USB port, if it's the internal drive you can still connect it to another Mac using a cable though I haven't tried that for a very long time?
Edited to add, have you run the Disk Utility app to see if it can fix any problems or permissions?
Edited to add, have you run the Disk Utility app to see if it can fix any problems or permissions?
Edited by rich888 on Sunday 22 March 22:27
Tell me if I'm teaching my grandma to suck eggs here but here we go...
As you're running OS 10.15 what's happening is the OS is using APFS containers to organise the internal HD: "macintosh HD - Data" is as it sounds, the data. "macintosh HD" is the boot/system volume.
The idea here is that the OS runs in it's own protected, read-only volume; "macintosh HD", whilst your files are kept completely separate in another; "macintosh HD - Data". Apple being Apple, they've tried to keep all this hidden from the end user by using firmlinks to merge the two containers together, ending up in what you see in the Finder as "macintosh HD" ... but if you go digging in the Disk Utility you can still see the individual containers.
So in short you are seeing the Data volume, but the system doesn't see it as another HD, it sees it as part of "macintosh HD", hence it being shown as that in the Finder sidebar.
Long winded description of how it all works here > https://eclecticlight.co/2019/10/08/macos-catalina...
As you're running OS 10.15 what's happening is the OS is using APFS containers to organise the internal HD: "macintosh HD - Data" is as it sounds, the data. "macintosh HD" is the boot/system volume.
The idea here is that the OS runs in it's own protected, read-only volume; "macintosh HD", whilst your files are kept completely separate in another; "macintosh HD - Data". Apple being Apple, they've tried to keep all this hidden from the end user by using firmlinks to merge the two containers together, ending up in what you see in the Finder as "macintosh HD" ... but if you go digging in the Disk Utility you can still see the individual containers.
So in short you are seeing the Data volume, but the system doesn't see it as another HD, it sees it as part of "macintosh HD", hence it being shown as that in the Finder sidebar.
Long winded description of how it all works here > https://eclecticlight.co/2019/10/08/macos-catalina...
HalfDay said:
Tell me if I'm teaching my grandma to suck eggs here but here we go...
As you're running OS 10.15 what's happening is the OS is using APFS containers to organise the internal HD: "macintosh HD - Data" is as it sounds, the data. "macintosh HD" is the boot/system volume.
The idea here is that the OS runs in it's own protected, read-only volume; "macintosh HD", whilst your files are kept completely separate in another; "macintosh HD - Data". Apple being Apple, they've tried to keep all this hidden from the end user by using firmlinks to merge the two containers together, ending up in what you see in the Finder as "macintosh HD" ... but if you go digging in the Disk Utility you can still see the individual containers.
So in short you are seeing the Data volume, but the system doesn't see it as another HD, it sees it as part of "macintosh HD", hence it being shown as that in the Finder sidebar.
Long winded description of how it all works here > https://eclecticlight.co/2019/10/08/macos-catalina...
Yes, thats what i thought happens, but I'm sure that I used to be able to see the data partition when the computer was new - August 2019. If, for example I want to move a folder from my desktop, I cant drag or copy it to the Mackintosh HD, it has to go in either Applications, Users ir Library, none of which are particularly appropriate.As you're running OS 10.15 what's happening is the OS is using APFS containers to organise the internal HD: "macintosh HD - Data" is as it sounds, the data. "macintosh HD" is the boot/system volume.
The idea here is that the OS runs in it's own protected, read-only volume; "macintosh HD", whilst your files are kept completely separate in another; "macintosh HD - Data". Apple being Apple, they've tried to keep all this hidden from the end user by using firmlinks to merge the two containers together, ending up in what you see in the Finder as "macintosh HD" ... but if you go digging in the Disk Utility you can still see the individual containers.
So in short you are seeing the Data volume, but the system doesn't see it as another HD, it sees it as part of "macintosh HD", hence it being shown as that in the Finder sidebar.
Long winded description of how it all works here > https://eclecticlight.co/2019/10/08/macos-catalina...
andygo said:
Yes, thats what i thought happens, but I'm sure that I used to be able to see the data partition when the computer was new - August 2019. If, for example I want to move a folder from my desktop, I cant drag or copy it to the Mackintosh HD, it has to go in either Applications, Users ir Library, none of which are particularly appropriate.
Apple doesn't want you to be adding anything to the root folder of Macintosh HD - you should only see/have 
...and you can see the read only (or no write) symbol in the top left of the window.
The 2 drives are part of 1 'container' which will only show up as a single drive in the Finder.
You may have seen the 2nd drive for a short time whilst the conversion process was being completed (when the machine was new, or when you upgraded to Catalina). Mine took 2 restarts before it disappeared.
andygo said:
What you describe is exactly as my computer is.
How do I actually, for example, move folders from my desktop to the data part of my hard drive when I can’t even see it?
Probably being thick, please be gentle with me!
The data part is all within your user library - and you create folders within that.How do I actually, for example, move folders from my desktop to the data part of my hard drive when I can’t even see it?
Probably being thick, please be gentle with me!
So under the 'Go' menu bar, there's a list of all your user folders, such as documents, desktop, downloads, etc.
If you haven't change the default keyboard commands, then Apple/Command-N will open a new window showing either Recent Items or your Documents folder (and it can be changed to a different location if you wish).
Although I tend to keep my work/personal folders on external disks and just use the internal disk for applications & system stuff.
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff