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

Question

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?

Solution

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

Comments

[aaaidan]

Doesn't restoring an image set the case-sensitivity and journalling?

[FooBee]

At least CCC should be able to use the given (case-sensitive) filesystem, as it basically uses rsync as long as you don't tell it to do a block-level restore. I haven't tested this though, so beware.

[Ville Laurikari]

I bought iPartition for this exact purpose, and converted a terabyte filesystem to case sensitive in a couple of minutes. Well worth it.