Tayroar24

Q: Can't install Windows 10 on iMac

Hey there,

 

I have an iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) running El Capitan 10.11.4 and have recently been trying to install Windows 10. I previously had windows 8 running but it crashed and I thought I'd just upgrade to 10 for ease sake.

 

So far I've done all the steps necessary. I run boot camp and partition the drive and have tried installing off both the USB that came with Windows 10 and the creating an installation media downloaded from Windows website on a USB 2.0. When I get to the screen to select which partition to install on it comes up with an error message saying that it cannot be installed as the disk is of a GPT format (pics below) even after I hit format. I have also tried partitioning using Disk Utility with no success.

 

windowsinstall.jpg

 

Anyone know how to fix this?

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Apr 26, 2016 5:19 AM

Close

Q: Can't install Windows 10 on iMac

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

Page 1 Next
  • by Tayroar24,Solvedanswer

    Tayroar24 Tayroar24 Apr 26, 2016 6:27 AM in response to Tayroar24
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Windows Software
    Apr 26, 2016 6:27 AM in response to Tayroar24

    I've seen on previous threads to do some terminal commands for the following and hope these help:

     

    iMac:~ taylortopperwien$ diskutil list

    /dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *121.3 GB   disk0

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1

       2:          Apple_CoreStorage Macintosh HD            121.0 GB   disk0s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Boot OS X               134.2 MB   disk0s3

    /dev/disk1 (internal, physical):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *3.0 TB     disk1

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1

       2:          Apple_CoreStorage Macintosh HD            1.6 TB     disk1s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk1s3

       4:       Microsoft Basic Data                         1.4 TB     disk1s4

    /dev/disk2 (internal, virtual):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD           +1.7 TB     disk2

                                     Logical Volume on disk0s2, disk1s2

                                     7DAAF1D7-259D-4395-86AD-9289B04CB5E2

                                     Unencrypted Fusion Drive

    /dev/disk3 (external, physical):

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *31.3 GB    disk3

       1:                 DOS_FAT_32 WININSTALL              31.3 GB    disk3s1


    iMac:~ taylortopperwien$ diskutil cs list

    CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)

    |

    +-- Logical Volume Group B769CD29-DBC6-4C27-9BEC-7501854A3991

        =========================================================

        Name:         Macintosh HD

        Status:       Online

        Size:         1721355112448 B (1.7 TB)

        Free Space:   21262336 B (21.3 MB)

        |

        +-< Physical Volume 8B5D2E73-DA3B-463C-A431-AC360D5FE013

        |   ----------------------------------------------------

        |   Index:    0

        |   Disk:     disk0s2

        |   Status:   Online

        |   Size:     120988852224 B (121.0 GB)

        |

        +-< Physical Volume 6FE03507-B919-4781-84EC-6D2FAF376A84

        |   ----------------------------------------------------

        |   Index:    1

        |   Disk:     disk1s2

        |   Status:   Online

        |   Size:     1600366260224 B (1.6 TB)

        |

        +-> Logical Volume Family 2997D8F2-3CF6-4E1C-A46D-AEC8D69E8691

            ----------------------------------------------------------

            Encryption Type:         None

            |

            +-> Logical Volume 7DAAF1D7-259D-4395-86AD-9289B04CB5E2

                ---------------------------------------------------

                Disk:                  disk2

                Status:                Online

                Size (Total):          1706803462144 B (1.7 TB)

                Revertible:            No

                LV Name:               Macintosh HD

                Volume Name:           Macintosh HD

                Content Hint:          Apple_HFS

                LVG Type:              Fusion, Sparse


    gpt show: /dev/disk1: mediasize=3000592982016; sectorsize=512; blocks=5860533168

    gpt show: /dev/disk1: PMBR at sector 0

    gpt show: /dev/disk1: Pri GPT at sector 1

    gpt show: /dev/disk1: Sec GPT at sector 5860533167

           start        size  index  contents

               0           1         PMBR

               1           1         Pri GPT header

               2          32         Pri GPT table

              34           6        

              40      409600      1  GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B

          409640  3125715352      2  GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

      3126124992     1269536      3  GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

      3127394528  2732876456      4  GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7

      5860270984      262151        

      5860533135          32         Sec GPT table

      5860533167           1         Sec GPT header


    Disk: /dev/disk1 geometry: 97451/255/63 [1565565872 sectors]

    Signature: 0xAA55

             Starting       Ending

    #: id  cyl  hd sec -  cyl  hd sec [     start -       size]

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    1: EE 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [         1 - 4294967294] <Unknown ID>

    2: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     

    3: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     

    4: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused 

  • by Tayroar24,

    Tayroar24 Tayroar24 Apr 26, 2016 8:25 PM in response to Tayroar24
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Windows Software
    Apr 26, 2016 8:25 PM in response to Tayroar24

    Pls help, I accidentally hit solved and can't undo it, problem is still pending a solution

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Apr 26, 2016 8:31 PM in response to Tayroar24
    Level 7 (24,202 points)
    Safari
    Apr 26, 2016 8:31 PM in response to Tayroar24

    If the USB was created by Windows Media Creation Tool, it will cause problems. The name of the USB indicates that it was created by BC Assistant? Please clarify.

     

    Your disk1 has no MBR and your installer is trying to install a legacy BIOS/MBR installation, which will fail with the error message you see.

     

    GPT Fdisk - https://sourceforge.net/projects/gptfdisk/ - can be used to create a suitable MBR on disk1.

  • by Tayroar24,

    Tayroar24 Tayroar24 Apr 26, 2016 8:37 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Windows Software
    Apr 26, 2016 8:37 PM in response to Loner T

    I used bc to create the usb media. How would I use gpt fdisk to create an mbr on disk 1? Is there specific set values I need to enter or can I use a general approach that I've seen you outline to others previously?

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Apr 26, 2016 8:43 PM in response to Tayroar24
    Level 7 (24,202 points)
    Safari
    Apr 26, 2016 8:43 PM in response to Tayroar24

    Use the general steps, after you disable SIP. Before you start the installation process, disconnect all external storage and run SMC and NVRAM reset. If you need detailed steps, please post back.

  • by Tayroar24,

    Tayroar24 Tayroar24 Apr 26, 2016 8:49 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Windows Software
    Apr 26, 2016 8:49 PM in response to Loner T

    Yeah sorry not too sure how to do any of what you said, detailed steps would be incredible thank you!

  • by Loner T,Helpful

    Loner T Loner T Apr 27, 2016 1:31 AM in response to Tayroar24
    Level 7 (24,202 points)
    Safari
    Apr 27, 2016 1:31 AM in response to Tayroar24

    A. We need to disable SIP.

     

    1. Boot into Local Recovery (Command+R).

    2. Start Utilities -> Terminal.

    3. Type csrutil disable in Terminal and press Enter/Return.

    4. Type csrutil status.

    5. Boot normally, and type csrutil status to confirm that all individual entries are still disabled.



    B. Rebuild MBR to match the new GPT information thus resetting the Hybrid MBR. Use defaults for other questions (like partition codes). The only values that need modifications are the Boot flags and step 10. Accept all other defaults that Gdisk offers. Please see the sample Q&A as an example. These steps can be repeated if you make a mistake before you get to Step 12, otherwise start from Step 1 for these steps. Step 6 has numbers which are typed with a space between the numbers. Please see the sample Q&A before you execute these steps.

    1. Sudo gdisk /dev/disk1
    2. P  (Print list of parts)
    3. R  (Recover)
    4. O (print current Hybrid MBR)
    5. H (chooses Hybrid)
    6. Partitions numbers to be hybridized: 2 3 4
    7. Y  (Good for GRUB question)
    8. N  (part 2 boot flag)
    9. N  (part 3 boot flag)
    10. Y  (part 4 boot flag make NTFS bootable partition)
    11. O  (print current Hybrid MBR)
    12. W (Write the new MBR)
    13. Y (Yes! write the new MBR)
    14. Reboot

     

    Here is sample Q&A for this section. Please notice the Press Enter/Return.

     

    Place EFI GPT (0xEE) partition first in MBR (good for GRUB)? (Y/N): Y

     

    Creating entry for GPT partition #2 (MBR partition #2)

    Enter an MBR hex code (default AF): Press Enter/Return

    Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): N

     

    Creating entry for GPT partition #3 (MBR partition #3)

    Enter an MBR hex code (default AB): Press Enter/Return

    Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): N

     

    Creating entry for GPT partition #4 (MBR partition #4)

    Enter an MBR hex code (default 07): Press Enter/Return

    Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): Y

  • by Tayroar24,

    Tayroar24 Tayroar24 Apr 26, 2016 9:29 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Windows Software
    Apr 26, 2016 9:29 PM in response to Loner T

    Should I back up my current drive before I do this or am I good to proceed as is?

  • by pankaj278,

    pankaj278 pankaj278 Apr 26, 2016 11:47 PM in response to Tayroar24
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 26, 2016 11:47 PM in response to Tayroar24

    I have tried and tested 25dollarsupport.com its a Computer Tech support company which has proved me the best till date to fix my computer problems and the best things its a fix price

  • by Tayroar24,

    Tayroar24 Tayroar24 Apr 27, 2016 1:32 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Windows Software
    Apr 27, 2016 1:32 AM in response to Loner T

    You absolute legend, installing windows now. Thanks again!

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Apr 27, 2016 6:16 AM in response to Tayroar24
    Level 7 (24,202 points)
    Safari
    Apr 27, 2016 6:16 AM in response to Tayroar24

    If everything is working as you want, please back up OS X, Windows and create a Windows System Restore point. To answer your backup question, Gdisk has a 'b' (Backup) command, which can be used to save the backup of the GPT. These do not modify any data content, so a GPT backup is sufficient.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Apr 27, 2016 6:17 AM in response to pankaj278
    Level 7 (24,202 points)
    Safari
    Apr 27, 2016 6:17 AM in response to pankaj278

    pankaj278 wrote:

     

    I have tried and tested 25dollarsupport.com its a Computer Tech support company which has proved me the best till date to fix my computer problems and the best things its a fix price

    No advertising, please.

  • by marks33,

    marks33 marks33 Jul 7, 2016 10:40 PM in response to Tayroar24
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jul 7, 2016 10:40 PM in response to Tayroar24

    If Boot Camp will not install Windows 10 then install any earlier version of Windows Boot Camp will accept (I had Windows 7 installed) then while running Windows download the “Windows10Upgrade9194.exe” installer from Microsoft with your Internet Explorer and run the installer on Windows. You should check the requirements for the version of windows you have running before attempting the upgrade. Ex: Windows 7 must have Service Pack 1 to upgrade. I just installed Windows 10 today this way without any problem.

  • by heboma,

    heboma heboma Jul 15, 2016 1:46 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Jul 15, 2016 1:46 PM in response to Loner T

    I will proceed to follow these steps to install my recent partition using Disk Utility.

    Do I need to do the opposite in order to have my Mac system working as usual or changing between MBR and GPT will not affect how my Mac bahaves?

    Cheers!

Page 1 Next