SarahD22

Q: boot menu not showing

Hi.

 

I have a "souped up" Mac Pro 2010 with two SSDs, one for Mac OS X and one for Windows 10.Everything has been running really well in the three weeks that I have had it, but when my Apple display died, I purchased the iiyama ProLite B2783QSU-B1 and have it connected via HDMI.

 

Until last night, it spent it's first few hours out of the box happily displaying the boot menu so I could choose between Mac OS X and Windows 10. The boot menu was really low res, not that it bothered me, but since last night, the iiyama ProLite won't show the boot menu, so I press the right cursor key once for Mac OS X, and just enter for Windows 10.

 

I'm mainly ok with that, but am curious.

 

Is there a way of forcing the boot menu to be a higher resolution?  Has anybody else come across this?

 

Thanks,

Sarah

Mac Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), Mac Pro 2010

Posted on Jul 4, 2016 6:00 AM

Close

Q: boot menu not showing

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Japib,Solvedanswer

    Japib Japib Jul 4, 2016 8:10 AM in response to SarahD22
    Level 4 (2,798 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 4, 2016 8:10 AM in response to SarahD22

    Hi,

    You can't change any of the boot menu settings, and this issue likely coming from the display, as the Mac Pro automatically detects, like all HDMI devices, the resolution of the screen.

    If you do not find any solution to your problem, I suggest you try another HDMI monitor, and if it works normally, try contacting iiyama about fixing their display.

     

    I can however suggest that instead of bringing up the boot menu each time, you change the start-up disk in each OS :

    • When in MacOS and wanting to go to Windows, go to System preferences : Startup drive, select the Windows 10 drive and select "restart".
    • In Windows, (install the Bootcamp assistant if you have not done so) and right-click the bootcamp icon at the right of the task bar, and select "Restart on OS X"

    I know this doesn't solve the issue, but it is a workaround.

    James

  • by SarahD22,

    SarahD22 SarahD22 Jul 4, 2016 8:24 AM in response to Japib
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 4, 2016 8:24 AM in response to Japib

    James. Thanks!  You're latter suggestion sounds ideal and something that I didn't know about. I can't face returning the monitor as I have just sent an Apple one back to a shop, took my 2nd black Mac Pro in twelve months back to store. That is why I went back to the 2010 model.

     

    Due to having cerebral palsy, I have to find somebody to swap my VESA plate, change weight settings on my movable mount, etc, so am now just totally stressed out by it all. I guess I was just hoping that I could find the equivalent of Grub for a Mac.

     

    I'll try your solution, that is great.

     

    Best wishes

    Sarah

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 4, 2016 9:20 AM in response to SarahD22
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 4, 2016 9:20 AM in response to SarahD22

    the equivalent of Grub for a Mac

    a lot of that function is in the Startup Manager.

     

    Hold down the Option key at Startup, and the Mac will draw a gray screen. Then over the next several minutes, an Icon for each potentially-bootable Volume will be added until the scan is complete, at which point the watch-cursor will be replaced by the standard mouse-pointer. Then elect the Volume you wish to boot from click simple arrow Icons to proceed.

     

    One big advantage of the Startup Manager is that the code is all-in-ROM, and almost nothing on any drive is loaded to 'make it go'.

     

    One possible disadvantage is that it may not always see convoluted setups of "guest" Operating Systems.

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Jul 4, 2016 9:25 AM in response to SarahD22
    Level 10 (188,724 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 4, 2016 9:25 AM in response to SarahD22

    If yo want to install a boot manager see:

    http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/

  • by SarahD22,

    SarahD22 SarahD22 Jul 16, 2016 6:27 AM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 16, 2016 6:27 AM in response to lllaass

    Thanks, but is that for Apple computers, or PCs?

    It seemed a bit scary!

     

    Sarah

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Jul 16, 2016 8:23 AM in response to SarahD22
    Level 10 (188,724 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 16, 2016 8:23 AM in response to SarahD22

    Yes, that boot manager is for a Mac

  • by SarahD22,

    SarahD22 SarahD22 Jul 16, 2016 8:47 AM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 16, 2016 8:47 AM in response to lllaass

    Thanks. I guess I asked a question with a slightly obvious answer there...

     

    I'm having a bit of a day. I'm giving my PowerBook G4 a new home, but can't find my Leopard media, and despite using the minus key + Snow in web searches, most results are for Snow Leopard. The one link I did find took an age, then failed.

     

    Anyway, back to business... I installed the boot manager that you suggested, but couldn't see anything about what key to hold down on boot. Do you know?

     

    Thanks again.

    Sarah

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 16, 2016 9:39 AM in response to SarahD22
    Level 9 (60,904 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 16, 2016 9:39 AM in response to SarahD22

    MacOS before 10.7 Mountain Lion are ONLY available on DVD. There are no legitimate downloads, and those that you find are likely to have malware on board.

  • by Christian Stueben,

    Christian Stueben Christian Stueben Jul 18, 2016 7:46 AM in response to SarahD22
    Level 1 (120 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 18, 2016 7:46 AM in response to SarahD22

    I have a mac pro 2010, gtx 980ti, and a iiyama 4k monitor too. Works prefect, but this combination has problems with long display port cable (3 meter or longer), there have been sometimes blackouts. I didnt test hdmi cable if there are problems too.

     

    Now with a shorter 2 meter cable it works perfect.

     

    greetings from germany

    Chris