cmanley23

Q: Cannot install Windows 10 via BootCamp on iMac 5K with Fusion Drive

Hello,

I have been trying to install Windows 10 Professional via Boot Camp on my iMac 5K Late 2015 (OS X version 10.11) with a 2TB Fusion Drive for about a week now. Right now I'm on my 4th or 5th try on installing Windows 10 on the iMac since every install fails giving me an error that the drive is not formatted properly or it couldn't find the partition even though I've selected it in the list of available drives. I have even gone so far as to run the DISK PART commands from the command prompt in the troubleshooting area of the Windows 10 installer to format the drive as NTFS instead of FAT32.

 

Here are some of the errors I have received:

 

1. Windows cannot be installed to this hard disk space. This hard disk space is formatted with an unsupported version of the NTFS file system.

2. We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one. For more information, see the setup log files.

 

I have used the Boot Camp setup app (version 6.0.1) to create a USB flash drive after downloading the ISO image from Microsoft. The USB flash drive that the installer creates will boot the iMac but I just can't get past the "Where do you want to install Windows?" screen. I have tried partitioning the Fusion drive multiple ways without any success beforehand since I thought it could be causing a problem. It has been left as the full drive 2TB, or splitting the flash portion away and having the almost 2TB rotational and the 128GB Fusion (flash) portion and no luck either.

 

I'm completely out of ideas here on what to try... I've loaded Windows 7 Professional via Boot Camp many times and have never run into a problem with Boot Camp until now with Windows 10.

Posted on Oct 2, 2016 6:27 PM

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Q: Cannot install Windows 10 via BootCamp on iMac 5K with Fusion Drive

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  • Helpful answers

  • by woodmeister50,

    woodmeister50 woodmeister50 Oct 3, 2016 3:07 AM in response to cmanley23
    Level 5 (5,626 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 3:07 AM in response to cmanley23

    The workaround I had found that worked for me was to install

    Win7 Pro 64 bit.  Then created just the Bootcamp driver USB stick

    (no OS installer).  I then proceeded to do the Win10 upgrade from

    within the Win7 environment.  FWIW, I also selected to not save

    anything (clean install). 

     

    You will need to babysit the install to make sure you press the Option

    key with the multiple reboots (why does Windows always insist on doing that)

    and select the Windows volume to boot from.  Once all the nonsense reboots

    were done and finally Windows was running, I plugged in the Bootcamp

    driver USB stick, installed the hardware drivers and all was good to go.

     

    Now, this was on an older MacBook Pro that Bootcamp does not officially

    support for WIn10 though the hardware is quite capable.

  • by woodmeister50,Helpful

    woodmeister50 woodmeister50 Oct 4, 2016 11:07 AM in response to cmanley23
    Level 5 (5,626 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 4, 2016 11:07 AM in response to cmanley23

    The workaround I had found that worked for me was to install

    Win7 Pro 64 bit.  Then created just the Bootcamp driver USB stick

    (no OS installer).  I then proceeded to do the Win10 upgrade from

    within the Win7 environment.  FWIW, I also selected to not save

    anything (clean install). 

     

    You will need to babysit the install to make sure you press the Option

    key with the multiple reboots (why does Windows always insist on doing that)

    and select the Windows volume to boot from.  Once all the nonsense reboots

    were done and finally Windows was running, I plugged in the Bootcamp

    driver USB stick, installed the hardware drivers and all was good to go.

     

    Now, this was on an older MacBook Pro that Bootcamp does not officially

    support for WIn10 though the hardware is quite capable.

  • by cmanley23,

    cmanley23 cmanley23 Oct 4, 2016 11:10 AM in response to woodmeister50
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 4, 2016 11:10 AM in response to woodmeister50

    Woodmeister50,

    Hmm... I'll have to see if I have the option on the iMac to load Windows 7 64bit and then upgrade it to Windows 10. I wanted to say that it only shows Windows 8 or later. Seems like a long workaround and then having to tie up another key, but I'll give it a shot and see. Thanks for the suggestion there. I've done tons of Windows 7 and 8 Boot Camp installs without a hitch, but just this first Windows 10 one is not working.

  • by woodmeister50,

    woodmeister50 woodmeister50 Oct 5, 2016 3:53 AM in response to cmanley23
    Level 5 (5,626 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 5, 2016 3:53 AM in response to cmanley23

    You may not necessarily need to activate Win7.  You might be

    able to install and then upgrade overtop with a valid win10 key.

    At least this path worked for me during the free upgrade period

    when creating a Win10 virtual machine.

     

    Without activating, it shouldn't tie up the Win7 key.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Oct 5, 2016 8:40 AM in response to cmanley23
    Level 7 (24,596 points)
    Safari
    Oct 5, 2016 8:40 AM in response to cmanley23

    cmanley23 wrote:

     

     

    1. Windows cannot be installed to this hard disk space. This hard disk space is formatted with an unsupported version of the NTFS file system.

    The procedure on the Late 2015 models has this as formatting instructions in https://help.apple.com/bootcamp/assistant/6.0/#/bcmp173b3bf2 as

     

    S0007_W10Install.png

     

    S0006_W10Format.png

     

     

    2. We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one. For more information, see the setup log files.

     

    Please see If you see a partition alert while using Boot Camp to install Windows - Apple Support .

     

     

    I have used the Boot Camp setup app (version 6.0.1) to create a USB flash drive after downloading the ISO image from Microsoft. The USB flash drive that the installer creates will boot the iMac but I just can't get past the "Where do you want to install Windows?" screen. I have tried partitioning the Fusion drive multiple ways without any success beforehand since I thought it could be causing a problem. It has been left as the full drive 2TB, or splitting the flash portion away and having the almost 2TB rotational and the 128GB Fusion (flash) portion and no luck either.

    Your iMac uses an internal partition called OSXRESERVED, not an external USB Installer. Run the following two procedures after you disconnect all external storage and USB/TB hubs.

     

    Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

    How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

     

    Now run BCA and try to install Windows, strictly by the book.