WINDOWS XP INSTALLATION STUCK AT BLACK SCREEN WITH CURSOR, POSSIBLE REASONS

Please report when you have caps lock off.

Then list what steps you took.

Hatter,
I never realized just how difficult it is to read an all-Caps post until now.
There is a logical reason for some rules after all 🙂

If you did not reformat the partition from inside the Windows installer, the windows partition will not boot.

(I must admit, I missed that step too, as I didn't RTFM, either. After 4 failed attempts, finally read the directions 🙂 )

This step is shown in the "print install instructions and continue" button on the bootcamp setup assistant, but is not shown in the 'onscreen' instructions.

Was this issue ever resolved. It is my same problem.

Do you have a Snow iMac, or do you have the newer Aluminum model?

If it's the Snow version, some variants of the 24" Snow iMac were having black-screen problems during installation of XP due to a bug in the video BIOS. This bug was fixed with the iMac MXM Update.

Some of the earlier Aluminum models also had graphics issues that caused lockups in OS X. Apple released a separate Graphics Firmware Update for affected units.

Recent 2008 models also have a graphics update. See this page for info.

Also, check your EFI and SMC firmware versions where applicable, as out-of-date firmware may cause unexpected results.

Nate

All right, I'll take your word for it.

The "No bootable device" message often appears when the partition created by Boot Camp is not formatted properly, as in when the user selects the option to "leave the current file system intact (no changes)" A format scheme must be chosen to remedy this issue, be it FAT or NTFS.

I also remember a case or two during the Tiger Boot Camp beta where certain external devices other than the mouse and keyboard set may cause Setup to hang. If you have any other devices than the mouse and keyboard, remove them for the time being and try Windows Setup again.

One poster in the beta had a lockup issue with his Mac mini along the same lines. He eventually cleared the hurdle by changing monitors. But, such things are useless when the system has an internal display.

To get back to Mac without an Option-boot for now, just use your Startup Disk panel in OS X System Preferences and let the Mac volume be the default. When you're ready to tackle the issue again, switch it back to Windows using the same method.

Nat

"Leave current file system intact" appears during the text portion of the Windows installation.

It is not a pop-up dialog box, just a message on screen.

It is at this point where I said you need to make sure you format the drive during the windows install process.

You do not want to leave the current file system intact.
You want to reformat the partition.

(Bootcamp assistant does reset your default boot drive to the windows partition, which may explain why you kept getting the 'no boot device' message.)

To fix:
Hold the Option key at power on, select the OSX drive, then use the start-up disk control pane to select the OSX drive as boot.

Sorry for the delay. Wasn't expecting the "road work" signs when attempting to check back with you in the AM here.

As others have already mentioned, the prompt for file systems occurs during text mode setup. Quick or Full? FAT or NTFS? How do you know what to do?

We'll start with file systems, short and sweet. Most any OS can read and write FAT volumes without fail which makes FAT ultra-portable, and the only choice if you want to let Mac OS write documents on your Windows volume. It's also more efficient on drives of 16 GB or less. However, FAT has no folder-level access control, so any file in the system can be manipulated by any user or by any system process. By contrast, NTFS is far more restrictive. It can only be manipulated under Windows, though other systems may be able to read it. Not only do you get the access control that FAT lacks, but you also get superior efficiency on large volumes, plus the power to compress or encrypt folders and files at will (in "business" flavors of Windows only--and yes, Vista Ultimate counts as "business" even though it will be supported much like a "consumer" version).

On format speeds: A quick format is very handy if you have a large partition or a single drive completely dedicated to Windows. Because it completes in 30 seconds or less, it will go a long way toward completing your Windows install. However, in some cases, volumes formatted with a quick format may have reliability issues. They must have fixed this in Vista, because Vista can only format at the "quick" speed.

A full format tests all blocks of a given volume (as opposed to testing an entire disk unless the volume itself is the entire disk) as the file system structure is laid down. Bad blocks are marked as "used" when they are found. This type of format takes much longer as a result of all the testing, but the result is a more stable volume from the start.

Get past the formatting stage, and you'll be right as rain.

Nate