You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

"No bootable device — Insert boot disk and press any key"

It’s been a full week since one of the teachers at my university requested us Mac users to install Windows 10 on a bootcamp partition in order to download Autodesk 3DS Max, as we will need it for the rest of the quarter.


At first, I was alleviated when I checked that my old faithful MacBook Air (mid. 2012) was still a compatible device to install Windows 10, but oh boy… then problems came in great numbers.


I could write an entire book about all the issues I had to overcome, looking at all forum threads that I could find. 

Greatly summarized:

  • FAT32 not being able to work with files bigger than 4gb.
  • Graphic drivers issues once I could install W10 (which drove me crazy, just to learn 3 days later that it was all because I was installing it on EFI mode, which my Mac is not compatible).
  • Not showing “Windows” boot option, just “EFI Boot”.
  • Many more “smaller” issues that I don’t even remember now.
  • And finally, the one that brought me to a dead end: “No bootable device — Insert boot disk and press any key”


Of course, inserting the boot disk that Boot Camp Assistant created and pressing any key did nothing. I tried following the steps described on this thread https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7600973, and I managed to confuse macOS, resulting in having to erase my entire drive to be able to reinstall it and boot again. Luckily, I made a Time Machine backup that I can use to restore my “Macintosh HD” partition, which I did not for now.


Right now, this is my Mac state:

  • MacBook Air 13 inch (mid. 2012).
  • macOS Mojave 10.14.3 (18D109) version.
  • Completely wiped out drive, as new.
  • Boot Camp Assistant created partition of 55,77gb.
  • Boot Camp Assistant created USB flash drive 2.0 boot disk (Kingston 32gb USB flash drive that already worked in other Macs).
  • 1703 Windows 10 ISO used (as later ISOs result in exceeding FAT32 4gb limit, checked with lots of them).
  • On restart, when Alt key pressed, both "Windows" and "EFI boot" boot options available.
  • “No bootable device” error when Bootcamp Assistant restarts computer or when Alt key is pressed during restart to select "Windows" boot option.


Am I really on a dead end? I want to think not.

Please help.


MacBook Air

Posted on Feb 8, 2019 6:41 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 8, 2019 7:18 PM

W10 1803 is the last ISO with a <4GB install.wim. W10 1809 exceeds the 4GB limit (2**32 -1 bytes).


I have run into issues with Kingston bootability in the past. Check and make sure the speed of the USB is 480 Mbps not 5Gbps. If you have a different brand (SanDisk, Lexar, Sony,...), try with a different USB2 Flash drive.

Similar questions

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 8, 2019 7:18 PM in response to sufferer

W10 1803 is the last ISO with a <4GB install.wim. W10 1809 exceeds the 4GB limit (2**32 -1 bytes).


I have run into issues with Kingston bootability in the past. Check and make sure the speed of the USB is 480 Mbps not 5Gbps. If you have a different brand (SanDisk, Lexar, Sony,...), try with a different USB2 Flash drive.

Feb 8, 2019 8:09 PM in response to Loner T

Okay.

I tried again with W10 1803 just to make sure in an EMTEC USB2 Flash Drive.

Boot Camp Assistant quickly brings this error:

Which translates to:

"Your bootable USB drive could not be created

There is not enough space available on the disk"



I checked and the install.wim from the W10 1803 appears to weight more than 4gb. I downloaded it from the Windows site just 20 minutes ago.


I am also able to download original W10 ISOs through my university web site from 1511 to 1709, since they have a contract with Microsoft.

I chose the 1703 as it was the last one that Boot Camp Assistant letted me create a bootable disk from.

Here is the size of the install.wim on the 1703:



Both the Kingston and the EMTEC USB2 flash drives were used before multiple times for this precise task in other Macs.

"No bootable device — Insert boot disk and press any key"

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.