I want to install Win 10 on my mac mini 2018 (for dual boot) with Bootcamp, seeing here macs that do not need flash drive (USB) to do so: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201468#more - the mini 2018 is not on that list but nevertheless has probably (hopefully) more recent specs than many on that list... (They forgot to include it?)
Do I need a flash drive or not to do so ?
FWIW, I would do the USB route anyway. That way you
can boot to the USB when you have a Windows problem
and need to recover or debug.
Well Bootcamp did not let me any choice and proceeded without USB flash...
However, your argument makes sense - how could I now makes a USB flash stick now (and would that be relevant or just because I went the other route, it's no longer relevant ?)
'Cause yeah, indeed, if something goes wrong (and I know this is always possible from past experience on my old MBP...), the only way around is I would need to redo everything... (I realize it's not even possible to copy the ISO file on a USB stick - even though this one is 32GB, I ger prompted that the drive is not ''large enough'' for that 5GB file... (weird...)
lanstrad1 wrote:
'Cause yeah, indeed, if something goes wrong (and I know this is always possible from past experience on my old MBP...), the only way around is I would need to redo everything... (I realize it's not even possible to copy the ISO file on a USB stick - even though this one is 32GB, I ger prompted that the drive is not ''large enough'' for that 5GB file... (weird...)
I haven't used Boot Camp in years so I don't know how it behaves or the requirements. However, I just recently attempted to reinstall Win10 on a regular PC and discovered that there are possibly a couple of ways around the 4GB file size limit, but I could not vary if they actually work since I believe I ran into a Windows bug where Windows won't install from a USB3 port (or maybe the other work arounds just were not compatible with that very odd BIOS in that PC).
You may be able to format the Win10 USB stick with exFAT. Another option would be to split the 4GB+ file "install.wim" into two parts. I was able to use a Linux utility ("wimsplit" or "wimlib-imagex" found in the "wimtools" package) to split the "install.wim" file into two smaller parts (you may be able to install and access this utility on a Mac using Homebrew). Keep in mind I don't know if Boot Camp Assistant will work with either of these two alternatives or if Boot Camp Assistant can take care of this issue automatically (I saw a recent post which indicated that this was not the case).
I'll leave it to the other more knowledgeable contributors to answer the Boot Camp questions. I just wanted to put this information out there as possibilities if Boot Camp Assistant has issues with the 4GB+ file.
Do I still need flash USB to install Win 10 ???
