iMac 13,2 Late 2012 3TB Boot Camp Windows 7 Install - SOLVED! (unsupported)
Ok, apparently a lot of folks (like me) bought a 3TB iMac expecting to install Windows 7 only to be greeting with a message from Boot Camp saying it isn't supported on 3TB hard drives .. hey I thought we were beyond these file system limitations, what do I know ;p
It's really easy to get Windows 7 installed, here's the steps (This is *NOT* supported by Apple -- assess your risk before proceeding):
* Just in case create a recovery USB stick - http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433
* Boot into recovery mode
* Launch Terminal
* Remove the coreStorage Logical Volume Group (this is what's preventing you from freely partitioning with Disk Utility)
** diskutil coreStorage list
** diskutil coreStorage delete UUID
* Exit Terminal
* Launch Disk Utility
* Create 3 Partitions, 1TB Each, make sure your Windows partition is 2nd as both the OSX and WINDOWS partition *must* exists below 2.2TB
** Partition 1 - OSX (HFS)
** Partition 2 - WINDOWS (FAT)
** Partition 3 - DATA (HFS) .. store all your iTunes stuff here?
* Exit Disk Utility
* Install OS X
* Create a Windows 7 USB install drive with Boot Camp on another computer
* Boot with your Windows 7 USB install drive, install Windows 7, be careful to choose the correct partition when you format
* Download the Windows 7 Boot Camp drivers - http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/25/23/041-6932/ezgnx0guny5bw6vm7to92ile w38ptli0z5/BootCampESD.pkg
* Install Boot Camp drivers
* Enjoy!
Didn't have time to write a book (sorry) but I'll try to check back to answer any questions (no promises).
Cheers! 🙂