Hi everyone. I want to install windows 7 on my iMac 24'' (mid 2008) but my optical disc drive is broken. I tried to install it with an USB flashdrive, but the system don't recognize it as a bootable device. I have the windows 7 ISO, vmware fusion, refit (i searched on the interet for the solution but i couldn't find any). thanks for help !
iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)
***Solution That Worked for ME***
I had a similiar problem where I wanted to install windows on a macbook pro (early 2009) that had a broken optical drive, using a bootable windows 7 USB, but the mac wouldn't recognize the USB because it only checks in the optical drive.
Solution:
1. Download the Windows 7 ISO file here: http://www.w7forums.com/threads/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-image-downloads.12325 /
2. Use Windows 7 USB DVD Download tool (found here http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool to make a bootable windows 7 USB. (this has to be done on an exisiting windows machine, but there are googable solutions to do this process using just a mac)
3. Also transfer a copy of the ISO file to the mac
4. Use Daemon Tools Lite (free, found here: http://www.daemon-tools.cc/products/dtLite) to mount the ISO file thats on your mac. (open daemon tools, click quick mount, click the iso file, very easy!) This tricks bootcamp into thinking that a windows 7 install disk is inserted.
5. Run Boot Camp, I chose to skip downloading the drivers and did that separately here: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5634 by cliking on the macbook pro model and then the number in the grid to download the boot camp drivers to a separete usb. Once windows was installed, it was easy to open the USB and run bootcamp settup.
**THE TRICK**
6. When the computer restarts after bootcamp finishes, insert the bootable windows 7 USB into the mac when the screen is black, and then hold down the C key as soon as you hear the mac turning on sound. This command tells the mac to boot from USB.
I did not find any discussions of simply pressing the C key to boot from USB in similiar threads, and people just said that you need the disk if your mac has an optical drive. I finally found this trick out here: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
The windows installation should now be running, and all thats left now is to choose the Bootcamp partition when it asks, and to click on it, click drive options, click format, and then click next to continue on with the installation.
Hope this helps anybody that had the same problem as me, I did a lot of googling!
Did you see this part?
Here is sample Q&A for this section. Please notice the Press Enter/Return.
Place EFI GPT (0xEE) partition first in MBR (good for GRUB)? (Y/N): Y
Creating entry for GPT partition #2 (MBR partition #2)
Enter an MBR hex code (default AF): Press Enter/Return
Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): N
Creating entry for GPT partition #3 (MBR partition #3)
Enter an MBR hex code (default AB): Press Enter/Return
Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): N
Creating entry for GPT partition #4 (MBR partition #4)
Enter an MBR hex code (default 07): Press Enter/Return
Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): Y
You can re-run the Gdisk steps and do them correctly and test.
The boot ability on this screen is EFI-based boot ability. MBR-based boot ability is determined by the CSM-BIOS layer. Can you try to power-cycle the Mac and hold the Alt/Option key. Do you see a Windows selection?
- Do you think it did not work yet because I'm doing something wrong?
- Repeat the steps again to see if it's wrong?
- To boot the installation you need only copy the files inside the .ISO into the NTFS partition created?
Hey, for the people out there who are having trouble with this subject, I'll give you my solution. I have an early 2006 iMac that I installed bootcamp on by creating a bootable usb on a windows computer and holding down the c key when my mac turned on. One day, that didn't work. It really sucked. I has been months now, but from other forums, I got this figured out. First, download this file from my dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/s/rekxut9ogimv7z6/refind-bin-0.8.7.zip?dl=0 Then, unzip it. Then, open Terminal and drag the file to the terminal window until a green plus appears and release. Then, hit enter. It will begin installation. After that, reboot your Mac and the bootmanager will show up!
This is what I got from my terminal window. Seems I can't go any further?
MacBook-Pro:~ Daddy$ sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0s5
Password:
gpt show: unable to open device '/dev/disk0s5': Resource busy
MacBook-Pro:~ Daddy$ Sudo gdisk /dev/rdisk0s5
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.0
Partition table scan:
MBR: MBR only
BSD: not present
APM: not present
GPT: not present
***************************************************************
Found invalid GPT and valid MBR; converting MBR to GPT format
in memory. THIS OPERATION IS POTENTIALLY DESTRUCTIVE! Exit by
typing 'q' if you don't want to convert your MBR partitions
to GPT format!
***************************************************************
Exact type match not found for type code 7000; assigning type code for
'Apple HFS/HFS+'
Exact type match not found for type code 4300; assigning type code for
'Apple HFS/HFS+'
Exact type match not found for type code 7200; assigning type code for
'Apple HFS/HFS+'
Warning! Secondary partition table overlaps the last partition by
3576515959 blocks!
You will need to delete this partition or resize it in another utility.
Command (? for help):
Your environment seems different with an MBR disk. Please 'q' out of GPT Fdisk.
Can you start a new discussion and post the output of
diskutil list
diskutil cs list
sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0
sudo fdisk /dev/disk0
If the output of
sudo dd if=/dev/rdisk0sN count=1 2>/dev/null hexdump -C
shows a valid NTFS header, and you can see files in the Bootcamp volume, then you will needs Windows Startup repair.
The value of 'N' in the command must point to the disk which has your Windows partition. You can find it using diskutil list command in Terminal.
hey Loner,
Im trying to install windows 8.1 next to os x. Since I have an early 2011 bca to usb windows results in no audio. So I am trying this method.
I have followed the step you described but havent been able to boot to the ntfs parition. output of my gdisk is the following:
gpt show: /dev/disk0: mediasize=320072933376; sectorsize=512; blocks=625142448
gpt show: /dev/disk0: Suspicious MBR at sector 0
gpt show: /dev/disk0: Pri GPT at sector 1
gpt show: /dev/disk0: Sec GPT at sector 625142447
start size index contents
0 1 MBR
1 1 Pri GPT header
2 32 Pri GPT table
34 6
40 409600 1 GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
409640 426197600 2 GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
426607240 1269536 3 GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
427876776 1624
427878400 197263360 4 GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7
625141760 655
625142415 32 Sec GPT table
625142447 1 Sec GPT header
output of gpt:
Warning: Devices opened with shared lock will not have their
partition table automatically reloaded!
Partition table scan:
MBR: hybrid
BSD: not present
APM: not present
GPT: present
Found valid GPT with hybrid MBR; using GPT.
Command (? for help): p
Disk /dev/rdisk0: 625142448 sectors, 298.1 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 00000D0A-2283-0000-CE4F-00003A540000
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 625142414
Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries
Total free space is 2285 sectors (1.1 MiB)
Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 40 409639 200.0 MiB EF00 EFI system partition
2 409640 426607239 203.2 GiB AF05 Macintosh HD
3 426607240 427876775 619.9 MiB AB00 Recovery HD
4 427878400 625141759 94.1 GiB 0700 BOOTCAMP
Command (? for help): r
Recovery/transformation command (? for help): o
Disk size is 625142448 sectors (298.1 GiB)
MBR disk identifier: 0x000017B3
MBR partitions:
Number Boot Start Sector End Sector Status Code
1 1 409639 primary 0xEE
2 409640 426607239 primary 0xAF
3 426607240 427876775 primary 0xAB
4 * 427878400 625141759 primary 0x07
Can you tell me what I did wrong?
Thank you in advance
Hey loner,
Thanks for the quick response. I havent gotten any errors. When i boot it goes to thr mac os bootloader screen (i geuss) and aftet a while it goes to a black screen with a cursor blinking. I jusy realised that i havent ried to type, i assumwe that windows setup would start automatically. Do i assume right?
The black screen with blinking cursor indicates that OS X has handed control to the Windows side. It should bring up the Windows Installer without you having to type anything. If you power down your Mac, power it back up and hold Alt/Option, what selections do you see?
output:
EFI found at IODeviceTree:/efi
Mount point for /Volumes/BOOTCAMP is /Volumes/BOOTCAMP
Common mount point of '/Volumes/BOOTCAMP' and '' is /Volumes/BOOTCAMP
No BootX creation requested
No boot.efi creation requested
Can't statfs /Volumes/BOOTCAMP
Boot didn't work, also nothing new in "alt" screen. Just a blinking cursor in an endless black void
00000000 eb 52 90 4e 54 46 53 20 20 20 20 00 02 08 00 00 |.R.NTFS .....|
00000010 00 00 00 00 00 f8 00 00 3f 00 ff 00 3f 00 00 00 |........?...?...|
00000020 00 00 00 00 80 00 80 00 ff ff c1 0b 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000030 80 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 20 bc 00 00 00 00 00 |......... ......|
00000040 f6 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 c0 84 4d 38 93 4d 38 44 |..........M8.M8D|
00000050 28 ae 87 f9 fa 33 c0 8e d0 bc 00 7c fb 68 c0 07 |(....3.....|.h..|
00000060 1f 1e 68 66 00 cb 88 16 0e 00 66 81 3e 03 00 4e |..hf......f.>..N|
00000070 54 46 53 75 15 b4 41 bb aa 55 cd 13 72 0c 81 fb |TFSu..A..U..r...|
00000080 55 aa 75 06 f7 c1 01 00 75 03 e9 d2 00 1e 83 ec |U.u.....u.......|
00000090 18 68 1a 00 b4 48 8a 16 0e 00 8b f4 16 1f cd 13 |.h...H..........|
000000a0 9f 83 c4 18 9e 58 1f 72 e1 3b 06 0b 00 75 db a3 |.....X.r.;...u..|
000000b0 0f 00 c1 2e 0f 00 04 1e 5a 33 db b9 00 20 2b c8 |........Z3... +.|
000000c0 66 ff 06 11 00 03 16 0f 00 8e c2 ff 06 16 00 e8 |f...............|
000000d0 40 00 2b c8 77 ef b8 00 bb cd 1a 66 23 c0 75 2d |@.+.w......f#.u-|
000000e0 66 81 fb 54 43 50 41 75 24 81 f9 02 01 72 1e 16 |f..TCPAu$....r..|
000000f0 68 07 bb 16 68 70 0e 16 68 09 00 66 53 66 53 66 |h...hp..h..fSfSf|
00000100 55 16 16 16 68 b8 01 66 61 0e 07 cd 1a e9 6a 01 |U...h..fa.....j.|
00000110 90 90 66 60 1e 06 66 a1 11 00 66 03 06 1c 00 1e |..f`..f...f.....|
00000120 66 68 00 00 00 00 66 50 06 53 68 01 00 68 10 00 |fh....fP.Sh..h..|
00000130 b4 42 8a 16 0e 00 16 1f 8b f4 cd 13 66 59 5b 5a |.B..........fY[Z|
00000140 66 59 66 59 1f 0f 82 16 00 66 ff 06 11 00 03 16 |fYfY.....f......|
00000150 0f 00 8e c2 ff 0e 16 00 75 bc 07 1f 66 61 c3 a0 |........u...fa..|
00000160 f8 01 e8 08 00 a0 fb 01 e8 02 00 eb fe b4 01 8b |................|
00000170 f0 ac 3c 00 74 09 b4 0e bb 07 00 cd 10 eb f2 c3 |..<.t...........|
00000180 0d 0a 41 20 64 69 73 6b 20 72 65 61 64 20 65 72 |..A disk read er|
00000190 72 6f 72 20 6f 63 63 75 72 72 65 64 00 0d 0a 42 |ror occurred...B|
000001a0 4f 4f 54 4d 47 52 20 69 73 20 6d 69 73 73 69 6e |OOTMGR is missin|
000001b0 67 00 0d 0a 42 4f 4f 54 4d 47 52 20 69 73 20 63 |g...BOOTMGR is c|
000001c0 6f 6d 70 72 65 73 73 65 64 00 0d 0a 50 72 65 73 |ompressed...Pres|
000001d0 73 20 43 74 72 6c 2b 41 6c 74 2b 44 65 6c 20 74 |s Ctrl+Alt+Del t|
000001e0 6f 20 72 65 73 74 61 72 74 0d 0a 00 00 00 00 00 |o restart.......|
000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 80 9d b2 ca 00 00 55 aa |..............U.|
00000200
Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 38913/255/63 [625142448 sectors]
Signature: 0xAA55
Starting Ending
#: id cyl hd sec - cyl hd sec [ start - size]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1: EE 0 0 2 - 25 127 14 [ 1 - 409639] <Unknown ID>
2: AF 25 127 15 - 1023 254 63 [ 409640 - 426197600] HFS+
3: AB 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 426607240 - 1269536] Darwin Boot
*4: 07 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 427878400 - 197263360] HPFS/QNX/AUX
Your header looks slightly different.
sudo dd if=/dev/rdisk0s4 count=1 2>/dev/null | hexdump -C
00000000 eb 52 90 4e 54 46 53 20 20 20 20 00 02 08 00 00 |.R.NTFS .....|
00000010 00 00 00 00 00 f8 00 00 3f 00 ff 00 00 e8 71 56 |........?.....qV|
00000020 00 00 00 00 80 00 80 00 f8 f7 08 1e 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000030 00 00 0c 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000040 f6 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 13 32 6d 13 b7 bb b5 32 |.........2m....2|
00000050 00 00 00 00 fa 33 c0 8e d0 bc 00 7c fb 68 c0 07 |.....3.....|.h..|
00000060 1f 1e 68 66 00 cb 88 16 0e 00 66 81 3e 03 00 4e |..hf......f.>..N|
00000070 54 46 53 75 15 b4 41 bb aa 55 cd 13 72 0c 81 fb |TFSu..A..U..r...|
00000080 55 aa 75 06 f7 c1 01 00 75 03 e9 dd 00 1e 83 ec |U.u.....u.......|
00000090 18 68 1a 00 b4 48 8a 16 0e 00 8b f4 16 1f cd 13 |.h...H..........|
000000a0 9f 83 c4 18 9e 58 1f 72 e1 3b 06 0b 00 75 db a3 |.....X.r.;...u..|
000000b0 0f 00 c1 2e 0f 00 04 1e 5a 33 db b9 00 20 2b c8 |........Z3... +.|
000000c0 66 ff 06 11 00 03 16 0f 00 8e c2 ff 06 16 00 e8 |f...............|
000000d0 4b 00 2b c8 77 ef b8 00 bb cd 1a 66 23 c0 75 2d |K.+.w......f#.u-|
000000e0 66 81 fb 54 43 50 41 75 24 81 f9 02 01 72 1e 16 |f..TCPAu$....r..|
000000f0 68 07 bb 16 68 70 0e 16 68 09 00 66 53 66 53 66 |h...hp..h..fSfSf|
00000100 55 16 16 16 68 b8 01 66 61 0e 07 cd 1a 33 c0 bf |U...h..fa....3..|
00000110 28 10 b9 d8 0f fc f3 aa e9 5f 01 90 90 66 60 1e |(........_...f`.|
00000120 06 66 a1 11 00 66 03 06 1c 00 1e 66 68 00 00 00 |.f...f.....fh...|
00000130 00 66 50 06 53 68 01 00 68 10 00 b4 42 8a 16 0e |.fP.Sh..h...B...|
00000140 00 16 1f 8b f4 cd 13 66 59 5b 5a 66 59 66 59 1f |.......fY[ZfYfY.|
00000150 0f 82 16 00 66 ff 06 11 00 03 16 0f 00 8e c2 ff |....f...........|
00000160 0e 16 00 75 bc 07 1f 66 61 c3 a0 f8 01 e8 09 00 |...u...fa.......|
00000170 a0 fb 01 e8 03 00 f4 eb fd b4 01 8b f0 ac 3c 00 |..............<.|
00000180 74 09 b4 0e bb 07 00 cd 10 eb f2 c3 0d 0a 41 20 |t.............A |
00000190 64 69 73 6b 20 72 65 61 64 20 65 72 72 6f 72 20 |disk read error |
000001a0 6f 63 63 75 72 72 65 64 00 0d 0a 42 4f 4f 54 4d |occurred...BOOTM|
000001b0 47 52 20 69 73 20 6d 69 73 73 69 6e 67 00 0d 0a |GR is missing...|
000001c0 42 4f 4f 54 4d 47 52 20 69 73 20 63 6f 6d 70 72 |BOOTMGR is compr|
000001d0 65 73 73 65 64 00 0d 0a 50 72 65 73 73 20 43 74 |essed...Press Ct|
000001e0 72 6c 2b 41 6c 74 2b 44 65 6c 20 74 6f 20 72 65 |rl+Alt+Del to re|
000001f0 73 74 61 72 74 0d 0a 00 8c a9 be d6 00 00 55 aa |start.........U.|
00000200
Can you see files in Finder on this Bootcamp volume?
1. Can you provide a bit more detail on what you mean by "Decompressed W8.1"?
2. Is the USB tool what is created by Microsoft's Media Creation Tool?
3. Is it possible to post a screen shot of the NTFS partition from Finder? If you right-click on the Bootcamp partition on your desktop and click on Get Info, what does it show? Remove any personal information as you see fit.
Bootcamp without Optical disc drive
