"No bootable device --- insert boot disk and press any key" after setting up Bootcamp

The GPT partition type GUIDs should be the same (EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7) and the pre-Windows MBR entry is usually 0x'0C' or 0x'0B'. It will become 0x'07' after the reformat. Does the MBP let you reformat and continue the installation of W7?

Since your disk layout has changed, can you post the MBR entries from both disk0 and disk1 (sudo fdisk /dev/disk[0,1])

For the missing BOOTMGR, if the USB stick is MBR and plugged in, that is what is being used instead of the Optical drive. Remove the USB, power-cycle the Mac, and hold the Alt key. Does the Windows DVD icon show up? If the previous fdisk output indicates that disk1 has a valid MBR, and the Windows installer can be started, you will have to scroll in the Installer to find the appropriate disk. Try it and see if it will bring up the installer.

Just got a new-model Mac Mini from Apple and need to put Windows 7 on it. After trying fruitlessly, I've getting all the same error messages that jon.schneider here is getting. There is no built-in SuperDrive for the computer (*since it's a Mac Mini), so I got an external Apple optical drive. Unfortunately, after running Bootcamp, the machine won't begin the install of Windows from it even with the Windows 7 disc in it, so I created a USB Windows 7 ISO instead, putting it on a USB 16GB stick. Unfortunately, all I get is the same black screen and error message that schneider gets using this approach. I'd love to know what's going on.

(I also have an iMac 27" that I installed a Windows 7 partition on previously a couple years ago but had no problems that time. It ***** that I can't use the same Windows disc for both, greedy M$.)

I can get back into OS X by holding down the Option key (the only choice is the Mac HD when I use the USB stick), and the Bootcamp partition shows up on the desktop screen but it's totally empty of any files. I can also get into the stick and all the usual driver files that you'd expect are there. What am I missing?

(I also used Bootcamp Assistant to remove the partition and start over, but it didn't make a difference. Sigh.)

If you have a USB3.0 flash drive, it will not work, because the Windows installer knows nothing about USB3.0. I have used a USB2.0 and W7 ISO to install Windows via Bootcamp without any issues.

I would also recommend posting a new thread to avoid confusion and post a reference here.

You can find out if the USB is 3.0 or 2.0 by looking at About This Mac -> More Info -> System Report -> USB with the USB plugged-in. Bootcamp Assistant will happily use a 3.0 but the installer will fail.

The 16GB flash drive is a "Hi-Speed" USB (which means it's USB 2, I believe, not "SuperSpeed," which is USB 3). (And someone else just posted a thread saying the file system for Win 7 needs to be NTFS, not the older FAT32, for this to work. Could this be true?

Bootcamp Assistant partitions and formats the partition to DOS/FAT32. The Windows Installer allows you to select the partition, which needs to be reformatted to NTFS for the Installer to continue. After you highlight the Bootcamp partition (typically Disk0:4 BOOTCAMP), click on Format, you can click OK on the warning about data loss, let the Installer format it to NTFS and click Next.

The contents of the USB look similar to this for machines which do not have built-in Optical Drive.

Wow. Just being able to get that far would be nice.

I get as far as making the USB FAT32 with all the Windows ISO/drivers on it (as shown in your screenshot), but when the system makes the partition and then reboots, it goes to black screen with the error messages that jon.schneider describes (see my separate thread where I offer a few more details about my peripherals/config). It's like the computer refuses to see any external drives at this point. Somehow the Windows drivers to be able to access/use them aren't being activated properly for the Win 7 install process. I'd like to know what's going on.

One annoying thing I noticed. During the downloading and saving of the Windows drivers that are to be put on the USB JumpDrive (plus the Windows ISO files there), it takes an extraordinarily lengthy amount of time (2 hours+) to do this. It's so slow I wonder if there's something wrong, or is this normal? Yet it eventually finishes and there are no error messages to say the files didn't save on the stick properly.

Just discovered something, a discrepancy. After studying your screenshot more closely, I noticed a few differences with my copy of the files on my USB drive.

First, under efi, the folder called 'boot' is missing. Also an added file, called memtest.efi, is right above memtest.exe. Also, a folder called 'upgrade' is at the very bottom of the list. Inside it is another folder called 'netfx' and inside that are files called netfx.msi, netfx.msp, netfx1.cab, and netfxupdate.exe. No idea what they're for. Finally, in the stand-alone folder called 'boot,' I'm missing the folder called 'resources.' Everything else seems to be the same, however.

The efi-related folder called 'boot' naturally alarms me the most, of course. As is the missing 'resources' folder inside the stand-alone 'boot' folder. Is Bootcamp not saving all the files properly on the USB drive??? (Or is your version of Bootcamp simply a different version than mine???)

Mazzerac wrote:

Is Bootcamp not saving all the files properly on the USB drive??? (Or is your version of Bootcamp simply a different version than mine???)

I have two versions, W7 and W8.1. Let me rebuild the USB and try to post a listing. Windows disks do have tendency to be "unique" at times.

You need Windows to format the NTFS partition on the iMac. If you switch the iMac to Target disk mode, you may not be able to see the iMac drive in Windows on MBP while running Windows.

You may be able to see the drive on the OSX side, but OSX on the MBP cannot format a drive to NTFS, unless you use a third-party NTFS engine (like Paragon, Tuxera) which needs to support external disks which are visible in Target Disk mode from the iMac.

There is a Macports version of NTFS-3g (without a UI) that can be installed on the OSX side. It is free and can format the iMac volume to NTFS, but you will have to use a cli command.

Just ran a test.

1. Machine 1 - 15" rMBP 10.9.4/Bootcamp W7.

2. Machine 2 - 13" 2012 MBP 10.10/W8.1.

Machine 2 in Target Disk Mode.

1. Machine 1 running W7 connected to Machine 2 via TB-to-FW + FW800 cable. Machine 2 can ONLY see it's OSX partition, but not the TDM disk.

2. Machine 1 in OSX can see the TDM disk and the two partitions OSX and Bootcamp on Machine 2. But there is no format capability in OSX to change FAT to NTFS. 😟. You will need Machine 1 (your equivalent) to run a R/W NTFS driver (Tuxera, Paragon) AND it should support TDM.