Bootcamp Black Screen

Question

Level 1

35 points

Bootcamp Black Screen

Hi,

I have recently had some issue with the installation of Windows 7 on a late 2014 MacMini running 10.10.2. The installer would boot to a black screen with no signal to the monitor. Since then I have managed to install Windows and it was running well until the user installed the latest Windows updates and now we are back to booting to a black screen.

The OS is Windows 7 Pro, the monitor is attached to the mac via a mini display port/vga adapter. I have tried using the Alt key at bootup, selecting the windows partition from the startup disk preference pane in system preferences on the mac. I have also tried re-downloading the windows drivers and helper tool to a usb flash drive and booting with the drive attached but each time I am getting the same response.

Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Mar 20, 2015 7:54 AM

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Answer 1

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Mar 20, 2015 8:12 AM in response to Ben Bissett

1. The GPU drivers were updated to stock drivers by Windows Update, which do not work on the Macs due to differences.

2. If you have the USB that was originally used to install Windows (it needs to be a USB2, not a USB3 flash disk), you can run a Startup Recovery on Windows and replace the drivers in Safe Mode.

3. You can download appropriate drivers for your specific Mac model from System requirements to install Windows on your Mac via Boot Camp - Apple Support and Boot Camp: Install or repair Boot Camp drivers.

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Answer 2

Ben Bissett Author

Level 1

35 points

Mar 20, 2015 8:18 AM in response to Loner T

Thanks, how do I perform a startup recovery on Windows? I'm not seeing anything on screen when I try to boot to Windows is there a key I should be pressing??

(Thanks for your help the other day, I tried to mark is as helped but the whole conversation had disappeared)

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Answer 3

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Mar 20, 2015 8:58 AM in response to Ben Bissett

You will need to use F8 (or Fn+F8 or Shift+F8). I use the following steps.

1. Plug in the USB which has Windows Installer+BCC Drivers on it. Please ensure it is a USB2 device.

2. In OSX System Preferences -> Startup Disk -> select Bootcamp (not the USB device) -> click Restart.

3. Press F8 (or the other variants) before you see the Windows logo.

4. This screen sequence is for W7 64-bit - http://imgur.com/a/1DaOE#0.

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Answer 4

Ben Bissett Author

Level 1

35 points

Mar 20, 2015 9:25 AM in response to Loner T

Excellent advice, many thanks,

Currently burning the ISO to the USB 2.0 stick via BCA will give it a go.

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Answer 5

Ben Bissett Author

Level 1

35 points

Mar 20, 2015 9:54 AM in response to Ben Bissett

Restarted by selecting Bootcamp in system prefs - startup disk

Mac restarted, I pressed F8 and variants of and I have a black screen with no signal. Seems like this happens before Windows even has a chance to start booting.

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Answer 6

Ben Bissett Author

Level 1

35 points

Mar 20, 2015 10:08 AM in response to Ben Bissett

Ok, this is weird.

I tried booting to the USB key and got the same result. I then took the same USB key and put it in a different MacMini (Late 2012) running 10.9.4 which hasn't had any bootcamp partitions set up on it, I don't even think bootcamp assistant has ever been run on it. I booted holding alt and choose the USB and it's booted to the Windows Installer no problem.

I would use this mac mini but the hard drive is too small for what we want.

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Answer 7

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Mar 20, 2015 10:45 AM in response to Ben Bissett

The only reason to go through Startup Disk is that the CSM-BIOS layer and the underlying OS environment points to the Bootcamp on the non-working Mini. The CSM-BIOS layer should detect the USB and the default CSM-BIOS behavior is to use the USB (or a DVD, if available) before the internal disk is used to boot from.

You can try the Alt key method and see what is result. The Installer should have a Repair option at the bottom left as shown in the photo album.

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Answer 8

Ben Bissett Author

Level 1

35 points

Mar 23, 2015 2:18 AM in response to Loner T

Hi,

When I try to boot the affected mac using alt with the iso on a usb I get the same problem with a black screen. If I boot to the mac partition then go through startup disk in the sys prefs the usb does not show as a bootable volume??? Yet it works on the other mac???

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Answer 9

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Mar 23, 2015 5:06 AM in response to Ben Bissett

ISO on a USB is a bit trickier. Rufus USB Tool or https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj200124.aspx are the two methods of the USB boot. Which is the 'other' Mac?

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Answer 10

Ben Bissett Author

Level 1

35 points

Mar 24, 2015 3:03 AM in response to Loner T

I created the USB using apple's bootcamp guide.

The other mac is an older late 2012 MacMini that I tried the USB ISO on as a test.

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Answer 11

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Mar 24, 2015 4:58 AM in response to Ben Bissett

There are a several differences. You either have an Intel HD4k Mini or an AMD66030m Mini. The drivers that are needed for the boot are built by BCA with some room for GPU variants, but are specific to a line of Mac hardware. Your Mini 2014 should be an Intel HD5K (aka Iris), which cannot be supported with the 4K drivers.

You can check the files in a folder called $WinPEDriver$ and AutoUnattend.xml. The same boot USB should not be used across multiple families of Macs, because the results are unpredictable. If you want the Mini 2014 to have Windows, I suggest using a USB2 on the same Mini to create the Installer. In some cases, ISOs used for building USBs have been corrupt, which you should verify withe source and tool like FCIV or another which can generate MD5/SHA1 checksums.

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