Cannot create bootable windows 7 USB key via bootcamp

Question

Level 1

0 points

Cannot create bootable windows 7 USB key via bootcamp

This is obviously a common issue, however I opened this thread because none of the solutions I found worked for me.

I want to install Windows 7 on my 2013 Macbook Air that runs mac os 10.10.3 yosemite (which I want to keep).

I had windows installed on my macbook before and therefor just followed the same steps through the bootcamp assistant. What is new to me is that I cannot untick the box saying "Download newest windows support software". Anyway...I checked the other two boxes like so

Then I picked my Windows 7 x64 .iso file and the usb key I want to transfer the content on. That's when the fun starts:

I either get this error message:

or it gets stuck at this one. And by stuck I mean actually stuck. I've left it running for hours and regularly checked the available space on the USB key and after a few hundred MB it just stops diminishing.

However I did already get past this point once (one time only) and it said sth about downloading the support software but then it got stuck there, for hours.

Here is what I tried so far:

- 4 different USB keys, all 8 GB or bigger, both USB 2.0 and 3.0

- external hard drive

- move the .iso to another folder and select it from there

- run the procedure with the windows-.iso mounted and unmounted

- rebooted my macbook 74173 times

- formated all the USB keys beforehand in all different available formats

- tried both of the USB ports on my macbook

- separately downloaded the bootcamp support files and put them on the key, hoping that the bootcamp assistant would recognize them and skip that step

- I did gently shake my macbook making it understand my anger

Needless to say, none of this worked.

Any tips or ideas on how to solve this riddle?

That would be fanfreakintastic!

MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2013), OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Apr 26, 2015 10:18 AM

Reply

Answer 1

npassaro Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 26, 2015 10:21 AM in response to npassaro

Hm I don't know why it says mavericks 10.9 at the end of my post. Ignore that, I have yosemite 10.10.3..

Reply

Answer 2

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Apr 26, 2015 10:56 AM in response to npassaro

If you are unable to contact or lose your connection to Apple Software CDN, you will see this error. One typical problem is that the DNS entries on your machine may have been hijacked by some malware installer.

Please check the output of

grep apple.com /etc/hosts

grep apple.com /private/etc/hosts

Please also see

OS X: Server addresses used by Software Update - Apple Support

Requirements for Software Update Service - Apple Support

Reply

Answer 3

npassaro Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 26, 2015 11:42 AM in response to Loner T

Hi Loner,

thanks for the reply.

I don't get any output for both the commands you posted. It just jumps to the next command line.

I also allowed the mentioned addresses in the proxy section of my network settings (although I am not entirely sure what this actually does)

Unfortunately the issue remains.

Reply

Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Apr 26, 2015 11:45 AM in response to npassaro

If you do not use a Proxy to get to the Internet (from Web or non-Web clients), then you may need to set it. Can you check if you can ping the addresses mentioned in the linked articles?

Also, please verify that you are using a USB2 device for BC Drivers/Windows ISO. USB3 will not work.

Reply

Answer 5

npassaro Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 26, 2015 11:54 AM in response to Loner T

I pinged the 4 adresses, here are the results

swcdn.apple.com
0,0% package loss
swdownload.apple.com
10 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100.0% packet loss
swquery.apple.com
ping: cannot resolve swquery.apple.com: Unknown host
swscan.apple.com
10 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100.0% packet loss

I tried it with USB 2.0. Didnt work either :/

Reply

Answer 6

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Apr 26, 2015 12:00 PM in response to npassaro

Can you run trace route and see where you loose connectivity, ignoring swquery.apple.com for the time being?

Reply

Answer 7

npassaro Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 26, 2015 12:18 PM in response to Loner T

swdownload.apple.com

traceroute to p01-swdownload.apple.com.akadns.net (17.146.232.9), 64 hops max, 72 byte packets

1 speedport.ip (192.168.2.1) 2.021 ms 1.872 ms 1.885 ms

2 217.0.118.166 (217.0.118.166) 23.098 ms 23.556 ms 22.455 ms

3 87.186.237.102 (87.186.237.102) 24.216 ms 25.033 ms 24.069 ms

4 217.239.40.222 (217.239.40.222) 23.723 ms 22.812 ms 22.595 ms

5 te-3-0-0.edge5.frankfurt1.level3.net (4.68.62.141) 47.032 ms 46.461 ms 45.117 ms

6 ae-4-90.edge8.sanjose1.level3.net (4.69.152.212) 209.266 ms 204.023 ms 205.745 ms

7 ae-4-90.edge8.sanjose1.level3.net (4.69.152.212) 207.191 ms 206.274 ms 203.497 ms

8 209.244.104.134 (209.244.104.134) 209.814 ms 202.684 ms 219.793 ms

9 17.0.129.80 (17.0.129.80) 228.478 ms * 299.912 ms

10 17.0.129.103 (17.0.129.103) 306.992 ms 246.064 ms 307.210 ms

11 17.148.254.63 (17.148.254.63) 307.066 ms 243.142 ms 306.717 ms

12 * * *

13 * * *

14 * * *

15 * * *

16 * * *

17 * * *

18 * * *

19 * * *

20 * * *

21 * * *

22 * * *

23 * * *

24 * * *

25 * * *

26 * * *

27 * * *

28 * * *

29 * * *

30 * * *

31 * * *

32 * * *

33 * * *

34 * * *

35 * * *

36 * * *

37 * * *

38 * * *

39 * * *

40 * * *

41 * * *

42 * * *

43 * * *

44 * * *

45 * * *

46 * * *

47 * * *

48 * * *

49 * * *

50 * * *

51 * * *

52 * * *

53 * * *

54 * * *

55 * * *

56 * * *

57 * * *

58 * * *

59 * * *

60 * * *

61 * * *

62 * * *

63 * * *

64 * * *

I'll post the result for swscan.apple.com when it's done. Takes a while

Reply

Answer 8

npassaro Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 26, 2015 12:34 PM in response to npassaro

swscan.apple.com

traceroute to p01-swscan.apple.com.akadns.net (17.164.1.22), 64 hops max, 72 byte packets

1 speedport.ip (192.168.2.1) 2.331 ms 1.240 ms 2.002 ms

2 217.0.118.166 (217.0.118.166) 23.221 ms 22.604 ms 22.874 ms

3 87.186.237.98 (87.186.237.98) 24.108 ms 27.113 ms 27.710 ms

4 217.239.39.2 (217.239.39.2) 22.984 ms 23.346 ms 23.031 ms

5 62.157.250.70 (62.157.250.70) 45.883 ms 47.378 ms 45.646 ms

6 ae-1-13.bar2.charlotte1.level3.net (4.69.200.213) 119.906 ms 119.725 ms 121.517 ms

7 ae-1-13.bar2.charlotte1.level3.net (4.69.200.213) 120.392 ms 153.701 ms 119.800 ms

8 4.34.18.2 (4.34.18.2) 123.995 ms 124.837 ms 124.316 ms

9 17.0.142.80 (17.0.142.80) 119.513 ms 119.291 ms 121.497 ms

10 17.0.142.87 (17.0.142.87) 121.775 ms 122.855 ms 121.804 ms

11 17.168.2.81 (17.168.2.81) 125.378 ms 126.557 ms 125.366 ms

12 * * *

13 * * *

14 * * *

15 * * *

16 * * *

17 * * *

18 * * *

19 * * *

20 * * *

21 * * *

22 * * *

23 * * *

24 * * *

25 * * *

26 * * *

27 * * *

28 * * *

29 * * *

30 * * *

31 * * *

32 * * *

33 * * *

34 * * *

35 * * *

36 * * *

37 * * *

38 * * *

39 * * *

40 * * *

41 * * *

42 * * *

43 * * *

44 * * *

45 * * *

46 * * *

47 * * *

48 * * *

49 * * *

50 * * *

51 * * *

52 * * *

53 * * *

54 * * *

55 * * *

56 * * *

57 * * *

58 * * *

59 * * *

60 * * *

61 * * *

62 * * *

63 * * *

64 * * *

Im sure this tells you more than it does to me

Reply

Answer 9

npassaro Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 26, 2015 1:56 PM in response to npassaro

I realized that certain USB keys pop up with an orange icon and others with a grey/white icon. Does that say sth about the type of storage volume or something? Is there a limitation to certain types regarding the creation of bootable usb keys?

I don't get why it keeps either freezing or popping up error messages when copying the windows files from the image. For this particular part of the whole process, unlike the downloading of the support software, it wouldn't even need internet would it? I first thought that the .iso could be faulty but I tried with another one and got the same result.

Reply

Answer 10

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Apr 26, 2015 4:22 PM in response to npassaro

The icon is not critical.

As a test,

1. Erase the the USB

2. Find theappropriate version from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204048

3. If the table shows BCA or DVD, you cannot continue this test.

4. Download the appropriate software to this USB, which will be erased and formatted to FAT.

6. If this is successful, then the issue is related to the Apple CDN. You are hitting both US East and West coast data centers of Apple in your trace route test. You may have to try it several times.

Reply

Answer 11

npassaro Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 27, 2015 2:14 AM in response to Loner T

I did as you said, the table showed a 5 instead of BCA or DVD. I don't understand though what you mean by "the USB will be erased and formatted to FAT by downloading the software to it"?

Either way, when I then go into the boot camp assistant to try again, it formats my USB key again (and i cannot prevent it from doing so) bringing me back to where I was before.

Did I do sth wrong?

EDIT: The thing is also that it keeps getting stuck while copying the windows files. Until here there is no need for connecting to Apple's CDN right?

Reply

Answer 12

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Apr 27, 2015 5:28 AM in response to npassaro

Apple has two separate Software Repositories. You used the public repository which works fine.

The second Apple CDN Repository used by BCA has connectivity issues. If Apple decides to host one in Europe and another in Asia, it would make it easier for users to access repositories which are closer to them.

Your test was meant to verify if you could reach the public repositories or not. It is supposed to erase your USB each time BCA accesses the repository publicly or otherwise. Before you run BCA the second time, you can make a .dmg file from the USB you just downloaded via Disk Utility. Put this file in /Library/Applications\ Support/Bootcamp. Run BCA a second time, which is supposed to pick up the file from this directory. This does not always work, because BCA may mark it to be stale locally and still try to download it.

Reply

Answer 13

npassaro Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 27, 2015 9:57 AM in response to Loner T

Progress!

I tried again several USB keys. I am not sure what exactly made the difference but boot camp managed to both copy the windows files and the support software onto my 16 gb sandisk usb key.

I can also boot from it, however now the installation freezes when I have to choose the OS language, keyboard layout etc. Both the macbook keyboard and trackpad as well as my external mouse don't react. It doesn't even show me a cursor.

Could this be a faulty image? I already re tried but got the same outcome.

Any ideas?

Reply

Answer 14

npassaro Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 27, 2015 9:56 AM in response to npassaro

It works!

I had to delete the created partition for Bootcamp and then repartition it. Then keyboard and mouse worked.

@ Loner: I think regarding the initial problem the solution might have been actually your first reply regarding the allowed addresses in the proxy settings in combination with using the right USB key. Just out of curiosity I tried the whole thing with 3 other keys and none of them worked. The 16 GB SanDisk was the only working for me.

Many thanks for your help!!

Reply

Answer 15

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Apr 27, 2015 10:43 AM in response to npassaro

You may want to check your USB devices. A USB3 devices does not work, but a USB2 device works, because Windows installer does not come with built-in support for USB3.

To verify USB (2 or 3) you can use System Report.

Reply