Q: PCIe considered external and bootcamp won't install

So I have mid 2012 MacPro tower with an OWC Mercury Accelsior E2 PCIe SSD inside. I would like to install Windows 7 via Bootcamp on this drive, however when I load up bootcamp I am unable to start the install (the option is shaded out and I am unable to select the install option). I've taken a look on the forums however I have found nothing that can fix this, besides the fact that the PCIe is considered external, and bootcamp won't load to an external drive. How do I fix this?

Posted on Jun 29, 2015 7:46 AM

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by Loner T,

Loner T Jun 29, 2015 8:03 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith
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Jun 29, 2015 8:03 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith

Run a SMC reset and try again.

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support
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by James Di Paolo Smith,

James Di Paolo Smith Jun 29, 2015 8:18 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith
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Jun 29, 2015 8:18 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith

It also prompts me with the message "You cannot partition an external disk, a RAID disk or an internal disk on which FireVault encryption is in progress" when I load up bootcamp. FireVault is off and the drive is not set to RAID, so I take it the fact that the computer thinks that it is external is the issue. How do I get around this?
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by James Di Paolo Smith,

James Di Paolo Smith Jun 29, 2015 8:25 AM in response to Loner T
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Jun 29, 2015 8:25 AM in response to Loner T

It's giving me the same thing.
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by Loner T,

Loner T Jun 29, 2015 8:31 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith
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Jun 29, 2015 8:31 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith

You should remove all disks from the MP that are not going to participate in the Windows installation. You should have the designated Windows disk and OSX disk and the CD/DVD with Keyboard, Mouse and Display only.
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by James Di Paolo Smith,

James Di Paolo Smith Jun 29, 2015 8:34 AM in response to Loner T
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Jun 29, 2015 8:34 AM in response to Loner T

All I have in the tower is the designated PCIe disk, however nothing has changed.
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by Loner T,

Loner T Jun 29, 2015 8:50 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith
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Jun 29, 2015 8:50 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith

Is there a PCie card reset utility provided by OWC for you card?
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by James Di Paolo Smith,

James Di Paolo Smith Jun 29, 2015 9:00 AM in response to Loner T
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Jun 29, 2015 9:00 AM in response to Loner T

Unfortunately no.
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by Loner T,

Loner T Jun 29, 2015 9:13 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith
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Jun 29, 2015 9:13 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith

Can you post the output of diskutil list from OSX Terminal? Pick the SSD and run diskutil info /dev/diskN where N points to the SSD. Post the output for both.

Windows won't boot when OS X drive is plugged in... is using a CalDigit card, and similar OWC drive. The CalDigit needed a "reset'. Your PCIe card probably also needs a "reset".
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by James Di Paolo Smith,

James Di Paolo Smith Jun 29, 2015 9:36 AM in response to Loner T
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Jun 29, 2015 9:36 AM in response to Loner T

/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *479.9 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS MAC PCIe                479.6 GB   disk0s2

All I have is the one drive in the computer which I currently have running OSX 10.10.2.

It denies me any further permission to view the disk through terminal.
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by Loner T,

Loner T Jun 29, 2015 9:45 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith
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Jun 29, 2015 9:45 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith

Does diskutil info /dev/disk0 work?
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by James Di Paolo Smith,

James Di Paolo Smith Jun 29, 2015 9:49 AM in response to Loner T
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Jun 29, 2015 9:49 AM in response to Loner T

Last login: Mon Jun 29 12:44:29 on console
James-Mac-Pro-2:~ jSmith$ diskutil info /dev/disk0
   Device Identifier:        disk0
   Device Node:              /dev/disk0
   Part of Whole:            disk0
   Device / Media Name:      OWC Mercury Accelsior PCIe SSD Media

   Volume Name:              Not applicable (no file system)

   Mounted:                  Not applicable (no file system)

   File System:              None

   Content (IOContent):      GUID_partition_scheme
   OS Can Be Installed:      No
   Media Type:               Generic
   Protocol:                 SATA
   SMART Status:             Not Supported

   Total Size:               479.9 GB (479946997760 Bytes) (exactly 937396480 512-Byte-Units)
   Volume Free Space:        Not applicable (no file system)
   Device Block Size:        512 Bytes

   Read-Only Media:          No
   Read-Only Volume:         Not applicable (no file system)
   Ejectable:                Yes

   Whole:                    Yes
   Internal:                 No
   Solid State:              No
   OS 9 Drivers:             No
   Low Level Format:         Not supported

James-Mac-Pro-2:~ jSmith$
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by Loner T,

Loner T Jun 29, 2015 9:55 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith
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Jun 29, 2015 9:55 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith

Is it possible to connect this SSD directly to one of the internal SATA ports as a test?
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by James Di Paolo Smith,

James Di Paolo Smith Jun 29, 2015 9:59 AM in response to Loner T
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Jun 29, 2015 9:59 AM in response to Loner T

No. I can only connect it to the RAID ports.
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by Loner T,

Loner T Jun 29, 2015 10:08 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith
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Jun 29, 2015 10:08 AM in response to James Di Paolo Smith

As a test, instead of formatting this as a GPT disk, can you format the entire disk as an MBR disk using Disk Utility and try the BCA installation?
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