Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

No bootable device, Win 7, Mid-2010 iMac,10.9.5

I recently had to restore my Macintosh HD drive from a super duper backup. Everything Mac related is running fine again, but it seems now I can no longer boot into Win 7 via bootcamp. When I select Bootcamp from the Startup Disk page in System Preferences and try a restart, Windows 7 does not boot. It hangs up and eventually says "No bootable device". When I reboot and hold the option key, Bootcamp is no longer an option.


I do have a Winclone backup of my bootcamp partition, but I'm not sure where to go from here. Thanks.

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), Mid 2010, 27-inch, 3.6 GHz i5

Posted on Oct 12, 2015 5:53 PM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Oct 12, 2015 9:54 PM

Most likely your OS X restore overwrote your MBR.


Please post the output of the following commands.


diskutil list

diskutil cs list

sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

sudo fdisk /dev/disk0


The "sudo" commands will prompt for your password, and it will not be echoed back. You may also see a warning about improper use of "sudo" and potential data loss due to "abuse" of the command.

11 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Oct 12, 2015 9:54 PM in response to cbcfly

Most likely your OS X restore overwrote your MBR.


Please post the output of the following commands.


diskutil list

diskutil cs list

sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

sudo fdisk /dev/disk0


The "sudo" commands will prompt for your password, and it will not be echoed back. You may also see a warning about improper use of "sudo" and potential data loss due to "abuse" of the command.

Oct 12, 2015 9:07 PM in response to Loner T

Sorry for the confusion. External drives disconnected now.


I have 2 internal drives. I added the second one a couple years back via OWC instructions. I use it mostly to store MS Flight Sim scenery - which is the main reason I still use Bootcamp. As seen below, it has two partitions - Caroline(Macstorage) and WINHD2. The Caroline partition was just extra storage for my daughter and the WINHD2 partition is NTFS and used for the flight sim stuff.


Here's the re-run:

User uploaded file

Oct 12, 2015 9:47 PM in response to cbcfly

You have a missing MBR on Disk1, which is most likely due to an OS X restore. Gdisk can be used to recreate the MBR. It is usually a 1:1 mapping of the GPT to MBR. Since you do not have a Recovery HD, this is fairly quick and painless.


1. Please download GPT Fdisk from http://sourceforge.net/projects/gptfdisk/.

2. Rebuild MBR to match the new GPT information thus resetting the Hybrid MBR. Use defaults for other questions (like partition codes). The only values that need modifications are the Boot flags and step 10. Accept all other defaults that Gdisk offers. Please see thesample Q&A as an example. These steps can be repeated if you make a mistake before you get to Step 12, otherwise start from Step 1 for these steps. Step 6 has numbers which are typed with a space between the numbers. Please see the sample Q&A before you execute these steps.

  1. Sudo gdisk /dev/rdisk1
  2. P (Print list of parts)
  3. R (Recover)
  4. O (print current Hybrid MBR)
  5. H (chooses Hybrid)
  6. Partitions numbers to be hybridized: 2 3 4
  7. Y (Good for GRUB question)
  8. N (part 2 boot flag)
  9. N (part 3 boot flag)
  10. Y (part 4 boot flag make NTFS bootable partition)
  11. O (print current Hybrid MBR)
  12. W (Write the new MBR)
  13. Y (Yes! write the new MBR)
  14. Reboot


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


Rebuild MBR to match the new GPT information thus resetting the Hybrid MBR. Use defaults for other questions (like partition codes). The only values that need modifications are the Boot flags and step 10. Accept all other defaults that Gdisk offers. Please see thesample Q&A as an example. These steps can be repeated if you make a mistake before you get to Step 12, otherwise start from Step 1 for these steps. Step 6 has numbers which are typed with a space between the numbers. Please see the sample Q&A before you execute these steps.

  1. Sudo gdisk /dev/rdisk0
  2. P (Print list of parts)
  3. R (Recover)
  4. O (print current Hybrid MBR)
  5. H (chooses Hybrid)
  6. Partitions numbers to be hybridized: 2 3 4
  7. Y (Good for GRUB question)
  8. N (part 2 boot flag)
  9. N (part 3 boot flag)
  10. Y (part 4 boot flag make NTFS bootable partition)
  11. O (print current Hybrid MBR)
  12. W (Write the new MBR)
  13. Y (Yes! write the new MBR)
  14. Reboot


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


Test 1 - Does Bootcamp Volume show up in Finder?

Test 2 - Can you see files in Bootcamp Volume?

Test 3 - Can you select Bootcamp in System Preferences -> Startup Disk?

Test 4 - If Test 3 is successful, select Bootcamp and Click Restart.


I am on the US East Coast, so may not be around for much longer. The above steps should work and are repeatable without causing any harm. If this does not work, can this wait till tomorrow morning for further analysis/diagnosis?

No bootable device, Win 7, Mid-2010 iMac,10.9.5

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.