Windows 7 - DVD & USB 'Not Recognized' by El Capitan

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asakhai Author

Level 1

8 points

Windows 7 - DVD & USB 'Not Recognized' by El Capitan

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)

Processor: 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7

Memory: 16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

Startup: Macintosh HD

Trying to Install: Windows 7 Home Premium

Hello Community,

I wiped my Bootcamp and Mac OS to start fresh.

I did a clean-install of El Capitan, but I'm running into issues with Bootcamp Assistant.

Bootcamp Assistant will frequently tell me 'The installer disc could not be found'

I've tried:

-Multiple USBs from different .ISO images

-A physical DVD (the DVD/CD drive just keeps spitting out the Windows 7 disc--- disc has no scratches--- but ever other CD works fine)

-Using multiple older versions of Bootcamp (5.04, 5.03, and couple others) with modified .plists

-Using Daemon tools to mount the image (this got me a little further, but this process fails when the Bootcamp Assistant reboots my Mac-- giving me one of two messages in the blank black screens)

Thanks for any help in advance!

diskutil list

diskutil cs list

sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

Posted on Oct 12, 2015 7:54 PM

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Answer 1

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Oct 12, 2015 7:59 PM in response to asakhai

asakhai wrote:

-A physical DVD (the DVD/CD drive just keeps spitting out the Windows 7 disc--- disc has no scratches--- but ever other CD works fine)

1. Your Mac does not support Windows installation via USB.

2. Test your Optical drive with a DVD, not a CD.

3. Does the Windows DVD show up in OS X Finder and can you read files from the DVD?

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Answer 2

asakhai Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 12, 2015 8:20 PM in response to Loner T

1) Okay.

2) You were right-- I tried a CD. DVDs don't work (none of them!). It used to play DVDs before El Capitan-- what gives?

3) No, the optical drive won't read any DVDs. It was not doing this before El Capitan.

My System info says it is supposed to read DVDs.

How can I fix this? Buying a Super-Drive won't be possible.

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Answer 3

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Oct 12, 2015 9:27 PM in response to asakhai

CDs will play almost anywhere. The problem with DVDs (and optical drives) is licensing. In most cases, there are certificates attached to these which expire. It is unfortunate that a perpetual certificate was not used, to prevent abuse of moving drives around to different physical machines. Some the older ODs will start working if system date is set far back, say to 2008-2010, but later ODs will not allow this. Most such machines are outside Apple Care, so they cannot be fixed. You should still take it to nearest Apple Store and get a Genius to look at it. Lens cleaning may also help. If CDs work, the certificate/timer issue is the most likely issue.

Your Mac will not support an external OD, so do not waste money on one.

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Answer 4

asakhai Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 12, 2015 10:02 PM in response to Loner T

I use this version of Windows 7 at my office on several PC's

I reformat regularly using this disc image

I don't think it has to do with any expiration on the disc.

The optical drive is not subject to licensing either (I mean, it would be weird if Apple said 'this drive will stop working after El Capitan').

CDs do work.

How do I change the Certificate/Timer issue?

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Answer 5

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Oct 13, 2015 4:52 AM in response to asakhai

asakhai wrote:

I use this version of Windows 7 at my office on several PC's. I reformat regularly using this disc image

I don't think it has to do with any expiration on the disc.

This is not related to the expiration of the disc, but the Optical drive certificate.

The optical drive is not subject to licensing either (I mean, it would be weird if Apple said 'this drive will stop working after El Capitan').

How do I change the Certificate/Timer issue?

There is royalty and licensing associated with DVD drive sold due to DVD CSS. Try the following two steps, but these may not work,

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support ?

Can you also try and clean the lens of the Optical drive?

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Answer 6

asakhai Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 13, 2015 7:46 AM in response to Loner T

I tried a SMC and NVRAM. It did not work.

Does this issue have anything to do with the:

-SIP

-EFI Boot

-Blessing certain features in terminal

http://blog.twocanoes.com/post/130271331763/how-el-capitan-boot-camp-is-affected -by-apples

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Answer 7

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Oct 13, 2015 7:51 AM in response to asakhai

You can disable SIP using csrutil in Local Recovery. EFI Boot will be a factor, if the DVD can be read. If the Optical drive cannot read it, there is no EFI Boot in the picture. Bless is allowed using certificates that Apple has deployed on the Mac. Find an external Optical drive and connect it and see if you can read the DVD.

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