PaulMcI
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Q: Windows installer shows Time Machine HDD when not plugged in

Hey.

 

I'm trying to install Windows 7 Professional 64bit, which mounted onto a USB 2 drive smoothly via Bootcamp. All updates have been downloaded via Bootcamp and the partition size I'm designating to Windows on my Macbook Pro 11.2 is 100GB.

 

On Windows installer I'm obstructed by a message that "Setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition" even though I used the installer to format the bootcamp partition to NTFS. A few topics on here have suggested this error shows when there is an external HDD connected that isn't being used. Some people have even said that changing the USB port of the Windows installer USB stick works.

 

For me, I don't have my Time Machine external hdd connected and it's still showing up (the 619GB partition). It's not showing up on Disk Utility on OS X and hasn't been plugged in for a few restarts etc. but is still showing on the Windows installer.


Does anyone have any advice on how to solve this?

 


IMG_20151014_152918.jpg

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Oct 14, 2015 7:55 AM

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PaulMcI

Q: Windows installer shows Time Machine HDD when not plugged in

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Oct 14, 2015 8:05 AM in response to PaulMcI
    Level 7 (24,825 points)
    Safari
    Oct 14, 2015 8:05 AM in response to PaulMcI

    It is not a Time Machine HDD, it is a 619 MB (not GB) OSX Recovery HD and is expected.

     

     

    You have a different issue. Run Disk Utility and Repair Disk and then

     

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

    How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

     

    Please try your BCA again. You may have to remove the current partition and start over again. If you are using Alt/Option key to interrupt the installation or using a external USB HDD/SSD instead of a flash drive, you will have these problems.

     

    Reference - Boot Camp: "We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one" alert during Windows 8 install - Apple Support .

  • by PaulMcI,

    PaulMcI PaulMcI Oct 14, 2015 8:22 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 14, 2015 8:22 AM in response to Loner T

    Thanks for your reply.

    My dyslexia definitely won that battle.

     

    My bootable USB has 16gb capacity and over 7GB available after mounting Windows installer, so is the 200MB also something that should be there?

     

    I've removed the partition via Bootcamp, consolidated the drive and then started again from scratch three times now. I've just tried the two steps that you detailed to do after Repair Disk and it's still not working.

     

    I'm definitely using a USB pen drive and I've only had to hold option to boot after the install has failed and before consolidating the partitions and trying a fresh install.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Oct 14, 2015 8:26 AM in response to PaulMcI
    Level 7 (24,825 points)
    Safari
    Oct 14, 2015 8:26 AM in response to PaulMcI

    What year/model is your Mac? Please post the output of the following OSX Terminal 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.

  • by PaulMcI,

    PaulMcI PaulMcI Oct 14, 2015 8:35 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 14, 2015 8:35 AM in response to Loner T

    MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)

     

    Last login: Wed Oct 14 16:31:00 on ttys000

    Pauls-MBP:~ Paul$ diskutil list

    /dev/disk0

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *251.0 GB   disk0

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1

       2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         250.1 GB   disk0s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s4

    /dev/disk1

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:                  Apple_HFS Untitled 1             *249.8 GB   disk1

                                     Logical Volume on disk0s2

                                     6AB6F133-5FE1-4AB4-8E30-F7604403DA98

                                     Unencrypted

    /dev/disk2

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *15.7 GB    disk2

       1:                 DOS_FAT_32 WININSTALL              15.7 GB    disk2s1

    /dev/disk3

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:                            W7SP1_HOMEPREMIUM      *5.6 GB     disk3

    Pauls-MBP:~ Paul$ diskutil cs list

    CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)

    |

    +-- Logical Volume Group 8AE6FF34-4D79-4682-AA4D-8C7A65F02D64

        =========================================================

        Name:         Untitled 1

        Status:       Online

        Size:         250140434432 B (250.1 GB)

        Free Space:   18882560 B (18.9 MB)

        |

        +-< Physical Volume 4963951C-AA61-43FC-9E8E-6F980FB6E7C9

        |   ----------------------------------------------------

        |   Index:    0

        |   Disk:     disk0s2

        |   Status:   Online

        |   Size:     250140434432 B (250.1 GB)

        |

        +-> Logical Volume Family B94D303D-8DE1-45E7-B39B-1F7AE7202602

            ----------------------------------------------------------

            Encryption Status:       Unlocked

            Encryption Type:         None

            Conversion Status:       NoConversion

            Conversion Direction:    -none-

            Has Encrypted Extents:   No

            Fully Secure:            No

            Passphrase Required:     No

            |

            +-> Logical Volume 6AB6F133-5FE1-4AB4-8E30-F7604403DA98

                ---------------------------------------------------

                Disk:                  disk1

                Status:                Online

                Size (Total):          249769230336 B (249.8 GB)

                Conversion Progress:   -none-

                Revertible:            Yes (no decryption required)

                LV Name:               Untitled 1

                Volume Name:           Untitled 1

                Content Hint:          Apple_HFS

    Pauls-MBP:~ Paul$ sudo gpt-vv -r show /dev/disk0

    Password:

    sudo: gpt-vv: command not found

    Pauls-MBP:~ Paul$ sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: mediasize=251000193024; sectorsize=512; blocks=490234752

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: PMBR at sector 0

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: Pri GPT at sector 1

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: Sec GPT at sector 490234751

          start       size  index  contents

              0          1         PMBR

              1          1         Pri GPT header

              2         32         Pri GPT table

             34          6        

             40     409600      1  GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B

         409640  488555536      2  GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

      488965176    1269536      3  GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

      490234712          7        

      490234719         32         Sec GPT table

      490234751          1         Sec GPT header

    Pauls-MBP:~ Paul$ sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

    Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 30515/255/63 [490234752 sectors]

    Signature: 0xAA55

             Starting       Ending

    #: id  cyl  hd sec -  cyl  hd sec [     start -       size]

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    1: EE 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [         1 -  490234751] <Unknown ID>

    2: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     

    3: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     

    4: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     

    Pauls-MBP:~ Paul$

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Oct 14, 2015 8:42 AM in response to PaulMcI
    Level 7 (24,825 points)
    Safari
    Oct 14, 2015 8:42 AM in response to PaulMcI

    Can you disconnect disk3 and test?

  • by PaulMcI,

    PaulMcI PaulMcI Oct 14, 2015 8:54 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 14, 2015 8:54 AM in response to Loner T

    I think disk 3 is the Windows USB?
    I've just disconnected it

     

     

     

    Last login: Wed Oct 14 16:33:54 on ttys000

    Pauls-MBP:~ Paul$ diskutil list

    /dev/disk0

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *251.0 GB   disk0

       1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1

       2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         250.1 GB   disk0s2

       3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s4

    /dev/disk1

       #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

       0:                  Apple_HFS Untitled 1             *249.8 GB   disk1

                                     Logical Volume on disk0s2

                                     6AB6F133-5FE1-4AB4-8E30-F7604403DA98

                                     Unencrypted

    Pauls-MBP:~ Paul$ diskutil cs list

    CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)

    |

    +-- Logical Volume Group 8AE6FF34-4D79-4682-AA4D-8C7A65F02D64

        =========================================================

        Name:         Untitled 1

        Status:       Online

        Size:         250140434432 B (250.1 GB)

        Free Space:   18882560 B (18.9 MB)

        |

        +-< Physical Volume 4963951C-AA61-43FC-9E8E-6F980FB6E7C9

        |   ----------------------------------------------------

        |   Index:    0

        |   Disk:     disk0s2

        |   Status:   Online

        |   Size:     250140434432 B (250.1 GB)

        |

        +-> Logical Volume Family B94D303D-8DE1-45E7-B39B-1F7AE7202602

            ----------------------------------------------------------

            Encryption Status:       Unlocked

            Encryption Type:         None

            Conversion Status:       NoConversion

            Conversion Direction:    -none-

            Has Encrypted Extents:   No

            Fully Secure:            No

            Passphrase Required:     No

            |

            +-> Logical Volume 6AB6F133-5FE1-4AB4-8E30-F7604403DA98

                ---------------------------------------------------

                Disk:                  disk1

                Status:                Online

                Size (Total):          249769230336 B (249.8 GB)

                Conversion Progress:   -none-

                Revertible:            Yes (no decryption required)

                LV Name:               Untitled 1

                Volume Name:           Untitled 1

                Content Hint:          Apple_HFS

    Pauls-MBP:~ Paul$ sudo gpt -vv -r -show /dev/disk0

    Password:

    gpt: illegal option -- s

    usage: gpt [-rv] [-p nparts] command [options] device ...

    Pauls-MBP:~ Paul$ sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: mediasize=251000193024; sectorsize=512; blocks=490234752

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: PMBR at sector 0

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: Pri GPT at sector 1

    gpt show: /dev/disk0: Sec GPT at sector 490234751

          start       size  index  contents

              0          1         PMBR

              1          1         Pri GPT header

              2         32         Pri GPT table

             34          6        

             40     409600      1  GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B

         409640  488555536      2  GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

      488965176    1269536      3  GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

      490234712          7        

      490234719         32         Sec GPT table

      490234751          1         Sec GPT header

    Pauls-MBP:~ Paul$ sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

    Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 30515/255/63 [490234752 sectors]

    Signature: 0xAA55

             Starting       Ending

    #: id  cyl  hd sec -  cyl  hd sec [     start -       size]

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    1: EE 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [         1 -  490234751] <Unknown ID>

    2: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     

    3: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     

    4: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused     

    Pauls-MBP:~ Paul$

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Oct 14, 2015 9:05 AM in response to PaulMcI
    Level 7 (24,825 points)
    Safari
    Oct 14, 2015 9:05 AM in response to PaulMcI

    In the first listing you had disk2 and disk3. Disk2 was the USB installer built by BC Assistant. Are disk2 and disk3 on the same physical disk?

  • by PaulMcI,

    PaulMcI PaulMcI Oct 14, 2015 9:15 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 14, 2015 9:15 AM in response to Loner T

    I don't think so.

    On Disk Utilities the Windows installer shows up as the only partition on the disk. It's been formatted with Disk Utility and then processed by Bootcamp to load the Windows ISO.

     

    Would you like me to plug just the Windows installer USB and retry the Terminal commands?

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Oct 14, 2015 9:21 AM in response to PaulMcI
    Level 7 (24,825 points)
    Safari
    Oct 14, 2015 9:21 AM in response to PaulMcI

    Do you have two USB devices (disk2 and disk3)? If yes, plug-in what was disk2 and check diskutil list.