Black screen after partitioning disk

I have installed Windows 10 in Bootcamp on three Macs recently:

iMac 2016 - a breeze,

MacBook Pro 2016 - easy-peazy,

MacMini 2013 - not much fun at all,

The Mini threw up a bunch of install error messages similar to those quoted in this thread. However your tip to reset the NVRAM got me back on track and for good measure I swapped the Windows ISO USB drive to a different port and was then able to install Windows 10 from the 'Windows' disk icon at the boot select page. This Mini had actually been out of use for the past 18 months and I'm pretty sure the logic board battery had run low. Anyway, thanks so much for the advice. Not sure I would ever have figured this issue out on my own!

Please do not forget back ups. 😉

Which brand finally worked? I'm having the exact same issue as you did and I want to buy a USB that will actually work. Thanks.

Buy the SanDisk Cruzer USB2.

As some others have mentioned, I too had this problem. I tried installing using a USB3 flash drive and got the black screen. Try resetting the SRC and PRAM as mentioned earlier in the post and then use a USB2 flash drive. Worked for me.

Hey so I've basically still got the same problem, but in a bit of a different case.

I'm trying to install Windows 10 via usb on my MBP early 2011 15''. This version used to have an optical drive, but I have a second hard disk in there now. I went around this by simply changing the plist of BCA to accept USB as an option on my model as well. Not sure if this is a factor - a friend of mine had an even older MBP and did the same successfully.

Anyway - I run BCA and go through the steps accordingly - get the iso I have from Microsoft directly on a USB 2.0 together with the drivers I need, partition the disk. All good so far, and when BCA restarts the PC by itself I get the following error:

"No bootable device - insert boot disk and press any key"

If I do a hard reset and hold the alt key on startup I see an EFI option. Choosing it leads me to an actual Windows 10 installer where I get the same error as the original poster: both regarding MBP and NTFS.

I've tried the SMC and NVRAM resets, but they don't seem to help my particular case. Any clues as to what I could do next?

Cheers,

Alex

lnaltu wrote:

Hey so I've basically still got the same problem, but in a bit of a different case.

Your 2011 Model is different. You need to re-install the Optical drive in the Optibay, the Windows designated drive in the

main bay, install Windows, and then replace the Optical drive with the second hard disk.

Are you sure though? My flat mate managed to get Windows 10 with this method on his 2010er. And I also had the installer running so it did boot from USB. Where does the issue lie? I'd just like to be sure before I go on opening up the MBP all over again.

Does his Audio work? On 2010/2011 models, using Rufus, Unetbootin or other modifications, EFI boot can be started. The firmware on 2010/2011 does not expose some hardware correctly, which causes drivers to misbehave or GPUs to work very hot/not at all. The Black screen is one such issue. There are others.

The MBR/NTFS error is expected. EFI can only be installed on GPT-only disks. Apple uses a Hybrid MBR to simulate a MBR disk and hides the GPT under it. It has it's own challenges. Your 2011 model supports MBR/BIOS, which is mimicked on an Hybrid MBR disk using a layer called CSM-BIOS. You do not have this layer when EFI boot is used. The CSM-BIOS layer is also used to expose embedded devices (for example Cirrus or RealTek audio).

You can experiment, if you have the time, energy and inclination and learn. 😉