Windows 10 install caused white screen of death

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Level 1

10 points

Windows 10 install caused white screen of death

I attempted to install windows 10 on a 2012 MBA, and ended up possibly bricking the machine. I created a USB install flash drive with Win10 on it after downloading the iso from Microsoft. Ran bootcamp, checked top 2 boxes (not Install Win 7, bottom check box). I had previously partitioned the drive to allocate space for windows, this might have been a mistake. The drive was partitioned in disk utility for 75GB Mac and 45GB for bootamp. I was expecting the screen to define the partition space between the Mac OS and windows but I never saw it. I went thru bootcamp, it created the bootable win10 flash drive with seemingly no issues, I pointed to the partition 4 (42GB), it rebooted and windows setup started, finished installation, then after reboot, nothing but a blank white screen. The mac sound chimes but nothing else. I tried option key at powerup with a El Capitan flash drive, but no go. Then slight panic set in. I tried cmd-R, opt-cmd-P-R, T key, and others. Is there another key combo I can try? I have a good working OS X 10.11 usb flash drive but it doesnt see it at all. This was a perfectly working machine before I attempted this. Please help.

MacBook, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

Posted on Dec 14, 2015 9:34 AM

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Answer 1

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Dec 14, 2015 2:35 PM in response to gman76a

Was your Mac connected to the Internet when Windows was installed? If yes, you may want to re-install W10 without an internet connection (disconnect from the internet when the Windows Installer brings up the partition screen). It is very unlikely that your Apple Bootmanager is not working.

Another option is to boot into Internet Recovery(Command+Opt+R) and look at the current partition state. In Internet Recovery, you can also install OSX on an external volume as documented in How to install OS X on an external drive connected to your Mac - Apple Support .

The drive was partitioned in disk utility for 75GB Mac and 45GB for bootamp. I was expecting the screen to define the partition space between the Mac OS and windows but I never saw it.

This is contradictory. Either you let BCA partition the disk or DU, but you cannot use both. If you ended up with an EFI installation, Windows may have put an incorrect EFI partition in place.

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Answer 2

gman76a Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 14, 2015 2:18 PM in response to Loner T

No, there is nothing on the screen, no text, no logo, just blank white screen. I believe I tried both flash drives (os x 10.11 and win10 installer). But I will try again to be sure. I think I may try what someone suggested on ifixit. The boot manager got corrupted to point to ONLY the SSD as the boot disk, so I'll never see anything since the SSD is jacked up. They said remove the back to expose the ssd connector and unplug it, then power up with a usb flash drive, ... Fingers crossed.

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Answer 3

gman76a Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 14, 2015 4:42 PM in response to Loner T

Thanks Loner T, I think I enabled wifi before starting the whole process. So I will keep wifi off next time. Regarding partitioning, I partitioned using DU which might hv been a mistake. I booted into the win10 flash usb and did not use BCA to partition. As I said, I was expecting to see the partitioning dialog but never got to that. Yes, as you say, I think windows trashed the EFI. This is why I think it might work to remove the ssd from its socket and boot. Do you know if the El Capitan installer (usb flash drive) has a recovery partition built in?

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Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Dec 14, 2015 6:39 PM in response to gman76a

My recommendation is to use Internet Recovery and install OS X on an external drive as shown the link I posted. Make sure you upgrade OS X on this drive to the same version (at least) as the OS X version you were running before the problem occurred, otherwise you will create a new set of problems.

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Answer 5

gman76a Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 15, 2015 8:11 PM in response to Loner T

Update: finally got a P5 screwdriver, opened MBA, removed SSD from socket. Booted from usb flash drive with option key pressed, good news, I see the apple logo and usb drive to start. It then gets me to the install screen at which point I could either run DU or select StartUp disk. Well StartUp disk shows a blank screen. In DU, I can see the usb and two other drives, OS X Base System (1.32GB) and OS X Install ESD (6.43GB). These must be flash on the motherboard (?). Since I cant change the startup disk, I need to reboot, but I cant reboot with the SSD installed otherwise white blank screen. So rebooted & hot plugged the SSD at the point where the usb installer was just before finishing, and I could finally see the SSD. It was just as I left it before the bricking event - 2 partitions - Mac OS 75GB and Win10 45GB. Ran FirstAid on each partition and both passed. So I ran DU and thought I was home free, just erase entire SSD. Not so fast. When I tried this, the erase operation FAILED. I thought WTH! I did not try to erase individual partitions - that's the next thing I try. Unless someone can tell me I can run a command from the Terminal, b/c that is an option. Anyway I really corrupted the SSD bad.

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Answer 6

gman76a Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 16, 2015 7:24 PM in response to Loner T

I ran disk until list but didnt grab the output. The SSD had 12 disks (disk5 thru disk17), each about 1MB. What I meant try last time before I ran out of time was to select the windows partition and erase it (using DU). Previously I selected the top level SSD (the whole drive) and that could not be erased. This time I selected the windows partition and I was able to erase it!! I then selected the Mac partition and erased, then the entire drive. I was in business again. I quit DU, and proceeded to install el capital from the usb flash drive. El Cap now installed on the SSD. I am going to be very careful when attempting to install win10 now, using BCA all the way thru. The instructions on Apple page are too simplistic, any suggestions for a detailed set of instructions?

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