Windows installer won't open. Stuck with black screen.

Question

Level 1

45 points

Windows installer won't open. Stuck with black screen.

Hello all,

I'm trying to install windows 7 from an iso file using Bootcamp assistant, Version 6.0.1, but unfortunately the windows installer just will not open so i'm stuck with that black screen. I've let my MacBookPro sit around with that black screen for over half an hour and after a while it gets really really hot so I interrupted the "process".

I've reset the NVRAM (command+alt+p+r) which didn't do anything.

I did follow bootcamp instructions. I downloaded the correct drivers for my model of mac book pro, I created a bootable drive and partitioned my disk.

The forum has quite a lot of "black screen issues" but none of their solutions worked out for me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Jan 26, 2016 10:58 AM

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Answer 1

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 27, 2016 10:52 AM in response to rolffrombc

1. Let BCA create the USB installer, but do not partition your drive.

2. Download the drivers appropriate from Install Windows 7 and earlier on your Mac using Boot Camp - Apple Support and replace $WinPEDriver$, AutoUnattend.xml and the entire Bootcamp folder on the USB2 flash drive.

3. Run BCA, connect the USB, and only choose the Install Windows icon and test if the Installer starts.

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Answer 2

rolffrombc Author

Level 1

45 points

Jan 27, 2016 10:51 AM in response to Loner T

Hi Loner T,

Thanks for your reply. I spend BCA created the USB installer ( I manually had to download the drivers since I'm trying to install Windows 7) but I didn't partition my drive. I opened BCA only selected Install windows 7 or later version ( I had to partition my drive then ) and the MBP rebooted- To the black screen of course😕. After a few minutes an error message came up saying: Non-system disk Press any key to reboot. Well the only key that worked to reboot was the power button😝. So i held down the option key while rebooting and came to the screen where you select which disk to boot from and the windows installer disk wasn't there! ( I am using an 8GB micro-sd card in a usb card reader. That should be fine, right? )

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

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Answer 3

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 27, 2016 11:56 AM in response to rolffrombc

rolffrombc wrote:

So i held down the option key while rebooting and came to the screen where you select which disk to boot from and the windows installer disk wasn't there! ( I am using an 8GB micro-sd card in a usb card reader. That should be fine, right? )

Windows Installers have no SD card drivers. Please use a USB2.0 flash drive.

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Answer 4

rolffrombc Author

Level 1

45 points

Jan 27, 2016 12:07 PM in response to Loner T

I have a nexxtech 16 GB USB 2.0 flash drive not recognized by my MBP 3.0 ports but it works normally with my iMac's USB 2.0 ports. Anything I can do to make that thing work with my MBP?

Thanks!

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Answer 5

rolffrombc Author

Level 1

45 points

Jan 31, 2016 11:16 AM in response to Loner T

Hi loner T,

I tried to install windows 7 again with a USB2.0 flash drive but it still did not work. Since I downloaded my Iso-image from the www I thought setting the " allow apps downloaded from" to "Anywhere" ( found in system preferences ) might do the trick but it did not work out. Is there anything I can do to make BCA open the windows installer? Should the BCA Support-software be on the same flash drive as the iso image?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

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Answer 6

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 31, 2016 12:56 PM in response to rolffrombc

W7 has no USB3 drivers. Your MBP will support USB2 or USB3 without any issues. BCA combines the ISO and Windows drivers on to the USB. This should not be done manually, but using BCA. The steps to replace the folders is because El Capitan provides BC6 drivers, while you need BC5 drivers for W7.

Does BCA create the USB properly? If yes, shutdown your MBP, power it up with the BCA-created USB connected and hold the Alt/Option key. Do you see a USB selection which says Windows?

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Answer 7

rolffrombc Author

Level 1

45 points

Jan 31, 2016 2:37 PM in response to Loner T

Thanks,

I'll try that!

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Answer 8

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 31, 2016 3:29 PM in response to rolffrombc

Please post any error messages/images if you encounter them.

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Answer 9

rolffrombc Author

Level 1

45 points

Jan 31, 2016 7:09 PM in response to Loner T

Hi Loner T,

BCA copied the Iso to the flash drive and when it's done it takes me to this screen.

I guess BCA knows ( maybe from the Iso ) that I want to install W7. I just copied the BC5 folder to the flash drive. Hope that's ok.

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Answer 10

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 31, 2016 7:50 PM in response to rolffrombc

You should have $WinPEDriver$, AutoUnattend.xml, Bootcamp in addition to files contained on the ISO. If it looks reasonable, please continue. You still be asked to partition your drive by BCA.

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Answer 11

rolffrombc Author

Level 1

45 points

Jan 31, 2016 7:56 PM in response to Loner T

Hi Loner T,

After the windows installer (finally) opened and I set my region language etc. I came to this screen:

I clicked install now and it took me right to this screen full of errors:

Did you ever encounter this problem before? Any fixes? Also I have this blue bar on my login screen ever since fooling around with BC.This is the login screen with the blue bar.

Thanks!

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Answer 12

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 31, 2016 8:18 PM in response to rolffrombc

1. Is your ISO a mixed 32-bit/64-bit ISO?

2. Install.wim being larger than 4GB is problematic since the USB is FAT. Can you check the size on the ISO?

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Answer 13

rolffrombc Author

Level 1

45 points

Jan 31, 2016 8:25 PM in response to Loner T

Hi Loner T,

Thanks for your quick reply!

My iso is 64 bit and has a size of 3.32 GB.

Thanks

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Answer 14

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jan 31, 2016 9:23 PM in response to rolffrombc

If the ISO came from Microsoft, it can be corrupted. Can you download a new copy and check that it's MD5sum is different, before you go through an attempt of building/installing?

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Answer 15

rolffrombc Author

Level 1

45 points

Jan 31, 2016 9:40 PM in response to Loner T

Hi,

I bought my ISO from http://www.softwarebilliger.de/ ( a german online software retailer).

And by the way what is MD5sum ? Wikipedia says it's like a fingerprint of a file, is that correct?

Thanks

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