I have tried installing Windows 7 on my Mac mini but, I run into the issue of my display not reading after it has rebooted to run the install. I have tried switching to an HDMI display which seems to work but, the system is not responsive to key and mouse input. I can't figure out for the life of me what is happening here, any takers?
Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), BootCamp
What model Mini?
What version of Boot Camp Assistant?
Install Windows 7 and earlier on your Mac using Boot Camp - Apple Support
If you are using a USB installer, please ensure that your USB is a USB2 flash drive. Disconnect all other external peripherals.
Well I've actually gotten control over keyboard. And mouse functions the second time around, for some reason, this 14' Mac Mini doesn't do mini display to VGA when installing Windows. The issue now seems to be not being able to format the partition to NTFS for some reason I cannot understand.
BCA will create a FAT partition, but the Installer should allow you to format it. Do you get an error message when you format the partition?
Please also see https://help.apple.com/bootcamp/assistant/6.0/#/bcmp09f5f773 .
Yes, BootCamp did create the partition but when I attempt to format, I do get an error and I do not recolect what the error is but it will not format the partition
Can you try the installation again and capture the exact error message?
I was away so I could not get that piece of information regarding the format error for the partition. I have since the issue reformatted the whole drive (excluding the recovery for obvious reasons). Reinstalled OS X (El Capitan), ran thru the BootCamp prep to begin installation (note I am now using a DVI cable w/adapter which seems to address the non-responsive display issue). I have keyboard and mouse control and able to navigate the Windows installation GUI. Now here is the moment of truth, after selecting the BootCamp partition and click the format option with no errors as was before previously, aside from the spinning disc (cursor) nothing appears to happen to the partition other then the name of the partition which now omits 'BootCamp'. Upon selecting the partition, I get an error message in the same window stating 'Setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition. See the Setup log files for more information.'
Now I don't think its possible to view the log files in the installation setup here so I don't know exactly how else to do this and more importantly trying to troubleshoot the installation process. Any ideas?
Target Machine: (late 14' Mac Mini)
Proc: 2.6 GHz i5
Storage 1 TB 5400 RPM
Target installation OS: Windows 7 Pro x64
Yeah did before formatting the whole drive, something to the effect of it having the recovery information, but now I don't get that error when attempting to format.
Please disconnect all external storage as documented in Boot Camp: "We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one" alert during Windows 8 install - Apple Support and run the following two procedures and try again.
Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support
Windows 7 BootCamp installation issues
