dapilzz

Q: Windows 8.1 via Boot Camp on El Capitan, iMac mid 2011

I am desperately trying for a while now to do a bootcamp installation of Windows 8.1 on my mid 2011 iMac 21,5' with El Capitan.

A lot of workarounds do exist for older iMac's like mine, but nothing seems to work for me. I already applied the BCA "hack" of editing the info.plist to make the option of generating an install disk available, i also tried the "old fashioned" way of installing via burning the iso image on a dvd.

I already tried multiple usb sticks (8 and 32 GB).

The result is always the same: "no bootable device found; insert one and press any key".

If theres any suggestion on how to get windows on my Mac, i would be really happy. I don't mind which way, as mentioned before i still have an internal optical drive.

Regards

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Aug 23, 2016 6:43 AM

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Q: Windows 8.1 via Boot Camp on El Capitan, iMac mid 2011

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  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Aug 23, 2016 11:12 AM in response to dapilzz
    Level 7 (23,613 points)
    Safari
    Aug 23, 2016 11:12 AM in response to dapilzz

    I downloaded the same file.

     

    ls -lgh Win8.1_Pro_N_German_x64.iso

    -rw-r--r--@ 1 staff   3.8G Jul  8 11:29 Win8.1_Pro_N_German_x64.iso

    openssl md5 Win8.1_Pro_N_German_x64.iso

    MD5(Win8.1_Pro_N_German_x64.iso)= 27b31a1b7f3f75148ea516a7ca77ef94

    The MD5sum matches, so the ISO seems to be fine.

     

    Can you use this ISO to create a USB installer, using BCA and using only the first two options? Can you use a USB2 flash drive of 8+ GB?

  • by dapilzz,

    dapilzz dapilzz Aug 23, 2016 11:21 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Windows Software
    Aug 23, 2016 11:21 AM in response to Loner T

    I'm doing that right now, but why exactly? since you said before an usb install is not possible.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Aug 23, 2016 11:26 AM in response to dapilzz
    Level 7 (23,613 points)
    Safari
    Aug 23, 2016 11:26 AM in response to dapilzz

    You are correct, I have another discussion in my head. .

     

    If you burn this ISO to a DVD and it does not work, you will be out of DVD media. Do you have a DVD+RW that we can test with?

  • by mep3abeli,

    mep3abeli mep3abeli Aug 23, 2016 11:29 AM in response to dapilzz
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Windows Software
    Aug 23, 2016 11:29 AM in response to dapilzz

    And using external drive as well, only internal drive. Not very friendly, Apple.

    I see the only way - downgrade, i.e. erase the HDD and install any of previous OSX, like Mountain Lion, for example.

    Usr bootcamp and install Win7. Then upgrade to El Capitan.

    Not to say it's very convenient, but I see only this way.

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Aug 23, 2016 11:41 AM in response to mep3abeli
    Level 7 (23,613 points)
    Safari
    Aug 23, 2016 11:41 AM in response to mep3abeli

    mep3abeli wrote:

     

    And using external drive as well, only internal drive. Not very friendly, Apple.

    I see the only way - downgrade, i.e. erase the HDD and install any of previous OSX, like Mountain Lion, for example.

    Usr bootcamp and install Win7. Then upgrade to El Capitan.

    Not to say it's very convenient, but I see only this way.

    Can you start a new discussion and post some of your information? The two separate sub-discussions are a bit confusing. It would help me keep track of each issue better.

  • by dapilzz,

    dapilzz dapilzz Aug 23, 2016 11:42 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Windows Software
    Aug 23, 2016 11:42 AM in response to Loner T

    i only have a single empty DVD+R left, but i consider continuing the testing today and then go buy some RW's tomorrow if it all fails. just advise me

     

    as far as i can tell, creating the usb installer worked out. you got any further plans for that?

  • by Loner T,Solvedanswer

    Loner T Loner T Aug 23, 2016 1:21 PM in response to dapilzz
    Level 7 (23,613 points)
    Safari
    Aug 23, 2016 1:21 PM in response to dapilzz

    The USB Installer will not work properly. Let us take the risk with the last DVD media you have. The previous ISO had a bad checksum. Right-clikc on ISO, select Burn, choose the slowest burn rate, enable verify and enable mount after burn and check the contents after it is mounted on the Desktop.

     

    Is your DVD+R a single-layer or dual-layer media?

     

    Disconnect all external peripherals and run SMC and NVRAM Reset. Run BCA and choose the Install Option and test.

  • by dapilzz,

    dapilzz dapilzz Aug 23, 2016 11:59 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Windows Software
    Aug 23, 2016 11:59 AM in response to Loner T

    burning process is currently running. you say i should leave out the BCA part of loading additional software?

     

    DVD is single layer.

  • by dapilzz,

    dapilzz dapilzz Aug 23, 2016 1:20 PM in response to dapilzz
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Windows Software
    Aug 23, 2016 1:20 PM in response to dapilzz

    so, this actually worked!

    but as it turns out, the iso image i used doesn't like the product key i have. now i sit here with an install disk for 8.1 N and a key for 8.1

    regarding the additional software BCA wants me to load, will i be able to to that just as easy? or is there anything i need to be aware of?

     

    thank you a lot for your help, i already considered this to be a lost cause

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Aug 23, 2016 1:32 PM in response to dapilzz
    Level 7 (23,613 points)
    Safari
    Aug 23, 2016 1:32 PM in response to dapilzz

    Using the Download Software option, download it to a USB2 flash drive. Switch to Windows, and run setup.exe from the Bootcamp folder. Please post the Product Version from Bootcamp.xml to recording purposes.

     

    If you need to remove 8.1N and re-install 8.1, repeat the same process, but you will need one more blank DVD. .

    Please provide the 8.1 ISO file name, and I can confirm the MD5sum.

  • by dapilzz,

    dapilzz dapilzz Aug 23, 2016 1:43 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Windows Software
    Aug 23, 2016 1:43 PM in response to Loner T

    i know how that works now, but I'm not very keen on doing that again, now that i have an install disk that works

    i have a chance of receiving a key from a friend, so i will wait for that first.

    bootcamp version is 6.0.1 (6024.40.2), or do you mean something else?

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Aug 23, 2016 1:46 PM in response to dapilzz
    Level 7 (23,613 points)
    Safari
    Aug 23, 2016 1:46 PM in response to dapilzz

    The Product Version of the BC drivers is on the USB which BC Assistant will create when you BCA's Download option. The version you show is the version of the BC Assistant, not the BC drivers.

  • by dapilzz,

    dapilzz dapilzz Aug 23, 2016 2:54 PM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Windows Software
    Aug 23, 2016 2:54 PM in response to Loner T

    alright, i will have a look for that.

    since i stopped the installation process at the product key window and booted on OS X again, how do i get back to where i stopped? do i need to erase the current bootcamp partition and start from the beginning? (by running 3rd option in BCA)

  • by Loner T,

    Loner T Loner T Aug 23, 2016 2:57 PM in response to dapilzz
    Level 7 (23,613 points)
    Safari
    Aug 23, 2016 2:57 PM in response to dapilzz

    Yes, you can remove the partition and start over, otherwise, insert the DVD, reboot your Mac, and hold Alt/Option key. Choose the Windows icon from the DVD (not EFI Boot), and choose the same Bootcamp partition. The Installer will erase it and then you can continue.

  • by dapilzz,

    dapilzz dapilzz Aug 24, 2016 3:06 AM in response to Loner T
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Windows Software
    Aug 24, 2016 3:06 AM in response to Loner T

    okay, i have no idea of what im looking at opening the xml file, but here are the first few lines:

     

    Apple Inc. 5.1.5621 {FA2B2C2A-EA41-495A-9308-60726125D562} yes 4.2.0.0 HKLM\SOFTWARE\Apple Inc.\Boot Camp Build Version string [BUILDVERSION] HKLM\SOFTWARE\Apple Inc.\Boot Camp VersionNT string [VersionNT] HKLM\SOFTWARE\Apple Inc.\Boot Camp ModelID string [SYSTEMMODELNAME] yes 3.0.1.0

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