Q: Boot Camp W10 pro stuck in "Critical_Stop_Error" reboot cycle

In DU I see the following:

disk1s4 - 314.6 MB

• Untitled - (1.8TB)
• disk0s5 - (greyed out) 134.2 MB Not Mounted Microsoft reserved
• Untitled - 499.31GB mac OS extended
• Untitled - 1.32 TB Mac OS extended

121.33 GB APPLE SSD SM0128G Media

• SSD

An error or sorts.

-bash-3.2# diskutil eraseDisk disk1

Usage:  diskutil eraseDisk format name [APM[Format]|MBR[Format]|GPT[Format]]

        MountPoint|DiskIdentifier|DeviceNode

Completely erase an existing whole disk.  All volumes on this disk will be

destroyed.  Ownership of the affected disk is required.

Format is the specific file system name you want to erase it as (HFS+, etc.).

Name is the (new) volume name (subject to file system naming restrictions),

or can be specified as %noformat% to skip initialization (newfs).

You cannot erase the boot disk.

Example: diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ UntitledUFS disk3

will do.

OK done.

#diskUtil cs list =

No CoreStorage logical volume groups found.

So now do I try an rebuild them (rest of the instructions) or use DU immediately and try a restore TM

i got it going thanks.

Loner-T.

After all of that I decided to just go for it and try an 8.1 bootcamp install from a fresh load of OSX. It worked. I also tried a fresh load (after I imaged my mac before starting any windows loads) of w10. It did NOT work with all the same BS errors.

So I am just about to upgrade w8.1pro 64 to 10pro 64.

For all that is good in this world it is stupid w10 cannot be installed directly on my particular configuration of iMac. 

I found a post you worked with some other poor soul a year or so ago with the exact same iMac I have with the same results. He gave up much earlier than I did. He wound up just doing a windows 8 to 10 upgrade as well.

Next time someone asks if a late 2014 iMac fully loaded with a 3TB fusion drive and the x295 card, 32GB ram etc.

Just say load Windows 8.1 using a usb 2.0 stick in the second USB slot from the center. Only after resetting the SCM and NVRAM. It will load like a charm. Then just simply use your w10 keycode to upgrade.

Cheers

You are a totally awesome person and I thank you for that HUGE effort. In the end it DID wind up getting me to where I wanted to go (not out of the woods yet, w8 is configuring itself right now). I'll make a last post with the exact fix, computer specs, order of operation etc. As well as how to work with Microsoft to get a w8 keycode to allow a person to upgrade.

Thanks again!

Is there anything in particular i need to watch out for when upgrading to w10 when using a bootcamp partition?

For an example: don't manually execute a setup exe from an .iso. Or only use windows update,

do i need to place another copy of the support files somewhere etc?

Do you have a preferred way to backup the bootcamp partition? I was just going to mount the BC partition in DU and image it to a FAT32 formatted external drive.

I do have a copy of Ghost as well as Acronis in my windows toolbox of utilities.

I have only used w7 then jumped to 10pro. Boy I wasn't prepared for the GUI disaster that is w8. While I understand the new thinking and touch computer based GUI. That interface is like ADD on crack.

Thanks