bootcamp via usb hdd --> black screen

[Mjattie]

Hello,

I have got a problem using my bootcamp partition (which has worked perfectly before on my macbook pro (early 2010). I've got a macbook air 13 inch and I connected the hdd of my macbook pro to my computer via usb. My macbook air discovers the partition but when I select to boot from it, all I get is a black screen. I've waited for about 10 minutes but nothing happened.

Is a bootcamp partition from a macbook pro compatible with a macbook air? (I installed it in snow leopard but it worked fine when I updated to lion)

The reason I bought a macbook air is because my logic board and trackpad broke on my macbook pro.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mjattie]

ahh I had my usb hdd connected to a usb hub and this caused windows to not boot at all, but when I boot now, I get an imediate blue screen after windows has finished loading and the mac reboots... I'm going to search on the internet but if anyone would like to help me, that would be much appreciated

cya

 

[Mjattie]

hmmm

seems that it's not possible to run windows from an external hdd... Or?

 

[murphychris]

Apple's system requirements in the Boot Camp guide, basically suck. On page 6 of the 10.7 Boot Camp guide, it says if you're having problems partitioning that:
Your Mac’s disk must be an internal disk. You cannot use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows on an external disk.

And all versions prior to this have had the same statement, so I'm not sure how you even got Windows onto this external disk.

The issue appears to be that the CSM-BIOS implementation Apple uses, does not support USB booting. Pure EFI booting does, which is why it's possible to boot Mac OS from USB devices, but not Windows. It's not a Windows limitation, I have booted Linux and Windows off an ancient 6+ year old Dell laptop using USB.

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And by suck, I mean, not clear. They should have this "internal disk" only business on page 3 in the "What You Need" section. Very irritating because people keep stumbling about this problem, trying to use external USB devices. I can see how maybe an eSATA could work.

 

[Mjattie]

Apple's system requirements in the Boot Camp guide, basically suck. On page 6 of the 10.7 Boot Camp guide, it says if you're having problems partitioning that:
Your Mac’s disk must be an internal disk. You cannot use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows on an external disk.

And all versions prior to this have had the same statement, so I'm not sure how you even got Windows onto this external disk.

The issue appears to be that the CSM-BIOS implementation Apple uses, does not support USB booting. Pure EFI booting does, which is why it's possible to boot Mac OS from USB devices, but not Windows. It's not a Windows limitation, I have booted Linux and Windows off an ancient 6+ year old Dell laptop using USB.

----------

And by suck, I mean, not clear. They should have this "internal disk" only business on page 3 in the "What You Need" section. Very irritating because people keep stumbling about this problem, trying to use external USB devices. I can see how maybe an eSATA could work.

Well the external drive is the hard drive of my old macbook pro (put in a case for usb), which had a broken logic board, therefore I bought a macbook air. And I can boot but when the windows animation stops and you should see the happy welcome screen, instead I get an angry blue screen and imediate reboot. ..

Well thanks anyway for your information!

 

[murphychris]

And I can boot but when the windows animation stops and you should see the happy welcome screen, instead I get an angry blue screen and imediate reboot.

Every Mac's firmware is slightly different and I'm not an expert in how the CSM functions. But in my two cases, USB devices visible to EFI shell, become invisible to GRUB2 once the CSM-BIOS is activated. Conversely, same version of GRUB2 on a BIOS based 6-7 year old Dell, sees the USB boot device.

How exactly are you booting from this USB disk? You hold the option key down on startup and choose a USB icon labeled "Windows"? Or from the System Preferences > Startup Disk panel?

 

[Mjattie]

How exactly are you booting from this USB disk? You hold the option key down on startup and choose a USB icon labeled "Windows"? Or from the System Preferences > Startup Disk panel?

Both result in the same thing...