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AppleFan22

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 3, 2014
282
31
I've not used BootCamp for a while now, and I've been using my external (Mac) boot disk a lot lately, and I tried to go into BootCamp today, and got a black screen saying "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key"... Is there any way I can repair this without deleting the Windows partition?

Just to clarify, the Windows partition had been working perfectly for ages, but hasn't been in use for a couple of months.
 
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What happens when you boot the computer and hold the option key down? You will get a boot menu and from there you should be able to boot into windows.

Also reboot the mac and unplug the external drive, maybe something happened to the internal drive.
 
What happens when you boot the computer and hold the option key down? You will get a boot menu and from there you should be able to boot into windows.

Also reboot the mac and unplug the external drive, maybe something happened to the internal drive.

All I get when I hold the Option key is Macintosh HD, my internal Mac boot disk, and Recovery HD, the internal recovery disk... Not very useful haha
[doublepost=1470068435][/doublepost]Something is telling me there's something wrong with the partition map, as it takes a long time after choosing Bootcamp in Recovery as the startup disk for the error to appear... just a guess though...
 
Does Disk Utility show your boot camp partition?

Are you using File Vault, and did you enable File Vault SINCE you last booted to the Boot Camp partition? Try turning OFF File Vault, then try boot camp.
If this is the same MBPro that you had some issues with a couple of months ago, you may need to revert from the core storage setup that you have now.
 
Which method did you use to select Windows as the boot disk?

I've used "hold option when booting from off", "boot to recovery and use startup disk selector" and "startup disk selector in System Preferences", however the first method no longer shows Windows as an option to booth to, just Macintosh HD and Recovery 10.12
[doublepost=1470087983][/doublepost]
Does Disk Utility show your boot camp partition?

Are you using File Vault, and did you enable File Vault SINCE you last booted to the Boot Camp partition? Try turning OFF File Vault, then try boot camp.
If this is the same MBPro that you had some issues with a couple of months ago, you may need to revert from the core storage setup that you have now.

Yes it does, I can mount and unmount it too.
No I'm not - I did have it turned on but I've turned it off since then.
My core storage setup has been the same since I installed Windows many months ago. Macintosh HD partition has been erased a few times and reinstalled, whilst Windows had been working perfectly.
 
You did say you have not booted your boot camp recently...
Windows 7, I'm guessing?
Boot to your Windows installer CD, and run a Windows repair install on the Windows system.
Be careful that you don't attempt the Windows repair install on your OS X system, as you can mess that up, too.
 
You did say you have not booted your boot camp recently...
Windows 7, I'm guessing?
Boot to your Windows installer CD, and run a Windows repair install on the Windows system.
Be careful that you don't attempt the Windows repair install on your OS X system, as you can mess that up, too.

Windows 10, and I installed from an ISO image, so there is no Windows installed CD in sight...
 
I've reinstalled the Windows support software onto my USB stick from Bootcamp Assistant, I'll try using that and see what happens...
 
You can use your Win 10 ISO to make a bootable USB installer. The boot camp support software can go on that installer, too. You will likely need both, but making the USB installer will probably be your best bet.
 
After having my whole system crash multiple times in a row, I gave up, and erased the whole disk... The entire thing is fully broken... Should be getting an SSD very soon though, which should help smoothen things out
 
Assuming you have an EFI install, I've seen this before. Did you have an EFI install?

EDIT: Never mind, I just saw your last post.
 
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