Can't boot from Windows 7 DVD using my new Pioneer BDR205 internal bluray on Mac Pro

[iBug2]

My superdrive is broken so I bought an internal blu ray writer, Pioneer BDR205. Now I want to install Win7 on my Mac Pro, but for some reason, the blu ray drive does not boot from the Win7 dvd.

There are no issues when I want to boot from a OS X installer DVD, so the no boot issue is only with Win7 DVD. The DVD is fine because my MacBook Pro boots from it without issues.

When I try to boot from it on Mac Pro, the no boot disk found icon emerges.

I tried booting from MacBook Pro's superdrive via target disk mode, same thing happened.

Anyone has any idea why this might be happening?

My Mac Pro is 2008 model 3.1.

 

[Guiyon]

Are you using one of the ODD SATA ports? If so, that's most likely your issue; those ports are only enabled when AHCI is enabled. By default, when EFI switches on the CSM it enables legacy mode operation to make sure the PATA port is usable. The only problem is this disables the ODD SATA ports which means that booting from them in a non-EFI aware OS is a no-go.

 

[iBug2]

Are you using one of the ODD SATA ports? If so, that's most likely your issue; those ports are only enabled when AHCI is enabled. By default, when EFI switches on the CSM it enables legacy mode operation to make sure the PATA port is usable. The only problem is this disables the ODD SATA ports which means that booting from them in a non-EFI aware OS is a no-go.

That's it, I'm using the ODD SATA ports. Thanks. So there is no way to boot from a Win DVD unless I actually buy another PATA drive for this Mac Pro? Maybe I can remove a hard drive and connect the blu ray to one of the hard drive bays, if the socket is the same as the ODD port.

 

[Guiyon]

That's it, I'm using the ODD SATA ports. Thanks. So there is no way to boot from a Win DVD unless I actually buy another PATA drive for this Mac Pro? Maybe I can remove a hard drive and connect the blu ray to one of the hard drive bays, if the socket is the same as the ODD port.

That's the exact reason why I pulled one of the two SATA DVD drives I was using and went back with a PATA/SATA combo; not being able to boot any non-EFI aware OSs was a PITA. Using any of the HD SATA ports,if you can figure out how to plug in the drive, should be able to boot fine as those are always enabled. I can't say for certain, though, as I never tried it.