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Can't Format HD for Windows 10 - 5,1 Mac Pro

riven2000

riven2000

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 20, 2012
93
6
I am having a lot of trouble formatting an HD for Windows 10 on my 2010 Mac Pro. I used iPartition to set up the drive in NTFS / GUID, and no matter what I do, the installer won't format it.
 
riven2000 said:
I am having a lot of trouble formatting an HD for Windows 10 on my 2010 Mac Pro. I used iPartition to set up the drive in NTFS / GUID, and no matter what I do, the installer won't format it.
Click to expand...
You are installing using BIOS boot mode? That's the normal way for old Macs. Not UEFI.
The HD is in one of the 4 drive bays of the Mac Pro? BIOS boot mode won't work with any other drives.

iPartition is used to create a partition. The partition type is Microsoft Basic Data. The format I think should be ExFat. Set it to "Show in Windows" so that iPartition creates a hybrid GPT/MBR partition table that Windows installer can see. iPartition can also add boot code to the MBR. Also mark the partition as active.

In the Windows installer, you select the partition you created and tell it to erase it as NTFS.

Use Brigadier for Boot Camp drivers if you can't get them from Boot Camp Assistant. I use Driver Genius 21 to get all the latest drivers after that.

I forget all the steps and the exact details but that should be everything.
 
Thanks much! Yes, it was going to be in BIOS mode on a SATA SSD. I'll try everything later today. Crossing the fingers....
 
Last edited:
I have used that one, but for some reason it didn't look like it was working. The installer would stick at the Windows logo. It may have been because it was just taking longer and I didn't wait. It is a good guide, definitely. Looks like the FAT32 and MBR Boot Code settings are working (iPartition doesn't actually have a setting for Microsoft Basic Data).
 
riven2000 said:
I have used that one, but for some reason it didn't look like it was working. The installer would stick at the Windows logo. It may have been because it was just taking longer and I didn't wait. It is a good guide, definitely. Looks like the FAT32 and MBR Boot Code settings are working (iPartition doesn't actually have a setting for Microsoft Basic Data).
Click to expand...
I've tested this method too (a while ago) and it worked .
I vagely remember that I had to repeat 1 or 2 steps (formatting/partitioning) though to get it working, unfortunately I cant recall which steps ..... sorry!
 
I think it''ll work better now that I have the correct settings for iPartition. Maybe with the setting I won't need to do the terminal commands. We'll see.
 
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riven2000 said:
I think it''ll work better now that I have the correct settings for iPartition. Maybe with the setting I won't need to do the terminal commands. We'll see.
Click to expand...
Right. I was being vague and going from memory. iPartition calls it "Microsoft FAT or NTFS Data". Disk Utility calls it "Microsoft Basic Data".
Anyway, that's the type in the GPT partition (it's actually a UUID = EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7).

Legacy boot in Windows will only see the type in the MBR partition (a single byte = 07 for NTFS) and only for partitions that have the "Visible in Windows" flag set in iPartition.

Code: 
joevt@Joes-Mac-Pro ~ % diskutil list /dev/disk0
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *240.1 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:       Microsoft Basic Data Windows 8.1 on Electra  109.2 GB   disk0s2
   3:       Microsoft Basic Data Windows 10              130.7 GB   disk0s3

joevt@Joes-Mac-Pro ~ % sudo gpt -r show -l /dev/disk0
gpt show: /dev/disk0: Suspicious MBR at sector 0
      start       size  index  contents
          0          1         MBR
          1          1         Pri GPT header
          2         32         Pri GPT table
         34          6         
         40     409600      1  GPT part - "EFI"
     409640       2008         
     411648  213237753      2  GPT part - "Windows 8.1 on Electra"
  213649401  255212689      3  GPT part - "Windows 10 on Electra"
  468862090          5         
  468862095         32         Sec GPT table
  468862127          1         Sec GPT header

joevt@Joes-Mac-Pro ~ % sudo gpt -r show /dev/disk0
Password:
gpt show: /dev/disk0: Suspicious MBR at sector 0
      start       size  index  contents
          0          1         MBR
          1          1         Pri GPT header
          2         32         Pri GPT table
         34          6         
         40     409600      1  GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
     409640       2008         
     411648  213237753      2  GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7
  213649401  255212689      3  GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7
  468862090          5         
  468862095         32         Sec GPT table
  468862127          1         Sec GPT header

joevt@Joes-Mac-Pro ~ % sudo fdisk /dev/disk0
Disk: /dev/disk0	geometry: 29185/255/63 [468862128 sectors]
Signature: 0xAA55
         Starting       Ending
 #: id  cyl  hd sec -  cyl  hd sec [     start -       size]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1: EE    0   0   2 -   25 159   6 [         1 -     411647] <Unknown ID>
 2: 07   25 159   7 - 1023 254  63 [    411648 -  213237753] HPFS/QNX/AUX
*3: 07 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [ 213649401 -  255212689] HPFS/QNX/AUX
 4: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused

Above is a simple disk containing only Windows partitions (and the EFI partition). I have another disk with 20 partitions with 3 of them set to "Visible in Windows".

I use my script at https://gist.github.com/joevt/a99e3af71343d8242e0078ab4af39b6c to check all my partition tables and MBR boot code and PBR boot code.

I suppose there's a way for a disk to have more than 3 or 4 GPT partitions visible in legacy Windows - it would involve constructing EBRs for extended partitions between each GPT partition. The process would involve shrinking each partition by a couple blocks to fit the EBR (or move the partitions to make space for the EBRs).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_boot_record
 
It's working now. I ended up using this method: https://www.usedmacs.us/?name=How-t...Pro-5,1&art=how_to_mac_pro_install_windows_10 with an install of Sierra and Boot Camp.

Question: Is Boot Camp really necessary other than for downloading the drivers? It seems like it might have worked without it just because the how-to says to format the drive to FAT32 in MBR mode in Disk Utility. No more iPartition for me. They really should have put out a manual on that before the company went under.
 
Boot Camp simplifies partitioning the startup volume. But to do that it requires that the startup disk only has one partition to be split. So people use other partitioning methods.

Boot Camp simplifies creating and/or booting the installer on Windows but you can do that manually with a DVD (old Macs) or thumb drive (new Macs).

Boot Camp also has drivers. But you can get them using Brigadier. Non Apple drivers you can get with a utility like Driver Genius 21 or manually.

Partitioning the disk as MBR means you can't easily have more than 3 partitions. It's probably not best for macOS but if it's a separate disk just for Windows, then it's ok.

iPartition comes with a Quick Start Guide and a iPartition Help command in the help menu.
 
For those interested in another (possibly) new way to install Windows 10 on a 5,1 Mac Pro, here's my 2 cents' worth:

1 - If you're not running it already, set up an install or bootable USB of Sierra / High Sierra to run Boot Camp from (I set this up to launch installs of both Windows, and Mojave if I need to reinstall)
2 - Format your Windows SSD or HD in Disk Utility as FAT32 / MBR
3 - Shut cMP down and remove all drives except Windows / Boot Camp, Sierra / HS and the Windows 10 DVD
4 - Restart from Sierra / HS
5 - Launch Boot Camp with only the "Download Boot Camp drivers" box checked
6 - At Windows setup screen, click Format; run it
7 - Click Next; finish setup
8 - Update Windows fully
9 - Run Boot Camp utility - voila!

May sound like more work than it's worth, but again, the Sierra will let you run Boot Camp or a Mojave installer. :cool:
 
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