"Installer disc could not be found" Bootcamp

[Beno201]

Hi,

I'm trying to install windows 10 on my mac via boot camp.

I've followed all the steps, but go stuck at the part where you have to select the drive you want to install windows onto.

I received the message "Installer disc could not be found" when I click continue, and I can't seem to find any information online that has helped.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[maflynn]

We'll need a bit more details to be able to help
What Mac do you have and did it come with an optical drive?
Do you have a Fusion drive and is it intact, i.e., still two drives logically joined as one?

 

[Beno201]

We'll need a bit more details to be able to help
What Mac do you have and did it come with an optical drive?
Do you have a Fusion drive and is it intact, i.e., still two drives logically joined as one?

Indeed, my apologies.

I have a Mac Pro 5.1. The processor is the six core model (3.3ghx w3680) and I have 16gb of ram, and yes it does have an optical drive installed.

I have two drives in the system which are both HDD's - one 250gb, and another 1tb.

The 1tb drive was the one I was going to install Windows on.
I wasn't going to do the partition method, but just have the large drive for Windows, and the smaller one for OS X (reason being, I do music on OS X which doesn't require a lot of storage)

The method I was using to install Windows, was to use an empty 8gb flash drive as the installer, and it's this flash drive that the computer isn't recognising.

The "Windows support files" that the boot camp assistant asks you to download, were automatically selected to be downloaded onto the flash drive, so the client did indeed find it for that purpose; however past that stage (selecting which hard drive you want to install Windows to and pressing continue) I'm prompted with that message.

Thanks

 

[maflynn]

The method I was using to install Windows, was to use an empty 8gb flash drive as the installer, and it's this flash drive that the computer isn't recognising.

I believe in computers that ship with an optical drive, you need to install windows by way of the optical drive.

you'll need to take that ISO and create an install disc.

If you have access to another windows machine or environment, you can use this tool: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool

 

[Beno201]

I believe in computers that ship with an optical drive, you need to install windows by way of the optical drive.

you'll need to take that ISO and create an install disc.

If you have access to another windows machine or environment, you can use this tool: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool

Thanks for the link, I'll look further into that and give it a read through.
[doublepost=1472142216][/doublepost]It's now saying that I need a usb drive to go through with the install.
So I'm not sure how, if I do what's in the link, I'll be able to get passed that with a CD.

 

[supermariofan25]

Thanks for the link, I'll look further into that and give it a read through.
[doublepost=1472142216][/doublepost]It's now saying that I need a usb drive to go through with the install.
So I'm not sure how, if I do what's in the link, I'll be able to get passed that with a CD.

If you are using Boot Camp Assistant, deselect the Download Boot Camp Support Drivers option if you already have the drivers otherwise you will need a 2 GB+ USB for Boot Camp Assistant to put them on, that USB will probably be erased. If you are using Windows USB DVD Download Tool, select the DVD option after selecting the ISO file. Please note that if you are trying to burn a Windows 10 DVD you can do so in OS X without using the Windows USB DVD Downloads Tool, do this by inserting a blank DVD and then right click on the Windows 10 .ISO file and click 'Burn 'file name.iso' to Disc'.

 

[maflynn]

It's now saying that I need a usb drive to go through with the install.

This is why I hate bootcamp.

I ran into issues, when I split up my iMac, it was looking for an optical drive (but my iMac doesn't have one - its a 2015 model), I tried using bootcamp to create the bootable thumb drive but that failed (I tried multiple thumb drives)

I gave up and created it manually, which wasn't horribly hard since I was using 100% of my internal USB space for windows.

 

[Beno201]

If you are using Boot Camp Assistant, deselect the Download Boot Camp Support Drivers option if you already have the drivers otherwise you will need a 2 GB+ USB for Boot Camp Assistant to put them on, that USB will probably be erased. If you are using Windows USB DVD Download Tool, select the DVD option after selecting the ISO file. Please note that if you are trying to burn a Windows 10 DVD you can do so in OS X without using the Windows USB DVD Downloads Tool, do this by inserting a blank DVD and then right click on the Windows 10 .ISO file and click 'Burn 'file name.iso' to Disc'.

Yeah, I did deselect it actually.

I'll try burning the iOS to a disc, but I'm still not sure how to actually move forward from there, considering bootcamp won't allow my to use a DVD and only a flash drive.

Thanks
[doublepost=1472243607][/doublepost]

This is why I hate bootcamp.

I ran into issues, when I split up my iMac, it was looking for an optical drive (but my iMac doesn't have one - its a 2015 model), I tried using bootcamp to create the bootable thumb drive but that failed (I tried multiple thumb drives)

I gave up and created it manually, which wasn't horribly hard since I was using 100% of my internal USB space for windows.

Right, I see.

I guess I'll have to do that, then, if it doesn't work.

 

[supermariofan25]

Yeah, I did deselect it actually.

I'll try burning the iOS to a disc, but I'm still not sure how to actually move forward from there, considering bootcamp won't allow my to use a DVD and only a flash drive.

Thanks
[doublepost=1472243607][/doublepost]


Right, I see.

I guess I'll have to do that, then, if it doesn't work.

From my understanding, any Mac that shipped with a optical drive will refuse to boot Windows from a USB drive due to restrictions, not limitations but restrictions as the bios can actually boot from USB, it just refuses to boot Windows (or any other legacy boot loader for that matter so I guess you could call it a limitation). That being said it is very odd that Boot Camp requires the use of USB

It's now saying that I need a usb drive to go through with the install.

Is there any chance that you might have tried to trick boot camp assistant by editing a file that makes it think it's on a newer computer e.g your computer is a 2010 model but boot camp thinks it's a 2013 model. Or any other modification to try remedy a different problem?

 

[Beno201]

From my understanding, any Mac that shipped with a optical drive will refuse to boot Windows from a USB drive due to restrictions, not limitations but restrictions as the bios can actually boot from USB, it just refuses to boot Windows (or any other legacy boot loader for that matter so I guess you could call it a limitation). That being said it is very odd that Boot Camp requires the use of USB


Is there any chance that you might have tried to trick boot camp assistant by editing a file that makes it think it's on a newer computer e.g your computer is a 2010 model but boot camp thinks it's a 2013 model. Or any other modification to try remedy a different problem?

Really? That is odd.
But yeah, when I get back I'll post a screen shot of what it says.
It essentially just says that no USB stick is present for the Windows install and that I need one to process.
In the video I watched on installing Windows via boot camp, they were using a MacBook Pro.

As far as tricking the client, I'm not altogether sure what you're referring to.
I mean, I certainly wouldn't know how to do that, so if it has happened it'll have happened inadvertently, so I'm not sure...

Thanks

 

[supermariofan25]

Really? That is odd.
But yeah, when I get back I'll post a screen shot of what it says.
It essentially just says that no USB stick is present for the Windows install and that I need one to process.
In the video I watched on installing Windows via boot camp, they were using a MacBook Pro.

As far as tricking the client, I'm not altogether sure what you're referring to.
I mean, I certainly wouldn't know how to do that, so if it has happened it'll have happened inadvertently, so I'm not sure...

Thanks

Something like adding the model number of your mac to a list of model numbers that Boot Camp Assistant uses to check for USB boot support. Something like that, I know that people with older model iMacs with Super Drives used the trick so Bootcamp would work without a Windows DVD as their Super Drive was broken.

 

[Beno201]

Something like adding the model number of your mac to a list of model numbers that Boot Camp Assistant uses to check for USB boot support. Something like that, I know that people with older model iMacs with Super Drives used the trick so Bootcamp would work without a Windows DVD as their Super Drive was broken.

I see what you mean.
It's changed now, and I haven't pressed anything.

It's now just saying that the disc cannot be found, rather than sepcifying that he USB isn't present.
Perhapse that makes the problem easier to locate, I'll do some more digging.

Cheers

 

[Beno201]

Ok, I got Windows to boot through bootcamp....But now I can't boot into OSX.

Upon start up, my mp boots fine but there's not apple logo on the white start screen, and no loading bar.
After a short while, the Windows logo appears on the screen, and after that I get nothing.

This happened after I selected the empty, 1tb hdd I set aside for Windows, and the computer restarted once I did that and has been like this since.

I've even tried removing the Windows hard drive from the computer to try and bypass it routing straight to Windows, but even when I did that, the same thing happened.

I'm guessing it's because the boot disc is still in the system, but it's not letting me eject.

UPDATE: Managed to boot back into OSX after pressing option when the system boots.
Not sure why it's defaulting to the Windows drive when it starts.

 

[supermariofan25]

Ok, I got Windows to boot through bootcamp....But now I can't boot into OSX.

Upon start up, my mp boots fine but there's not apple logo on the white start screen, and no loading bar.
After a short while, the Windows logo appears on the screen, and after that I get nothing.

This happened after I selected the empty, 1tb hdd I set aside for Windows, and the computer restarted once I did that and has been like this since.

I've even tried removing the Windows hard drive from the computer to try and bypass it routing straight to Windows, but even when I did that, the same thing happened.

I'm guessing it's because the boot disc is still in the system, but it's not letting me eject.

UPDATE: Managed to boot back into OSX after pressing option when the system boots.
Not sure why it's defaulting to the Windows drive when it starts.

When using Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows, it tells the EFI to boot to Windows by default, this is because the computer restarts many times while installing Windows, so if your Computer defaulted to Mac OS X while restarting then the Windows install would not complete until you manually boot back into Windows. If you have Boot Camp drivers installed in Windows then you can change the default boot drive or 'Startup Disk' using Boot Camp Control Panel or by right clicking on the Boot Camp icon in the task bar and selecting 'Restart in Mac OS X'
[doublepost=1472690242][/doublepost]

I see what you mean.
It's changed now, and I haven't pressed anything.

It's now just saying that the disc cannot be found, rather than sepcifying that he USB isn't present.
Perhapse that makes the problem easier to locate, I'll do some more digging.

Cheers

After re-reading some of your post's and then reading this post. It seems that your Super Drive might be faulty or the SATA cable might need replacing, lucky your model Mac Pro is one of the older designs that are easily user serviceable and the Super Drive can be replaced with most off the shelf DVD drives.

 

[kuroxx]

Hey guys I also have problem with my iMac. I am currently using a Mid 2010 iMac, OSX El Capitan 10.11.1. The problem is that I already downloaded a Windows 7 Ultimate x64 iso disc from MS, but when I start my bootcamp and select "Install Windows 7 or later version" (I've already got the support software) it said "Installer disc not found". Can anyone help me plz?