Mac Pro 5,1 -- Possible to clean install on SSD?

[Jayson A]

Every time I try to use Boot Camp Assistant to install on my SSD, Windows 10 actually refuses to install because the disk is not formatted correctly? It throws up the error that the disk is formatted as MBR and it needs to be GPT, but if I re-format it as GPT, I get another error that says Windows cannot continue the install.

I'm able to easily install to an HDD, but I can't install to either of my 2 SSDs (one is a samsung evo 860 and the other one is an OWC Mercury 3G SSD).

I'm lost! The only way I can get boot camp to run on my machine is if I install to an HDD and then clone that to my SSD (it actually works), except I have trouble setting my boot disk because the link between macOS and Windows is lost which causes weird issues when I want to switch back and forth.

Currently, when I boot up holding option down, I see my macOS drive, my recovery drive, and "EFI Boot"... and the only way Windows 10 actually boots correctly is if I select EFI Boot (since the startup disk control panel doesn't work).

When I use the startup disk control panel, I get "No bootable device -- press any key to continue"

Advice on how to get windows to install to my SSD? I feel like I've tried everything!

Also, something is corrupt on my Windows SSD and I tried to boot into Recovery mode to repair it, but it says it needs to be repaired in Recovery mode, but I AM IN RECOVERY MODE! I don't get it.

 

[casperes1996]

Well, the help I can give, is that when you try and install via Bootcamp, macOS sets up the installation for MBR (Legacy BIOS) mode. If you bypass Bootcamp and try and do it without Bootcamp, it will be UEFI mode (GPT)

 

[Jayson A]

Well, the help I can give, is that when you try and install via Bootcamp, macOS sets up the installation for MBR (Legacy BIOS) mode. If you bypass Bootcamp and try and do it without Bootcamp, it will be UEFI mode (GPT)

I'm doing it directly though boot camp assistant. I select my drive, then the computer reboots into the windows installer, then I get the error that the disk is the wrong format (MBR) and needs to be reformatted as GPT.

If I install windows without boot camp, won't the link between macOS and Windows be broken? I've also tried the same thing with Windows 7 and that didn't work either. Do I need to have the USB stick in with the Apple Drivers on it for the install to work?

 

[casperes1996]

I'm doing it directly though boot camp assistant. I select my drive, then the computer reboots into the windows installer, then I get the error that the disk is the wrong format (MBR) and needs to be reformatted as GPT.

Right - As said, when Boot Camp prepares the installation, it switches over to Legacy BIOS boot-mode when it boots up the installer. If you manually try and do the installation without Boot Camp, it will do it in UEFI mode, which is the boot mode that expects GPT disks. At least this is how it used to work and I doubt Apple has changed it.

If I install windows without boot camp, won't the link between macOS and Windows be broken? I've also tried the same thing with Windows 7 and that didn't work either. Do I need to have the USB stick in with the Apple Drivers on it for the install to work?

No you don't.

What do you mean about this link between the Ones though? Aside from the Bootcamp Assistant being installed alongside the drivers on Windows, there's no magic sauce linking them or anything. They are entirely separate entities.

 

[Jayson A]

Right - As said, when Boot Camp prepares the installation, it switches over to Legacy BIOS boot-mode when it boots up the installer. If you manually try and do the installation without Boot Camp, it will do it in UEFI mode, which is the boot mode that expects GPT disks. At least this is how it used to work and I doubt Apple has changed it.



No you don't.

What do you mean about this link between the Ones though? Aside from the Bootcamp Assistant being installed alongside the drivers on Windows, there's no magic sauce linking them or anything. They are entirely separate entities.

I say this because I took my old Windows drive and cloned it to an SSD and for some reason, after I did that, the Mac shows it as "Boot EFI" on the boot screen (instead of "Windows") and if I try to set the BOOTCAMP drive as my startup disk in System Preferences, the system says "No boot device found" or something like that. The only way the drive would boot is if I held option and manually selected it.

I figured it out though. I took all of my drives out of my computer except for my macOS drive (Slot 1) and partitioned that in half and installed windows on the other half. Now, it works perfectly. However, I wanted to run my SSD at full speed by using a PCIe SSD adapter, but alas, Windows will not boot on it since it's recognized as an external disk .

It even says so here https://www.owcdigital.com/products/accelsior-s#tech-specs

 

[expede]

Hi!

Look at;

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ows-using-gpt-or-mbr-partition-style.2101200/

Post #4

/Per