Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

not recognizing external optical drive while bootcamp

K

konaseema

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 1, 2011
18
0
Hello,

I installed SSD in place of optical drive, bought enclosure from OWC and using it as external drive.

Now I am trying to install Win 7 via bootcamp, it attempts to boot from the cd, and goes to a black screen with the blinking underscore cursor, but still can’t boot.

I tried with refit tool, it didn't work either. Anyone has this problem? How do i resolve it? Thanks,

Edit: BTW, I tried with both Official Win 7 Ultimate DVD and the win7 pro image burned to DVD which was downloaded from MSDN.
 
Last edited:
konaseema said:
Hello,

I installed SSD in place of optical drive, bought enclosure from OWC and using it as external drive.

Now I am trying to install Win 7 via bootcamp, it attempts to boot from the cd, and goes to a black screen with the blinking underscore cursor, but still can’t boot.

I tried with refit tool, it didn't work either. Anyone has this problem? How do i resolve it? Thanks,

Edit: BTW, I tried with both Official Win 7 Ultimate DVD and the win7 pro image burned to DVD which was downloaded from MSDN.
Click to expand...
Windows will not boot from an external drive. You're SOL. You need to reinstall your optical drive and install, then remove it again.
 
I had this problem too. I don't know why, but you MUST have the superdrive INSIDE the laptop to install Windows. It has to connect through the SATA connector, not USB. Put the optibay drive in the main spot, and replace the superdrive like it was originally, then install.

EDIT: Damn, Snaky beat me again ;)
 
snaky69 said:
Windows will not boot from an external drive. You're SOL. You need to reinstall your optical drive and install, then remove it again.
Click to expand...

hrmm.. is that true? Is it the problem with Windows or MAC?

I will be in big problem if it is the case; because, I have OS installed on SSD, i need to switch OS to stock hard drive before replacing the SSD with optical. Any other options i can use to install Windows in bootcamp?
 
konaseema said:
hrmm.. is that true? Is it the problem with Windows or MAC?

I will be in big problem if it is the case; because, I have OS installed on SSD, i need to switch OS to stock hard drive before replacing the SSD with optical. Any other options i can use to install Windows in bootcamp?
Click to expand...

It's not a big problem. Boot to OSX, partition with Bootcamp, and let it restart until you're at the blinking cursor. Then, open up the bottom of the laptop and put the SSD in the main HDD spot and the optical drive in it's spot. Boot to the Windows disc (hold "c" while booting) and install to the Bootcamp partition like normal. Once it's done, switch everything back.
 
konaseema said:
hrmm.. is that true? Is it the problem with Windows or MAC?

I will be in big problem if it is the case; because, I have OS installed on SSD, i need to switch OS to stock hard drive before replacing the SSD with optical. Any other options i can use to install Windows in bootcamp?
Click to expand...

Windows feels a need to boot from a SATA device, you will not be able to boot the disc from anything but an internal device. That's just the way windows is.
 
How about this?
  • take the back up of stock hard drive
  • clone ssd to stock hard drive
  • replace SSD with optical drive
  • install windows on stock hard
  • clone back

I am not sure how difficult is to replace stock hard drive with SSD. If it is easy, why not I keep the SSD in the place of stock drive?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back