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Windows 10 on 2010 Mac mini - No video after first reboot

l008com

l008com

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 20, 2004
114
4
I've been googling this problem for 2 days now but it seems like there are a million different versions of this with a million different causes!

I have a 2010 Mac mini, 4 GB of RAM and an SSD boot drive. I installed high sierra and the Mac half is running great. Then I fired up bootcamp assistant, cut the drive in half, and installed Windows 10.

I've done this repeatedly now and the same thing happens every time. After Windows 10 is installed, it works fine. I can use it no problem. But after it's first reboot, every time Windows starts up after that, I get a few seconds of a Windows logo and then a black screen. Also the caps lock light does not toggle when I hit it, suggesting the whole computer might be frozen. But that's just a guess.

I've tried running windows update in that initial working post-install period. I've tried specifically installing the Nvidia drivers right away in case it's a video problem. But no matter what I do, I only get to use Windows once.

The mini has an HDMI port and I have it plugged directly into a TV. The 2010 mini has an nVidia 320m graphics chip.
 
Sounds like you didn't get all the windows drivers installed on your initial installation. Start over and try to install again but this time create a separate clean partition (at least 20gb) dedicated for windows using disk utility first. Use bootcamp and install windows to new partition. Don't install any third party drivers yet until all the windows default drivers are installed first and updated to the latest drivers. After that you can install your nvidia drivers if needed then verify using windows device manager and look under display adapters and then you can turn off the original display driver after reboot.
 
I just tired it your way. Fresh install of windows 10, seemed to work just fine after first reboot. I tried installing bootcamp drivers. It wouldn't let me install the 4.0.4 drivers for this machine because it complains that windows 7 is needed. Newer versions of bootcamp drivers wouldn't install because they say this mac isn't supported. What a pain in the ass this is.
 
l008com said:
I just tired it your way. Fresh install of windows 10, seemed to work just fine after first reboot. I tried installing bootcamp drivers. It wouldn't let me install the 4.0.4 drivers for this machine because it complains that windows 7 is needed. Newer versions of bootcamp drivers wouldn't install because they say this mac isn't supported. What a pain in the ass this is.
Click to expand...
There is a Windows Install application for easy Windows installation:
forums.macrumors.com

Installing Windows 10 in Legacy/BIOS mode in cMP with Boot Camp Assistant

Installing Windows 10 in Legacy/Bios mode in classic Mac Pro is easy. You will have to use a modified Bootcamp assistant, which I attached to this post or make your own using this guide. The installation has been tested on High Sierra partition with HFS+ partitioning scheme. The only limitation...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
Just start the Mac mini in target disk mode from a newer computer (High Sierra to Monterey).
 
Getting Windows 10 on these old Nvidia chipsets is a big hassle. If you can find a 2011 or 2012, it’s totally straightforward and hassle-free because those use standard Intel chipsets.
The screen is blacking out because the computer is installing an incompatible Nvidia driver that breaks things.
The installation process is the same as for the 2010 13” MacBook Pro which uses the same chipset. You might look at this thread; I got this to work several years ago but I don’t remember the details of what I did at the time:
https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/o01d9n

Also, I have an old note here that says Nvidia driver 342.01 is the latest you’ll find that works with the 320m.

One more edit: you cannot install windows in EFI mode or things won’t work at all either.
 
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l008com said:
I just tired it your way. Fresh install of windows 10, seemed to work just fine after first reboot. I tried installing bootcamp drivers. It wouldn't let me install the 4.0.4 drivers for this machine because it complains that windows 7 is needed. Newer versions of bootcamp drivers wouldn't install because they say this mac isn't supported. What a pain in the ass this is.
Click to expand...
I would just let windows do their own install of drivers via windows update only. No need to go back to the mac side of drivers as theiy are most likely no compatible. Also if no update, try installing windows 10 directly from the microsoft website and just do windows update. Then after it is all installed with all the drivers, you can just add your serial number in afterwards to get rid of the 30 day trial.
 
carylee2002 said:
I would just let windows do their own install of drivers via windows update only. No need to go back to the mac side of drivers as theiy are most likely no compatible. Also if no update, try installing windows 10 directly from the microsoft website and just do windows update. Then after it is all installed with all the drivers, you can just add your serial number in afterwards to get rid of the 30 day trial.
Click to expand...
The issue is that I only make it to the windows desktop one time after I install windows 10. After it reboot, I get nothing. Whether I do windows updates or manual nvidia updates or no updates at all.
 
The one driver I found is 341.74 for windows 10 64bit. If the machine is running at 32bit windows then that will be a problem. But that driver covers Geforce 320M. "M" series were made for notebook computers. Sometimes its best to go back one or two prior releases, since Nvidia was not playing nice with Apple at the time and ended up separated.
 
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I've given up on windows 10, I'm just going to keep the machine on windows 7. Its not worth the hassle to keep fighting with 10.
 
Have you tried just updating from windows 7 to windows 10? No clean install.
 
Nope. I got windows 7 up and running. Its not worth the effort to mess with windows 10 and possibly have to do this all oevr again if it still doesn't work, so I'm just going to leave it on 7.
 
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