IMac won't boot from Windows USB install stick

I have a iMac 7.1, the first gen Intel iMac, now running Moutain Lion 10.8.2. I installed Windows 7 via bootcamp two years ago via a flash disk, and the installation was smooth and easy. Now I want to try some Windows 8. I used the Windows USB install tool to clone the install disk into a flash drive and tested the flash drive on a windows computer first. It was working properly. But my iMac just couldn't boot from the flash disk when I pressed the option button during start-up. There's no icon for the flash disk. Then I clone the old Windows 7 install ISO into the flash disk, it wouldn't show in the boot options either! Why? Is it because of some firmware update? Why the same Windows 7 install image I used two years a ago can't boot now for the same iMac? Please help. Thanks!
Jeff

I believe mende1's response is slightly incorrect. On older Mac computers that came with an internal DVD drive the only way to install Windows on those Mac's is from that internal DVD drive. Even if you connect an external DVD drive OS X and or the Mac computer Firmware will not allow the Win install DVD to boot from that external DVD drive. It must be done from the internal DVD drive. So if yours has failed then you would need to have it replaced before you can install Windows on your Mac.
I know this from personally trying to install Windows from an external DVD drive even when there is an internal DVD still in the system. My late 2011 MBP would not load the Win install from the external DVD drive but would from the internal DVD drive.
3str wrote:
Thank you for your reply. But this is really disappointing. My optic drive has died long time ago.........

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IMac won't boot from OS X install disc!

I'm needing to do some internal hard drive repairs but the system won't boot from the install disc! I've restarted it tons of times while holding down "C" and it just bypasses it and boots right into OS X. It restarts as normal with the chime (I am holding down "C") then the Apple logo comes up, then the spinning circle thing, but it just goes right into OS X. Help!

Let's be sure you are doing it properly.
First, you must use the OS X Installer Disc One that came with your computer. Carefully check both surfaces for scratches, dirt, fingerprints and if so clean it carefully with a very soft cleaning cloth that won't scratch the disc.
Second, insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer. After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when the spinning gear appears below the dark gray Apple logo.

Mac Mini Server (Late 2009) - Won't boot from Windows USB/DVD

Hello all,
I have a Late 2009 Mac Mini Server (Macmini 3,1) with OS X Lion.
I have created a Bootcamp Windows Partition on one the 500GB Disk using Bootcamp 4.0.
After the partition is created, I have tried installing Windows 7 using the Bootable USB method as well as using the CD Drive from the attached SuperDrive.
But all I encounter is either the blinking cursor or after the "Starting Windows" logo, a BSOD.
Any tips/help on how to proceed?
Thanks in advance.

Cattus,
Thanks for the reply.
I did use BC to create the USB stick. I also tried to create the USB on a WIndows Machine (just in case). But still can't boot from USB. What's the WIndows Utility you mentioned?
Also, according to the this LINK, The firmware for Macmini 3,1 should be MM31.0081.B06 (EFI 1.2).
However, the BOOT ROM info on my mac mini says MM31.00AD.B00 and I can't seem to update the EFI Firmware. I get a message "This computer does not need this update" when I try to run the MacminiEFIupdate.pkg

27" iMac won't boot from anything BUT the main drive

Hi all,
My lovely 27" iMac is in perfect working condition, but I thought I'd try to install a OS on a large SD card to see if I would gain any speed.
In the process of doing that (cause I never got that far) I discover that the iMac won't boot from the original install DVD. It simply spits out the DVD when I try to insert into the drive. I'v managed to make an image of the DVD (in a different mac) onto the SD card in order to try an boot from that. No luck. I've tried to insert a original install DVD from my Mac Pro into the iMac, which it reads fine and well, and when I tap the restart button it restarts, but stop with a white screen doing boot up.
If I try to hold down the option key during startup, the iMac WILL let me choose which OS to boot from, but if I choose anything else than the OS already installed it freezes.
I've even tried to boot my Mac Pro from the iMac install DVD - no problems.
I've even run a hardware test on the iMac - no problems.
I am running out of options fast! Please help a devoted Mac-friend.
Take care.
Peter

I WAS using the DVD that came with the machine, but I fear Apple may have sent me the wrong one?
In trying to solve the issues I'd tried other OS disc's (A Mac Pro install DVD and a OS X Leopard DVD) - but none of them would even boot, nor install of my iMac. I always end up with a white screen during boot up.
As I described, the original iMac install DVD would indeed boot my Mac Pro, do the disc seems ok?

I have a 2012 Mini with a fusion drive that won't boot from a usb cloned drive. It came with 10.8.2 pre installed. I have zapped the PRAM and reset the SMC. Any thoughts?

I have a 2012 Mini with a fusion drive that won't boot from a usb cloned drive. It came with 10.8.2 pre installed. I have zapped the PRAM and reset the SMC. Any thoughts?

When I tried using a recently downloaded (from the App store) version of MtLion 10.8.2 (12C60) I could NOT get the new MacMini to install or boot from a USB I had previously made. I was however able to use the Recovery Mode of the MacMini to create a bootable SSD which I had installed. The problem arose when I went back into Recovery DU as it saw the seperate drives (SSD & HD) as a broken Fusion Drive. Interestingly DU from the boot volume had NO issues and reported NO faults. It was the Recovery DU that identified the faulty Fusion Drive configuration. At this point I am definately out of my depth but my speculation is that the Recovery Volume is being used in some fashion to form the method or pattern that DU assigns files to the drives, System Report sees the drives as seperate volumes with all their individual characteristics.
Disk Utility did not make a bootable USB, I don't have or use CCC or Super Duper.
Here is the longer version I've been compiling:
Having bought a late 2012 Mac Mini(6,2) i7 2.66GHZ with the standard 1TB 5400 HD and 4GB of RAM (base model) I immediately decided to install a Mercury Elite 6g 240GB SSD and up the RAM to 16GB. I received both shipments on the same day and had all my new toys in front of me. After following the video advice on OWC’s website for the installation of the second drive I started the mini and formatted the SSD to accept the OS from Recovery on the original HD. This MacMini shipped with 10.8.2 (12C2034) as the OS, the normal build of 10.8.2 is (12C60). Having used Recovery Disk Utility to format the SSD it came back with an error that DU could’t Repair. I went ahead and installed the OS on the SSD and the Mini booted normally from both drives. The issue I encountered with this setup was that iMovie encountered an “unexpected error” and would not save a completed project. I therefore decided to figure the drive issue out because I suspect the new Fusion File Management software didn’t like my configuration with drives that Recovery DU saw as needing to be “fixed”. After spending some time on the phone with both OWC and Apple Support I took the plunge and used Internet Recovery Disk Utility and allowed both drives to be “fixed” after which DU created a Fusion Drive (Logical Drive) that I then ran Repair Disk on and it showed up as a single drive in DU. It works perfectly as described by Apple’s site:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5446
Having checked the Link Speed and Negotiated Speed they both show as 6g so I’m pleased not to have lost performance due to it being fuzed to a 3g 5400 drive. The biggest drawback is that Apple’s Fusion Management only allows for 1 additional partition and I would have preferred more than that.
I have sourced some additional information here:
http://blog.macsales.com/15619-special-note-for-adding-an-ssd-to-a-2012-mac-mini ?
http://blog.macsales.com/15619-special-note-for-adding-an-ssd-to-a-2012-mac-mini ?
http://blog.macsales.com/15619-special-note-for-adding-an-ssd-to-a-2012-mac-mini ?
http://blog.fosketts.net/2011/08/05/undocumented-corestorage-commands/
If anyone has a factory Fusion Drive could you please post the Link and Negotiated Speeds of both drives? This information can be found in Apple > About This Mac > More Info… > System Report > Serial ATA and the drives should show up as discrete drives with their info listed separately.

IMac won't boot from/install Lion. Why?

I have a 2006-model iMac (iMac5,1 with a 2GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 2.5GB RAM; this is one of Apple's supported configurations for Lion) which has been running quite nicely for several years now. About a year or so ago I moved it to 10.6 which went smooth as silk. Last week I decided to move it to 10.7 and right about now I'm ready to throw this iMac in the effin' trash. It simply WILL NOT boot from OS X 10.7 no matter what.
I first put my 10.7 installer on the computer while it was running 10.6. I launched it, it copied a bunch of stuff, then restarted the computer. Then....nothing. I got the Apple logo with the spinner. I waited about 20 minutes for something greater to happen but nothing did so I forced a shut down. Unfortunately that attempt seems to have destroyed my previous 10.6 installation. Any further attempt to start from that hard drive yields an infinite spinner with the Apple logo but never any desktop or anything useful.
I then put my old iMac into Target Disk Mode, connected it to my newer iMac (iMac7,1 with 4GB RAM running 10.7.4), and used Disk Utility to reformat the old iMac's hard drive. That went fine. I then ran the OS X 10.7 installer on my new iMac, directing it to install onto the old iMac's hard drive. It took about 10 minutes to copy its files then directed me to restart which I did. I got the spinner-with-Apple for a few minutes followed by a spinner-with-circle-slash forever (about 15 minutes before I forced a shut down). I was able to reboot my newer iMac from its internal hard drive without any issues but every time I tried booting the newer iMac from the older iMac's hard drive I would get the spinner-with-Apple for a few minutes followed by a spinner-with-circle-slash forever thing. The same thing happened when I took the older iMac out of TDM and tried to boot it from its own hard drive. Trying that in verbose mode shows "Waiting for DSMOS" as the final line before the machine stalls. It is important to note that (a) this is a legitimately purchased Lion license that I bought last year, and (b) I'm trying to install it on an Apple iMac, not a Hackintosh.
Next, I ran the Recovery Disk Assistant to create a bootable 10.7 recovery USB drive. The creation of the drive went fine and I'm able to boot my newer iMac from the drive — but I cannot boot the older iMac from it, again getting the spinner-with-Apple for a few minutes followed by a spinner-with-circle-slash forever thing. Verbose mode shows the DSMOS error again.
My next step was to extract the "InstallESD.dmg" bootable system image from the installer app and clone that onto a USB drive. That went fine and I was able to boot my newer iMac from that drive but I was unable to boot the older iMac from that drive, again getting the spinner-with-Apple for a few minutes followed by a spinner-with-circle-slash forever thing with verbose mode showing the DSMOS error.
Next I tried to reverse things. I put my newer iMac into TDM, connected it to the older iMac, and tried to boot the older iMac from the newer iMac's hard drive. This failed too. I never got the circle-slash thing, only the Apple logo forever. Verbose mode shows the last line being "BootCacheControl: Unable to open /var/db/BootCache.playlist: 2 No such file or directory".
Finally, I pulled out a spare external hard drive. From my new iMac I booted from my USB drive (the one I cloned "InstallESD.dmg" onto), installed Lion onto the external drive, and booted successfully from the external drive. Everything was running perfectly. I ran System Update until everything was fully updated, then connected that external drive to the old iMac and tried to boot. Again, Apple logo forever with verbose mode showing the BootCacheControl error.
To ensure that the older iMac was fully operational I dug out the old OS install discs and ran the "extended" diagnostic. Everything came up perfect with no errors.
I then pulled out my OS X 10.6 DVD and tried booting the older iMac from it. That worked perfectly, and I was able to format and install 10.6 without any hiccups or issues whatsoever. The iMac is perfectly operational under 10.6.
So why the phargl can't I get 10.7 on this bloody machine?!?!?

In addition to MGW's suggestion...........
See the following Articles:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25497 Older versions of Mac OS than what comes with your computer
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25517 Mac OS: Versions, builds included with PowerPC Macs (since 1998)
==========
Without the original System DVDs that came w/the iMac, all you have is a glorified doorstop. You need the System DVDs to troubleshoot. *Especially Install Disc #1.*
You can get replacement System Install & Restore CD/DVDs from Apple's Customer Support - in the US, (800) 767-2775 - for a nominal S&H fee. You'll need to have the model and/or serial number of your Mac available.
If you're not in the US, you may need to go through the regional Apple Store that serves your location to find the contact number. Here's a list of links to all of those -
http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/intlstoreroutingpage.html

IMac won't boot from Firewire?

Hey gang-
I wanted to post this to save anyone else pulling out their hair if they have a Mac that won't boot from a Western Digital (WD) external Firewire drive. I recently purchased a Western Digital My Book Studio 2 TB FireWire 800 External Hard Drive.
I bought this drive intending to partition it into two 1TB partitions- one for a bootable backup and one for a Time Machine backup. I do my bootable backups with the application SuperDuper, which is outstanding for this purpose. I have used it to create bootable backups on 3 different Maxtor external Firewire drives, and they have all flawlessly booted all my Macs. I expected no different from this new Western Digital (WD) 2TB drive.
Unfortunately, the WD would not boot 2 out of my 3 Macs when connected via Firewire. It would NOT boot an Intel MacBook (Late 2007 edition) or an Intel iMac (Mid 2007 edition). It does boot our Intel iMac (Mid-2010 edition). Strangely, the WD booted all 3 Macs when connected via USB, though needless to say very slowly in all cases. If you need additional technical information, read on.
Technical Info: The following tests were done with the WD connected via Firewire. The WD is correctly formatted for booting Intel Macs with GPT GUID formatting. Note that the WD appears as a bootable drive in System Preferences->Startup Disk on all 3 of my Macs. But when attempting to boot via Firewire, I get only a grey screen on the Intel MacBook (Late 2007 edition) and the Intel iMac (Mid 2007 edition). The Intel iMac (Mid-2010 edition) boots normally. When booting with the Option Key held down, Startup Manager does NOT see the WD as a bootable drive on the Intel MacBook (Late 2007 edition) and the Intel iMac (Mid 2007 edition). It does appear as a bootable drive on the Intel iMac (Mid-2010 edition).
When connected via USB, the WD boots all three of my Macs, but very slowly compared to the internal drive.
It's probably worth noting that the Late-2007 MacBook and the Mid-2007 iMac all share the then-new Santa Rosa architecture. So I'm guessing that they may share the same Firewire chipset. And for whatever reason, that chipset does not play nice with the WD chipset.
So, bottom line is that if you need a Firewire bootable backup, be sure to test the drive right away so that you don't think you have a bootable backup when in fact you don't.
On the good side, the drive is amazingly quiet. At this point, I need to decide whether to keep the drive, knowing that I have only USB as a bootable option on 2 out my 3 Macs, or return it. But in any case, wanted to pass this on to anyone else having problems booting from an external Firewire drive.

baltwo wrote:
FWIW, many WD HDs won't boot Macs and booting Macs isn't supported. Details at their site. That's the main reason I never recommend their crappy HDs.
Actually I'm very familiar with that list- spent a lot of time looking at this past week!
Ironically, the majority of that page is a list of drives which they claim WILL boot Macs. In fact, the list is entitled "List of Mac-bootable WD external drives..."
And yep, mine is on there...on the list that reads "The following external hard drives should be bootable on Intel-based Mac computers systems through FireWire (1394a/b)" is "MyBook Studio" as well as my drive model number.
But that's all beside the point. Like you, I couldn't recommend their drives at this point. At least make sure if you buy one that the vendor has a good return policy.
Dave

MacBook Pro won't boot from HD or Install CD

I have a 15" MacBook Pro running Lion. It won't boot from the HD or Install CD.
1. When I try to boot it from the HD, it makes the boot sound and displays the Apple logo. The small "working" wheel spins for about 20 seconds, and then gets stuck mid-spin.
2. When I try to boot from the Install CD, I eventually get a gray screen with a large power button image and the text "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the power button for several seconds or press the restart button."
I have tried resetting the PRAM and SMC per another post, but nothing changed. I have also tried to boot it from an Ubuntu 11.10 CD, which also got stuck.
Any idea what the problem could be and next steps I should take?

My Mac started freezing (colored pinwheel) every time I tried using any application (i.e. Safari, iPhoto). After restarting for the 2nd time, it would no longer boot - makes start up sound but gets stuck on gray screen w/ apple icon. I tried resetting PRAM also - did nothing. I decided to reinstall OS; problem now is my HD is nowhere to be found! I am a tech dummy so this is way beyond my comprehension...I'm not seeing my HD from the Disk Utility either???
Side question...I backed up my files (mostly pics JPEG and videos) on DVD (had to compress to save). Why can't I open files on PC?

Can't boot from windows 7 install usb drive created in bootcamp

So, my real problem is that my Windows 7 install won't boot after I installed some windows updates. I'm using OSX Lion and the latest version of Bootcamp. I've had Windows installed on my mid 2011 mac mini for only about a day. It had been working flawlessly so far.
Windows automatically downloaded and installed some updates and now it is broken.
When I attempt to boot windows I get a black screen that just hangs forever. No windows logo, no blinking cursor, no nothing.
I thought I could use my Windows 7 Install usb drive to maybe try and do a recovery or repair install but now my USB drive wont boot either. I get the same black screen.
Any ideas on why I can't boot even the install usb drive?
Note: this is the same USB drive I used to install windows the first time so it's definately capable. I've even used my install iso to re-create the usb drive installer and still nothing.

Install ISO means you burned DVD installer and did you reduce burn speed? otherwise it is a bad install.
3rd party updates? for security suite? stick to MS Security Essentials instead.

IMac won't boot from install disc

My iMac has been running a little slow the past two days and so I ran Disk Utility. DU reported that I had the incorrect number of thread records and an invalid volume count. It instructed me to repair the disk by booting from the install disc. The problem is that when I try to boot from the install disc (after I choose the disc from the options), I just get a gray screen with the apple logo on it. Nothing else happens, no disc activity, nothing.
Anyone have any ideas as to how to get my iMac to boot from the disc and, ultimately, to get Repair Disc running from DU?
Thanks,
Rich

It should only take a minute or so at most to boot from the DVD.
If your sure you have the correct Install Disk for that iMac, I'd start over. Then if it still doesn't work then perhaps a trip to your Local Apple Service Provider with the Disk or Disk and iMac is in order.
http://www.apple.com/buy/locator/service/
Alternately using the correct Disk as per the following article, see if you can run the Apple Hardware Test? > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509

Bootcamp Win7 - won't boot from Windows partition or even from the Win7 install DVD

Late 2011 Mac Mini / Lion / Win 7 64-bit Home Premium.
Incumbent Windows partition has happily run for heavy gaming (World of Warcraft) for some eight months. Now it stops on boot-up before the Windows logo is displayed, with a very dark blue blank screen. Attempts to boot from the Windows Install DVD yield the same result, portending that there is more than a corrupt MBR at work here. I have reset PRAM and SMC, just for good measure. There have been no recent changes to hardware / peripherals.
Rebuilding the Windows partition with Bootcamp stops at same Dark Blue Screen of Death. Will start Windows sometimes from first switch-on / dead cold Mini, but then not again in the same day. OS X Lion mode runs perfectly, booting up as usual with no quirks or delays.
Hardware? Seems unlikely, except for that suspicion of starting from the dead-cold start.

Do not use a USB3 flash drive. Only USB2 flash drives are supported by Windows installers. Depending on whether your Mac came with a built-in Optical drive or not, you may also need a physical DVD.
Please see How to install Windows using Boot Camp - Apple Support and Boot Camp 5.1: Frequently asked questions - Apple Support.

IMac won't boot from any HDD or install disc

Hi everybody.
This morning my iMac just didn't wanna boot up, it powers on and the start sound plays but nothing more, all white screen.
Tried holding OPT at start, my mouse cursor becomes visible and active but none of my startup drives show. Also tried booting from both SL and leopard install DVD, it reads the disc for a minute or two then spits it out, nothing on the screen, all white.
Tried resetting PRAM, holding down CMDOPT+PR, it reboots but same thing after that.
My internal HDD crashed recently so I've been booting from my external drive which has SL installed. This has worked fine unitl now, last night I shut the machine down it did take an extra two minutes to power off which was out of the ordinary.
All help appreciated which can avoid me from sending it in for repair.

Thanks for the reply.
Since my internal drive had been failing I guessed it had to be the culprit and right I was. After I swapped the HDD (plus swiped the interior clean) my iMac was like new again plus I didn't have to send it away.
But what I can't quite understand is why a bad internal drive which was not in use would hinder the mac from booting from the install DVD all of a sudden.

IMac won't boot from OS install disc

Hello. I'm using a refurbished 2010 - 2011 iMac running Snow Leopard, which did not come with the original install disc. Just purchased from Apple, an OS (Snow Leopard) Install Disc specific for my model iMac but my machine will not boot from it.
I've tried booting from the disc holding down the "C" key and it tries to start up but all I see is the grey Apple logo, no spinning gear and it just hangs there. I've also tried holding down the Option key and selecting the Install disc from the start-up choices that display but the same thing happens. Any ideas, anyone?

Did you call Apple and ask for replacement disks (giving them your serial number)?
If not, and if you purchased the retail version at the Apple store online, then you may have a version that is older than what yours came with. And, macs cannot boot from an OS older than what they came with. I believe the latest retail version is 10.6.3 and yours might have had 10.6.4 or higher. You might want to check on your model to get the exact OS version; you may need to call Apple and request replacement disks.

Imac won't boot from disk or restart

I'm trying to erase the HD on my powerpc G4 imac (2003). I have two issues preventing me from doing so. The first seems to be that I can't boot from the Tiger disk because I have a newer wireless keyboard with no other options available to me (the old white keyboard is long gone). So, I think it's not responding when I hold down the C button. The second issue is that the computer won't restart or shut down. It goes through the motions and gets to the point where the dock disappears and just the desktop is showing and it stays there indefinitely. I have to hold down the power button to get it to turn off. Then when I turn it back on it says that OS X quit unexpectedly. So, I can't perform any functions that require a restart. It doesn't seem to finish the process before I shut the computer off.

Hi Sleepy Pants,
I'm sorry to hear about your computer.
Unforchently the wireless keyboard can not be used to perform disk boot. At least when the computer is not booting properly. Do you have any wired USB keyboard? Any usb keyboard should be enough to safeboot, or boot to the install disk.
Good Luck
-tt

TS3824 My iMac won't wake from sleep after installing the most recent OS update.

I'm having trouble with my iMac, the screen won't wake up after it goes to sleep. The one time it did the screen was all fuzzy and pink. This has only happened in the last few hours after installing the latest OS X Lion update. Is this normal? Can someone help?

Hello, not normal.
One way to test is to Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, Test for problem in Safe Mode...
PS. Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive
Reboot, test again.
If it only does it in Regular Boot, then it could be some hardware problem like Video card, (Quartz is turned off in Safe Mode), or Airport, or 3rd party add-on, Check System Preferences>Accounts>Login Items window to see if it or something relevant is listed.
Check the System Preferences>Other Row, for 3rd party Pref Panes.
Also look in these if they exist, some are invisible...
/private/var/run/StartupItems
/Library/StartupItems
/System/Library/StartupItems
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Bootup holding CMD+r, or the Option/alt key to boot from the Restore partitiion & use Disk Utility from there to Repair the Disk, then Permissions.
Re-install if that doesn't work.

IMac won't boot from Windows USB install stick

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