Mac Boot Question

[hennessy1]

I have a mac mini and imac. Both with windows fully loaded on them. I was wondering is there a way to change the boot order before windows starts up. This isnt to choose between a windows partition or mac os X. This is because when I have my ipod plugged in it tries to boot from that and will not boot until I remove it. Can someone help with this?

 

[TheStu]

So, you have Windows as the default OS to boot to... I have also run into this problem and the only solution that I have found is to hold Alt while it is booting to then force it into Windows (at least I remember that fixing it) Since the mac doesn't use a BIOS, I am unsure how to change the boot order around. You may want to contact Apple, see what advice they may have.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I believe it's a setting in Boot Camp.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: DonVito
I believe it's a setting in Boot Camp.

No he pointed that out, it isn't an issue between OS X or Windows choosing, the issue lies in that if Windows is the default boot OS (set in the Control Panel) and you have an iPod hooked up to the machine, Windows tries to boot from it because it reads it as an external hard drive.

 

[hennessy1]

So just hold down alt during boot to bypass the other ipod drive and boot from internal?

 

[TheStu]

I am fairly certain that is what i have done in the past.

 

[Nothinman]

No he pointed that out, it isn't an issue between OS X or Windows choosing, the issue lies in that if Windows is the default boot OS (set in the Control Panel) and you have an iPod hooked up to the machine, Windows tries to boot from it because it reads it as an external hard drive.

Which is completely nonsensical because a normal Windows installation can't boot from removable drives, it won't even let you install it to one.

 

[TheStu]

I thought that you could boot from a removable drive... Hrm, well then the end-result is the same, the means are different though. Something with the BootCamp BootLoader in conjunction with at least the ipod or possibly all external hard drives must cause a problem. It's been too long since I ran windows, and my ipod cable is at work so I can't test it now.

 

[Nothinman]

I thought that you could boot from a removable drive...

A PE installation will but a normal installation won't. And I'm not even sure if PE will boot from USB.

Something with the BootCamp BootLoader in conjunction with at least the ipod or possibly all external hard drives must cause a problem. It's been too long since I ran windows, and my ipod cable is at work so I can't test it now.

It's possible that the drive ordering gets screwed up and Windows BSODs in INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE but that's different from the Mac trying to boot from the USB device.

 

[hennessy1]

bootcamp isnt even installed its a fresh hdd.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: hennessy1
bootcamp isnt even installed its a fresh hdd.

Well then I have no idea. I guess you can try asking on Apple Support Forums for the answer, but I am fresh out of ideas.

 

[Nothinman]

If you're just using Windows on the thing you might be out of luck as I doubt Apple will want to support that kind of configuration. There's got to be some awkward key combination to hold down on power-on to get into EFI so that you can poke around in there and see if it's possible to change the drive orders or disable USB booting but I don't know it.

 

[Tegeril]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

I thought that you could boot from a removable drive...

A PE installation will but a normal installation won't. And I'm not even sure if PE will boot from USB.

Just fyi, there are PE variants / modifications that boot fine from USB.

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