Air refuses to boot from 3rd party DVD drive. What's going on?

[Philflow]

Ok I connected my Air to a LG drive GSA-E50L USB DVD drive. It seems to work fine in Windows and OS X. For booting it does work with the OS X dvd's.

However, it refuses to boot from a Windows XP installation disk.

I've tried different boot disks aswell. No luck.

When I boot pressing the option key, the DVD drive is one of the options. It says "Windows CD". I then choose it. It starts reading the CD and then the apple sign is displayed. The apple sign changes into a stop sign and goes back to the apple sign again.

Does anyone know what is going on?

Has anyone been able to boot from a Windows disk with a non Apple USB drive?

Thanks in advance!

 

[silverblack]

Please clarify, are you running boot camp? If so, did you first set it up using the boot camp assistant? (you can't just boot into Windows by putting in a Windows CD)

Based on what you described, your MBA did boot from your DVD drive the way it was supposed to. Nothing wrong.

 

[Philflow]

Please clarify, are you running boot camp? If so, did you first set it up using the boot camp assistant? (you can't just boot into Windows by putting in a Windows CD)

Ok sounds good. then there may not be a problem.

Well i ran bootcamp to install everything but now i was not running it.

So if just want to boot into a Acronis True Image boot cd (windows app) that is impossible?

 

[silverblack]

So if just want to boot into a Acronis True Image boot cd (windows app) that is impossible?

Sorry I don't know what 'Acronis True Image boot cd' is supposed to do. However, my understanding is, in order to boot into another OS, you must be running bootcamp, VMware Fusion, or Parallel. You can't just 'boot' into something else from Mac OS X, or run a native Windows software in Mac OS X.

 

[Philflow]

Ok got that. I think there is no problem then.

Acronis is a backup tool that can copy/restore/modify partitions. It's very powerful. I believe Apple has something similar called Timemachine.

 

[Krevnik]

Sorry I don't know what 'Acronis True Image boot cd' is supposed to do. However, my understanding is, in order to boot into another OS, you must be running bootcamp, VMware Fusion, or Parallel. You can't just 'boot' into something else from Mac OS X, or run a native Windows software in Mac OS X.

I think you are confused. Boot Camp is just a disk partitioning tool + drivers. The real support for booting Windows on Mac machines is in the firmware of the Mac itself. When the first Intel machines came out, they couldn't boot Windows until Boot Camp was announced. However, alongside Boot Camp were firmware updates you needed before Boot Camp would run. Those firmware updates were what added Windows booting support to the first Intel Macs, since then, all Intel Macs have come with that Windows booting support built in.

Still, Boot Camp is a really nice partitioning tool for Laptops/iMacs/Minis since you only have one internal drive.

As for why it won't boot off a 3rd party drive? I am not really sure. Could be a few different reasons, including a bug in the BIOS emulation. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. In my experience Vista refuses to install on any HDD in a Mac Pro except the one in slot 2, as it is the only one the 'BIOS' tells Vista 'is bootable'.

 

[Philflow]

Ok I just tested it with installing Windows XP:

Started OS X. Ran bootcamp assistant. Made partition. Install Windows.
Air reboots, tries to boot from LG drive. Does not work, stop sign on display.

Any more ideas?

Did anyone else succesfully install Windows from a non apple3rd drive?

 

[krye]

The only reason XP works is because Boot Camp contains the necessary drivers needed for installation and booting. It also emulates a BIOS that tricks Windows into thinking it's on a PC, as Macs do not have a BIOS. The CD you are running does not recognize the Mac and vice-versa. Even though Apple has gone Intel, the Mac is not a true x32 environment. Your CD needs to run in a "PC environment". The Mac can only provide that to what Boot Camp supports.

 

[fuzzielitlpanda]

Ok I just tested it with installing Windows XP:

Started OS X. Ran bootcamp assistant. Made partition. Install Windows.
Air reboots, tries to boot from LG drive. Does not work, stop sign on display.

Any more ideas?

Did anyone else succesfully install Windows from a non apple3rd drive?

I use a Liteon 20X External DVDRW and was able to boot both windows xp and windows vista. I booted both by going through the bootcamp assistant.

 

[Philflow]

I use a Liteon 20X External DVDRW and was able to boot both windows xp and windows vista. I booted both by going through the bootcamp assistant.

What type is it?
Is it USB powered?

 

[fuzzielitlpanda]

What type is it?
Is it USB powered?

No it is not USB powered. There is a separate adapter for power

 

[Philflow]

No it is not USB powered. There is a separate adapter for power

Can you give me the model number please?

 

[fuzzielitlpanda]

Sure this is the one I bought:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WM1Z14

However, maybe someone else can chime in to help you before you buy a new drive.

 

[Philflow]

However, maybe someone else can chime in to help you before you buy a new drive.

Thanks. I hope someone will.

If not, I can return my LG drive and get a Lite-on.

 

[Krevnik]

The only reason XP works is because Boot Camp contains the necessary drivers needed for installation and booting. It also emulates a BIOS that tricks Windows into thinking it's on a PC, as Macs do not have a BIOS. The CD you are running does not recognize the Mac and vice-versa. Even though Apple has gone Intel, the Mac is not a true x32 environment. Your CD needs to run in a "PC environment". The Mac can only provide that to what Boot Camp supports.

Boot Camp drivers are not required until after XP SP 2 is installed.

The EFI firmware contains the BIOS emulator, downloading the app doesn't magically install that.

 

[Philflow]

Still did not get my LG drive to boot Windows on the air, so I am returning today.

 

[Philflow]

Now I got a Samsung SE-S204 external DVD burner instead, and it's working fine.

Installing bootcamp worked like it's supposed to work.

This drive is not USB powered though.