windows 10 install USB stick without Bootcamp

[VanneDC]

So, I finally figured it out, after about 3 hours of attempting to make a windows 10 USB stick that my 4.1 would recognise.. Yeah i know i could have used bootcamp 6.x to make the USB stick, but i don't/didnt have access to that.

so after 3 hours it became more of a quest, rather than getting the stupid stick to boot in my MP.

The only way i was able to make this work was using good old CMD (windows) Diskpart.

I really pretty much did try everything, and man what a hassle, disk utility in OSX was close but couldn't make it bootable, Rufus, isotousb and uneboot all didn't make it work.

What a night mare.. seriously..

after using Diskpart,

• diskpart

• list disk

• select disk {number}

• clean

• create partition primary

• select partition 1

• active

• format fs=fat32 quick

• assign

• exit

Mounted the image, then Xcopied all the files across..

anyways, just letting you guys know it does work without bootcamp 6.x

V.

 

[Squuiid]

There's a much easier way
Flash your Mac Pro to a 5,1 and you can then boot directly off of a USB stick created with Windows Media Creation Tool. (It will also allow you to run (High) Sierra macOS)

Windows 10 Media Creation Tool
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO

Flash guide:
http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,852.0.html

 

[VanneDC]

It is a 5.1, did not want to boot.

 

[Squuiid]

It is a 5.1, did not want to boot.

Are you booting USB as EFI or legacy? (When you hold the OPTION key at powerOn)
Do you have any non-EFI PCI cards which have a bootROM?

 

[owbp]

+1 To what Squuiid said.
Also, you can delete all MacPro5 (and 5,1) entries from BootCamp's info.plist and replace MacPro6,1 with 5,1 at the same time - that way, bootcamp will create USB that is EFI bootable.

P.S. It will report as MBR scheme, but it will boot into Win UEFI install without any problem.

 

[VanneDC]

Owbp, got a link for further info? Looking for win eufi bootable install.
Not sure why my win10 media Creator tool didn't like it??

 

[Squuiid]

Owbp, got a link for further info? Looking for win eufi bootable install.
Not sure why my win10 media Creator tool didn't like it??

The easiest way to do this, by far, is to burn the ISO to a DVD.
The reason being is that current builds of Windows 10 now exceed the FAT32 file size limit and consequently you can't UEFI boot from a flash drive as the install.wim file is too large for the file system.
A USB flash drive must be formatted as FAT32 in order to comply with UEFI. NTFS is not supported.

A DVD's file system does not have this limitation and will allow you to choose legacy or UEFI when you hold down the OPTION key at boot up.
Yes, it's slower, but it works perfectly.

 

[Yahooligan]

Yeah, I don't see the need to go through all that hassle just to install from a USB stick. I burned the Win10 ISO to a DVD and was on my way, no need to use Boot Camp for any part of it. Now, if you don't have any blank DVDs then I can see how hacking together a way to do it off a USB stick would be faster and cheaper than going out and buying some blank DVDs, otherwise using a DVD is a piece of cake.

 

[ibarnett]

I installed Win 10 from USB stick yesterday using this guide:
http://fgimian.github.io/blog/2016/03/12/installing-windows-10-on-a-mac-without-bootcamp/
Worked well, need to follow the guide closely though, note I had to disable SIP to use "GPT fdisk" successfully.
Also needed to remove/disconnect all other drives as noted when installing Windows.
I downloaded the latest Win 10 iso from MS, used old Win 7 product key when asked during installation, activated successfully.

 

[owbp]

Owbp, got a link for further info? Looking for win eufi bootable install.

Hey sorry for being a month late to reply, but better late than never

Burning a DVD might be the easiest way (though it never worked for me booting in UEFI mode, just CSM), but i always seem to have none left when i need them the most, so i figured out the BootCamp UEFI install by just messing with plist file - I always have a 8GB USB stick around. I said "i figured it out" because I choose not to follow any online instruction for it (and there are plenty on making USB installation stick if your Mac have Superdrive also), since every version of Bootcamp has different entries in plist and all I could google at the moment were ML/Mavericks guides.

So, without further ado,
You basically just go through the plist removing all MacPro5,1 and MacPro5 lines from it (I've left MacPro2,1 etc since they're of no interest to me or this method).
After that, you'll have one entry/line or string with MacPro6,1 - the only MP that supports Win EFI boot.
You just delete 6 and put 5 there, so that string now reads MacPro5,1.
For Sierra 10.12.5 it is in PreWindows10OnlyModels.

Now go to BootCamp Assistant, and you'll have option to make USB installation stick that will boot into EFI mode (although the stick will be Master Boot Record instead of GPT, it will work flawlessly).

I am attaching both plist files for you to go through them and see what I did, but I encourage you to do your own edits if you're not on macOS 10.12.5 and therefor probably have different Bootcamp version and different info.plist file.

Also, one more thing, BC Assistant will download Bootcamp 4 for some reason unknown to me.
Download from Apple's website version 5.1. and save it to the thumb drive or DVD.
https://support.apple.com/kb/dl1720?locale=en_US

 

[Waqaszed]

Hey sorry for being a month late to reply, but better late than never

Burning a DVD might be the easiest way (though it never worked for me booting in UEFI mode, just CSM), but i always seem to have none left when i need them the most, so i figured out the BootCamp UEFI install by just messing with plist file - I always have a 8GB USB stick around. I said "i figured it out" because I choose not to follow any online instruction for it (and there are plenty on making USB installation stick if your Mac have Superdrive also), since every version of Bootcamp has different entries in plist and all I could google at the moment were ML/Mavericks guides.

So, without further ado,
You basically just go through the plist removing all MacPro5,1 and MacPro5 lines from it (I've left MacPro2,1 etc since they're of no interest to me or this method).
After that, you'll have one entry/line or string with MacPro6,1 - the only MP that supports Win EFI boot.
You just delete 6 and put 5 there, so that string now reads MacPro5,1.
For Sierra 10.12.5 it is in PreWindows10OnlyModels.

Now go to BootCamp Assistant, and you'll have option to make USB installation stick that will boot into EFI mode (although the stick will be Master Boot Record instead of GPT, it will work flawlessly).
View attachment 708994 View attachment 708995 View attachment 708996
I am attaching both plist files for you to go through them and see what I did, but I encourage you to do your own edits if you're not on macOS 10.12.5 and therefor probably have different Bootcamp version and different info.plist file.

Also, one more thing, BC Assistant will download Bootcamp 4 for some reason unknown to me.
Download from Apple's website version 5.1. and save it to the thumb drive or DVD.
https://support.apple.com/kb/dl1720?locale=en_US

How did you edit the plist files sire?, I tried with xcode and I am on 10.12.6 and it didn't work

 

[owbp]

I've just seen new plist in 10.12.6. Just one string of MacPro5,1 and one 2,1... Not a mention of MacPro6,1.
Have to try few things and I will report back. Hopefully this evening.

Edit: LOL, sorry, I've tricked myself into looking edited version of bootcamp info.plist as it is new, updated on from 10.12.6. No changes were made to Bootcamp Assistant updating from 10.12.5 to 10.12.6 so the same should apply.

You can try the attached version, or check twice that you have erased all MacPro5 and MacPro5,1 strings and replaced MacPro6,1 string in PreWindows10OnlyModels with MacPro5,1.

 

[Waqaszed]

I've just seen new plist in 10.12.6. Just one string of MacPro5,1 and one 2,1... Not a mention of MacPro6,1.
Have to try few things and I will report back. Hopefully this evening.

Edit: LOL, sorry, I've tricked myself into looking edited version of bootcamp info.plist as it is new, updated on from 10.12.6. No changes were made to Bootcamp Assistant updating from 10.12.5 to 10.12.6 so the same should apply.

You can try the attached version, or check twice that you have erased all MacPro5 and MacPro5,1 strings and replaced MacPro6,1 string in PreWindows10OnlyModels with MacPro5,1.

Thanks a lot Owbp it worked..

 

[owbp]

I'm glad it worked.
Btw, as far as my tests went, Windows 8.1 works also and with Windows 7 Bootcamp will make USB but there will be no option while holding Alt at boot (neither Windows or EFI Boot).