Creating a bootable usb (Mac)

[Rui]

Hey,

 

so my friend has put together his pc, and wants to install windows 10.

 

his house is a mac only household, so i cant simply use windows to create a bootable usb stick, and all the tutorials i have found online are not really functioning as expected.

 

we use the program “etcher” which also stated it might not be good enough or the right program for the task. When attempting to boot of the usb post etcher, we get a error message stating we are missing certain drivers to install windows.

 

does anyone have a simple or mediocre way to create a bootable usb stick? For windows 10 on a mac?

 

(boot camp is not showing the option to create a bootable usb, only shows the option to partition the macs drive to run dual operating systems)

[WkdPaul]

Try this ;

https://unetbootin.github.io/

[KenjiUmino]

19 minutes ago, Rui said:

(boot camp is not showing the option to create a bootable usb, only shows the option to partition the macs drive to run dual operating systems)

according to Apple support you don't use a bootable USB at all

 

Quote

Windows 10 is available from Microsoft as an ISO file and a USB flash drive. You need an ISO file of the 64-bit version of the Windows 10 installer to install Windows on your Mac. If you purchased the USB flash drive version you can download an ISO from Microsoft

 

looks like you don't even need to boot directly into windows installation from install dvd or usb - the istallation is done using the boot camp assistant from within OSX.

 

it takes you through the preparation process - THEN it will restart the mac into windows installation. 

[cox1000]

3 minutes ago, KenjiUmino said:

according to Apple support you don't use a bootable USB at all

 

 

looks like you don't even need to boot directly into windows installation - you open the boot camp assistant from within OSX and it takes you through the preparation process - THEN it will restart the mac into windows installation. 

He wants to install it on a PC, not the mac he is downloading the file from. 

 

It's an ISO yes? If none of the software tools work there is a way to do it using lower level terminal tools. As outlined below, from a stack exchange post:

 

Quote

• First run diskutil list
• then insert your usb stick
• and run diskutil list again to see the disk node (e.g. /dev/disk2).
• Now run diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN
• and do sudo dd if=/path-to.iso of=/dev/rdiskN bs=1m (or bs=1M with homebrew)
• When finished diskutil eject /dev/diskN

I can confirm that this does work, and have used it for windows installers, just be sure to enter each command correctly, and make sure you use the correct drive identifiers. 

 

Did the PC boot with the USB installer you made? It may be that the hardware combination of the PC he has requires drivers to actually be able to install. It sounds sort of like this might be the issue that you are having. In which case, does it mention any specific drivers? What is the motherboard you are using?

[KenjiUmino]

Just now, cox1000 said:

He wants to install it on a PC, not the mac he is downloading the file from.

really?

 

25 minutes ago, Rui said:

does anyone have a simple or mediocre way to create a bootable usb stick? For windows 10 on a mac?

i had the impression the goal was to run "windows 10 on a mac" 

[cox1000]

4 minutes ago, KenjiUmino said:

really?

 

i had the impression the goal was to run "windows 10 on a mac" 

 

30 minutes ago, Rui said:

so my friend has put together his pc, and wants to install windows 10.

@KenjiUmino I think you may have missed this bit. 

[KenjiUmino]

Just now, cox1000 said:

@KenjiUmino I think you may have missed this bit. 

looks like i did indeed miss it  

 

oops

[Rui]

2 hours ago, wkdpaul said:

Try this ;

https://unetbootin.github.io/

thanks for the suggestion, ill try it out when he wakes up.

 

1 hour ago, cox1000 said:

He wants to install it on a PC, not the mac he is downloading the file from. 

 

It's an ISO yes? If none of the software tools work there is a way to do it using lower level terminal tools. As outlined below, from a stack exchange post:

 

I can confirm that this does work, and have used it for windows installers, just be sure to enter each command correctly, and make sure you use the correct drive identifiers. 

 

Did the PC boot with the USB installer you made? It may be that the hardware combination of the PC he has requires drivers to actually be able to install. It sounds sort of like this might be the issue that you are having. In which case, does it mention any specific drivers? What is the motherboard you are using?

thank you for the command method, that might be easier.

 

it doesnt suggest any drivers. i forgot to screenshot the actual error message, but it mainly said that "drivers required to install windows 10 missing". if it helps, its a r5 1600 with a b350 biostar motherboard. i dont think it has to do with the hardware drivers however. as it seems etcher downloaded files onto his mac's desktop instead of onto the usb stick. 

[cox1000]

13 hours ago, Rui said:

thanks for the suggestion, ill try it out when he wakes up.

 

thank you for the command method, that might be easier.

 

it doesnt suggest any drivers. i forgot to screenshot the actual error message, but it mainly said that "drivers required to install windows 10 missing". if it helps, its a r5 1600 with a b350 biostar motherboard. i dont think it has to do with the hardware drivers however. as it seems etcher downloaded files onto his mac's desktop instead of onto the usb stick. 

Ah okay. Well, let's see if that works. If it does boot, and you get the same error, it's without doubt that there are some Windows drivers missing that are required by something in the system in order to install the OS.