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There is a Windows 10 EFI/GPT installation on a separate drive in my MacPro next to my disk with the OSX installation.

The Apple Startup Manager shows the Win10 disk labeled as "EFI Boot". I can boot to Win10 there.

I cannot set the default startup disk in system preferences. If I choose the Win10 HDD I will get "No Bootable Device -- Insert boot disk and press any key" error upon next boot.

As soon as I bless the OSX disk again through system preferences OSX will boot again as standard.

How can I "bless" the Win10 disk as the standard disk to boot upon startup?

There is no EFI partition present on the Win10 disk.

Thanks.

diskutil list output:

/dev/disk6 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *250.0 GB   disk6
   1:         Microsoft Reserved                         16.8 MB    disk6s1
   2:       Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP                249.5 GB   disk6s2
   3:           Windows Recovery                         471.9 MB   disk6s3

/dev/disk7 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *256.0 GB   disk7
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk7s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            255.1 GB   disk7s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk7s3

UPDATE: Windows installer seems to have used the EFI partition on disk7 to copy the boot files to. I managed to "repair" the startmanager with this guide here. Windows now boots on every startup of the MacPro. I can also access the Apple Startup Manager and choose my Macintosh HD or the Recovery Partition. As soon as I mess around with choosing the startup disk in osx system preferences it will break again with the "no bootable device error". OSX or the Startup Manager does not seem to be able to find the Windows OS on the other disk6 without EFI Partition. Interesting also is that even when I disconnect the windows disk7 I will still see EFI Boot in Apple Startup Manager. Choosing it will get a Windows Error screen not being able to boot of course.

As soon as I have more time I will continue to experiment further... Maybe somebody with a better understanding of the Apple EFI Startup Manager can give a hint in advance how to make it possible to switch startup disk from OS side in a "normal" way.

Next step to try: Add EFI partition to Windows disk6 put the Win startup files there and link to the installation on the same disk.

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1 Answer 1

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Boot to the Startup Manager and hold down the control key before selecting Windows. For a better answer, I will need more information.

  • Added the output from diskutil list to your question.
  • What is the model year or identifier of your MacPro?
  • Do you still have the media (DVD, iso or flash drive) you used to install Windows?

I suppose it would be possible to have the boot files on the EFI partition of the first disk and the Windows partition on the second disk. If so, this might confuse System Preferences. If this is the problem, then you could either bless the Windows partition from a Terminal application window or add a script to the menu bar that would accomplish the same operation.

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  • Hi David, thanks for your reply! Model is MacPro4,1 2009 EFI is flashed from Bootrom MP41.0081.B07 (EFI 1.4) to Bootrom MP51.007F.B03 (EFI 1.5). That enabled me to EFI boot Windows.
    – 2000one
    Nov 5, 2016 at 18:54
  • Sorry for posting another comment. I wanted to use return for linebreaks... And then was too slow for 5 minute edit.... Holding control key from startup manager resulted in booting to a black screen without any error message. diskutil list output added to question. Thanks!
    – 2000one
    Nov 5, 2016 at 19:03

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