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I am having a problem with booting Windows 10 on a Macbook Pro with the Mac OS Sierra operating system installed on it. I feel like I have tried all the possible solutions to this problem to no avail.
My problem is this: I need to run Windows 10 Legacy in BIOS mode on a mid-2010 Macbook Pro. I want to run Windows 10 from a flash drive. I was able to run Windows 10 using GPT and EFI mode on the Macbook but that was not what I needed. For my particular situation, I need to find a way to run Windows 10 in BIOS mode on the Macbook.
So I got the program WintoUSB, which installs Windows 10 in any mode you select to a USB drive. I was able to install Windows 10 using MBR and BIOS mode and I was even able to run Windows 10 from the flash drive when it is plugged into a "normal" pc (not a laptop, not an Apple device, just a standard BIOS-based pc). By reordering the boot priority in BIOS settings, I simply selected to boot from the flash drive first and it booted to Windows without problems.
However, when I plug that same flash drive to the Macbook Pro (which is EFI-based), switch on the Macbook and press and hold the Alt key during the startup process, it only shows the internal hard drive where the Mac operating system is installed and does not show the Windows flash drive as a bootable option. I think that is natural because, as far as I know, the Mac only shows EFI devices there and not BIOS ones.
So I thought, in order for the Windows 10 flash drive to appear as a bootable option, I would install rEFInd and the problem would be solved. For those who do not know, rEFInd is the successor of rEFIt and it is a program used for booting from any source on an EFI-based device. I downloaded the rEFInd flash drive installer from here (on that page, it is the link labelled A USB flash drive image file) and installed the flash drive .img file to another USB flash drive within the Mac operating system using the dd command. This flash drive was formatted as FAT32 and had one partition on it. Before I used the DD command, I unmounted the device and was able, using "sudo", to install rEFInd onto the flash drive.
Now when I restart the Macbook Pro and do not press the Alt key, it boots straight into the Mac OS. When I restart and do press and hold the Alt key, it shows "EFI boot" as a booting option (which is the flash drive which I installed rEFInd onto). I select that and can access rEFInd. When the Windows 10 flash drive is plugged in, as well, Windows shows as a bootable option in rEFInd.
When I saw that, I thought great, that I was finally able to boot into Windows 10 Legacy BIOS on the Macbook Pro. However, shortly I was disappointed again. When I selected the Windows option in rEFInd, it tried to boot into Windows but all I got was a black screen with a white underscore symbol blinking at the top-left corner of the screen. This has happened once or twice on the BIOS-based pc, too, but when I unplugged the Windows 10 flash drive and re-plugged it into a different USB slot, I was able to boot without problems. I tried that also on the Macbook but it did not help.
That is why I am seeking advice on this forum because I am really at the end of my wits. In WintoUSB, there is an option to install Windows either as MBR for BIOS, as GPT for EFI, or as MBR for BIOS or EFI. I have also tried selecting the third option which creates a dual-boot flash drive, and when I tried the EFI boot on the Macbook, it worked, but when I selected the BIOS boot there, it did not work. And the BIOS boot is what I need.
I also thought perhaps installing Windows 10 onto the flash drive in a totally different way could help. Or perhaps I should install rEFInd on the internal hard drive of the Macbook and not onto a flash drive? Or maybe an upgrade of the EFI firmware could help? I tried that by manually downloading EFI 2.6 from the official Apple website but it said the .dmg image was not compatible with my version of Macbook. I thought perhaps one of these options could work but these are just ideas, to be honest I have no idea how to really solve this problem.
My problem is this: I need to run Windows 10 Legacy in BIOS mode on a mid-2010 Macbook Pro. I want to run Windows 10 from a flash drive. I was able to run Windows 10 using GPT and EFI mode on the Macbook but that was not what I needed. For my particular situation, I need to find a way to run Windows 10 in BIOS mode on the Macbook.
So I got the program WintoUSB, which installs Windows 10 in any mode you select to a USB drive. I was able to install Windows 10 using MBR and BIOS mode and I was even able to run Windows 10 from the flash drive when it is plugged into a "normal" pc (not a laptop, not an Apple device, just a standard BIOS-based pc). By reordering the boot priority in BIOS settings, I simply selected to boot from the flash drive first and it booted to Windows without problems.
However, when I plug that same flash drive to the Macbook Pro (which is EFI-based), switch on the Macbook and press and hold the Alt key during the startup process, it only shows the internal hard drive where the Mac operating system is installed and does not show the Windows flash drive as a bootable option. I think that is natural because, as far as I know, the Mac only shows EFI devices there and not BIOS ones.
So I thought, in order for the Windows 10 flash drive to appear as a bootable option, I would install rEFInd and the problem would be solved. For those who do not know, rEFInd is the successor of rEFIt and it is a program used for booting from any source on an EFI-based device. I downloaded the rEFInd flash drive installer from here (on that page, it is the link labelled A USB flash drive image file) and installed the flash drive .img file to another USB flash drive within the Mac operating system using the dd command. This flash drive was formatted as FAT32 and had one partition on it. Before I used the DD command, I unmounted the device and was able, using "sudo", to install rEFInd onto the flash drive.
Now when I restart the Macbook Pro and do not press the Alt key, it boots straight into the Mac OS. When I restart and do press and hold the Alt key, it shows "EFI boot" as a booting option (which is the flash drive which I installed rEFInd onto). I select that and can access rEFInd. When the Windows 10 flash drive is plugged in, as well, Windows shows as a bootable option in rEFInd.
When I saw that, I thought great, that I was finally able to boot into Windows 10 Legacy BIOS on the Macbook Pro. However, shortly I was disappointed again. When I selected the Windows option in rEFInd, it tried to boot into Windows but all I got was a black screen with a white underscore symbol blinking at the top-left corner of the screen. This has happened once or twice on the BIOS-based pc, too, but when I unplugged the Windows 10 flash drive and re-plugged it into a different USB slot, I was able to boot without problems. I tried that also on the Macbook but it did not help.
That is why I am seeking advice on this forum because I am really at the end of my wits. In WintoUSB, there is an option to install Windows either as MBR for BIOS, as GPT for EFI, or as MBR for BIOS or EFI. I have also tried selecting the third option which creates a dual-boot flash drive, and when I tried the EFI boot on the Macbook, it worked, but when I selected the BIOS boot there, it did not work. And the BIOS boot is what I need.
I also thought perhaps installing Windows 10 onto the flash drive in a totally different way could help. Or perhaps I should install rEFInd on the internal hard drive of the Macbook and not onto a flash drive? Or maybe an upgrade of the EFI firmware could help? I tried that by manually downloading EFI 2.6 from the official Apple website but it said the .dmg image was not compatible with my version of Macbook. I thought perhaps one of these options could work but these are just ideas, to be honest I have no idea how to really solve this problem.
