HD Detected as null When Installing El Capitan - installation

I created a bootable image on a USB drive using this method:
https://www.macissues.com/2015/10/01/how-to-overcome-os-x-10-11-el-capitan-not-installing/
Basically, formatting a USB drive, calling it INSTALLER, and using a previously downloaded installer to create the bootable image on the thumb drive with this command:
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/INSTALLER --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app --nointeraction
This seems to work, and the install process does indeed kick off after reboot, but now the problem is that when I get to the screen where I am asked to select which drive to install OS X on, I am given two choices: The INSTALLER drive (a USB drive I am booting from) and "(null)". The icon above (null) is that of a standard hard drive, so I select it and am given the error message that there is not enough space on (null) to install OSX.
So, first, that is not the name of the drive. And second, according to my disk utility I have over 140 gigs free on the drive so I know this is just a false error on the part of the installer.
So how to resolve? I have tried installing several times and I get the same result each time so I know it is not a one-off problem. Why is the hard drive detecting as (null)?
The 251 gig volume is a single volume with Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format, and currently is running Yosemite:

Symantec products are poison to Macs, it seems. What was happening in my case is that there was a product called Symantec Endpoint Encryption that had encrypted the entire drive, which was hiding it from the installer. Once I figured out how to decrypt the drive using the Symantec utility I was able to run the install without problems.
I hope this helps someone else. Good luck!

Related

Windows 10 Installation on a SSD error: " We couldn't create a new partition..."

I have an Acer Nitro 5 with a Gigabyte 512gb ssd and a WD 1TB hhd.
Recently after installing Ubuntu on my hdd (because i didn't want to change the sata mode), I also wanted a clean Windows install. So I created a boot usb from
media creation tool and go forward with it.
It didn't work. I got the "We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one" error, which i spent a significant amount of time trying to search for a solution.
Stuffs i tried:
- Format my ssd
- use diskpart to clean, convert my ssd partition table to gpt, etc like every guide online recommends.
- Make another boot usb, this time with rufus. Didn't work.
Stuffs I didn't try:
- Temporarily disconnect my hdd. I don't have the tools to do that physically, and my acer uefi has zero options regarding this, like most guides suggests.
- Change to bios-legacy boot mode. There's no option in the uefi.
I think it would be fine if i try to install windows on my hdd though, but haven't try it yet. All I know is installing windows on a ssd is much harder but didn't expect it to produce this much annoyance.
I heard there's an option to install on a HDD, the. use a third party tool to copy it to a SSD, but i haven't look into it.
Thanks for any help given..
Assuming you have Windows 10 installed and working on your SSD go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > Reset this PC > Get started and then select if you want your files kept you want clean reinstall. Again - from your post I assume the latter so just click Remove everything" confirm and wait. It will take (depending on the machine) 1-2 hours.
I've found this to be the easiest way to have clean install without wondering how do I get it installed on my laptop/pc.
My recommendation though - back up your ubuntu partition - I can't guarantee that windows installer won't clean up HDD you have (it's supposed to clean only SSD but better be safe than sorry).
Here's the link to detailed instructions. It's based on 1903 compilation - if your's older it will still look very similar.
If your windows isn't working then use diskpart to clean the drive, boot the computer from USB windows installation stick and choose the drive for your installation - it will/should create appropriate partitions and start installing.
If it won't change boot order so the SSD is first on the list and HDD next and repeat the previous step.

Running SAS 9.4 from a flash drive

I have downloaded the SAS 9.4 suite on a flash drive. However, I do not have enough space on my hard disk to install SAS on my laptop.
Is there a way I can run SAS from my flash drive, instead of installing it on my laptop?
Operating system : Windows 10
Sort of? I have an external drive I've formatted (SSD/Flash) with an entire OS on it including SAS.
So I have VMware installed on my computer and it accesses the image file stored on the flash drive/SSD to run. You may even be able to do this with SAS UE. But you can also just use Academics on Demand which is cloud-based, assuming it's non-commercial usage and for learning.
EDIT: It's on a (256GB) flash drive that I keep on my computer because I don't really use the SD slot for anything else. It has Windows 10 on it because my main machine is a MacBook.

StoreMI - Create Bootable StoreMI greyed out

Situation: New PC Build
- Windows 10
- Samsung Evo 970 256GB NVME
- WD Blue 1TB potato drive
- AMD Ryzen 7 2700X on Asus Crosshair VII Hero
- GTX 1070
One of the main benefits of Ryzen 2, for me, was the StoreMI feature that I really hope to get working. I watched AdoredTV's video of how he set his up, but unfortunately for me, I'm not having any luck.
Greyed Out no option to create Bootable StoreMI
I have gone into Windows Disk Management and made sure the drives are visible to the OS, and they are also visible in File Explorer.
Windows Sees the Drives
If I try to remove fast media, I get this message, and the program closes.
If I try to modify, I get nothing useful.
So...I need some help figuring out what I've done wrong. Could I have something in the BIOS I need to fix? Other? I'm at a total loss.
Edit 1) I may have another clue? One of my greyed out drives is the same drive as the drive that's selectable, and they're "both" in a Tier. Looking at the Disk Manager, it seems my "System Reserved" is for some reason on the NVMe drive when it should have...I would have thought...been installed on the same drive the OS was installed on. I know I didn't tell Windows to do this.
So maybe this is a clue? Can I move the "System Reserved" Partition over to the spinning rust? Would that help?
Same Drive occupies both tiers?
Ok, well AMD customer support never emailed me back. It's been about 48 hours now. Not counting the RTFM email which was useless.
So...I figured...Maybe I'll ask the people I learned the most about this from, either AdoredTV, or Level1Techs. So I went to the Level1Techs forum, and talked to Wendell himself. He diagnosed and suggested a fix (that worked) in about 5 minutes. On my Windows install, I selected the C: (slow) drive to install the OS on, however, the OS set up the "System Reserved" partition on the NVMe drive...even though I never said to do that...it never asked if that's what I wanted to do...It just did it. Effectively nullifying the ability of StoreMI to work.
Why AMD can't do what a youtuber can in 5 minutes is beyond me...and pretty inexcusable. But I digress...
What I had to do was start over. Backed everything up, inserted my Windows 10 installation USB, booted from that, and ****-F10 into a command line from there.
From there, I cleaned all my drives.
Next, I physically removed my NVMe from the motherboard, then went about reinstalling the OS on the slow drive...now the only drive in the system, so it was forced to partition that.
Once that was done, and the OS was completely installed, I shut down the system and reinstalled the NVMe.
Rebooted the system, and I was then able to configure StoreMI easily.
TLDR: If you are doing a new system build, with a fresh Windows install, and want to use StoreMI... My recommendation is to install ONLY one HDD into your system (AMD recommends the install take place on the slowest drive). Complete your Windows install, then install the remaining drive or drives (you can only use two drives with StoreMI), install StoreMI and configure.

MacBook Pro touch bar is not detected when Windows 10 installed directly (no boot camp assist)

Device: MacBook Pro Mid 2017 with High Sierra
In order to install Windows on MacBook, bootcamp creates 7.4G partition that acts as a bootable install disk for windows(called OSXRESERVED). Note that this is in addition to BOOTCAMP partition that windows is going to be installed at.
Bootcamp, modifies windows ISO with addition of drivers to make the keyboard and touch pad work during install. It also add necessary drivers to be installed.
Here is the issue:
I created a USB image of 7.4G installer partition(OSXRESERVED); which has all the modifications + boot camp drivers. I booted off of the USB and could install windows with no issue. All drivers get installed after first login and everything seems to be operational; Except for keyboard back-light and keyboard touch bar. Re-installing boot camp drivers do not fix the issue. Under Device Manager in Windows, I do not see touch bar or unknown device.
Since Bootcamp creates the install partition and I have a USB bootable copy of that, I was expecting this be similar to boot camp assisted install (which touch bar and keyboard back light work under).
I am not sure what might be the problem or how I can fix it.
Thanks in advance.
I think I figured out the answer:
Warning: If you're not going to keep MacOS, either back up the EFI System Partition (and restore its contents to the new ESP after installation) or leave it intact (i.e. don't do a full disk install, but just use the space after the ESP). This partition (it's the first one) contains drivers/firmware/etc needed by Apple's EFI loader during boot, in particular to initialize the Touchbar.

Unable to install windows from usb flash, I get an error "setup was unable to create new system partition"

I have CD with window 7, I can install windows from this cd, but disc is't mine. So, I want to make a copy on my usb flash drive. I made iso copy of cd disc with WinISO, then I wrote this iso file on my flash drive with "Iso to Usb".
Now I try to install windows from this flash. I have 1tb hdd, I created 100gb partition and get 100gb partition, but when I did the same with with Windows cd disc, it creates 100 gb primary partition and 100 mb system partition.
So, when I tried to install windows in 100 gb partition from cd it installed, but when I tried to install from usb I got exception: "setup was unable to create new system partition".
Why so? Why I do the same steps and I can install from cd, but can't install from usb?
Why usb windows didn't create system partition? And how to fix it?
When installing using a flash-drive perform the following steps:
Step by step instruction:
When the boot setup starts from USB drive
Press Shift+F10
The command prompt will open.
In console type diskpart.exe and press enter. In this program execute following:
select disk=0. Disk 0 is your destination drive, so be careful, all information on this drive will be removed.
create partition primary size=xxx, where xxx – is the size of new partition
select partition=1
active
format fs=ntfs quick
assign
exit
4.exit
5.Now close the setup and restart.
This should solve your problem as it did mine.
Windows usually creates a partition with enought space for the system.
You can try to just take the 1tb HDD as target for installation, and windows will create a partition automatically.
Otherwise, your ISO-Copy may be corrupted.
You could easily download the ISO-Files from here.
Option: Make a Copy of the CD and try with that one?
Having installed windows 7 from a USB drive many times, I've found that if you're trying to install using a USB 3.0 flash drive, then you will get the "setup was unable to create new system partition" error message.
Since I couldn't find any solutions to this at the time, I was fiddling with everything to try to make it work. Eventually I found out an interesting (but strange) solution:
Go through the install process until you get to the screen that asks you to select a partition for the windows installation
Make sure your desired partition is listed, and that its formatted correctly
Unplug the USB drive
Press 'Refresh' (ONCE) to refresh the partition list/window (ONLY press refresh)
Plug the USB drive back in (use the same port as before)
Select the destination partition for the Windows installation, and try to begin the installation
I've done this a few times now on different machines, and it's worked like a charm.
I believe it has something to do with Windows 7 not natively supporting USB 3.0 and/or USB drives with SSD controllers.
Windows is probably seeing the USB drive as the main hard drive, because you have probably made it the first boot device in the BIOS. This will result in Windows trying to install to the install drive.
To solve this problem, make the internal HDD the first boot device, then press F12 or whatever key for boot device selection your BIOS requires.

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