I have a Mac Pro 3,1 with an ATI Radeon RX580 8GB graphics card, a dosDude Catalina (10.15.6) install on an internal SSD and and a Windows 10 Pro (latest Version and updates) install on an internal HD.
To Dual Boot Mac OS X El Capitan with Windows 10 follow the below instructions. Choose the Language preferences with time, and Currency format then click Next to go forward. Choosing a Language. Now click on Install Now. Install Operating System. Anyone here try it? I tried this last year with OS X Yosemite, but it messed up my partition. Has it messed anyone's up? Prior to El Capitan, you had to insert a USB Flash Drive and Boot Camp Assistant copied the Windows installer from an ISO disk image to the flash drive, and then downloaded and set up the Windows drivers to the correct location in the installer for the Mac hardware. Open Boot Camp Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Follow the onscreen instructions. If you're asked to insert a USB drive, plug your USB flash drive into your Mac. Boot Camp Assistant will use it to create a bootable USB drive for Windows installation.
Both macOS and the Windows work fine along with all parts of the Mac. As I a have the Radeon card I do not have a boot screen until either Catalina has mostly started up or Windows has started to boot, so I cannot change the booting by holding down the Option key.
El Capitan Campsite Map
I previously ran El Capitan instead of Catalina, and with that I had installed in Windows the Boot Camp 4 drivers, which allowed me to select macOS from the Boot Camp Assistant and reboot from Windows into El Capitan. From El Capitan I could select the Windows drive in the start up disc control panel and reboot into Windows.
El Capitan Rv Park
However, since upgrading to Catalina, I can still select the Windows drive in the start up disc control panel and reboot into Windows. However if I select macOS from the Boot Camp Assistant and reboot the Mac, it always reboots into Windows.
My current work around is to shut down, remove the Windows drive, reboot in to Catalina, select Catalina in the Startup Disk control panel, reboot into Catalina, shut down, re-install the windows drive, start up and it starts up into Catalina again with the Windows disk mounted. I can then just select the Windows drive in the start up disc control panel and reboot into Windows when I need to.
From what I have read it's an issue with boot camp not liking the APFS file system Catalina uses. I have also read that a newer version of Boot Camp would fix the issue. I have upgraded Boot Camp to version 6, but this cause other issues in Windows and in the end I had to format the windows drive and re-install it from scratch along with the Boot Camp 4 drivers.
Can anybody tell me how I can get this issue sorted out so I can just switch using Boot Camp?
Many thanks
El Capitan Beach Camping
Duncan
What you need to install Windows 10 on Mac
- MacBook introduced in 2015 or later
- MacBook Air introduced in 2012 or later
- MacBook Pro introduced in 2012 or later
- Mac mini introduced in 2012 or later
- iMac introduced in 2012 or later1
- iMac Pro (all models)
- Mac Pro introduced in 2013 or later
The latest macOS updates, which can include updates to Boot Camp Assistant. You will use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10.
64GB or more free storage space on your Mac startup disk:
- Your Mac can have as little as 64GB of free storage space, but at least 128GB of free storage space provides the best experience. Automatic Windows updates require that much space or more.
- If you have an iMac Pro or Mac Pro with 128GB of memory (RAM) or more, your startup disk needs at least as much free storage space as your Mac has memory.2
An external USB flash drive with a storage capacity of 16GB or more, unless you're using a Mac that doesn't need a flash drive to install Windows.
A 64-bit version of Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro on a disk image (ISO) or other installation media. If installing Windows on your Mac for the first time, this must be a full version of Windows, not an upgrade.
- If your copy of Windows came on a USB flash drive, or you have a Windows product key and no installation disc, download a Windows 10 disk image from Microsoft.
- If your copy of Windows came on a DVD, you might need to create a disk image of that DVD.
Install Boot Camp El Capitan
How to install Windows 10 on Mac
To install Windows, use Boot Camp Assistant, which is included with your Mac.
1. Check your Secure Boot setting
Learn how to check your Secure Boot setting. The default Secure Boot setting is Full Security. If you changed it to No Security, change it back to Full Security before installing Windows. After installing Windows, you can use any Secure Boot setting without affecting your ability to start up from Windows.
2. Use Boot Camp Assistant to create a Windows partition
Open Boot Camp Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Follow the onscreen instructions.
- If you're asked to insert a USB drive, plug your USB flash drive into your Mac. Boot Camp Assistant will use it to create a bootable USB drive for Windows installation.
- When Boot Camp Assistant asks you to set the size of the Windows partition, remember the minimum storage-space requirements in the previous section. Set a partition size that meets your needs, because you can't change its size later.
3. Format the Windows (BOOTCAMP) partition
When Boot Camp Assistant finishes, your Mac restarts to the Windows installer. If the installer asks where to install Windows, select the BOOTCAMP partition and click Format. In most cases, the installer selects and formats the BOOTCAMP partition automatically.
4. Install Windows
Unplug any external devices that aren't necessary during installation. Then click Next and follow the onscreen instructions to begin installing Windows.
5. Use the Boot Camp installer in Windows
After Windows installation completes, your Mac starts up in Windows and opens a ”Welcome to the Boot Camp installer” window. Follow the onscreen instructions to install Boot Camp and Windows support software (drivers). You will be asked to restart when done.
- If the Boot Camp installer never opens, open the Boot Camp installer manually and use it to complete Boot Camp installation.
- If you have an external display connected to a Thunderbolt 3 port on your Mac, the display will be blank (black, gray, or blue) for up to 2 minutes during installation.
How to switch between Windows and macOS
Restart, then press and hold the Option (or Alt) ⌥ key during startup to switch between Windows and macOS.
Learn more
If you have one of these Intel-based Mac models using OS X El Capitan or later, you don't need a USB flash drive to install Windows:
- MacBook introduced in 2015 or later
- MacBook Air introduced in 2017 or later3
- MacBook Pro introduced in 2015 or later3
- iMac introduced in 2015 or later
- iMac Pro (all models)
- Mac Pro introduced in late 2013 or later
To remove Windows from your Mac, use Boot Camp Assistant, not any other utility.
For more information about using Windows on your Mac, open Boot Camp Assistant and click the Open Boot Camp Help button.
1. If you're using an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) or iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) or iMac (27-inch, Late 2012) with a 3TB hard drive and macOS Mojave or later, learn about an alert you might see during installation.
2. For example, if your Mac has 128GB of memory, its startup disk must have at least 128GB of storage space available for Windows. To see how much memory your Mac has, choose Apple menu > About This Mac. To see how much storage space is available, click the Storage tab in the same window.
3. These Mac models were offered with 128GB hard drives as an option. Apple recommends 256GB or larger hard drives so that you can create a Boot Camp partition of at least 128GB.