Windows – Drivers not working on Windows 10 installed (CLI process) on external SSD running on Mac mini – EFI Started But Screen Black After Win Logo

bootbootcampwindows

I followed the steps listed in https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/384447/9058 to install Windows 10 via CLI but am stuck at step 7.

I restarted my Mac Mini and held down the option key. The Mac HD and and EFI HD came up. I clicked on the EFI. The Windows Logo or insignia (the little boxes)came up and it looked like all was well for about a minute or so and then the screen goes black. The Mac Mini remains on but the screen is blank.

How can I proceed from here?

The following is a picture of my screen in Windows Terminal

Almost to the end but stuck over the $WinPEDriver$

enter image description here

Oh well, it was an adventure typing inside the terminal or CLI.

How do I continue from here? Thanks!

Update 1

Dear David, Here is a picture of my Terminal. It seems the last command wasn't accepted.

Update 2

Dear David,

I tried these new commands but as you can see, they didn't produce the results we were hoping for.

Where do I go from here? Thanks!

Update 3

Good Evening David, Here is a picture of the results of latest command.

Thanks!

Update 4

Good Evening David, F10 not working once I reach the screen below.

You mentioned it may be a driver issue that is not loading. Below is a picture of WINSTALL listing.

What steps should I take from here? Thanks!

Update 5

I successfully copied the 2 individual folders inside of Windows Support folder to WINSTALL drive as seen below.

It worked!!! Below is a picture of Apple Update in process!

I can't begin to express my gratitude for working so patiently and consistently with me. Below is the finished product. Windows running on my Samsung 500GB drive.

I made the mistake of purchasing my Mac Mini without enough storage. I thought I could add more later. As you probably know, the storage is soldered in and adding more is not possible. An external drive is necessary. I started 2 months ago with Jeff at 9 to 5 Mac on YTube. Then it was Chris K's YT channel. Thank goodness I stumbled onto your website here at Stack Exchange. I realize you will have to edit these comments but I wanted you to know what a tremendous service you provide. Thanks!!!!

Best Answer

I was able to recreate the problem shown in the image you posted. Apparently, at least the driver for the internal drive has to be loaded from the WINSTALL volume before the dism command will work properly. I update the instructions so you will proceed with the GUI steps for installation until the window below appears.

At this point, the drivers have loaded, so you can proceed and open a Command Prompt window and start entering commands.

I changed the examples in my answer to be from an actually installation of Windows 10 (1909) on to a external HDD connected to a 2018 Mac mini. I also changes some of the steps, so you should thoroughly review the answer before proceeding.

Let me know, if you have any other problems.

Update 1

The image you posted was a bit blurry. A far as I can see, you did type the following command in correctly. 

chflags nohidden /Volumes/WINSTALL/label/.d*

However, I believe you had pathname expansion disabled. This would cause the error message shown in the image. I replaced the command with two commands, that do not require pathname expansion.

I should note that according to the history, you entered the command give below, which should have produced an error message.

bless --folder/Volumes/WINSTALL/label --label "Windows"

You should have typed the command given below. 

bless --folder /Volumes/WINSTALL/label --label "Windows"

This command would have produced the following files.

/Volumes/WINSTALL/label/.disk_label
/Volumes/WINSTALL/label/.disk_label_2x

If these files do not exist, then the new commands given below would fail.

chflags nohidden /Volumes/WINSTALL/label/.disk_label
chflags nohidden /Volumes/WINSTALL/label/.disk_label_2x

Update 2

Your "Update 2" given no indication that a failure occurred. In other words, the image shows that the command appeared to work correctly. However, since the chflags command is causing problems for you, I decided to remove the the use of the chflags entirely from my answer. Instead, I added the following Windows command to step 8.

attrib -h t:\label\*

Update 3

The command attrib is a part of Windows. The command works when entered in a Microsoft Command Prompt window. The command will not work in a Apple macOS Terminal application window. You do not have to enter the attrib command until step 8. During step 8, you will have a Command Prompt window open.

Update 4

To open a Command Prompt window, you are suppose to press the shift and F10 keys at the same time.

You copied the WindowsSupport folder to the WINSTALL volume. The instructions in step 4 stated to copy the contents of the WindowsSupport folder to the WINSTALL volume. The $WinPEDriver$ and BootCamp folder should appear in the root folder of the WINSTALL volume, as shown below.

Update 5

I am glad to see you have successfully installed Windows 10. If you feel my answer solved your problem, then I would ask you to accept my answer. This will place a green checkmark next to this answer. This helps other users identify that a solution was found.

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