I decided recently to try installing Windows 7 on my iMac, in a Boot Camp dual-boot configuration alongside OS X. I ultimately got it working, but I ran into one perplexing problem along the way. Here’s a summary of the symptoms and the solution, in case the information is helpful to other people.
I used the installation process described here. After I clicked the “Start Installation” button in step 8, the computer rebooted and greeted me with a blank black screen with a blinking white underline cursor in the upper left.
A bit of web searching led me to a solution that worked: I had to reset the computer’s PRAM. The PRAM apparently is an area of nonvolatile memory containing information about USB devices such as keyboards and mice. The full process I had to use was:
- Power off the computer.
- Unplug the keyboard and plug it into a different USB port.
- Turn on the computer.
- Immediately press the Command, Option, P, and R keys and hold them down until the system restarts.
