[FL!PNEUS]

I'm having a very annoying problem with my specific combination of hardware and Boot Camp. I want to boot to Windows to make use of Windows Media Center and an Xbox 360 and keep all my videofiles on a LaCie d2 Triple Interface 250 gB hard disk. If I want to boot into Windows with my LaCie connected on the FireWire port, my MacBook won't boot to Windows at all. I get the dreaded Black Screen Of Death (the drama!). I searched high and low on the Internet, but couldn't find any similar symptoms. Do you any of you guys have any clue what's going on?

In summary:

- MacBook Core Duo 2,0 GHz
- 2 gB RAM
- MacBook HD split up for Boot Camp (60 gB / 15 gB)
- LaCie d2 Triple Interface 250 gB (one HFS+ volume) connected by FireWire
- Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (same problem occurs with Windows XP Professional as well by the way).
- Black Screen after selecting Windows as the operating system
- Disconnect LaCie
- Select Windows again as the operating system
- ...
- Profit!

I want to get rid of the last five steps .

[ghporter]

Just cut to the step where you disconnect the LaCie drive BEFORE booting into Windows. Windows has problems with booting with "odd" hardware attached, and for some reason it's particularly hinky when it comes to firewire devices. Disconnect the drive, boot (let it FINISH booting) and then connect the drive. This shouldn't be a problem for you, because Windows doesn't care where data files are, only OS files.