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Selico

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 7, 2014
5
0
I can't reboot to Mac OSX from Windows 8.1. I've tried the options below and they're not working:

  • Holding down alt/option on startup
  • Holding down Command + R on startup

Upon trying these options, the computer still starts up in the Windows partition.

Unfortunately, I didn't install Bootcamp 5 before updating Windows 8 to 8.1. In addition, Bootcamp 4 is having compatibility issues on the Windows partition and everytime I click on "Run the program without getting help" it crashes/shuts down my computer.

So I tried re-installing Bootcamp 5 and it's telling me I can't do it unless I have Windows 7?

So am I stuck in Windows? Please help.
 

Selico

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 7, 2014
5
0
Just tried that a couple times. It's still not working. :\ Is there a specific time I'm supposed to press the buttons? I tried doing it right after pressing the power button and holding it, then I also tried it after I hear the mac startup noise.
 

Lipid

macrumors member
Jan 28, 2014
49
1
Are your MacOS and Recovery partitions healthy and not corrupted?

Try to hold CMD+OPT+R to launch Internet Recovery during system boot.
 

xcodeSyn

macrumors 6502a
Nov 25, 2012
548
7
Just tried that a couple times. It's still not working. :\ Is there a specific time I'm supposed to press the buttons? I tried doing it right after pressing the power button and holding it, then I also tried it after I hear the mac startup noise.
Follow the instructions here, need to click on the tab of Resetting NVRAM/PRAM.

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.
 

Selico

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 7, 2014
5
0
I'm afraid this didn't work either... I don't think any keyboard combination's going to work. Is there anyway to get bootcamp 5 on here? It keeps telling me I need Windows 7 installed to run the bootcamp 5 downloader...
 

jenzjen

macrumors 68000
Aug 20, 2010
1,734
6
Back up a little, though. You're no longer able to get into OSX at all? I assume you'd like to get OSX back so the only quick option is to do internet recovery - which may mess up your Windows partition. But since your Windows seems buggy, too, I'd just clean install everything.

Try this when booting the machine - hold down 'command' and 'R' - you should get into internet recovery, see a spinning globe
 

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,464
4,408
Delaware
… But since your Windows seems buggy, too, I'd just clean install everything.

Try this when booting the machine - hold down 'command' and 'R' - you should get into internet recovery, see a spinning globe
I agree, but not every Mac supports the internet recovery.
It will help if you can tell us exactly which Mac model you have.

Here's a possible work-around to get the keyboard boot keys to work:
reset PRAM again. (restart holding Alt-command-P-R)
You should hear the boot chime. Keep holding the same 4 keys until you hear the boot chime 2 more times, then - while the chime is still sounding, release the keys, and hold Command-R
Important! if your keyboard is NOT a Mac keyboard, it will have a Windows key instead of a command key - and you would hold the Windows key + R

When you are booted to the recovery partition, you can check the hard drive in Disk Utility, and you can also set the boot drive in the Startup Disk pane, under the Utilities menu. Or, choosing to Quit the Recovery partition will give you the choice to choose, or change the startup disk.
If you still can't get there - or that you discover that the OS X partition is simply gone, you have messed it up very well, AND you really do have to reformat and start over from a blank drive.
 

Selico

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 7, 2014
5
0
The keyboard on startup things are still not working. I think we can officially rule out all of those.

How would I backup/restore to before Windows 8.1?

EDIT: My computer is a 15" MacBook Pro. I think I got it around 2011? I can't exactly check since I can't access my Mac OS. I've put some of the details below if it helps any:

Processor: Intel($) Core(TM) i7-2720QM CPU @ 2.20 GHz
RAM: 4 GB
OS: 64-bit OS Windows 8.1
 
Last edited:

xcodeSyn

macrumors 6502a
Nov 25, 2012
548
7
The keyboard on startup things are still not working. I think we can officially rule out all of those.
Since keyboard control is essential for you to get back to OS X or any recovery attempt, can you attach an external USB keyboard and do what DeltaMac suggests?
 

KdParker

macrumors 601
Oct 1, 2010
4,793
998
Everywhere
you should be able to boot up OSX from windows...

Right-click the Boot Camp icon in the notification area at the right side of your Windows taskbar — it looks like a slanted square — and choose Restart in Mac OS X. Again, you’ll be asked to confirm your choice. After you click OK
 
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