Completely remove OS X, use W8, problem...

[Coflash]

Hello. I'm using a 2013 MBA. I *can* use Bootcamp, but I hate losing ~40GB of space for OSX. I don't care about firmware updates, it runs fine. Here's what I've done...

• Removed OSX by wiping the drive in recovery/disk utility
• Installed Windows 8 via USB by holding down 'option' when the Macbook starts
• Windows 8 installed

At this point I get the personalisation screen for Windows 8... but neither my trackpad or keyboard work... this doesn't happen when I use bootcamp.

When I hold down 'option' to choose what to boot to, I also have an option of 'efi', when I try to install Windows that way I get some message saying that the drive is partitioned a certain way and it won't work...

What exactly do I have to do to get it to work?

It's probably worth mentioning the USB stick of W8 that I am using was created by Bootcamp, which previously worked fine with bootcamp, my next step is to try a plain old W8 USB stick created by Microsofts USB tool but I doubt I'll have much luck

Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[Coflash]

That didn't work... but here's a support page I found in relation to the issue:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4589

Tried a USB 2.0 stick as well, same problem, that page is wrong...

 

[Coflash]

Thanks for the suggestions, it was difficult to get through them all but I finally came up with something that worked by myself. For anyone else having the same issue:

• Create bootcamp partition in OSX
• Don't let it install W8 by itself, when it reboots hold option and boot from the EFI option
• Select the drive, format it in W8 setup, install to it
• Now W8 will work, restart once it's finished
• Hold option again, go into Recovery
• Format the OSX partition into something Windows can use
• Done... you have 2 separate partitions, but you are now able to use all available space

And that is that.

 

[GoCubsGo]

So wait, you want to turn your Mac into a windows only machine?

 

[Coflash]

Correct, unless you can show me a Windows laptop that:

• Has the same sort of responsive touchpad
• Has 2-3 hours battery life while gaming
• Is small and as light
• Can run both Windows + OSX (when needed, it's better to have the option)
• Has a screen that's just as bright
• Has the same resolution for a 13" model

And if so, then I will gladly stop buying them.

 

[pickaxe]

Completely remove OSX, use W8, problem...

If you can drop the OS X requirement (or dont mind messing around with Hackintosh) there are going to be plenty this year (or Vaio Pro right now), and they're going to have better displays and Windows drivers as well, plus better port selection. Worse trackpad, and smaller batteries (not including external sheet/hump batteries).

In fact I'm willing to bet that you'll have a pretty easy time finding more ultraportables with Haswell/HD5000 in the next few months, so you should be able to get OS X working fairly easily on these.

Look, I bought the 2013 Air and I am willing to admit this, but with Haswell and general competition, Airs are no longer the be-all-end-all of ultraportables.