Help - Windows 8.1 failing has well MBP Bootcamp

[Scotty231]

Hi guys I have recently purchased a 15 inch top range macbook pro.

I have been trying to install windows using bootcamp, and I have installed from both usb and dvd drive both of which have failed at the end stages of installation.
I have read that this has been a recurring problem with 8.1, but any help would be greatly appreciated

ps, every time the installation failed I have to reset the PRAM in order for the os to boot.

attached is the message that always pops up!

 

[IA64]

Hi guys I have recently purchased a 15 inch top range macbook pro.

I have been trying to install windows using bootcamp, and I have installed from both usb and dvd drive both of which have failed at the end stages of installation.
I have read that this has been a recurring problem with 8.1, but any help would be greatly appreciated

ps, every time the installation failed I have to reset the PRAM in order for the os to boot.

attached is the message that always pops up!

Did the installation partition your disk ? ( bootcamp disk )

 

[Scotty231]

Did the installation partition your disk ? ( bootcamp disk )

Yep

 

[Quackers]

Did you use the EFI Boot option from the installer or did Bootcamp boot directly in to the installer?

 

[Scotty231]

Did you use the EFI Boot option from the installer or did Bootcamp boot directly in to the installer?

Bootcamp booted directly into the installer

 

[Quackers]

Bootcamp booted directly into the installer

Thanks. Sorry to impose but could you post the output of this terminal command please?

sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

assuming that you have only one hard drive.
Thanks.

 

[Scotty231]

Thanks. Sorry to impose but could you post the output of this terminal command please?

sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

assuming that you have only one hard drive.
Thanks.

Password:
Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 60821/255/63 [977105060 sectors]
Signature: 0xAA55
Starting Ending
#: id cyl hd sec - cyl hd sec [ start - size]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1: EE 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 1 - 977105059] <Unknown ID>
2: 00 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 [ 0 - 0] unused
3: 00 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 [ 0 - 0] unused
4: 00 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 [ 0 - 0] unused
Imac-3:~

Each time installation failed I deleted the bootcamp part ion from the disk utility

 

[Quackers]

Thanks that's interesting. Your output indicates that no hybrid MBR has been created when Bootcamp created your Windows partition. As a consequence it's trying to install Windows in EFI mode (which is not a bad thing, really - except that it's not working).
I presume that partition is visible in Disk Utility now?

 

[Scotty231]

Thanks that's interesting. Your output indicates that no hybrid MBR has been created when Bootcamp created your Windows partition. As a consequence it's trying to install Windows in EFI mode (which is not a bad thing, really - except that it's not working).
I presume that partition is visible in Disk Utility now?

Just the mac drive is now visible.

I have talked to apple and there response was windows 8.1 is not supported, yet windows 8 is.

Slightly stuck on ideas how to Install it now :/

 

[IA64]

Just the mac drive is now visible.

I have talked to apple and there response was windows 8.1 is not supported, yet windows 8 is.

Slightly stuck on ideas how to Install it now :/

One thing you could try.

- Download refind www.rodsbooks.com/refind/‎ (It's a boot manager)
- Burn Windows iso file to USB
- install rEfind
- Reboot and select USB to boot from
- You might get Windows installation screen and it might not be able to install
- Select the partition named bootcamp in Win Setup and format as NTFS
- Install Windows on that partition.

Haven't tried it but it's worth trying.

Gd luck.

 

[Quackers]

Ok, so you've stretched Macintosh HD back to fill the whole disc then? Back to how it started.

No, Windows 8.1 is not yet supported by Bootcamp.
Interestingly enough the error you show has happened to me but only when using Windows 8 in EFI mode. Strangely Windows 8.1 installed without error in EFI mode. Go figure!

There are a couple of things I can suggest. Things that have worked for some but not everyone.

Have you downloaded the support software from Apple via Bootcamp to the same USB as your Windows 8.1 iso ? You'll definitely need that, even if it doesn't fully support 8.1 You'll need version 5411 or similar, which is only available through Bootcamp Assistant (not from Apple's support page).

What we would be trying would not be supported by Apple and may or may not work. It shouldn't harm anything though - but you should have anything you don't want to lose backed up.

If you'd like to try a couple of things just let me know. It won't take a great deal of time and there is nothing inherently dangerous, as such.

 

[Scotty231]

Ok, so you've stretched Macintosh HD back to fill the whole disc then? Back to how it started.

No, Windows 8.1 is not yet supported by Bootcamp.
Interestingly enough the error you show has happened to me but only when using Windows 8 in EFI mode. Strangely Windows 8.1 installed without error in EFI mode. Go figure!

There are a couple of things I can suggest. Things that have worked for some but not everyone.

Have you downloaded the support software from Apple via Bootcamp to the same USB as your Windows 8.1 iso ? You'll definitely need that, even if it doesn't fully support 8.1 You'll need version 5411 or similar, which is only available through Bootcamp Assistant (not from Apple's support page).

What we would be trying would not be supported by Apple and may or may not work. It shouldn't harm anything though - but you should have anything you don't want to lose backed up.

If you'd like to try a couple of things just let me know. It won't take a great deal of time and there is nothing inherently dangerous, as such.

Thanks for replying both of you

Yes, i did stretch the partition so It was once again full

Quackers I did download the support software and the windows ISO on the same usb. (using bootcamp)

I am willing to try a couple ideas

Thanks again

 

[Quackers]

Ok so the first thing would be to make sure there is nothing left over from your other attempts.
In the terminal please mount your EFI partition as follows

mkdir /Volumes/efi

then

sudo mount -t msdos /dev/disk0s1 /Volumes/efi

Then open Finder and in the left pane you should see EFI listed. Click on that and in the right pane you should see just one folder called Apple. If there are any remnants from your previous Windows installation attempts there may be folders called Microsoft and/or boot. If these exist you need to send them to trash.
Leave the Apple folder untouched!

Ok close that and open Bootcamp Assistant and let it re-partition your drive as required but do not reboot yet!
After BC has partitioned please run this command in the terminal again

sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

and see if it looks like it did before (in your earlier post when I asked you to run it).
If it looks the same let BC reboot the system but when it restarts into the Windows installer don't start the installation yet.
Instead press shift + F10 keys and a command prompt will open up.
In that window type
diskpart - hit enter
list disk - enter
select disk 0 - enter
list volume - enter

Now have a look at the output and note your (probably) second entry. It should be your EFI partition and it will have no drive letter attached - i.e. just a FAT32 volume with a volume number (probably 2 but it could be different)

type
select volume X - hit enter (where X is the number of that EFI partition)
assign letter=B - hit enter
exit - hit enter
close command prompt window

Now start the Windows installer as normal.
You may need to re-format the Bootcamp-created partition so that Windows will install (but you've done that before).

Hopefully you won't come across the same error as you did previously.

But if you do see that same error message, power off the machine immediately by holding down the power button. DO NOT let it roll back the changes by clicking on the OK button.
Then let me know that this happened, please.

 

[Scotty231]

Ok so the first thing would be to make sure there is nothing left over from your other attempts.
In the terminal please mount your EFI partition as follows

mkdir /Volumes/efi

then

sudo mount -t msdos /dev/disk0s1 /Volumes/efi

Then open Finder and in the left pane you should see EFI listed. Click on that and in the right pane you should see just one folder called Apple. If there are any remnants from your previous Windows installation attempts there may be folders called Microsoft and/or boot. If these exist you need to send them to trash.
Leave the Apple folder untouched!

Ok close that and open Bootcamp Assistant and let it re-partition your drive as required but do not reboot yet!
After BC has partitioned please run this command in the terminal again

sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

and see if it looks like it did before (in your earlier post when I asked you to run it).
If it looks the same let BC reboot the system but when it restarts into the Windows installer don't start the installation yet.
Instead press shift + F10 keys and a command prompt will open up.
In that window type
diskpart - hit enter
list disk - enter
select disk 0 - enter
list volume - enter

Now have a look at the output and note your (probably) second entry. It should be your EFI partition and it will have no drive letter attached - i.e. just a FAT32 volume with a volume number (probably 2 but it could be different)

type
select volume X - hit enter (where X is the number of that EFI partition)
assign letter=B - hit enter
exit - hit enter
close command prompt window

Now start the Windows installer as normal.
You may need to re-format the Bootcamp-created partition so that Windows will install (but you've done that before).

Hopefully you won't come across the same error as you did previously.

But if you do see that same error message, power off the machine immediately by holding down the power button. DO NOT let it roll back the changes by clicking on the OK button.
Then let me know that this happened, please.

Hi quackers

I read through the instructions you gave me and was slightly hesitant (I'm not very technical), so i decided to install win 7 sp1 and then install win 8.1 through the operating system. win 7 drivers worked a charm however the win 8.1 drivers are not working well at all

guess thats the next step..

Once again thanks

 

[Quackers]

Hi quackers

I read through the instructions you gave me and was slightly hesitant (I'm not very technical), so i decided to install win 7 sp1 and then install win 8.1 through the operating system. win 7 drivers worked a charm however the win 8.1 drivers are not working well at all

guess thats the next step..

Once again thanks

Ok, so it's a matter of waiting for new drivers.
Have fun!