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Mac Pro 5'1, High Sierra, BootCamp and drivers

I

irra7ional

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 1, 2018
40
5
Hey guys,

System: 2009 Mac Pro, upgraded to 5'1 firmware.

So I have been struggling for several weeks now with BootCamp.

First of all let me say I have successfully installed windows 7 & 10 via the non-official way by formatting a partition to FAT + MBR Boot Scheme. However, doing it this way has been causing some weird issues so I am trying to get it done via the appropriate Apple supported way.

However, when I run Bootcamp Assistant and I go through all the stuff, when the Mac reboots into Windows installer I get the following message:

Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is not of the GPT partition style”

Apparently, BootCamp formats the disk to FAT but the partition scheme stays GPT. The only way I have been able to get through that is via manual formatting of the partition on disk utility with selecting MBR and FAT.

If anyone has a solution to these please do let me know.

Now for the second problem I have is that I can't get my RX570 to run under windows. I have both my stock Nvidia Card and my RX 570 installed and both work without issues when plugged, however, whatever drives I install be it the bootcamp ATI drivers or whatever else I found on the net I just can't get that card to work under windows, help will be appreciated.

Best regards
 
irra7ional said:
Hey guys,

System: 2009 Mac Pro, upgraded to 5'1 firmware.

So I have been struggling for several weeks now with BootCamp.

First of all let me say I have successfully installed windows 7 & 10 via the non-official way by formatting a partition to FAT + MBR Boot Scheme. However, doing it this way has been causing some weird issues so I am trying to get it done via the appropriate Apple supported way.

However, when I run Bootcamp Assistant and I go through all the stuff, when the Mac reboots into Windows installer I get the following message:

Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is not of the GPT partition style”

Apparently, BootCamp formats the disk to FAT but the partition scheme stays GPT. The only way I have been able to get through that is via manual formatting of the partition on disk utility with selecting MBR and FAT.

If anyone has a solution to these please do let me know.

Now for the second problem I have is that I can't get my RX570 to run under windows. I have both my stock Nvidia Card and my RX 570 installed and both work without issues when plugged, however, whatever drives I install be it the bootcamp ATI drivers or whatever else I found on the net I just can't get that card to work under windows, help will be appreciated.

Best regards
Click to expand...

What exact issues you are facing which is because manual Windows installation (not via bootcamp)?

You are correct, Bootcamp format the Windows drive to FAT with GPT, because the Windows partition is expected to be co-located with the macOS partition on the same hard drive. But for Windows only drive, that doesn't really matter, as long as you can install and run Windows on a hard drive. MBR or GPT should not cause "weird" issue.

Also, don't expect you can run both Nvidia and AMD card at the same time in Windows. To utilise the RX570, you may have to disable the GT120 and completely remove all Nvidia drivers.
 
h9826790 said:
What exact issues you are facing which is because manual Windows installation (not via bootcamp)?

You are correct, Bootcamp format the Windows drive to FAT with GPT, because the Windows partition is expected to be co-located with the macOS partition on the same hard drive. But for Windows only drive, that doesn't really matter, as long as you can install and run Windows on a hard drive. MBR or GPT should not cause "weird" issue.

Also, don't expect you can run both Nvidia and AMD card at the same time in Windows. To utilise the RX570, you may have to disable the GT120 and completely remove all Nvidia drivers.
Click to expand...

Hi thanks for the response! it makes sense!

My main issue thus far has been that when I try to install the drivers from Apple (Bootcamp 5.1 or something) it tells me that the software isn't supported for this Mac, something like my mac being 32 bit not 64 bit. This has happened both with a supported Windows 7 install and an unsupported Windows 10 install.

Do I need to disconnect the card from the PCI-E lane too or would it be enough to disable the card in Windows Device Manager and run the ATI drivers? Also I wanted to ask are the Apple ATI drivers the proper ones to install for that card ?
 
irra7ional said:
Hi thanks for the response! it makes sense!

My main issue thus far has been that when I try to install the drivers from Apple (Bootcamp 5.1 or something) it tells me that the software isn't supported for this Mac, something like my mac being 32 bit not 64 bit. This has happened both with a supported Windows 7 install and an unsupported Windows 10 install.

Do I need to disconnect the card from the PCI-E lane too or would it be enough to disable the card in Windows Device Manager and run the ATI drivers? Also I wanted to ask are the Apple ATI drivers the proper ones to install for that card ?
Click to expand...

I see, I bet you are in the wrong direction. That bootcamp driver refuse to install should has nothing to do with installation via manual / bootcamp. In fact, I just made a post not long ago about how to install bootcamp driver in "unsupported" Windows. (But be careful, 32 / 64 bit can really make the difference. You should install 64 bit Windows)

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ade-bootcamp-ssd.2108711/page-2#post-25903385

Also, AFAIK, there is no need to physically remove the GT120. But it requires quite a bit of work to completely disable it in Windows 10. You may search the procedures on this forum. Quite a few guys need to do that because GT120 has conflict with the newer Nvidia GPU as well. They have to disable the GT120.
 
h9826790 said:
I see, I bet you are in the wrong direction. That bootcamp driver refuse to install should has nothing to do with installation via manual / bootcamp. In fact, I just made a post not long ago about how to install bootcamp driver in "unsupported" Windows. (But be careful, 32 / 64 bit can really make the difference. You should install 64 bit Windows)

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ade-bootcamp-ssd.2108711/page-2#post-25903385

Also, AFAIK, there is no need to physically remove the GT120. But it requires quite a bit of work to completely disable it in Windows 10. You may search the procedures on this forum. Quite a few guys need to do that because GT120 has conflict with the newer Nvidia GPU as well. They have to disable the GT120.
Click to expand...

Ha! Thanks for the advice, I tried with a third version of Windows 10 and it finally worked like a charm, actually getting the RX to work turned out to be easier. Still some minor issues to get around but generally all big issues are out !

I wanted to ask you, do you think it is worth it to install a boot-loader to be able to view the boot screen with just the RX card?
 
irra7ional said:
Ha! Thanks for the advice, I tried with a third version of Windows 10 and it finally worked like a charm, actually getting the RX to work turned out to be easier. Still some minor issues to get around but generally all big issues are out !

I wanted to ask you, do you think it is worth it to install a boot-loader to be able to view the boot screen with just the RX card?
Click to expand...

IMO, it's worth, but the real question is "How?". I tried that with another member here, no success. If you can figure out how to do it, please share that with us!
 
h9826790 said:
IMO, it's worth, but the real question is "How?". I tried that with another member here, no success. If you can figure out how to do it, please share that with us!
Click to expand...

Oh dang! I was left with the impression stuff like rEFIt work, my bad!
 
Hi sorry. I Google around but can a proper guide to install windows 10 on cMP. Can some list the process how to properly install the w10 on my SSD that purposely for windows. h9826790 mentioned that i could burn windows iso to a dvd and boot it to install. But im using rx560 right now. And furthermore i need to easily boot from windows to mac and vice versa.
 
hnr2802 said:
Hi sorry. I Google around but can a proper guide to install windows 10 on cMP. Can some list the process how to properly install the w10 on my SSD that purposely for windows. h9826790 mentioned that i could burn windows iso to a dvd and boot it to install. But im using rx560 right now. And furthermore i need to easily boot from windows to mac and vice versa.
Click to expand...

RX560 makes no difference to the procedure.

Require easy switching between OS also make no difference.

The main point is to keep your MacOS on a HFS+ partiton (NOT APFS). Then you can easily switch between OS by selecting “next boot partiton” in both OS (system preference in MacOS. Bootcamp apps in Windows).
 
h9826790 said:
RX560 makes no difference to the procedure.

Require easy switching between OS also make no difference.

The main point is to keep your MacOS on a HFS+ partiton (NOT APFS). Then you can easily switch between OS by selecting “next boot partiton” in both OS (system preference in MacOS. Bootcamp apps in Windows).
Click to expand...

Before this i tried install HS on HFS+ and having problem updating macOS. Now my main pcie ahci ssd is in APFS partition.
Can you advise how do I switch between OS if i want to maintain the APFS?
 
h9826790 said:
Keep SIP disabled and use BootChamp.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, i fear that high sierra update 10.13.5 has broken the compatibility with bootchamp (even with sip disabled...) mine stoped working just after the update...
 
GuiPol said:
Unfortunately, i fear that high sierra update 10.13.5 has broken the compatibility with bootchamp (even with sip disabled...) mine stoped working just after the update...
Click to expand...

I am using BootChamp with the latest 10.13.5.

It’s working, may be you can try re-install BootChamp.
 
oh ? cool, great news !!! hm what version are you using ? i was using 1.5.3... and it was installed since high sierra 10.13 and all of a sudden the option "restart to windows" was greyed out after 10.13.4 (not .5 my bad)...
(i do like bootchamp because i have a freeze issue when i select bootcamp partition in the bootscreen selection with "alt" pressed... maybe 2 to 3 times in a row it can freeze the mac pro completely ..dunno why, but it seems quite widespread after a quick search on the forums... But with bootchamp it never ever happened !)
 
Hi GuiPol!

My version of BootChamp is 1.7. I recognize this problem. I solved it by using "NTFS for Mac" By Paragon. There I demounted and remounted the Win 10 SSD and got the BootCamp to recognize the Win 10 SSD. Otherwise I do not know.

/Per
 
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Hello Expede
Oh interesting indeed... Because if i remember well i've dumped paragon at the same time i was udpating and switch to Tuxera (which i found to be quite stable and good)... mayeb you're onto something there... i'll try to unmount the SSD (which is connected to internal SATA on a bay) if it's a no go i'll remove it completely, shut down and put it again to force it to detect again..
[doublepost=1529312360][/doublepost]After doing the above procedure.. It's a no go :/ maybe Tuxera NTFS driver is the cause (?) That would be interesting to know for sur (i mean for those like us who may boot to windows from time to time it is)
 
I struggled for weeks too. Installing and partitioning with Bootcamp had always been a breeze with my iMacs and Macbook Pros. The company that sold me the Mac Pro (2009) said it should be no problem. I eventually shipped the drive back to them to give it a try themselves. It was discovered that:

"Since it is an AIC PCIe boot drive (SSD), we cannot install Bootcamp/Windows on it, as Bootcamp is only compatible with standard SATA drives. Therefore, your best option would be to use a second drive strictly for Windows, in a SATA bay on your Mac Pro (your main AIC PCIe boot drive will run macOS)."

So I bought a SATA drive, they installed Win10 on it from iso DVD disk I provided, and the next step was:

"Once you get the SATA drive installed, you can boot into Windows using the Alt/Option key at startup.
After you have set up Windows, be sure do download and install the required BootCamp drivers found here: (their website customer portal URL)

So I launched the Windows drive from the Mac boot drive and Win10 showed up without error. I downloaded the Bootcamp drivers but I don't know how to install them, so the drivers are still sitting in my Downloads folder. Other than that, Win10 runs fine on the second drive, but I cannot see my Mac drive contents until I figure out how to install the bootcamp drivers (I'm pretty much Windows Dumb and have to get help)

So that's my horror story. Costing me over a month of downtime, no production, and loss of income, because they had my Mac boot drive for a long time. Which also btw, got severely corrupted from countless attempts to run bootcamp on that before finding out I needed another drive.
 
This is how you do;

1 boot into Windows
2 In search field type ” cmd.exe”
3 Right klick and ”start as admin”
4 Open file finder and go into BootCamp6 map and open BootCamp/Drivers/Apple/
5 In the search field you copy the path, it will look something like C:/Download/BootCamp6/BootCamp/Drivers/Apple/. Copy it.
6 In terminal type cd+space then paste Ctrl+V and hit enter. (You are now in right directory)
7 Type BootCamp.msi and enjoy the install.
8 Go to BootCamp/Driver/RealTek/ and run the installer.

/Per
 
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Yay! Wooohooo! Yippeeeee! Thank you so much for the detailed instruction! The Bootcamp install on Win10 worked well. Now I can see my Mac files from Windows.

You're awesome! Thanks again.

-Cindy


MacPro 5,1 (2009) S 10.12, 2X5680, 1TB SSD (Mac), 512 HDD (Win10), 2TB HDD, GTX980ti, 64GB, USB3, ASUS PB287Q
Unity3D, Autodesk Maya/Max, Adobe PSP, FUSE, Media Encoder, Apple FCP, Sine.Space, VRchat, High Fidelity
 
Last edited:
After some testing i can confirm one thing stated in another forum (this one : https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6574578
Tuxera and bootcamp do NOT go alongside very well...Hence the problem encountered with bootCHAMP... After removing Tuxera driver (the last one from 2018): all is working good again !
Thanks expede and h9826790 for the headsup :)

ps: by the way expede, i'm following another thread about nvme driver injection in the mac pro bootrom. You did succeed right ? Can we go in PM so you can guide me maybe ? I wanna try by following Handheld games guide which i've downloaded already.
 
Yeah! I succeeded on booting on my Samsung EVO 960 Pro 512GB M.2, on firmware 0084'. 85' is ok but AFAIK 87' is a "no go". The only one succeeded on '87 is gilles_polysoft Do invite! It is rather easy, he, he!!?? Scarry, YES!! Brick the Mac, brick it, do it!!, do it!! Let me say I did what you did the first time you tried to call a girl when you were 14 years old. Dial five out of six digits and the hang up.

/Per

GuiPol said:
After some testing i can confirm one thing stated in another forum (this one : https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6574578
Tuxera and bootcamp do NOT go alongside very well...Hence the problem encountered with bootCHAMP... After removing Tuxera driver (the last one from 2018): all is working good again !
Thanks expede and h9826790 for the headsup :)

ps: by the way expede, i'm following another thread about nvme driver injection in the mac pro bootrom. You did succeed right ? Can we go in PM so you can guide me maybe ? I wanna try by following Handheld games guide which i've downloaded already.
Click to expand...
 
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irra7ional said:
Hey guys,

System: 2009 Mac Pro, upgraded to 5'1 firmware.

So I have been struggling for several weeks now with BootCamp.

First of all let me say I have successfully installed windows 7 & 10 via the non-official way by formatting a partition to FAT + MBR Boot Scheme. However, doing it this way has been causing some weird issues so I am trying to get it done via the appropriate Apple supported way.

However, when I run Bootcamp Assistant and I go through all the stuff, when the Mac reboots into Windows installer I get the following message:

Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is not of the GPT partition style”

Apparently, BootCamp formats the disk to FAT but the partition scheme stays GPT. The only way I have been able to get through that is via manual formatting of the partition on disk utility with selecting MBR and FAT.

If anyone has a solution to these please do let me know.

Now for the second problem I have is that I can't get my RX570 to run under windows. I have both my stock Nvidia Card and my RX 570 installed and both work without issues when plugged, however, whatever drives I install be it the bootcamp ATI drivers or whatever else I found on the net I just can't get that card to work under windows, help will be appreciated.

Best regards
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1540063224][/doublepost]I know this is a dead thread, but in case someone stumbles on it looking for a solution, I have found that the only way to get working boot camp on Mac Pro 5,1 is to have OS Mavericks or Yosemite installed on a spare hard drive. Sierra and later updates broke Boot Camp for the 5,1.

Once you have your spare drive plugged in, use boot camp assistant to install Windows 7, then download the Windows 10 iso here, then run it from inside of boot camp Windows 7. You can upgrade to Windows 10 for free.
 
Last edited:
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My MacPro Bootcamp problem was solved by installing another HD with Win10 on it, then I was supplied with a bootcamp driver to install on that Win10 drive. At first I was able to succeed with seeing the Mac from the Win 10 OS with Excede's post #20 above. But it broke and I could never get it back. I can still see and transfer/paste files into the Win10 drive called Bootcamp when in MacOS
 
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