MP5,1 Windows Boot Issue

[RockCrayfish]

Hey guys,


I picked up a Mac Pro 5,1 recently with the intent of running MacOS and Windows. I love the system, but I have encountered an issue with dual booting Windows and MacOS that I can’t seem to overcome.


First of all, I had a very difficult and frustrating time installing Windows. In the end, I removed all other drives, used a DVD and installed in legacy mode to a dedicated SSD in Bay 1. This method was actually pretty painless and I now have Windows running flawlessly. At this point, I used a new PCIe NVMe SSD for MacOS and installed Mojave. This went off without a hitch as well, however, I can no longer boot into Windows (through the startup disk utility or option boot). When attempting to do so, I can see the Windows drive and the system appears to try to boot but just sits on a black screen. While troubleshooting, I removed the MacOS PCIe SSD and discovered I could boot Windows once again. I’ve searched the forums and couldn’t find a solution to this problem, so hopefully someone has some advice!


Cheers!

 

[crjackson2134]

What version of windows are you using? It sounds like windows needs a driver to recognize the NVMe hardware and is hanging at the hardware detection portion of the boot process.

Please include all the drive details, disk formats used, PCIe adapter used, NVMe make/model/capacity, Windows Version etc...

Too much missing information here...

@h9826790 has several guides online regarding Windows installation and BootCamp driver updates for APFS machines. I’m tossing his name in here so as to get his attention and help.

Please do a forum search and you’ll fine pretty much everything you need has alread been posted into the correct sub-forum section for Windows.

 

[RockCrayfish]

My apologies. Here’s some more information.

Mid 2010 MP 5,1

• W3530
• 32GB RAM
• HD7950 (flashed)
• Inateck USB3.0 PCIe adapter
• 120GB Silicon Power SSD in Bay 1 (Windows 10)
• 512GB HP EX920 PCIe NVMe SSD in StarTech M.2 NVMe PCIe Adapter (MacOS Mojave)

Windows 10 drive is formatted NTFS and MacOS (Mojave) drive is formatted APFS. Boot camp 5.1 drivers installed on Windows.

 

[crjackson2134]

Okay, great... You will need to change your bootcamp drivers for sure. It’s easy peasy. I don’t feel like doing a search at the moment (half asleep) but @h9826790 has a guide (in the windows sub-forum I think) that addresses this perfectly.

He’s in China, so the time zone is different and you may need to wait a bit. I’m sure he will point you to the proper thread, and help you get this worked out.

 

[RockCrayfish]

Okay, great... You will need to change your bootcamp drivers for sure. It’s easy peasy. I don’t feel like doing a search at the moment (half asleep) but @h9826790 has a guide (in the windows sub-forum I think) that addresses this perfectly.

He’s in Japan, so the time zone is different and you may need to wait a bit. I’m sure he will point you to the proper thread, and help you get this worked out.

I thought there might be a newer boot camp driver but I am unable to run boot camp assistant from Mojave, unfortunately. I also wasn’t able to find a download from Apple’s site for anything higher than 5.1. Maybe I was just looking in the wrong place. I’ll take another look now.

Thanks for your help!

 

[crjackson2134]

I thought there might be a newer boot camp driver but I am unable to run boot camp assistant from Mojave, unfortunately. I also wasn’t able to find a download from Apple’s site for anything higher than 5.1. Maybe I was just looking in the wrong place. I’ll take another look now.

Thanks for your help!

You need to use brigadier in windows and download the driver intended for the iMacPro1,1

Find the guide, and the instructions are there.

 

[howiest]

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ut-a-boot-screen.2114788/page-9#post-26689280

 

[startergo]

Hey guys,


I picked up a Mac Pro 5,1 recently with the intent of running MacOS and Windows. I love the system, but I have encountered an issue with dual booting Windows and MacOS that I can’t seem to overcome.


First of all, I had a very difficult and frustrating time installing Windows. In the end, I removed all other drives, used a DVD and installed in legacy mode to a dedicated SSD in Bay 1. This method was actually pretty painless and I now have Windows running flawlessly. At this point, I used a new PCIe NVMe SSD for MacOS and installed Mojave. This went off without a hitch as well, however, I can no longer boot into Windows (through the startup disk utility or option boot). When attempting to do so, I can see the Windows drive and the system appears to try to boot but just sits on a black screen. While troubleshooting, I removed the MacOS PCIe SSD and discovered I could boot Windows once again. I’ve searched the forums and couldn’t find a solution to this problem, so hopefully someone has some advice!


Cheers!

You did not specify how did you install Windows on your external drive (PCIE drive appears as an external to OSX). The reason I am asking is that EFI Windows installation with OSX drive attached may screw up the EFI partition. This is why if you install EFI Windows remove any other operating system drives.

 

[RockCrayfish]

You need to use brigadier in windows and download the driver intended for the iMacPro1,1

Find the guide, and the instructions are there.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ut-a-boot-screen.2114788/page-9#post-26689280

Thanks, guys. I followed the guide last night and had mixed results...

After installing brigadier and bootcamp 6.1, I restarted and then shutdown to re-install the MacOS drive. With both drives in the system, I was back to having boot issues. After pulling my hair out, I decided I would try the PCIe card in another slot (moved from 3 x4 to 2 x16). After doing so, the system booted into Windows without issue. I can now use Boot Camp or option boot to move between Windows 10 and MacOS.

I'm not entirely certain what this means. The card was detected and operating at x4 in both slots, so I can't see why Windows would have issues detecting it in one and not the other. Either way, it works!

You did not specify how did you install Windows on your external drive (PCIE drive appears as an external to OSX). The reason I am asking is that EFI Windows installation with OSX drive attached may screw up the EFI partition. This is why if you install EFI Windows remove any other operating system drives.

I installed in legacy mode, as per the OP. I don't think the issue lies with EFI, but I appreciate the advice nonetheless!

 

[crjackson2134]

I'm not entirely certain what this means. The card was detected and operating at x4 in both slots, so I can't see why Windows would have issues detecting it in one and not the other. Either way, it works!

Because moving the card to another slot forced a hardware scan, and parameter adjustment. Not that uncommon.

 

[RockCrayfish]

Because moving the card to another slot forced a hardware scan, and parameter adjustment. Not that uncommon.

Interesting. I assumed removing and reinstalling in the same slot would have forced a hardware scan as well. I’ll try reinstalling to the old slot and see what happens.

 

[crjackson2134]

Interesting. I assumed removing and reinstalling in the same slot would have forced a hardware scan as well. I’ll try reinstalling to the old slot and see what happens.

It can but doesn't always. If you want to go that route... Remove suspected hardware... do SMC/NVRAM resets, reboot, shutdown, reinstall suspected hardware... boot again...

It's just easier to move it to another slot so that ID's are changed. I'm no expert on what's really going on here. I just know this is what has worked for me, and I'm speculating on what I have observed.

There could be something else going on, but this is my .02¢