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Windows 10 Anniversary + Boot Camp = no longer mounting Mac partition

I have a Retina MacBook Pro (Late 2013) with Mac OS El Capitan, dual-booting with Windows 10 with Boot Camp installed. Everything was working fine until I installed the Windows 10 Anniversary Update today; now Windows no longer mounts the Mac partition. I successfully reinstalled the latest Boot Camp drivers, but Windows still won't show me the Mac partition. (Booting into Mac OS works fine.)


Is anyone else seeing this problem? Anyone know of a solution or workaround?

Posted on Aug 3, 2016 6:12 PM

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Posted on Jan 12, 2017 5:27 AM

Apple HFS+ drivers themselves work fine after updating to the 1607 (anniversary update). They just have problems mounting the drives. You have to devise some method for mounting them manually. I can suggest two options;


Option#1, by using ext2fsd software;

-Install 6.0 drivers just like before anniversary update, reboot the windows. Nothing will show up...

-Download ext2fsd even though you probably have nothing to do with ext2 or linux.

-Open Ext2 Volume Manager. In "File System" tab, your macOS partition will show as "HFS". If you installed ext2fsd before succesfully installing bootcamp drivers, it will just show as "RAW". (kind of proving bootcamp drivers DO work)

-Right click, select assign drive letter (or change drive letter).

-In the pop-up menu, select the drive letter first, then select the tick "Create a permanent MountPoint via Session Manager." It -weirdly- closes the pop-up before you click "OK". (Ext2fsd is a little buggy, you should select drive letter first, then select the tickbox. If you want to change drive letter, I suggest removing the existing one first, then re-add it from scratch)

-Reboot, and the macOS partition will be there just like before anniversary update. (On one of my computers, it didn't show on first reboot, I've gone into ext2 volume manager, redid everything then rebooted, it showed on second time.)

Option#2, mounting via Dos Devices registry edit (ext2fsd does exactly this, this is the manual way without using ext2fsd);

Run regedit, navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/system/CurrentControlSet/Control/Session Manager/DOS Devices/

Right click-> new-> add string.


Enter drive letter you want by adding ":" to the end. In "data", type "\Device\HarddiskVolume#" where # will be your volume number of your partition as it would be detected in MS-DOS. I am sure someone would suggest a more elegant solution for this one, but you can simply navigate to Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Storage/Disk Management and count your partitions from beginning starting with 1. In my example, I have 1 partition on disk0, and my macOS partition is 2nd one in disk1. So my volume number # is 3.


In my registry it is "G:", "REG_SZ" and "\Device\HarddiskVolume3" for name, type, and data respectively. Your letter and numbers will be different, of course.


After making the registry tweak, cross fingers and reboot, macOS partition should be there. If something else is mounted instead, check volume number.


You can -probably- do trial and error on volume number, as long as you don't put a drive letter that contradicts with anything you already have (If you accidentally put your windows volume with a different drive letter, it will just mount it twice, nothing bad will happen. If you put different volume onto same drive letter you risk breaking your boot.)

Also one user in the first forum I've posted this workaround has installed ext2fsd, mounted his macOS partition, navigated to registry, noted the letter and volume number, then uninstalled ext2fsd, and re-added the registry entry with the same letter/volume number.

Hope this helps.

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Aug 11, 2016 1:19 PM in response to Loner T

Thanks a lot for the patience. Now I get it that when CoreStorage LVM is enabled, Windows won't see Mac partition.

And Apple is moving towards CoreStorage.


But I don't get this statement:


"The driver is no longer bundled with SW downloads"


The JHFS+ driver is in the latest BootCamp 6 download right? I downloaded BootCamp 6 and installed less than 3 week ago for my MacBook Air with Win10 version 1511. I can see my Mac JHFS+ partition from Win 10 version 1511.

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Aug 11, 2016 3:01 PM in response to Prof Z10

Bootcamp BC driver packages for 2012-2015 models which may use 6.0.6136 (release date 31 Mar 2016) can still get the driver package, since it has not been removed. Newer models which use newer BC6 packages will no longer have these drivers. I have a 2013 rMBP, which needs 6.0.6136 which has this driver and works with 1511_2 but breaks under 1607 version of the ISO.


The changes between 1511 and 1607 ISOs is where the issue lies. I tested 1511_2 to 1607 upgrade today on a 2013 rMBP and these two drivers stopped working. It would be prudent to look at external disks as shared storage between the two OSes, or staying with older Macs (and older W10 builds or W7/W8.1) if the read-only functionality is critical.


Apple is most likely not going to update the BC packages for older models and will leave the current versions as they are (containing these files) for users of older Macs.

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Aug 11, 2016 9:06 PM in response to Loner T

Thanks again, now this is very clear.

I will stay away from Win10 1607, and I won't buy new Mac until this issue is resolved.


By the way, the Boot Camp version I am using on my MacBook Air mid-2012 is not built from Boot Camp assistant, I downloaded Windows Boot Camp package from Apple support page, the version is 6.0.6201.


I googled the download link, now I don't remember the link now.

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Aug 12, 2016 8:23 AM in response to Prof Z10

Prof Z10 wrote:


By the way, the Boot Camp version I am using on my MacBook Air mid-2012 is not built from Boot Camp assistant,


Can you identify which one of these two do you have (reference - How to identify your MacBook Air - Apple Support)?

MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2012)MacBookAir5,2

MD231xx/A

MD232xx/A

MBAIR 13.3/1.8/4/128FLASH

MBAIR 13.3/2.0/4/256FLASH

MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012)MacBookAir5,1

MD223xx/A

MD224xx/A

MBAIR 11.6/1.7/4/64FLASH

MBAIR 11.6/2.0/4/128FLASH

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Aug 12, 2016 7:09 PM in response to Prof Z10

Prof Z10 wrote:


Mine is 13 inch 256 GB flash.

I identify it by clicking "About This Mac".

For MBA5,1 and 5,2, I get 6.0.6136. If you searched on the web, and found references to it on a Chinese/Korean web site, and downloaded it to your Windows side, I suggest you remove Windows and re-install with the official Apple version provided via BC Assistant.


Also, the BC Assistant version on El Capitan 10.11.6 is 6.0.1 (6024.40.2).

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Aug 12, 2016 8:10 PM in response to Loner T

Someone posted the link on reddit, it is apple.com link.


http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/16/10/031-55711/ufi4c7o3x20i5ge93l2yu86 9yegn222i8l/AppleBcUpdate.exe


I don't recommend other people to do this, I did out of laziness, I just used it to upgrade my existing Boot Camp. I do not have 4GB USB create Boot Camp USB from BC Assistant.

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Aug 12, 2016 9:04 PM in response to Prof Z10

That is a Windows executable. Using Brigadier, I get 031-55710...


./brigadier -m MacBookAir5,2 -o Bootcamp-MBA5.2

Using Mac model: MacBookAir5,2.


Model supported in package distribution file at http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/39/14/031-55710/u2c6bi4yl91ud1lqc3k53bx 9860hvsnf7z/031-55710.English.dist.


Distribution 031-55710 supports the following models: MacBook8,1, MacBookAir5,1, MacBookAir5,2, MacBookAir6,1, MacBookAir6,2, MacBookAir7,1, MacBookAir7,2, MacBookPro9,1, MacBookPro9,2, MacBookPro11,1, MacBookPro11,2, MacBookPro11,3, MacBookPro11,4, MacBookPro11,5, MacBookPro12,1, MacPro6,1, Macmini6,1, Macmini6,2, Macmini7,1, iMac13,1, iMac13,2, iMac13,3, iMac14,1, iMac14,2, iMac14,3, iMac14,4, iMac15,1.


Model supported in package distribution file at http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/53/19/031-0787/e59hg9xe761b8zzeyrffkjo2 i2zuogqd9g/031-0787.English.dist.


Distribution 031-0787 supports the following models: MacBookAir4,1, MacBookAir4,2, MacBookAir5,1, MacBookAir5,2, MacBookPro6,1, MacBookPro6,2, MacBookPro8,1, MacBookPro8,2, MacBookPro8,3, MacBookPro9,1, MacBookPro9,2, MacPro4,1, MacPro5,1, Macmini5,1, Macmini5,2, Macmini5,3, Macmini6,1, Macmini6,2, iMac11,3, iMac12,1, iMac12,2, iMac13,1, iMac13,2, iMac13,3.


Model supported in package distribution file at http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/14/07/031-11365/cccsb0mg8mn39rykh4yj8qo a2ao3q94t0w/BootCampESD.dst/031-11365.English.dist.


Distribution 031-11365 supports the following models: MacBookAir5,1, MacBookAir5,2.


There is more than one ESD product available for this model:

031-55710: PostDate 2016-04-01 22:22:52

031-0787: PostDate 2014-02-11 21:35:32

031-11365: PostDate 2015-02-09 18:42:37

Selecting 031-55710 as it's the most recently posted.

Making directory Bootcamp-MBA5.2/BootCamp-031-55710..


Fetching Boot Camp product at URL http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/39/14/031-55710/u2c6bi4yl91ud1lqc3k53bx 9860hvsnf7z/BootCampESD.pkg.


100.0% 1614454784 / 1614454648 bytes

Expanding flat package...


Extracting Payload...


Extracted to Bootcamp-MBA5.2/BootCamp-031-55710/WindowsSupport.dmg.


Done.


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Aug 14, 2016 11:52 AM in response to Brian Kendig

This is from http://news.softpedia.com/news/windows-10-anniversary-update-might-hide-partitio ns-after-install-507247.shtml:

One of the issues experienced by users after installing the Windows 10 Anniversary Update concerns partitions, as many of those who upgraded their computers reported that a number of partitions disappeared from File Explorer.

Furthermore, all partitions show up as RAW in Disk Management, which makes most people believe that all their data has been removed and nothing can be recovered.

Microsoft, however, claims that this is just a bug discovered in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update install system, and while no files are lost, it’s critical for users not to try to recover anything with third-party apps because this could lead to completely breaking down the partitions and removal of data.

“Microsoft is aware of this issue and is working on a solution to be released through Windows Update. Any data you have stored on the affected partition is still there. We recommend that you not try to recover or otherwise write data to the affected partition, nor should you format the partition,” the company says.

You can also downgrade in the meantime

Microsoft’s Sharath Srinivasa goes on to explain that a patch will be released to users when it’s available and states that users who do not want to wait for it can always downgrade to their previous Windows version. Partitions should be then just as you created them, with all files once again accessible.

Rolling back to build 1511 works and hopefully not too many people will have hosed their BootCamp partition in the meantime.

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Aug 14, 2016 11:59 AM in response to djpenn

djpenn wrote:


Rolling back to build 1511 works and hopefully not too many people won't have hosed their BootCamp partition in the meantime.

This is as expected. It is a bug in 1607 and Anniversary builds, both.

Loner_t wrote:


Testing so far has pointed the finger squarely at Microsoft. If Apple will give me the driver code, I can debug it further.

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Aug 23, 2016 7:24 PM in response to Brian Kendig

Update:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3176934


Description from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12387/windows-10-update-history

mentions among other things:

This update includes quality improvements. No new operating system features are being introduced in this update. Key changes include:


  • Improved reliability of [...] Storage Spaces Direct [...].
  • Improved performance of Storage Spaces Direct with many nodes or disks, [...].
  • Addressed additional issues with [...] software compatibility, [...] driver setup, [...] disk-to-enclosure mappings not working, [...].

For more information about the complete list of affected files, see KB3176934.

Those seem to be the only things noted that might conceivably have some impact on the disappearing partition issue. Has anyone tried it? I can't until next week or so after an image backup and then updating to build 1607. Let us know if you have it; you will be able to tell by typing Windows Key+R (or right clicking on Start menu/pearl button and selecting Run...) > then type in winver > click OK. After the KB3176934 update it will be OS Build 14393.82 (as opposed to 14393.51 as of the August 9 update).

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Windows 10 Anniversary + Boot Camp = no longer mounting Mac partition

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