MXM Error Using Windows

Kubassek:

Welcome to the Apple Forum:

You will need to apply the iMac MXM Update 1.0. This can be obtained [HERE|http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/imacmxmupdate10.html]

Axel F.

that doesnt work, it says it doesnt need it. Im having the same MXM problem also though.

i think what needs to be done is you need to flash the vid card bios, but im not touching that because it will void my warranty, and yours.

Message was edited by: MrBattle

I too am getting the mxm error when I use Bootcamp to run XP on the new iMac 24" 3.06Ghz with the 8800. I'm hoping for a software fix sooner rather than later from Apple as I don't intend to fiddle with the Mac's innards. I can confirm that the Apple mxm patch does not install, and I haven't found useful info on either the Apple or the NVidia site. I'm a bit stuck.

For now I'm running very few essentials in Fusion but as I had expected to be able to dual boot the performance is a disappointment.

I also just tried to install vista, and I get the same problem.

I deleted and recreated my Windows partition using Boot Camp assistant, and reinstalled Windows XP from an SP2 disk using NTFS (quick format). It hasn't fixed anything.
- The mxm error appears during installation and persists after install;
- The Boot Camp update 2.1 does not appear to run in XP SP2 or SP3;

just letting everyone know that the new software update doesn't fix anything with this problem

Folks,

I really want to buy one of these new iMac to run both Windows and MacOS. This MXM issue seems to be a calssic case of "not my problem" by Apple and nVidia...
I spoke to the Apple store agent last night and the "official" response is that "From Apple perspective, this has been fixed with the MXM Updater 1.0 (the one release on December 07)".
Clearly it is not the case and although the agent was very helpful, the response from the sysstem engineer she consulted was...lacking.

So unfortunatly, I will not invest 2.2K until I am sure that this issue is addressed...

Now, if there anyone that runs the 2.8GHz iMAc with nVidia 8800GS? I only saw complaints from users running the 3.06 GHz...

Thank to all.

Update: I've raised this with Apple Tech support and it's been escalated to the engineering team. It appears they have been unable to replicate the issue on their end. For those who share this problem it may be helpful for you to retrace the exact steps you took during installation and report to tech support as much detail as possible.

I know that my installation process below wasn't clean (to say the least!), as you can tell it was trial and error (mostly error).

Here's (approximately) what i did:
A. FIRST, I INSTALLED XP SP3 USING FAT32 (PASSED);
1. Created a bootcamp partition of 31Gb;
2. Installed XP SP3 Pro using the default FAT32 system successfully. Windows ran through setup and I performed a few basic tests and Windows updates (no errors);

I now wish I'd stopped here, but instead I decided that FAT32 didn't meet my requirements and continued.

B. I ATTEMPTED TO RE-FORMAT TO NTFS USING THE WINDOWS INSTALLER DISK (FAILED):
3. I reformatted the partition to NTFS using the Windows installer to and tried to reinstall. The installer failed at least twice. I read the solution was to format using the NTFS (Quick format) option;

C. I ERASED THE PARTITION AND STARTED AGAIN (FAILED)
4. Using Boot Camp Assistant in OSX I erased the Windows partition and created a new, larger 150Gb Boot Camp partition;
5. I ran the SP3 Pro installer with the NFTS (Quick Format) option - XP SP3 installed successfully;
6. I installed ntfs-3g (NTFS Mac software) in OSX and mounted the XP drive;
7. I tried installing a few Windows games but performance was not good;
8. I installed Fusion and ran the Boot Camp partition successfully (and installed Fusion's tools on the partition);

I'm afraid I got lost in late-night installation and didn't notice exactly when the MXM error appeared. I think it was when I restarted into Windows NTFS XP3 150Gb after installing some Windows games.

D. I ERASED THE PARTITION AND STARTED AGAIN
10. Using Boot Camp Assistant in OSX I erased the Windows partition and created a new 150Gb Boot Camp partition;

E. I INSTALLED XP SP2 AND RAN THE BOOT CAMP UPDATE (FAILED)
10. Using the XP install disk I reformatted using NTFS (quick format);
11. I re-installed Windows successfully though the MXM error appeared during install this time;
12. XP performance was noticeably slow - Explorer windows took a second to redraw;
13. I attempted to run the Boot Camp 2.1 update in SP2. This appears to do nothing;
14. I attempted to install the Apple MXM update. This appears to do nothing;
15. I attempted to run the NVidia driver update for the 8800GS. This will not run (error: no compatible hardware found);
16. I inserted the OSX install disk and from Windows reinstalled the Apple drivers - this improved performance greatly;
17. I installed a few games - performance is quite good though the MXM error is still showing on start up;

A few additional notes:
i. The MXM error appears during Windows installation and on every reboot of the Windows partition;
ii. Both XP SP2 and XP SP3 installed and ran software with adequate performance after installing the Apple drivers - enough to run a few games;
iii. OSX doesn't appear to be effected by the problem. I've not noticed any problems on the Mac partition (i.e. no OSX MXM error);
iv. When I run the Boot Camp partition in Fusion (OSX) the MXM error does not appear;

I've just installed Vista Home Premium retail (failed - MXM error is still there):
1. I erased the partition using Boot Camp Assistant (passed);
2. I created a new Boot Camp partition and started the Windows installer (failed - MXM error appears at black screen after the apple logo);
3. I installed Vista using the retail Home Premium disk (passed);
4. I inserted the Apple install disk and installed the Apple drivers (passed);
5. I ran Apple Software Update from the Windows Vista menu (passed);
6. Restarting Windows displays the MXM error (failed);

I am stuck with trying to install either XP or Vista on my 3.06Ghz iMac with Nvidia 8800GS. I just get a black screen when the windows installer starts. I really hope apple can fix this soon as I really want to play games on windows via bootcamp

I, too, have this problem when I try to boot XP natively. However, I have no such issues when running through VMware Fusion.
I read article upon article about how to install Windows prior to the actual install (so that I knew what to expect) and followed the BootCamp installation steps verbatim, so I'm pretty sure that is not the issue.
I wonder if the issue has to do with installing VMware Fusion after Bootcamp... if memory serves, I installed XP via BootCamp and ran it several times with out an issue. Then I installed Fusion and haven't been able to natively boot XP since.

Sal