Windows 10 with bootcamp freezes/hangs without an ethernet/thunderbolt cable plugged?

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Windows 10 with bootcamp freezes/hangs without an ethernet/thunderbolt cable plugged?

Well as you guys can imagine, it’s been a week since I had this problem and i’ve literally gotten less than 10 hours of sleep trying to get to the bottom of this. I have booked in several apple genius bar and technician appointments to figure out what is wrong with it and i’ve gotten down to the base of the issue but unsure of what the fix will be.

I have a macbook pro retina 2014 with an i7 processor and all, and i’ve been trying to install bootcamp for a week now with little to no luck. I tired using different usbs, partitioning differently, you name it. However, at one of my recent genius bar visits we got down to the issue:

The mac will not install windows (it gets stuck at the “getting ready” screen with spinning dots) UNLESS it is presented with a thunderbolt to ethernet adapter cable that is connected! We went through the install process, however when windows is all installed, unless you boot up WITH the thunderbolt/ethernet cable present, it just simply freezes as soon as it gets to the front login screen. It boots up, but the keyboard is unusable and the mouse is severely glitchy and slow so it takes 10 seconds to process a tiny trackpad stroke. This of course is not beneficial at all either way as i need to access the login screen and type my password which wouldnt work becauae the keyboard dosent work regardless.

when the thunderbolt/ethernet cable is present, it flies through start-up and works better than any common windows supported laptop i can think of.

Anyway I got home from the appointment at the genius bar and of course i want to use my wifi connection as nobody in this day and age is really using an ethernet connection to their laptop everywhere they go because, well, what else were laptops designed for? I have tried every possible route with different installs and processes so please dont reccomend using another usb or whatever, I know what the problem is just not how to fix it.

i’m thinking is there a way to possibly uninstall thunderbolt drivers through mac os x in general so windows wouldn’t have a problem with the driver at all? Is it something i need to delete from the boot camp drivers directory bootcamp downloaded for me? (PS YES I HAVE DOWNLOADED BOOTCAMP DRIVERS AND INSTALLED THEM PROPERLY AND DOUBLE CHECKED EVERYTHING). I am completely baffled as to why this is happening. I also very highly assume this is something to do with bootcamp drivers itself, putting the liability on Apple. Is it possible to get this fixed? I am no longer under warranty but technically it is an apple hardware issue so am I covered under consumer law to get the laptop replaced/fixed?

Please help me before i lose my marbles and throw this computer on the ground in frustration. Thank you!

MacBook Pro Retina

Posted on Sep 9, 2019 6:54 AM

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Answer 1

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xXOblivi8Xx Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 14, 2019 2:24 AM in response to xXOblivi8Xx

So I found the solution after racking my brains for who knows how long, and it turns out the computer would only boot over ethernet due to a power issue with the driver for the wifi adapter. There was a problem with the “power” service in windows, which I assume is installed with the main drivers when windows attempts to install. If you pass the setup with the ethernet plugged in, you’ll find that when you get to the login screen/home screen you will either freeze or get to the home screen and lag with the glitchy mouse problem.

to fix the issue, it’s very simple: update your drivers with drivereasy pro (this is optional but it’s probably best it’s done regardless) and the main point is that you need to change your POWER SETTINGS in WINDOWS from BALANCED to HIGH PERFORMANCE. You can just up the power settings and then customise them so you save on battery if that’s a concern of yours. So in essence, step by step, the solution is:

INSTALL WINDOWS WITH THE ISO AND ANY USB
PLUG IN AN ETHERNET WHEN YOU RESTART FOR THE INSTALLATION
COMPLETE THE INSTALLATION AND SET THE PC UP
GO TO SETTINGS THEN SYSTEM THEN POWER AND CHANGE THE SETTING FROM BALANCED TO HIGH PERFORMANCE
RESTART YOUR PC WITHOUT THE ETHERNET

I really hope this helps someone because it kept me up until 6 am for nearly two weeks <3

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Answer 2

Loner T

Level 9

59,513 points

Sep 10, 2019 1:19 PM in response to xXOblivi8Xx

This is from a rMBP 2013, which originally installed W10 1511 using UEFI. It is currently running W10 1803. I do not have any TB issues and WiFi works properly. You have a 2014 rMBP, which functionally has the same hardware. The 15-in version has an additional discrete GPU.

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Answer 3

xXOblivi8Xx Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 10, 2019 11:48 AM in response to Loner T

ISO dosen’t matter (used the latest 64 bit one off Microsoft Windows 10 ISO page just in case you wanted to know). The issue is in the bootcamp drivers conflicting with what i believe is the wifi adapter hardware and windows being unable to figure out whats going on with a boot service for internet connectivity.

another issue I have had on boot is that: When the ethernet cable is disconnected entirely from the macbook/thunderbolt port, windows either gets up to the login screen and freezes while trying to load me in (at the spinning dots at welcome screen) OR it will get to the desktop but the cursor is free to move around the screen however the desktop is completely unresponsive. This is followed by the spinning loading cursor for the mouse and eventually just results in a really glitchy-blocky mouse movement over the screen when the trackpad is stroked, so it essentially cant do anything besides let the mouse move slowly and in a blocky form over the desktop without the ability to do anything (not even open task manager or the windows button). Have been working **** hard to get to the base of this s**t, and i’ve ruled out that it is anything to do with apples installed drivers and services, but rather some sort of incompatibility between the hardware and windows OS trying to figure out what it is.

changing boot priority, fiddling with the command prompt, changing network priorities, messing with the NVRAM and SMC of Mac, etc. has all been attempted and failed. I tried cleanboot on windows to find the root of the problem and it seems to be something tied to windows start-up processes and services.

This has been a long and hard fight, but I am determined to get the Windows part of it working and able to boot without an ethernet attached as soon as I can identify the root of the problem in the windows OS and will post results thereafter.

Should anyone want to install windows ASAP, head to an apple store and ask to use their thunderbolt-to-ethernet adapter and try the installation again.

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