Bootcamp not booting in Big Sur using Macbook Pro Late 2014

So, Apple seems to have halted the Big Sur upgrade for some MacBook Pro models. Like I've mid 2014 one and I had to downgrade again to Catalina. Now no software update is available on my Macbook. Probably they have listened to the complaints of update bricking some Mac models, specially the 2013 & 2014 ones.

MBP late 2013 here.

I had the same issue, i tried many of the options there, but i think the one truly working is the keeping the Alt/Option button pressed until Windows finally load.

I don't reboot everyday, so it won't bother me if i had to boot, hopefully it'll be updated soon.

For those who are not seeing Windows partition in Startup disk - be aware that Windows partition must be mounted read-only. That means:

1) Windows partition MUST be mounted.

2) Windows partition must be mounted READ-ONLY. Some utilities like Paragon NTFS for MAC and ntfs-3g mount it read-write which is not suitable for Startup Disk.

MAK787 wrote:

I am actually happy to see this. If they have stopped problematic models from updating, its actually good. Instead of bricking one's mac, its better to wait for more stable release. Yes, I can access app store and by searching, it shows it right there but it doesn't show in system preferences --> software update.

This may be an issue related to Software Update, less so to the availability of the software. If Catalina provides a more stable path, I suggest staying with it, instead of jumping on the Big Sur band-wagon. There are many issues with BS on Intel Macs.

Possible. Though it was all available in software update and its from there I installed it first time. Oh, by all means. If you recall, I upgraded to Big Sur and then had to delete it and undertake a fresh install of a Catalina. Now, I am not heading towards Big Sur anytime soon. Additionally, I observed Big Sur to have lags during some operations. Catalina seems to work a lot better.

The problem here is not the holding down of the option key to boot into Windows. That’s how it’s actually done! I had Win 10 working perfectly on my MBP (late 2013 256gb) before the move to Big Sur. I had to remove the Win 10 partition to make space for it and that was my mistake. After the install I the had plenty of free space for Win 10 but now it refused to install. My MBP also became quite slow so I’m guessing that the update is not quite correct for it. My problem was that the Bootcamp partition remained empty after going through the setup. A 40gb partition completely empty and no holding down of the option key would boot that!! I also tried Parallels 16 free trial (I had Parallels 10 some years ago) which installed but then crashed when doing a web search and did other weird things. I have gone back to Catalina, downloaded the latest Win 10 .iso and after just 3 attempts 😁 it finally worked. I’ll leave it alone for the time being as I cannot waste any more time on it.

MAK787 wrote:

Now, I am not heading towards Big Sur anytime soon. Additionally, I observed Big Sur to have lags during some operations. Catalina seems to work a lot better.

Wait till 11.0.7, before you consider Big Sur. 😜

It worked for me on my Macbook Pro 15 late 2014. After a select the Windows disk I hold the option key again until it show the Windows booting up. First time it rebooted to the firmware again and then I choose the Windows Disk again and hold the option key and it worked.

Thanks for the tip!

Same issue here. This is my second time, first time was during the Big Sur beta. Second time is after I reinstalled Win10 a second time and about a month later it has now disappeared from my bootable drives at startup.

z3thon wrote:

I lost the ability to see mine in Startup Disk and when using Option at Boot.

Can you still see files in the Bootcamp folder when you are in macOS Finder?

I am using Paragon NTFS, if I uninstall Paragon's NTFS software will this fix the issue? Gonna investigate further.

Paragon's NTFS causes more issues. You should uninstall it.

I have uninstalled both Paragon's NTFS & Linux file system software.

I can still see the drive in Finder.

I can now see the drive in Startup Disk.

Windows is selected as the boot disk but at boot the white spinning circle of doom just spins and spins until it finally just swaps to macOS.

Going to reset NVRAM again and check to see if it shows up when I use the Option key after resetting the NVRAM. (just barely uninstalled both of those software packages.

Cleared NVRAM. Disk still doesn’t show at boot when I hold down option.

I set Win10 as the default boot option again in System Preferences Startup Disk.

on boot I get the spinning white wheel of doom for about 20 seconds and then it defaults back to MacOS again.

I’m going to try rebooting multiple times in a row.

Same issue though. Big Sur caused the OS to disappear. I suppose the solution could be slightly different since I have a T2.

regardless, I’ll start a new thread but do you have any thoughts? This seems to be happening to more people than just the 2014 people. The solutions for those with and without T2 chips may be different even though they’re both having the same issues. Is that worth a second thread?

I guess we all find ourselves in the same predicament because we applied the update.

Same story. Mac OS X Catalina full update before upgrade. Bootcamp to Windows 10 superb and flawless. No issues whatsoever.

Then, as I went and login to Windows 10 for the last time since update. I got into Windows 10 Desktop before I ran into some issues with the Mac keyboard and trackpad setting so I did some research using Chrome in Windows 10 before going back to Big Sur.

That's when I went to check and noticed the Windows 10 Bootcamp option in Startup Disk was no longer there. I tried to hold down the Option Key as I powered up but the moment I released it Big Sur appeared.

I could tell the partition was there, using Disk Utility, as the partition was present and mounted in Read-only Mode but there was no way around it.

I still need to file my reports by Monday and I ran into these laundry list of issues everybody else was getting.

I had that sinking feeling before I clicked update, but I want to keep Big Sur and meet my WFH deadlines before noon next day.

Hopefully this CloverLeaf and Terminal bit works, or else. I may have to pull out my other Dell laptop to save the day.

Hoping for a miracle this season...

I have the same issue on my 2018 I7 MacBook Pro. Since the Big Sur update, the little safe in the lower left corner doesn't recognize my password. Neither my Admin password and my Apple ID'. There is no mistake in it! I can actually boot in windows if I instantly hold option key when I reboot. But do you why's that safe problem?