Bootcamp not booting in Big Sur using Macbook Pro Late 2014

PeppeReDragon wrote:

I have the same issue on my 2018 I7 MacBook Pro. Since the Big Sur update,

This is not the same as OP - 2014 Mac.

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?

Please start a new discussion and post a screen shot of the 'safe' that you are referring to. Are you using Bitlocker?

MBP late 2013, 256/8gb.

I’ve had a lot of ups and downs lately with this. I went back to Catalina, using my TM back up and lost Bootcamp in the process. I then tried to reinstall it (Win10) but couldn’t. Went back to Big Sur a few weeks later. Had several goes yesterday to get Win 10 up and running but no success. One try today and it worked. The only thing I did differently between then and now was to download and install Parallels 16. However it wouldn’t give me another free trial so I uninstalled it. Maybe it left some code on my MBP that fixed the problem. You could give it a go.

YOU NEED TO READ THIS.

I'm on OS 11 Big Sur on a MBP late 2013, 256gb with 8gb ram.

You no longer actually need Bootcamp. I had Parallels some years ago, it was good but it cost me quite a lot of money. As time went on and OSX updated, it stopped working and their update cost "quite a lot more money" so I ditched it and used Bootcamp. A bit messy having to reboot everytime you needed Windows 10 (in my case). But now a type of Parallels is back and it's absolutely FREE. MacFormat has made my day. I hope they don't mind me reposting this but it's all in a good cause. Go to bit.ly/mac361vmwfusion and click "register now" to get a FREE licence to run this Parallels clone for free for ever (well for a long time anyway).

In the event it wasn't as easy as they said but I persisted, actually signed up on the web page and eventually I got an email with my free activation key. And it works a treat. Only trouble I'm having is running BlueStacks, which refuses to load completely. This is probably because of a Ram issue. If anyone has a fix please let me know.

Hello everyone!

I just went some trouble with my bootcamp. Let me explain what happened (to see if you have the same problem) and what I did to fix it!

I installed my windows iso on my desktop, then using bootcamp I made the my USB into the windows installer (all is well). I did went and partitioned my drive to the size I wanted (all is well), but when the computer restarted, it went straight to mac. Just like nothing had happened. I then restarted the computer and held the "alt/option" button during restart, I saw the windows partition, selected it, and then it went to mac and my computer froze so I had to force shut it down.

Solution to my problem...

When I booted up my mac, I helped the command, option/alt, P, R keys all together, which is called a reset to PRAM. Hold these buttons for 20 seconds, and you will see your mac restart a few times. After I let go of these keys, I then proceed to hold the option/alt keys, and now there's a 3rd disk that appears that I can use to named EFI boot. Select on it, and you'll finally see steps to download windows!

From there, everything went smoothly!

Best of luck to all :)

Before NVRAM Reset, Alt/Option shows two disks - macOS and Windows.

After NVRAM Reset, Alt/Option shows three disks - macOS, Windows and EFI Boot.

Select EFI Boot boots Windows, but selecting Windows does not. Is that correct?

Correct. Selecting windows just boots mac os and get's frozen on login requiring a hard reset. To be exact, selecting EFI boots starts the window installer and then let's you chose the bootcamp windows partition to download windows to.

I forgot to mention, I have a mid 2014 retina MacBook pro.

George_eng wrote:

Correct. Selecting windows just boots mac os and get's frozen on login requiring a hard reset.

You do not yet have a Windows installation on the internal disk at this stage, but just an empty partition that is called Windows.

To be exact, selecting EFI boots starts the window installer and then let's you chose the bootcamp windows partition to download windows to.

Your are booting the Windows installer from the USB, not from the internal disk. This is normal behavior for a 2014 Mac.

The discussion is related to an already existing Windows installation which does not boot correctly on a 2014 Mac, running Big Sur.

I do not have 3 disks shown on my configuration. i am already working with an existing bootcamp partition with windows on it, from before Big Sur. I have 2 disks when I hold option during start (EFI and macOS).

I used to have 3 disks, some time around or prior to Catalina I believe ... i may be mistaken around when that went away ... i didn't keep track of which macOS version that change from 3 disks --> 2 disks occurred.

even though i am now on 11.2.1, the double-boot issue IS still present -- but -- and this is interesting .... windows will boot twice ONLY when I am coming from macOS. when restarting or shutting down macOS, a boot into windows will repeat itself once before i am able to log into windows. Startup flag being set to Windows and I am not touching the option key after the chime.

IF I am in windows, a reboot or restart from windows does not repeat. a single startup/boot gets me in.

not sure if that observation helps any with trying to pinpoint or visualize the problem better, but it is indeed what is happening on my side and I made sure to leave the volume on so I could hear and count the reboot chimes.

I can't boot into windows 10 since I upgraded to Big Sur. The chime is heard at startup but the screen stays black for fifteen to twenty seconds. then re-starts in OSX. Once it flashed the Windows logo quickly the went black and again restarted in OSX. I have tried starting through preferences, start up disk also by restart holding down the option key and same thing. I have a late 2013 MacBook Pro. I installed bootcamp after I purchased the computer new and it has always operated flawlessly until the Big Sur upgrade. I'm hoping there is a fix if not some advice on how to downgrade to Catalina without causing more problems. Thanks

Bootcamp can be frustrating to install. It took me several tries. However, if you want Windows on your MBP without any hassle there's an excellent programme from VMware, link here https://www.vmware.com/products/desktop-hypervisor.html which will do just that. It's similar to Parallels but it's absolutely FREE. Not just a free download but a free license also. Hope this helps.

DJMac317 wrote:

• 3 disks appeared on the boot screen. Choosing "Windows' doesn't do anything, you have to choose "EFI Boot". This will boot from the USB key.

The internal Windows partition should be empty as it is the target of the installer, unless Windows is already fully installed. A 2014 Mac supports both the legacy BIOS and newer UEFI mode of installation of Windows. If your installer USB is not a USB2 Flash drive, BIOS mode will not work, but only the EFI Boot will work.

Hi there,

I'm having the same issue. Before upgrading to BigSur I was able to boot windows 10 on an external SSD. I was considering to downgrade to Catalina, but as I've read your experience that doesn't seem to be the solution.

I have tried your solution before but at that time it didn't work. It tried booting into Windows but then it just came straight back to MacOS.

GregStonecastle wrote:

Hi there,

Before upgrading to BigSur I was able to boot windows 10 on an external SSD.

What was the macOS version before you chose to upgrade to Big Sur?

I was considering to downgrade to Catalina, but as I've read your experience that doesn't seem to be the solution.

Unless you must have Big Sur features, I do not recommend it (yet!).

I have tried your solution before but at that time it didn't work. It tried booting into Windows but then it just came straight back to MacOS.

You may want to try using the Alt/Option key and repeat booting into Windows more than once.

Bootcamp can be frustrating to install. It took me several tries. However, if you want Windows on your MBP without any hassle there's an excellent programme from VMware, link here https://www.vmware.com/products/desktop-hypervisor.html which will do just that. It's similar to Parallels but it's absolutely FREE. Not just a free download but a free license also. Hope this helps.

I’m trying to enter my password on Windows 10 which is on the Mac Big Sur ? When I booted the windows earlier in the day it did a update ! I can get on to Windows now but it will not take the password . The keyboard seems to be stuck !