MacBook Pro Core i7 + Windows 7 Bootcamp issues

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MacBook Pro Core i7 + Windows 7 Bootcamp issues

I recently bought a brand new MacBook Pro Core i7 2.66Ghz with 8GB Ram and 500GB 7200rpm HD and Hi-Res display.

When I received it, I updated all Mac OS X software via software update.

I then created a 70GB Bootcamp partition to install a new full copy of Window 7 Ultimate.

I started with the 64bit version of Win 7, but as has been noted here there are some issues with the driver packages and even after managing to get the 64bit version of the Bootcamp 3.1 driver package update to install in Windows (having first installed Bootcamp 3.0 drivers), the wireless driver would not install or work, nor would the NVidia driver, so I had a very odd display aspect and low res support. There may well have been other drivers not working either, but these two really stood out.

Despite the Bootcamp 3.1 driver package apparently being installed (as reported by "About Bootcamp", the 3.1 package was still being offered to me in Apple Software Update. I tried to install again, and again it still showed as being available to install. Obviously some issue's here.

So I decided to try the Windows 7 32bit edition instead, as I don't necessarily need the 64bit version to run the Windows apps I need.

I deleted the Bootcamp partition and started again. I ended up in the exact same situation with Windows 7 32bit as I had done with Windows 7 64bit - wireless device without a driver, NVidia drivers not installed. This time I had used the Bootcamp 32bit driver packages.

In the end I've opted to just install it via VMware as a pure virtual machine. This works fine, but for what I do in Windows, I prefer to have a Bootcamp setup.

Is there a general issue with the new MacBook Pro's and Windows 7 despite Apple releasing updated driver packages? Do these new driver packages handle the dual GPU setup properly?

I have read a number of "How to's..." for installing Windows 7 on the a MacBook Pro, but none have been successful for me. Am I wasting my time for now and need to wait for Apple to update Bootcamp for the 2010 MacBook Pro's, or am I just missing something in the way I'm doing this? I can't believe it shouldn't be this hard?

MacBook Pro Core i7 2.66Ghz, Mac OS X (10.6.4), 8GB Ram

Posted on Sep 6, 2010 8:00 AM

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Answer 1

Mark.Burton Author

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467 points

Sep 7, 2010 2:56 AM in response to Mark.Burton

OK, I made that post way too long! The simple version of the question is:

*Has anyone installed Windows 7 with all drivers working, using Bootcamp on a 2010 Core i7 MacBook Pro?*

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Answer 2

Sep 7, 2010 9:51 AM in response to Mark.Burton

Running Windows 7 Ultimate x64 on my brand new 15" MBP right now.

The only problem I'm having is the USB controller issue that is reported in the following thread:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2411685&start=30&tstart=0

I ran the Boot Camp assistant, made the partition, rebooted with my 7 DVD, formatted the partition, performed a clean installation, & then installed the drivers from the OSX DVD when Windows booted the first time.

Replaced the NVIDIA drivers with the latest Verde release. 258.96 notebook_winvista_win7_64bit_internationalwhql.exe

Everything seems to be running just fine at this point.

Message was edited by: jdamien75

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Answer 3

Mark.Burton Author

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467 points

Sep 7, 2010 9:57 AM in response to jdamien75

Thanks jdamien. Interesting post about the USB issues, I didn't test any USB devices in the short time that I was trying to get Win 7 going, but it sounds like this will certainly affect me.

Do you have WiFi working? Did you have to find 3rd party drivers for that also?

Thanks for the tip on the NVidia drivers. Anyone know how GPU switching is handled under Windows? Does the Intel GPU just get ignored?

Many thanks.

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Answer 4

Sep 7, 2010 10:08 AM in response to Mark.Burton

I'm actually currently in a hotel that only has wifi, which is how I'm connected right now.

I only used the drivers off the DVD to get everything running. The only outside driver pack I've used so far is the one from NVIDIA.

I've transferred data & installed software to the Windows 7 installation using an external USB drive without problems. However, when I did a reboot with that drive connected, the system hung at the first loading splash screen for Windows...

Have to see how things work out going forward. I actually went out & got the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex STAE102 cable, so I'm going to see how that works since it's FireWire. It's basically a SATA connector on one end, so you can use it to hook up bare notebook drives, which is what I'll be doing.

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Answer 5

Mark.Burton Author

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467 points

Sep 7, 2010 10:32 AM in response to jdamien75

Interesting, I'll have another go at it.
Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

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Answer 6

Mark.Burton Author

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467 points

Sep 7, 2010 10:33 AM in response to Mark.Burton

Oh, one more question - did you install the 3.1 driver update from Apple? If you did, did you use the one in Apple Software Update or download directly from Apple's support site?

Thanks.

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Answer 7

Sep 7, 2010 11:25 AM in response to Mark.Burton

I applied whatever system updates were available to the Mac side of the system, but as far as drivers go after getting into Windows, I've only used the DVD.

When I run the Apple Software Update utility from within Windows, it only shows iTunes + QuickTime, Safari 5, & QuickTime for available updates. I don't see anything about driver packages.

Also, the system doesn't even see the Intel graphics adapter in the Device Manager, so it's more than likely only going to be running off the 330M for video.

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Answer 8

Sep 7, 2010 11:41 AM in response to Mark.Burton

I just looked at the 3.1 download from Apple's site & it shows a date of January 2010. The files on the DVD show a date of May 2010.

I opened the XML file for the installer & it looks like the DVD is version 3.1.2 of the Boot Camp utilities.

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Answer 9

Mark.Burton Author

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467 points

Sep 7, 2010 11:49 AM in response to jdamien75

Which DVD is this - Snow Leopard retail disk or one of the disks that came with the MacBook Pro?

I have been using my Snow Leopard retail disk (bought when SL came out) and the version on there is v3.0.

If I can find a disk with v3.1.2 that you used, then perhaps I'll get around the WiFi issue!!

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Answer 10

Sep 7, 2010 11:55 AM in response to Mark.Burton

This is the disc that came with my MBP. The 15-inch MacBook Pro OS X Install DVD version 1.2.

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Answer 11

Mark.Burton Author

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467 points

Sep 7, 2010 11:56 AM in response to Mark.Burton

Just checked the install disk that came with the MBP and as you say it is indeed v3.1.2.

Since I already had a Snow Leopard disk I had just used that, but that was obviously not terribly clever. Of course the Bootcamp drivers would be on the disk that came with the machine since new owners with no previous Mac OS software would need it!!

Thanks so much for pointing this out. Going to have another crack at it now!

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Answer 12

Sep 7, 2010 12:01 PM in response to Mark.Burton

Let me know how it goes. The only other oddity I've noticed is that the "eject" button doesn't seem to do anything when I have a disc in the drive...

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Answer 13

Mark.Burton Author

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467 points

Sep 8, 2010 2:06 PM in response to jdamien75

Looks like I'm going to have to do a fresh Mac OS X install to get a Bootcamp partition back. After I gave up it last time, I stupidly deleted the Bootcamp partition and now its refusing to make it. I get the error:

+*The disk cannot be partitioned because some files cannot be moved*.+
+Back up the disk and use Disk Utility to format it as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume. Restore your information to the disk and try using Boot Camp Assistant again.+

Oh well, there goes a Sunday afternoon!

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Answer 14

Mark.Burton Author

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467 points

Sep 8, 2010 4:16 PM in response to Mark.Burton

I found a forum post which suggested doing a Repair Disk using Disk Utility, so I booted up using the Mac OS X install disk and ran a repair and then I was indeed able to create a partition.

Have now installed Windows 7 64bit and all the correct drivers are working perfectly.

Laptop nirvana has been achieved!

Thanks again jdamien, I probably would not have tried again without this thread.

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Answer 15

Sep 8, 2010 5:46 PM in response to Mark.Burton

Glad I was able to help you out with it.

I am curious about something. Does your "Uninstall a program" section have all sorts of driver packages listed that have nothing to do with your laptop as well?

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