Windows 8 and MacBook Pro guide

This is pretty much how far I've gotten.

Tho I don't think video drivers are must have to mess around with W8.

The trackpad drivers are key issue for me.

As well as the chipset etc.

(my jack-port gives light (red) for the optical port not being turned off etc.)

Also the keyboard drivers are nasty not to have working properly.

I will keep following this thread as W8 is useless to me at the moment. We'll fill the gaps 😀 before Apple releases W8 support drivers. (Bootcamp 6?)

I managed to get native video driver installed by downloading it from the Intel site (links provided below). This got the brightness keys working (F1 and F2), along with the Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel. By the way, I'm running Windows Server 2012 instead of Windows 8 but it should work the same.

I performed a manual install (extract to a folder, "Update Driver Software" through Device Manager, reboot)

Win 8 32 bit: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=21235&lang=eng

Win 8 64 bit: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=21180&lang=eng

Hope this helps.

Actually, just install the 32 Bit version, everything works with that one. No driver issues at all.

Adriaan82 wrote:

Actually, just install the 32 Bit version, everything works with that one. No driver issues at all.

So, you suggest limiting Windows 8 to no more than 3.7G of Ram, what a waste.

those links dont work 😟

key piece of info to add under the video drivers section.

"If you are getting BAD_POOL_HEADER BSOD after using the brightness function keys or waking from sleep. Go into Device Manager => Monitors =>Generic PNP Monitor. Right click and disable the driver"

it comes from this thread https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4466080?start=0&tstart=0

Also, i got the apple trackpad drivers going by doing this:

"If your track pad does not work. Go to Device Manager=> Human Interface Devices. You should see two drivers with yellow "!" icons signifying they are not working, one for Apple MultiTouch and Apple MultiTouch Mouse. On each driver right click and select update driver. Choose "Browse my computer..." and then "Let me pick..." select the basic windows driver "USB Input device". Do this for both. Now right click on each of those AGAIN (now called USB Input Device) switch them BACK to the Apple multitouch drivers. The same apple multitouch driver will now work."

I have Windows 8 installed using the Windows 7 Boot Camp drivers and am experiencing no issues at all with graphics or the trackpad. The 2-finger swipe gesture works on the start page, but I wouldn't mind support for more gestures.

I'd rather have a working trackpad yeah!

Test

To get the drivers to work on Windows 8 Pro:

1) Download the Drivers using the Boot Camp utility on the Mac and choose to burn the disk.

2) Then install Windows 8 Pro on the bootcamp partition.

3) Once the installation is done, insert the Boot Camp disk, and do not run the setup just yet. Navigate to the disc and view the files on it. RIght-click on setup and click on Properties. Then click on the Compatability tab. Place a check in the box that says Run this program in compatability mode for, and in the drop down box select Windows 7. Then click ok to close out of the Properties windows and run the setup as usual to install the drivers.

I have used the above steps to successfully install Windows 8 Pro 64-bit on my MacBook Pro using Boot Camp and have not had any issues at all. All the drivers work fine. The only thing that does not work is the on-screen indicator. For example if you change the display brightness using the function keys, you don't get the screen brightness indicator to come up, or when you eject a disk from the Super Drive, you don't get the on-screen indicator to come up. The functions all work, you simply don't get the indicator to come up on the screen. Other than that, all works fine.

Regarding the trackpad. I can assure you, the latest Trackpad++ version is fully compatible with Windows 8 RTM. I've tested it in all the possible combinations. You might need to reinstall the Trackpad++ two times, if you do not have the Boot Camp drivers installed, that's all. The only scenario where it truly fails is after an upgrade from Windows 7. So, only make the clean install of Windows 8 to get the trackpad working.

By the way, the recent version of the Trackpad++ has brought multiple Windows 8-native multitouch gestures to Boot Camp. See https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2436935?start=405&tstart=0

apple cider... i can confirm that on a clean install this works... (at least for a while). I clean installed windows and then installed bootcamp in compatability mode as suggested. I was good for a couple days, then I suddenly started getting the Hal driver bsod again.

Im trying figure out what i did that triggered the start of this. It could be that I installed the latest ATI video drivers for my late 2011 mpb. I installed both the oficials latest driver release and the latest beta. I'm gonna keep playing with those drivers and see if i can figure out exactly what does it.

the reason i usually install the catalyst drivers is cause i like having catalyst control center and the latest drivers generally produce better game performance.

completely backing out v 12.11 (beta) and installing 12.10 allowed me to reenable the hal driver (generic pnp monitor) without BSOD. Note that backing out 12.11 also took with it catalyst control center. So im on v12.10 WITHOUT catalyst control center and everything works nicely.