Windows 8.1 install fails on new 2013 Retina MacBook

I managed to get Windows 8 installed. Managed to get it updated to Windows 8.1 too, which is where I was stuck before. Not entirely sure about what it was that I did differently. I started with a plan to do an MBR installation of Windows 8, then update to 8.1, then to convert the MBR install to an EFI install. When I tried that though, my keyboard / trackpad didn't work once I got to the personalzation portions of the Windows 8 installation. Since that failed, I tried just to do the manual conversion of the Windows 8 MBR installation to EFI, thinking that might have something to do with why the keyboard / trackpad wasn't working. Well, in the EFI boot following the EFI conversion, the trackpad and keyboard still didn't work. An external mouse and keyboard didn't work either (connected via USB). So I deleted the Bootcamp partition, started up Boot Camp Assistant again, set up the Windows partition, put the USB stick in a different port, and then tried the installation again. Just sort of had a feeling it might work... and it did. All that being said, I think this is a bad approach to solving the problem. It's an Apple issue that Apple needs to solve, even if it requires technical assistance from Microsoft. I dabbled with the installation off and on for about month. Did the instalation enough times that I have my product key memorized.

Please raise the issue with Apple so they devote the necessary resources to get the Boot Camp installation working without any "special" steps. There are three or four days of my life that I want back....

So which installation do you have? EFI or CSM bios?

EFI, I think. Did it via the EFI installer.

Okay... now confirmed. BIOS mode is UEFI.

Thanks, and you setup the partition with Bootcamp?

With my final and successful attempt, I did set up the partition with Bootcamp. To be clear though too, I've done it multiple ways -- i.e., creating the partition with Bootcamp, creating the partititon with Diskutil, creating space for the partition with Diskutil -- but then creating the parition and formatting with the Windows installer, etc. At one point, I even wiped Mavericks and then tried doing the Windows installation with nothing else installed.

On the successful attempt, I did use the partition I created with Bootcamp, without doing anything special (e.g., booting around the bootcamp installer to reformat / resize / re-whatever with Diskutil. I did move my USB stick to a different port though.

I can speculate that starting with the MBR partition, converting it to an EFI partition, then removing the partition, and then doing the EFI installation is the way to go -- but honestly, I have no idea -- and I'm not willing to go through the process of doing it again. I've entirely lost the desire to see what is and what is not reproducible... 😝 Maybe moving the USB stick made a difference too. I have no idea.

Also, I did not clean up the EFI/Boot and EFI/Boot/Microsoft folders at all. My working theory was that if the bootstore was valid, the installer wouldn't complain. I never tried to confirm.

I understand 😁

Maybe if you keep using Bootcamp enough times the odd one will fail to create a hybrid MBR and then an EFI install will run ok 🙂 There do seem to be wild variations in people's experiences - even with exactly the same hardware.

As far as converting an installed system from CSM to EFI it does not go particularly well - or it didn't on mine. One of the main problems being the Intel chip being recognised and difficulties with the Nvidia driver.

The nice part of what I wound up with is that since I did the EFI installation from start to finish, that I don't have a "mixed" install. I'm just glad it's working.

Ok i tried everything but still cant go on with installation.No matter what i do it still says there is no right partition to install.

A EFI Installation starts but stopped at 70% with error so it fails also.

Now i give up.

I realy hope there will be a fix soon.

It is my first MAC and i by it because i can install Windows.

I want try the MAC System because i like the handling,but i need windows for some Software they only for Windows and i need to work with them.

brand new Macbook Pro Retina 15 512 SSD

If I were you I would try one more thing. Boot into the EFI windows installer. Erase the entire hard drive including the Mac OS Partition. Install windows as if this was a Windows only machine. In my experience this worked all the time. Then once you have windows installed go back and do an internet recovery of the Mac OS. You will loose the windows installation but in my experience doing a boot camp install after a windows only install could work.

I had the same problem as everybody else but the key thing that got it working for me last night is running diskpart during before doing the Windows install.

1. When setup comes up, and before you pick a partition to install into, press shift-F10
2. diskpart
3. list disk - this will show your current disk as a number - let's say it's disk 0 (it may be 1)
4. select disk 0
5. list volume - this will show the volumes on the disk. Note the volume no of your EFI partition - let's say it's 2
6. select volume 2
7. assign letter=B
8. exit

This worked with a normal BootCamp partition setup using a USB drive plugged into the left USB port. Doing this also enabled it to work after completely erasing the drive using Disk Utility, so it would create the EFI partition, and deleting the one HFS+ partition it created, so I could put BOOTCAMP at the beginning of the drive.

I ended up getting BitLocker working for the Windows partition and FileVault working for the OS X partiion, but I installed Windows first so it could do what it liked and then using 'gpt' created a HFS+ volume. It appears that Disk Utility doesn't like the partition map that Windows creates containing the "Microsoft reserved partition", because its partitions are not separated by 128 MB, see https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/technotes/tn2166/_index.html, so I ended up using gpt to create a HFS+ volume at the end and then used Disk Utility to erase/format it.

I have same problem.

Tried to install Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 with original full version (non-upgrade) ISOs from Microsoft MSDN via Bootcamp Assistant & USB.

Install always dies at the very end with "Windows could not update the computer's boot configuration. Installation cannot proceed".

Also tried unsuccessfully other provided solutions on this Apple support Communities.

riseyth can you clarifay your procedure.

"1. When setup comes up " Window set up? If yes shift-F10 open cmd window. Diskpart command in cmd window?

4. Only USB instalation has EFI Boot. To assign letter on USB disk?

Would you be sokind to clarifay your procedure in more details.

For 1), yes, windows setup. Press shift-F10 as soon as the first setup window appears. It just matters to do it before the install starts. And yes, diskpart in the cmd window.

For 4), no. When you get or reformat the disk in a current Mac, the disk has a hidden partition named "EFI" at the front. This partition needs to be assigned a unique letter, normally B. Here's my partiton map, you need to assign "B" to the EFI one.

$ diskutil list

/dev/disk0

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *500.3 GB disk0

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

2: Microsoft Reserved 134.2 MB disk0s2

3: Microsoft Basic Data 171.3 GB disk0s3

4: DE94BBA4-06D1-4D40-A16A-BFD50179D6AC 314.6 MB disk0s4

5: Apple_CoreStorage 327.5 GB disk0s5

6: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s6

gpt show /dev/disk0

start size index contents

0 1 PMBR

1 1 Pri GPT header

2 32 Pri GPT table

34 6

40 409600 1 GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B

409640 2008

411648 262144 2 GPT part - E3C9E316-0B5C-4DB8-817D-F92DF00215AE

673792 334667776 3 GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7

335341568 614400 4 GPT part - DE94BBA4-06D1-4D40-A16A-BFD50179D6AC

335955968 262144

336218112 639617368 5 GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

975835480 1269544 6 GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

977105024 3

977105027 32 Sec GPT table

977105059 1 Sec GPT header

In short time after my post I found what you (resith) are talking about. I did exactly as you wrote. But still same issue.

"Windows could not update the computer's boot configuration. Installation cannot proceed".

Anny creative idea? Apple support where are you?