Windows 8.1 NVIDIA crash

Windows 8.1 is not yet supported by Boot Camp, no drivers.

no it's not the same, at least not with the apple hardware

I installed win7 in bootcamp and updated to win8 when it was released and had no offical support

I tried the driver win update in win8 suggested and it crashed all the time

rolled back to the official bootcam driver and it only crashed 1/3 logins to windows

win8 support was released and I install the official driver and it fixed it

then win8.1 was released and free for win8 users and I upgraded and now I'm back to the page pool fault fatal bluescreen every 1/3 login

I took the following steps to install Windows 8.1 on my late-2009 13” Macbook Pro. I’m also able to install the latest bootcamp drivers (5.1.5621). Unfortunately, the system fails to boot if I install any version of the NVIDA driver for my GeForce 9400M. The system’s video runs as “Windows Basic Display” as a result, and I can’t take advantage of the GPU. Not sure what to try next - any help would be appreciated.

Steps to install Windows w/ Bootcamp Drivers:

1) (Note: I’ve replaced my superdrive with a separate drive for Windows 8.1, and Mavericks is on it’s own SSD). In Disk Utility, create single a free space partition on the Windows 8.1 drive.

2) Modify and Bootcamp’s Info.plist according to the steps shown here:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1414851

and sign it with:

sudo codesign -fs - /Applications/Utilities/Boot\ Camp\ Assistant.app

3) Using Bootcamp Assistant, create a bootable USB (in “select tasks,” also check the second box to download the latest support software from Apple).

4) Reboot with “option” and select the USB (now labeled EFIboot)

5) Use the windows installer to create a new partition, format it, and install windows

6) Download the latest bootcamp drivers from Apple (version 5.1.561 - although same results with all versions of 5.0 drivers). Since “setup.exe” gives an error, navigate to “\BootCamp\Drivers\Apple\BootCamp.msi” and run it from an elevated command prompt to install bootcamp drivers.

7) **IMPORTANT: At this point, the NVIDIA drivers that come with bootcamp (v. 337.88) cause windows to crash. Just before reaching the login prompt, the screen goes blank and the system reboots. Uninstalling the NVIDIA graphics drivers in Safe Mode allows Windows to boot - except with poor video support.

8) To fix the exclamation mark next to “Coprocessor” in Device Manager, Download BootCamp 4.0.4033 (later versions do not help with this error). Right click and “Update Drivers” and point it to the BootCamp directory.

9) Windows Update will recommend a chipset update (15.35_nforce_win7_64bit_international_whql.exe). This will offer an SMU update, an ethernet update, and a storage driver update. Only the SMU update works - the other two produce an identical crash.

I’ve tried NVIDIA driver versions 331.82, 335.23, and 340.52. All of them crash during installation (the screen goes black and the system reboots), preventing the driver from installing. Installing from safe mode produces the same boot-up error as the 337.88 driver. I’d be gratefull for any direction.

Cheers,

vrl2

You will run into many issues, not just GPU issues. Audio is the next most likely issue.

1. You are trying to EFI install W8.1 on a preUEFI machine. It will not work.

2. On older Macs, CSM-BIOS needs to be invoked to properly install drivers, especially dual-GPU Macs, because Windows has not support for such configurations. The only known method is to use BCA to create a Hybrid MBR and do a regular installation (Hybrid MBR), not an EFI boot.

It may be better to start a new discussion, rather than post on a one-year old discussion. 😉

Thanks for getting back to me. The NVIDIA issue was solved by avoiding EFI. Solved, but with a few caveats. Hopefully posting these steps will help out anyone trying to run anything more advanced than Windows 7 on 2009 Macbook Pro. These steps also work for Windows 10 (technical preview):

- Placing the correct lines in BCA's Info.plist enables a USB install, but only a EFI-based one (so the installation works - except it forces a generic video adapter). Editing the "preUEFI" portion of the plist did nothing. Despite wishful thinking, it looks like older systems require an installation based off of an optical drive. (PARTIAL WORK AROUND: after the normal edits to the plist, I had no trouble performing an EFI installation on my pre-UEFI macbook. Everything-sound, input, etc.-worked except for my NVIDIA 9400M GPU).

- Since I removed my optical drive to install my windows HD and couldn't install from a USB, I had to use an external CD drive. I pointed BCA to the Windows 10 ISO so that it could remove/install onto my dedicated partition. It immediately restarts after partitioning (so I hold Option). Then I booted from the CD icon of Windows (NOT either of the EFI icons or the USB drive icon).

- After installation, I ran BootCamp.msi through an elevated command prompt (v. 5.1.5621). The NVIDIA driver did not install, so I instead installed the latest from the manufacturer (340.52).

- Same steps as earlier to fix the coprocessor. First I pointing Device Manager to the 4.0.4033 support folder, then I installed NVIDIA's chipset file (15.35_nforce_win7_64bit_international_whql.exe)

Thanks to everyone who has posted in the forum. Hopefully no crashes w/ the Windows 10 upgrade.

-vrl2

Thanks for posting back with your experience, vrl2.

Thanks vrl2, I was pulling my hair out for a couple days trying to solve GPU issues after installing windows 10 on my mid 2009 macbook pro. The trick was to copy the windows 10 ISO onto a DVD, NOT a USB stick, and install from there. Windows 10 is now running great, and finally without GPU problems.