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User profile for user: lion10
lion10 Author
User level: Level 1
15 points

The ultimate way to install Windows 8.x in (U)EFI mode on Apple systems

Well, all these solutions regarding Windows 8 (or 8.1) installation methods in this forum seem to be quite complicated. Here follows my favourite way for installing Windows 8.x on Apple EFI systems.


First, once and for all, forget Boot Camp! Because Windows 8 is fully EFI compliant, Boot Camp is totally useless. You only need it to get all the Windows drivers. When using Boot Camp with Windows 8 in EFI mode you get very likely even greater problems. The root of the most Windows 8 install errors reported here is located in Apple’s special "hybrid MBR" GPT layout. Nothing else!


So, in consequence, you have just to remove / replace that "hybrid MBR" with a standard GPT "protective MBR". This change will NOT affect OS X or any other OS X program in any way!

1. Use the OS X Disk Utility to create a partition scheme of your wishes.


2. Download in OS X the tool "GPT fdisk". Install it and start it in terminal with:

sudo gdisk /dev/disk0 or sudo gdisk /dev/disk1


Type p to view the partition table (verify that you have selected the right drive)


Type x to enter experts menu


Type n to create a new clean "protective MBR" (GPT fdisk will NOT report any changes)


Type w to save your changes



3. Start Windows 8 setup in EFI mode; - switch to "Windows prompt" under "repair tools". Start command diskpart. Check your partition; - select that one with name "EFI". Add the drive letter "b" with the command assign letter=b. (Note, this point is perhaps not needed at some systems.)



4. Exit diskpart, start again Windows 8 setup installer from prompt with command setup.



In Windows setup you have now just to format the Windows partition, - the setup installer is now able to update the Apple EFI Boot record properly. You should not get the "Windows could not update the computer's boot configuration. Installation cannot proceed." message.



I can confirm that this install method has worked perfectly for several MacBook, iMac and Macmini computers. Furthermore you should be also able to install Linux smoothly with EFI mode in dual or triple boot configurations. (Don’t know but Linux may have the same troubles like Windows with Apple’s "hybrid MBR" GPT layout.)



Finally big thanks to Roderick W. Smith for his great GPT fdisk tool!! And also a big thanks to user "riseyth" which has given the diskpart EFI "assign letter =b" hint in this forum. (list of references: http://superuser.com/questions/508026/windows-detects-gpt-disk-as-mbr-in-efi-boo t/508454#508454)

Posted on Apr 16, 2014 11:54 AM

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58 replies
User profile for user: T0m93
T0m93
User level: Level 1
0 points

May 25, 2015 12:28 AM in response to Loner T

Hmm. Can i fix this somehow?



Ouput:

gpt show: /dev/disk1: mediasize=500107862016; sectorsize=512; blocks=976773168

gpt show: /dev/disk1: PMBR at sector 0

gpt show: /dev/disk1: Pri GPT at sector 1

gpt show: /dev/disk1: Sec GPT at sector 976773167

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 975093952 2 GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

975503592 1269536 3 GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

976773128 7

976773135 32 Sec GPT table

976773167 1 Sec GPT header

Toms-MBP:~ Tom$

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User profile for user: Loner T
Loner T
User level: Level 9
59,471 points

May 25, 2015 6:36 AM in response to T0m93

On disk0, you are missing


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


On disk1, you have the correct setup.



If OS X boots and works as does Windows, I suggest meticulous back ups of your data from both OSes to two separate external disks. The only fix I am aware of is to erase the Fusion drive. Your Windows installation is on the first disk, which I assume is an SSD (256G). Since you havean EFI that has Apple firmware on disk1, if that disk fails, neither of your OSes will work, which is the reason for good backups.



On my Macmini's I have my Windows installation on the SSD, but the GPT looks like


macmini-i51:~ $ sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

Password:

gpt show: /dev/disk0: mediasize=256060514304; sectorsize=512; blocks=500118192

gpt show: /dev/disk0: Suspicious MBR at sector 0

gpt show: /dev/disk0: Pri GPT at sector 1

gpt show: /dev/disk0: Sec GPT at sector 500118191

start size index contents

0 1 MBR

1 1 Pri GPT header

2 32 Pri GPT table

34 6

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

409640 250059096 2 GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

250468736 262144 3 GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

250730880 1664

250732544 249384960 4 GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7

500117504 655

500118159 32 Sec GPT table

500118191 1 Sec GPT header

macmini-i51:~ $ sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk1

gpt show: /dev/disk1: mediasize=1000204886016; sectorsize=512; blocks=1953525168

gpt show: /dev/disk1: PMBR at sector 0

gpt show: /dev/disk1: Pri GPT at sector 1

gpt show: /dev/disk1: Sec GPT at sector 1953525167

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 1951845952 2 GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

1952255592 1269536 3 GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

1953525128 7

1953525135 32 Sec GPT table

1953525167 1 Sec GPT header


and the disk layout is


macmini-i51:~ $ diskutil list

/dev/disk0

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *256.1 GB disk0

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_CoreStorage 128.0 GB disk0s2

3: Apple_Boot Boot OS X 134.2 MB disk0s3

4: Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP 127.7 GB disk0s4

/dev/disk1

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk1

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1

2: Apple_CoreStorage 999.3 GB disk1s2

3: Apple_Boot Boot OS X 650.0 MB disk1s3

/dev/disk2

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: Apple_HFS OSX-FusionHD *1.1 TB disk2



macmini-i51:~ $ diskutil cs list

CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)

|

+-- Logical Volume Group DF140929-90E7-48E1-AC3D-C9C75BA88D1D

=========================================================

Name: OSX-FusionHD

Status: Online

Size: 1127375384576 B (1.1 TB)

Free Space: 69632 B (69.6 KB)

|

+-< Physical Volume C856A74C-EB57-4D1F-8223-0A22215218ED

| ----------------------------------------------------

| Index: 0

| Disk: disk0s2

| Status: Online

| Size: 128030257152 B (128.0 GB)

|

+-< Physical Volume 80D91A14-CCC9-47B1-B071-B9ADFF23924F

| ----------------------------------------------------

| Index: 1

| Disk: disk1s2

| Status: Online

| Size: 999345127424 B (999.3 GB)

|

+-> Logical Volume Family 019D610F-21AC-4B54-AB0A-6D5F90D520A7

----------------------------------------------------------

Encryption Status: Unlocked

Encryption Type: None

Conversion Status: NoConversion

Conversion Direction: -none-

Has Encrypted Extents: No

Fully Secure: No

Passphrase Required: No

|

+-> Logical Volume D9DC0F70-38C7-4AE6-BAC4-CFBE0F8D4F68

---------------------------------------------------

Disk: disk2

Status: Online

Size (Total): 1118844862464 B (1.1 TB)

Conversion Progress: -none-

Revertible: No

LV Name: OSX-FusionHD

Volume Name: OSX-FusionHD

Content Hint: Apple_HFS

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User profile for user: MarcS9
MarcS9
User level: Level 1
0 points

Aug 4, 2015 2:30 AM in response to codekaran

Even if you manage to install WIndows in EFI mode on a 1.1 system, you will not have a stable platform. The EFI firmware cannout be upgraded, so you will always have this limitation on older Macs.


The 2.x EFI version introduces a large amount of procedure calls to access computer hardware. This includes hard drives, audio and graphics.


Running Windows on EFI 1.1 will at the very least prevent you from installing Monitor and Display card drivers, meaning you won't be able to use any advanced graphics applications like 3D modelling software or PC Games.


You may also have problems with Audio.


You definitely will have frequent crashes whenever Windows updates a driver, forcing you to restore from a System Restore point, as your Mac will not be able to boot into Windows (Windows Boot Repair Assistant Boot Loops).


Aside from the issues above, if you have time to kill and don't need a working system, you can get Windows installed under 1.1, with crappy graphics and disabling automatic updates, you can even play MP3s, browse the net and perform low graphics tasks like MS Office and web browsing.


If on the other hand you want to benefit from having advanced hardware to do advanced tasks, look to the more stable Mavericks/Windows 8.1 via Bootcamp combination, as Loner T suggests.

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User profile for user: Loner T
Loner T
User level: Level 9
59,471 points

Aug 4, 2015 4:04 AM in response to codekaran

codekaran wrote:


What if I just edit the plist in BootCamp Assistant? Will that work?

Also can you suggest me different way for installing windows on my machine?

Editing the pList just allows you create a USB. It still does not change the behavior of Apple Bootmanager. If your built-in Optical drive is not working, one option is to replace/repair it. If it was replaced with an Optibay HDD, and is still available, temporarily put it back, install Windows and then modify the Optibay as necessary. On Macs prior to 2011, SATA speeds issues exist when HDDs are put in the Optibay.

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User profile for user: lion10
lion10 Author
User level: Level 1
15 points

Aug 17, 2015 4:28 AM in response to BlueLineRon

Okay folks, - as mentioned in my first post, this infamous „Windows could not update the computer's boot configuration. Installation cannot proceed.“ message always appears when Windows is not able to modify the EFI boot partition. This indicates that the conversation of the GPT „hybrid MBR" to GPT „protective MBR" scheme was not successful. Or you may have simply forget to convert it. 😉 Keep in mind, this step is fundamental essential and absolutely necessary.


The EFI boot partition has furthermore always to be FAT32 formatted, nor HFS+, ZFS, exFAT, and at least NTFS. It is strongly recommended to use Apple’s Disk Utility to create all partitions you need. It will create everything 100% Mac OS compatible, including the EFI boot partition and the mandatory free space between the partitions.


Important note, do not reorganize / change the partition layout after you have converted it to GPT „protective MBR". Apple’s Disk Utility will probably restore it back to the GPT „hybrid MBR" scheme. As a result, Windows will presumably stop booting up correctly.


If changes must be made at your converted GPT „protective MBR" scheme use GNOME Partition Editor instead of Apple’s Disk Utility. It is also known as GParted and is meanwhile able to handle Apple’s special GPT scheme error free. (http://gparted.org/) Furthermore this ingenious program is also able to make perfect copies / clones of your original hard disk. I was able to move several Mac OS / Windows installations error free to different SSD’s (Samsung 840 pro, 850 pro).


I can now also confirm that a Windows 10 UEFI installation works perfectly with those steps described in this thread.


Unfortunately I must here add a big warning regarding Apple computers which contains any NVIDIA GPU. This warning also belongs to Windows 8.x and affects all Apple (NVIDIA GPU) computers prior 2011, maybe even also later models.


Do not install the NVIDIA GPU driver, - your UEFI based Windows installation will otherwise no longer boot up and hangs. You have to start Windows then in save mode and change the driver back to „Microsoft Basic Display Driver“. This is the standard UEFI GOP compatible GPU driver from Microsoft. This one works stable and has more features than the older „Standard VGA Display Driver“. However, also this driver is lacking 3D acceleration.


So, regarding NVIDIA GPU based Apple systems, if you need 3D acceleration, it will be better to install Windows 8.x or 10 trough UEFI CSM aka in „legacy BIOS mode“.


Well, when you want to have under Windows full AHCI and NCQ support e. g. when you use a fast SSD, then it may look different. I had to set up a Mac mini 2010 for a small company as (program) server. It is mounted in a RackMac mini from Sonnet. Main focus is here pure SSD performance. Windows 10 is performing absolutely perfectly in native UEFI mode, so AHCI, NCQ and also ATA TRIM fuction are fully usable. Only exemption is that I had to block the NVIDIA GPU driver installation from Windows Update.


In such constellations it may be recommended to activate the „advanced boot options“ in Windows. That makes it much easier to enter Windows Safe Mode every boot up. For this, just enter the following command at Windows prompt:

bcdedit /set {globalsettings} advancedoptions true


As mentioned, other Apple computers, for example with Intel GPU’s, are not affected. They works in UEFI mode great with Intel GPU driver installed. I observed so far no driver issues as some people assume here. Well, I never install the whole Boot Camp package, I prefer to load the needed driver separately. Regarding Apple computers with AMD Radeon GPU range I have unfortunately no deeper information. Will check their Windows UEFI compatibility in the future.


Finally, it is not correct to say that generally all Apple computers prior 2011 have incompatible Windows UEFI implementation. Overall Windows stability depends primarily from the built-in GPU. As mentioned above, the first generation aluminum mac mini from 2010 works actually good. Furthermore I was also able to boot Windows 10 stable on several early 2009 iMacs. On those Apple computers you have just be very very careful that Windows does not to install the NVIDIA GPU driver automatically trough Windows Update.


Regarding the iMac family can be said that 64bit UEFI 2.x compatible firmware, as Windows requires for UEFI operation, seems to be present since the introducing of the iMac9,1 line in 2009. So, iMac models prior 2009 are definitely not Windows UEFI compliant. They all have EFI 1.x based firmware, difference between these is that in 2006 they where 32bit, in 2007 & 2008 they where 64bit.

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User profile for user: Ole_Oie
Ole_Oie
User level: Level 1
10 points

Aug 31, 2015 10:41 PM in response to Loner T

I have few few questions.

I have OS 10.10 and windows 10 already installed with bootcamp. Do I need to partition the disk again in step 1?

In step 2 on which disk I do the sudo command. Below is the structure of the SSD?

Thank you.



This the structure of

/dev/disk0

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *512.1 GB disk0

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_CoreStorage 99.3 GB disk0s2

3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3

4: Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP 412.0 GB disk0s4

/dev/disk1

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: Apple_HFS Untitled *98.9 GB disk1

Logical Volume on disk0s2

AA65F74F-FF29-407E-B84E-55F4A35C7DFD

Unencrypted

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The ultimate way to install Windows 8.x in (U)EFI mode on Apple systems

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