you're suppose to use the apple bootcamp drivers

Apple - Support - Downloads

depending on your mac the correct driver would be in

5.1.5621

or

5.1.5640

i have the exact same problem. tried for two days to install windows 8.1 on my mbp mid2012, i7, retina, 650m. i used bootcamp 5621. black screen when installing nvidia driver and can't restart, black screen forever, have to reinstall windows. tried several times (had other problems during installation but solved them.) anyone found any solution on this?

I have exactly the same problem. It's surprising nobody knows how to fix it

After experimenting today I finally discovered that the driver from Bootcamp 5.0.5033 ( link - Boot Camp Support Software 5.0.5033 , it contains a relatively old but still good nVidia 306.37) is the only one that doesn't give black screen on boot. I tried several other drivers (native drivers from BootCamp 5.1.5621 and even 5.1.5640, the latest driver from nVidia website) but they all gave me black screen. Anyway, I'm happy with what I got.

Problem:

Black screen when booting windows 8.1 in EFI after installing NVidia 650M drivers.

Hardware:

rMBP (15" early-2013, 650M dGPU)

Windows 8.1 installed in native EFI mode on an external Thunderbolt SSD (which is easier for me than messing up with the internal drive since Bootcamp won't install in EFI natively on my model)

Solution:

Use nVidia 306.37 from Bootcamp 5.0.5033 package

I think that external SSD doesn't matter.

The problem originates from the Apple's proprietary mux + Intel iGPU which is no longer hidden from Windows by BIOS emulator (you can actually see it in device manager). This hardware setup is different from all other windows laptops that use optimus or whatever and looks like it requires special treatment. I'm surprised that newer BootCamp drivers don't work. I also read that Windows 8 doesn't have this problem (only 8.1). It's also worth mentioning that late-2013 rMBP (with TB2 and 750M) are UEFI 2.0 compliant and don't have this problem either (in fact their default bootcamp installation is using EFI mode!).

I hope this info will be useful for someone who googles the same problem!

Another hint – never install Intel HD4000 driver, it'll mess everything up again.

Thank you very much maratus911.

You gave me an end to my struggle.

I installed Win 8.1 on my late 2013 iMac 27" and Win 8 on my mid 2012 rMBP.

It worked perfectly on both devices. But after I had to reinstall Win because of an update failure I tried Win 8.1 on the rMBP and it had so many crazy errors (like showing two physical screens but there is only one, brightness controls won't work at all).

I just could not figure out that it ONLY works with Win 8 and only this 5.0.5033 drivers because of someone at Apple screwed up and made it impossible to use Win 8.1 with EFI on our mid 2012 rMBPs. And they are selling us the 5.1.5621 Boot Camp drivers as working on our devices. Do they use or try out their own devices at all?

2012 rMBP isn't supposed to work with EFI windows out of the box, and afaik 5621 drivers work fine with BIOS installations

I have the same problem right now. So you are saying the Macbook Pro mid 2012 is not supported by Boot Camp Support Software 5.1.5621?

I installed Win 8.1 on Lacie external thunderbolt SSD, it worked fine, but when I manually started to install 5.1.5621, it went black as you've said above in the middle of installation.

I do have an internal Boot Camp with Win 7 and I read in another post that i have to delete that partition and only one Windows installation can be using Boot Camp. He also mention black screen. I'm wondering if my problem is that. So I'm contemplating deleting the Win 7 bootcamp partition. Anyone with similar configurations (internal and external Windows)?

You may want to look at Boot Camp: System requirements for Microsoft Windows operating systems - Apple Support to check BC versions compatible with your specific Mac model.

Has this issue been fixed yet. I'm on a mid2012 retina 15" running win 8.1 and can't get drivers working properly

DemetriAA wrote:

 

Has this issue been fixed yet. I'm on a mid2012 retina 15" running win 8.1 and can't get drivers working properly

If you download the correct drivers from System requirements to install Windows on your Mac via Boot Camp - Apple Support and Boot Camp: Install or repair Boot Camp drivers.

no this does not work. bootcamp drivers are broken for windows 8.1 on an efi install. apple is withholding the discreet gpu drivers from microsoft to trick people into thinking osx is more stable/efficient and thus windows cannot detect which gpu it is supposed to use when it can see both. the discreet gpu is hidden in the fake bios setup that bootcamp wants you to install with. the problem with doing this is that the more powerful gpu is all you can use in windows so the computer runs more hot and is louder which is annoying and hard on the battery life.

thanks apple, if i knew that when i bought the laptop i would have gone with something else.

DemetriAA wrote:

 

no this does not work. bootcamp drivers are broken for windows 8.1 on an efi install. apple is withholding the discreet gpu drivers from microsoft to trick people into thinking osx is more stable/efficient and thus windows cannot detect which gpu it is supposed to use when it can see both. the discreet gpu is hidden in the fake bios setup that bootcamp wants you to install with. the problem with doing this is that the more powerful gpu is all you can use in windows so the computer runs more hot and is louder which is annoying and hard on the battery life.

 

thanks apple, if i knew that when i bought the laptop i would have gone with something else.

This is not correct. If you force an EFI installation on a preUEFI Mac, you will see GPU and Audio errors. A non-EFI Hybrid MBR installation works correctly. Does Windows have the ability to switch GPUs? OS X, using external monitors, uses the non-Intel discreet GPU and the machine does not run hot. If Windows can provide dual-GPU support (which they have) and also provide GPU-switching (missing), this can be done. Can it be done for older hardware, highly unlikely. MacRumors has threads with PCI Register changes to expose the Intel GPU and the machine still runs hotter.

From Bootcamp Info.plist...

       <key>PreUEFIModels</key>

        <array>

                <string>MacBook7</string>

                <string>MacBookAir5</string>

                <string>MacBookPro10</string>

                <string>MacPro5</string>

                <string>Macmini6</string>

                <string>iMac13</string>

        </array>

You can verify your Model Identifier from How to identify MacBook Pro models - Apple Support. The 2012 MBPs are 9,x models.

im on a mid 2012 retina macbook pro. gpu switching works fine in osx, but apple did not provide ms with any drivers for their dual gpu hardware setup, which is why i cant use a windows 8.1 efi install correctly