Nvidia Geforce 650m driver problem for windows 8.1 on macbook pro

There are two methods of installing Windows on a Mac.

1. Macs before the Late 2013 versions are not compliant with Intel's Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). These Macs mimic PCs by emulating BIOS using a compatibility layer called CSM-BIOS.

2. On macs after 2013, you can use EFI boot, which is faster layer allowing drivers to communicate with hardware using a well defined and extensible set of APIs.

Macs between 2011-2013 are in various stages of UEFI compliance, are partially capable of running Windows using method 2. It causes hardware to be invisible. This is causing to you to see a generic display adapter.

You need to download drivers appropriate for you Mac model/year 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.

Iam also in the rMBR 15' Mid 2012, however I format my SSD and do clean install Windows 8.1 and it's working in EFI with only nvidia GPU.

Iam using Bootcamp 5.1.5621:

- Working: Nvidia GPU, internal sound, sleep, resume, trackpad..

- Non-working: The intel GPU, Headset sound, Apple Thunderbolt to network Adapter (I replace with an USB network).

Anyone know how to have Headset sound please let me know, thanks.

Here is the Device Manager:

No, this just repairs the drivers for the Apple hardware. Do you see any entries in Windows Device Manager which have yellow triangles and exclamation marks?

This is an example from an iMac5K before BC drivers were correctly installed.

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!

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.

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.

I installed the drivers from System requirements to install Windows on your Mac via Boot Camp - Apple Support this link. Now I got access to my wireless internet (so thank you!!!). I finally see Nvidia GeForce GT 650M in the Display Manager (thank you AGAIN!!!) and in "Other Devices" is only something named SMS.

I am oh so very grateful. I don't know if my Sims will work, though, but since I can find my Nvidia I Think it should. Do you Think I should download and run the Nvidia-drivers from their website though? Or I don't have to do that now?

Thank you again!!! You too, DemetriAA! 🙂

Ps. My text are still very small on Explorer and sometimes in apps etc, but I could adjust that in the Control Panel, right?

You have an MBP, which can be connected to an external display and it's lid can be closed.

Please see OS X: How to use multiple displays with your Mac in Mountain Lion and earlier - Apple Support and How to use your Mac notebook computer in closed-clamshell (display closed) mode with an external display - Apple Suppor…. .

It maybe an issue with the discrete GPU. I had the same issues with bootcamp and eventually gave up. After 10.10.3, I started seeing GPU panics running Chrome and Lightroom. I used a tool called gfxCardStatus (http://gfx.io), which notifies you when you the GPU switches. Basically, whenever it switched to the discrete GPU, it curtained about 2 minutes afterwards. The good news for me was that this is a hardware issue and Apple will fix it free of charge:

http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/

The repaid would have cost $540 normally, but it's being covered. My MBPr is beyond AppleCare and the repair was still free. I'd highly recommend bring it in to have it looked at. So far, no more GPU Panics.

So even after the hardware fix, I still had issues with Bootcamp. I have been trying to avoid the EFI method since most everything doesn't work after you install the Bootcamp Drivers. When using Bootcamp and using the BIOS emulation mode (i.e. Windows as opposed to EFI Boot), I'd always end up with a blank screen or the ever so helpful "no bootable devices" message. Selecting EFI Boot would get the installer to work, but everything goes south once the Bootcamp drivers are installed. You have a working GUI, and then the screen goes blank and there's no way to get it back.

After some digging, I found this StackExchange post describing a method using VirtualBox to install Windows:

http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/179486/boot-camp-install-of-windows-7-i ssue-no-bootable-devices/180263#180263

The short version, everything now works. My hardware is a MacBook Pro Retina, Mid 2012 (MacBookPro10,1) and I've had the logic board replaced as part the video recall (http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/). I am running Windows 8.1 with Bootcamp Driver version 5.1.5621 and everything is working great. I have sound, a working video drivers, bluetooth, etc. and I didn't have to do anything to disable one of the two video cards. If you go this route, make sure you do the MBR stuff as described in step 6. This works and seems less complicated than doing something like rEFIt or something.

Ryan-

Does your Device Manager show both GPUs with EFI Install of Windows?

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?

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?

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)?