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Missing bootcamp on windows

Hi dear all,


I am a new user to apple and due to some work problem, I had window 8.1 installed on my Mac pro using bootcamp. Here is the full story


I had windows 8.1 preview installed first, then I went to updated directly using the product key. And I also created a partition on windows 8.1 to separate my system file and other personal/work file (old habit)


for past few days(right after I finished the update), I had been on windows until yesterday, when I wanted to switched back to Mac OS, the bootcamp icon is gone. no longer there in the tool bar and I couldn't locate it anywhere on my system. Now I have to shut down the laptop and using the option key to get the Mac OS option. also when I am on Mac OS, everything is there, i can go to windows using start up disk.


Now I am confused, what did I do wrong? Although it is not impossible for to come back to Mac OS, however, using the bootcamp option is a bit more convenient for me. What do I do to get it back?


FYI: I am sure the bootcamp icon was there when I was on win 8.1 preview. I am currently on Mac Yosemite 10.10.2


Thank you for helping, if anyone is experienced fixing this,

Posted on Feb 28, 2015 10:07 AM

Reply
40 replies

Feb 28, 2015 10:14 AM in response to bluefish1314

bluefish1314 wrote:


And I also created a partition on windows 8.1 to separate my system file and other personal/work file (old habit)

This creates a problem, because the number of partitions with the Hybrid MBR implementation of Windows on Macs (pre-dating late 2013 models) is limited to four (4) including two hidden ones, EFI and Recovery HD. Any partition manipulation/resizing cause the GPT and MBR to get out of sync causing problems.


Can you post the output of the following Terminal commands?


diskutil list

diskutil cs list

sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

sudo fdisk /dev/disk0


Enter your password for the "sudo" commands, and it will not be echoed back to you.

Mar 1, 2015 5:51 PM in response to bluefish1314

You may want to remove personal information when you post screen shots.


Your BC partition seems to be fine. You also have a Windows Recovery partition (the last entry which is GPT5).


The following command dumps the first block of the NTFS header.


sudo dd if=/dev/rdisk0s4 count=1 2>/dev/null | hexdump -C


Is the 472MB partition the one you newly created?

Mar 14, 2015 5:00 PM in response to bluefish1314

Since the GPT5 entry is the Windows RE, it can be safely deleted via Disk Utility.


Once it is deleted,

Rebuild MBR to match the new GPT information thus resetting the Hybrid MBR. Use defaults for other questions (like partition codes). The only values that need modifications are the Boot flags and step 6. Accept all other defaults that Gdisk offers.

  1. Sudo gdisk /dev/disk0
  2. P (Print list of parts)
  3. R (Recover)
  4. H (chooses Hybrid)
  5. Partitions numbers to be hybridized: 2 3 4
  6. Y (Good for GRUB question)
  7. N (part 2 boot flag)
  8. N (part 3 boot flag)
  9. Y (part 4 boot flag make NTFS bootable partition)
  10. W (Write the new MBR)
  11. Y (Yes! write the new MBR)
  12. Reboot


Here is an example of the Q&A in the commands.


Place EFI GPT (0xEE) partition first in MBR (good for GRUB)? (Y/N): Y


Creating entry for GPT partition #2 (MBR partition #2)

Enter an MBR hex code (default AF): Press Enter/Return

Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): N


Creating entry for GPT partition #3 (MBR partition #3)

Enter an MBR hex code (default AB): Press Enter/Return

Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): N


Creating entry for GPT partition #4 (MBR partition #4)

Enter an MBR hex code (default 07): 07

Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): Y


Test 1 - Does Bootcamp Volume show up in Finder?

Test 2 - Can you see files in Bootcamp Volume?

Test 3 - Can you select Bootcamp in System Preferences -> Startup Disk?

Test 4 - If Test 3 is successful, select Bootcamp and Click Restart.

Missing bootcamp on windows

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