Install Windows 7 in Mid-2015 Macbook Pro

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Level 1

2 points

Install Windows 7 in Mid-2015 Macbook Pro

Good Afternoon All,

I am trying to install Windows 7 onto a Macbook Pro that bootcamp no longer supports putting Windows 7 onto. I have a Product Key for 7 and want to upgrade to Windows 10 but, unfortunately, Windows 7 has to be on the machine first. I used a friends Macbook Pro early 2011 to create a WININSTALL USB stick using their Bootcamp software (which permits Windows 7 because of his 2011 model) but when I reboot and hold the OPTION key it does not even recognize the stick. The only thing that is there is my Mac HD. Does anyone know of a method to get Windows 7 onto one of the new Macbook Pro's? I have moderate computer skills and can do some things in command line, use Xcode to modify files like bootcamps .plist, etc.

Thank you for your suggestions,

CB

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Sep 7, 2015 9:13 AM

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Answer 1

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Sep 7, 2015 10:24 AM in response to Taelvin

Can you verify that the USB is a USB2 and is MBR with FAT32? Can you post the file structure from Finder for this USB?

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Answer 2

Taelvin Author

Level 1

2 points

Sep 7, 2015 12:37 PM in response to Loner T

Hey Loner T,

I read some of your other posts helping people with USB thumb drive installations. I verified that it is USB2 (I will attach a picture to show as well). I also have found that when you use the OPTION key during start-up that the MBR with FAT32 is not recognized. However, when I used Rufus on my Parallels trial of Windows I made a bootable Windows 7 and specified for it to use a GUID partition with FAT32. When I used the GUID partition and used OPTION key at startup it did recognize the USB thumb drive as an "EFI Drive." When I selected it though it booted to a black screen (but I could still hear the fans running). I waited about ten minutes and finally hit a key and then it auto-booted back to the Mac OS.

Here is a picture showing is is a USB2 drive when I had it as a GPT (GUID) bootable disk using Rufus and a Windows 7 ISO:

Here is a picture of the drive after I used my friends 2011 macbook pro and Bootcamp to make the USB bootable drive:

Here is the contents of the USB bootable disk made by Bootcamp using a Windows 7 ISO on a 2011 macbook pro:

I read that Intel Macs only recognize GUID partitioned bootable USB drives so that is why I used Rufus and a Windows 7 ISO to make the GPT partitioned bootable USB drive. The bootable USB Yosemite installer I have is a GUID partition. Unfortunately, while it recognized it as an "EFI Drive" it did not lead to anything except a black screen. The "MACINTOSH H" drive you see is a FAT partition that I used Disk Utility to make. It is where I planned to install Windows 7.

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Answer 3

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Sep 7, 2015 1:04 PM in response to Taelvin

1. You do not want the USB2 to be a GPT with a slice being FAT32. OS X will recognize it, but Apple Bootmanager will refuse it.

2. The EFI part is bootable because Apple Bootmanager will look for a .efi file for Bootability on a GPT disk. For example on MacPro machines, you can dedicate a MBR-only (non-GPT) disk which is bootable. It uses OS X bless command with a legacydrivehint qualifier. You can read more about bless at https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/ man8/bless.8.html .

3. On your model, an external Apple SuperDrive can also be used to install Windows. When BCA no longer allows W7, instead of using a USB-based installer, burn your W7 ISO (or a commercial 64-bit DVD of W7) which will work. It also requires a legacy MBR and a DU FAT32 partition to be created manually. EFI Boot of W7 is very problematic, especially on Macs. If you can find an Apple Superdrive, we can install W7. We may also need to use W7 64-bit drivers for your Mac - Install Windows 7 and earlier on your Mac using Boot Camp - Apple Support - and use the mid-2014 drivers.

4. The GUID boot ability is used to boot OS X via the .efi file. Otherwise a GPT disk is a regular non-bootable disk.

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Answer 4

Taelvin Author

Level 1

2 points

Sep 7, 2015 1:14 PM in response to Loner T

It sounds like the only way then is to use an Apple SuperDrive and the Windows 7 64 bit install disks that I have? Can you see why in the second set of screenshots (the MBR one) the USB created by bootcamp on a 2011 macbook pro won't work on the 2015 macbook pro at startup?

How do I create a legacy MBR and a DU FAT32 partition manually? When I created the MACINTOSH H partition the only option I saw in DU was MS-DOS (FAT) and ExFat.

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Answer 5

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Sep 7, 2015 3:31 PM in response to Taelvin

Taelvin wrote:

It sounds like the only way then is to use an Apple SuperDrive and the Windows 7 64 bit install disks that I have? Can you see why in the second set of screenshots (the MBR one) the USB created by bootcamp on a 2011 macbook pro won't work on the 2015 macbook pro at startup?

Are you using any USB hubs? The USB should be directly connected to the Mac. Connect it directly and run diskutil list. Pick 'N' where diskN points to this USB, and then run sudo fdisk /dev/diskN and post the output. This needs to be done in OS X Terminal.

How do I create a legacy MBR and a DU FAT32 partition manually? When I created the MACINTOSH H partition the only option I saw in DU was MS-DOS (FAT) and ExFat.

You can create a MS-DOS FAT partition using Disk Utility. Once created there is a utility called GPT Fdisk (http://sourceforge.net/projects/gptfdisk/) which can be used to create an MBR matching the GPT of the internal disk. Once it is in place, the SuperDrive can be used boot W7 and install it on this machine. BCA normally keeps state in NVRAM across reboots, but manual installation requires using the Alt Key to keep selecting the DVD in SuperDRive till Windows is fully installed. Typically it requires 4-5 reboots.

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Answer 6

Taelvin Author

Level 1

2 points

Sep 7, 2015 3:47 PM in response to Loner T

I did not use any USB hub. The USB2 bootable thumb drive was directly connected to the Macbook Pro and there were no other devices connected to any of the other ports.

Here is the screenshots from the OS X Terminal following the commands you recommended:

And then:

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Answer 7

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Sep 7, 2015 4:03 PM in response to Taelvin

I used a friends Macbook Pro early 2011 to create a WININSTALL USB stick using their Bootcamp software (which permits Windows 7 because of his 2011 model) but when I reboot and hold the OPTION key it does not even recognize the stick.

2011 Macs do not support booting from USB, but 2012s do. By using Bootcamp info.plist modifications, the USB can be created, but is not very useful.

The Fdisk is incorrect. Can I suggest running the following steps? Please ignore the i386 MBR errors in the following steps, but not any others.

sudo fdisk -e /dev/disk2

p

setpid 1

0B

flag 1

p

w

y

Reboot and hold the Alt/Option key and check if the USB (with Windows, not EFI) shows up as a selection. Point to Macintosh H, if the installer starts, and format it and click Next.

Here is an example for a W7 Bootable USB created on a 2012 13-in MBP.

diskutil list

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *256.1 GB disk0

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_CoreStorage OSY-MBP13 128.2 GB disk0s2

3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3

4: Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP 127.0 GB disk0s4

/dev/disk1 (internal, virtual):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: Apple_HFS OSY-MBP13 +126.4 GB disk1

Logical Volume on disk0s2

8A0116D5-7E1E-44D8-B2A0-8D4E4D48298D

Unencrypted

/dev/disk2 (external, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: FDisk_partition_scheme *16.0 GB disk2

1: DOS_FAT_32 WININSTALL 16.0 GB disk2s1

sudo fdisk /dev/disk2

Password:

Disk: /dev/disk2 geometry: 1946/255/63 [31266816 sectors]

Signature: 0xAA55

Starting Ending

#: id cyl hd sec - cyl hd sec [ start - size]

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

*1: 0B 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 2 - 31266814] Win95 FAT-32

2: 00 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 [ 0 - 0] unused

3: 00 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 [ 0 - 0] unused

4: 00 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 [ 0 - 0] unused

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Answer 8

Taelvin Author

Level 1

2 points

Sep 7, 2015 4:15 PM in response to Loner T

I followed the command sequence, here is the terminal window showing the progress. I rebooted and held alt/option and the Windows USB did not show up. Just Mac HD. :-/

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Answer 9

Taelvin Author

Level 1

2 points

Sep 7, 2015 4:21 PM in response to Taelvin

Here is the fdisk and diskutil list as it is now after running those commands. The USB drive looks almost the same as yours except it is larger in size.

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Answer 10

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Sep 7, 2015 4:30 PM in response to Taelvin

Run SMC Reset

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

and then try reboot/alt again.

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Answer 11

Taelvin Author

Level 1

2 points

Sep 7, 2015 4:44 PM in response to Loner T

Reset SMC and then NVRAM and it did not reveal the USB installer at reboot/alt.

I was looking at the GPT disk page to see if it had a guide on creating an MBR matching the GPT of the internal disk. Is this what they refer to as a Hybrid MBR? Or am i viewing the wrong thing?

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Answer 12

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Sep 7, 2015 4:51 PM in response to Taelvin

Yes, it is a Hybrid MBR. The steps to create them are

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 10. Accept all other defaults that Gdisk offers. Please see thesample Q&A as an example. These steps can be repeated if you make a mistake before you get to Step 12, otherwise start from Step 1 for these steps. Step 6 has numbers which are typed with a space between the numbers. Please see the sample Q&A before you execute these steps.

Sudo gdisk /dev/rdisk0
P (Print list of parts)
R (Recover)
O (print current Hybrid MBR)
H (chooses Hybrid)
Partitions numbers to be hybridized: 2 3 4
Y (Good for GRUB question)
N (part 2 boot flag)
N (part 3 boot flag)
N (part 4 boot flag)
O (print current Hybrid MBR)
W (Write the new MBR)
Y (Yes! write the new MBR)
Reboot

Here is sample Q&A for this section. Please notice the Press Enter/Return.

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): Press Enter/Return

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

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.

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Answer 13

Taelvin Author

Level 1

2 points

Sep 8, 2015 9:52 AM in response to Loner T

This is likely a very basic question but which environment do you recommend initiating GPT fdisk? From an emergency system disk like SystemRescueCD or installing it in MacOSX and running it from terminal while logged in to an administrator account? I was thinking the system disk would be preferable since it initiates at start-up and I assumed some of the modifications GPT fdisk is making would have to be done in an environment where the disk containing the MacOSX partition could be unmounted and modified?

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Answer 14

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Sep 8, 2015 10:02 AM in response to Taelvin

You can use the 'b' command to backup the GPT and then make changes in OSX. The 'b' command will not work from the System RescueCD because a writable file system is not available in most cases. Once you backup, store it externally on a different external disk.

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Answer 15

Taelvin Author

Level 1

2 points

Sep 8, 2015 3:51 PM in response to Loner T

Here is the course of how things went in terminal. I think it looks like it went well? Do you do the three tests you described before or after installing Windows?

MacBook-Pro-2:~ sudo gdisk /dev/rdisk0

GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.0

Warning: Devices opened with shared lock will not have their

partition table automatically reloaded!

Partition table scan:

MBR: hybrid

BSD: not present

APM: not present

GPT: present

Found valid GPT with hybrid MBR; using GPT.

Command (? for help): b

Enter backup filename to save: gdisk backup

The operation has completed successfully.

Command (? for help): P

Disk /dev/rdisk0: 977105060 sectors, 465.9 GiB

Logical sector size: 512 bytes

Disk identifier (GUID): 316A6941-387C-4FA2-A9C5-03FD18BD52D9

Partition table holds up to 128 entries

First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 977105026

Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries

Total free space is 2017 sectors (1008.5 KiB)

Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name

1 40 409639 200.0 MiB EF00 EFI System Partition

2 409640 783253895 373.3 GiB AF05 Macintosh HD

3 783253896 784523431 619.9 MiB AB00 Recovery HD

4 784525312 977104895 91.8 GiB 0700 MACINTOSH H

Command (? for help): r

Recovery/transformation command (? for help): o

Disk size is 977105060 sectors (465.9 GiB)

MBR disk identifier: 0x00000000

MBR partitions:

Number Boot Start Sector End Sector Status Code

1 1 409639 primary 0xEE

2 409640 783253895 primary 0xAC

3 783253896 784523431 primary 0xAB

4 784525312 977104895 primary 0x0B

Recovery/transformation command (? for help): h

WARNING! Hybrid MBRs are flaky and dangerous! If you decide not to use one,

just hit the Enter key at the below prompt and your MBR partition table will

be untouched.

Type from one to three GPT partition numbers, separated by spaces, to be

added to the hybrid MBR, in sequence: 2 3 4

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):

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

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

Enter an MBR hex code (default AB):

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

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

Enter an MBR hex code (default 07):

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

Recovery/transformation command (? for help): o

Disk size is 977105060 sectors (465.9 GiB)

MBR disk identifier: 0x00000000

MBR partitions:

Number Boot Start Sector End Sector Status Code

1 1 409639 primary 0xEE

2 409640 783253895 primary 0xAF

3 783253896 784523431 primary 0xAB

4 784525312 977104895 primary 0x07

Recovery/transformation command (? for help): W

Final checks complete. About to write GPT data. THIS WILL OVERWRITE EXISTING

PARTITIONS!!

Do you want to proceed? (Y/N): Y

OK; writing new GUID partition table (GPT) to /dev/rdisk0.

Warning: Devices opened with shared lock will not have their

partition table automatically reloaded!

Warning: The kernel may continue to use old or deleted partitions.

You should reboot or remove the drive.

The operation has completed successfully.

MacBook-Pro-2:~

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