Apple Bootcamp Drivers Crashing Win 8.1 Pro

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Level 1

12 points

Apple Bootcamp Drivers Crashing Win 8.1 Pro

Hi,

I have a really bad expeiernce with Apple techinical support trying to help fix the issue with their Bootcamp Drivers provided for Win 8.1 x64 Pro, and I cannot get Win 10 x64 Pro to install successfully, and Win 10 it gets stuck during the installation itself. I have a MacBook Air 2013 (Mid June 2013). This is due to the incompatible Apple Drivers provided by the Bootcamp Assistant Version 6.1.0 (6050.60.1).

1) The bootcamp drivers downloaded by the Bootcamp Assistant (Version 6.1.0 (6050.60.1) on a Mac OSX Sierra - 10.12.5 (16F73), have never worked when installed on a Clean Win 8.1 x64 Pro installation, the Win 8.1 install without the bootcamp drivers allows Windows 8.1 to work, but as soon as the Bootcamp setup.exe is clicked it has an issue and a pop up dialog is shown, and needs to be closed. After clicking close the install continues and upon reboot, Windows freezes and becomes unresponsive. The only way to recover is Windows System restore without the bc drivers, but without the drivers the Win 8.1 cannot be used.

2) I have troubleshooted this for 1 month now, few days ago I tried the Bootcamp drivers from the Apple website version 5.1.5460 "This download contains the Windows Support Software (Windows Drivers) you need to support 64 bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 on your Mac." Download Boot Camp Support Software 5.1.5769

this software seemed to be installed fine, but there is a issue upon reboot

Issue

3) As soon the power charger cable is disconnected the Windows 8.1 display is Frozen and I have to hardreset, connect the charger cable back again and only then does Windows 8.1 work using the Windows genie drivers part of the OS. Booting into Windows without connecting the charging cable starts loading Windows but crashes soon after with a Blue screen, before the login screen appears. This is a Bootcamp driver issue as it seems that Apple have done a bad job at fixing their drivers and provide no support to help resolve this issue, or take any responsibility to help the customer. Not sure how I can fix this without support from Apple which seems a daunting task, technical support have no clue how to identify the root cause, its a shame Apple do not value their customers who spend money buying their expensive products.

Please help.

Thanks,

Frank

null-OTHER, Windows 8, Bootcamp Drivers Win 8.1 x64 Pro

Posted on Jul 17, 2017 11:15 PM

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Answer 1

franklind4 Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 18, 2017 10:16 AM in response to Loner T

Hi Loner,

Many thanks for responding.

The reason for using the 5.1.5460 BC Drivers, is because when I install the v6 BC drivers I see the following issue on Windows 8.1 x64 Pro and after I reboot my laptop post BC 6 installation my system is frozen. The BC 5.1.5460 drivers installation completes without the below error, but as soon as I unplug the charger cable my Win 8.1 freezes.

Thank you,

Frank

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Answer 2

franklind4 Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 18, 2017 10:25 AM in response to franklind4

More information on the failure when installing the BC 6 drivers on Win 8.1 x64 Pro is as follows.

Looks like the BC 6 drivers is installing incorrect drivers and that's what is causing the problems.

More details when troubleshooting launching the bootcamp.msi to identify the root cause using Windows CLI .

The below log clearly indicates the issue is with the Apple Bootcamp 6 Drivers that are getting downloaded using the Bootcamp Assistant 6.1.0.

a=== Logging started: 7/15/2017 9:32:28 ===
Action 9:32:28: INSTALL.
Action start 9:32:28: INSTALL.
Action 9:32:28: PreventDowngrade.
Action start 9:32:28: PreventDowngrade.
Action ended 9:32:42: PreventDowngrade. Return value 1.
Action 9:32:42: AppSearch. Searching for installed applications
Action start 9:32:42: AppSearch.
AppSearch: Property: REGSRCH_OLD_KBD_PRELOAD, Signature: Locate_OLD_KBD_PRELOAD
AppSearch: Property: ATHEROS_AR5416_PRESENT, Signature: Locate_ar5416
Action ended 9:32:42: AppSearch. Return value 1.
Action 9:32:42: WMIGetComputerModelMSI.
Action start 9:32:42: WMIGetComputerModelMSI.
Action ended 9:32:42: WMIGetComputerModelMSI. Return value 1.
Action 9:32:42: CA_CheckOSVer.
Action start 9:32:42: CA_CheckOSVer.
CustomAction CA_CheckOSVer returned actual error code 1603 but will be translated to success due to continue marking
Action ended 9:32:42: CA_CheckOSVer. Return value 1.
Action 9:32:42: LaunchConditions. Evaluating launch conditions
Action start 9:32:42: LaunchConditions.
Info 2898. For Tahoma8 textstyle, the system created a 'Tahoma' font, in 0 character set, of 13 pixels height.
Boot Camp requires that your computer is running Windows 7.
MSI (c) (30:84) [09:32:52:373]: Product: Boot Camp Services -- Boot Camp requires that your computer is running Windows 7.

Action ended 9:32:52: LaunchConditions. Return value 3.
Action 9:32:52: SetupCompleteError.
Action start 9:32:52: SetupCompleteError.
Info 2898. For TahomaBold8 textstyle, the system created a 'Tahoma' font, in 0 character set, of 13 pixels height.
Action 9:32:52: SetupCompleteError. Dialog created
Action ended 9:32:53: SetupCompleteError. Return value 2.

Thanks,

Frank

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Answer 3

franklind4 Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 19, 2017 1:56 AM in response to Loner T

Hi Loner,

Thank you very much for helping me.

Details below:

Check the Windows Event log for Power-related issues.

Frank> No Hardware related events in the MS Event log

Check the Battery cycle count and health from the macOS side.

Frank> Battery Cycle count is 1206, I checked with Apple suport and they said although the count is over the 1000 mark, the battery is fine, but might not hold charge like a new battery would.

Check the Power Options Advanced Settings for with and without battery.

Frank> Using Win 8.1 system defaults, I have not changed any settings, its a clean Win 8.1 installation.

If you have any external peripherals connected, disconnect and check if you can remove power.

Frank> No external devices connected

Does macOS work properly, if the power adapter is disconnected?

Frank> Mac OSX Sierra works fine with & without the Charging cable connected.

Check Device Manager for any unknown devices.

Frank> No unkonwn devices listed under device manager or Hidden devices.

Attached driver details:

Many thanks.

Kind regards,

Frank

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Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jul 19, 2017 3:39 AM in response to franklind4

franklind4 wrote:

Check the Battery cycle count and health from the macOS side.

Frank> Battery Cycle count is 1206, I checked with Apple suport and they said although the count is over the 1000 mark, the battery is fine, but might not hold charge like a new battery would.

The Windows ACPI is much more sensitive to such issues than macOS is. This is the most likely cause. These batteries can be expensive. Buy from a source which allows you to return the battery within a reasonable time window (14 days).

My recommendation is to replace it and then test. If the new battery does not solve the issue, it would point to hardware issue on the logic board.

You can also run How to use Apple Hardware Test on your Mac - Apple Support or How to use Apple Diagnostics on your Mac - Apple Support and check it out.

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Answer 5

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jul 18, 2017 2:48 PM in response to franklind4

In OP you mention both .5640 and .5769 drivers, but I assume you are using .5640 drivers. .5640 is a valid driver set for the mid-2013 MBA.

If the issue is the 'freezing' of the W8.1 installation when the power cable is disconnected, your issue is related to the Battery/ACPI driver. With the power cable plugged in, in Device Manager, check if you have an ACPI driver and a Battery driver. Post the versions of both.

Check the Windows Event log for Power-related issues.
Check the Battery cycle count and health from the macOS side.
Check the Power Options Advanced Settings for with and without battery.
If you have any external peripherals connected, disconnect and check if you can remove power.
Does macOS work properly, if the power adapter is disconnected?
Check Device Manager for any unknown devices.

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Answer 6

franklind4 Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 19, 2017 4:49 AM in response to Loner T

Hi Loner,

Thank you.

The laptop works in Safemode with Win 8.1 without the power adapter connected to it.

So it definitely seems like a driver issue to me, Apple 2 weeks ago replaced the Logic board to see if helps but

it has not, so far the SSD, Display have been replaced 4 weeks ago.

Kind regards,

Frank

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Answer 7

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Jul 19, 2017 5:43 AM in response to franklind4

You have a brand new laptop. 😉

Run Apple Software Update and check if there are any pending updates. The ACPI and driver versions are current.

Did you re-install W8.1 after the Logic Board and SSD were replaced?

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Answer 8

franklind4 Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 19, 2017 7:41 AM in response to Loner T

Hi Loner

Thank you 🙂

I have done some more troubleshooting, and have managed to fix the issue.

1) I can confirm that the issue is with the v6 Bootcamp Drivers for Win 8.1 x64 Pro (Apple are rubbish at testing for sure and even bad at acknowledging that there is an issue)

2) I also found that Win 10 does NOT like to be installed over WiFi, so I disabled WIFI, bought and connected a Network cable, and connected the power adapter and installed Win 10 x64 Pro - Build 1703, the installation when connected to the Network cable completed successfully.

3) After rebooting my laptop, I installed the Bootcamp 6 support software, this time it gave me the option to Repair and the installation completed without the error I reported when installing the BC 6 drivers on Win 8.1 x64 Pro.

4) I rebooted again.

5) After successfully logging in to Win 10 Pro, I opened Explorer and did some basic testing, all seemed to work properly

6) Removed the Power Adapter and everything was still working 🙂, no screen freeze or hangs.

Kind regards,

Frank

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