windows on a 13" mid 2010 macbook pro

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windows on a 13" mid 2010 macbook pro

Hi,

I own a 13 inch mid 2010 macbook pro, that I have upgraded with SSDs ( main HD & secondary ), up'ed memory to 16 Go and I have installed Sierra 10.12.6 a few days ago, after a long time sticking with Mavericks 10.9.5

my issue is that I cannot manage to get a version of windows to work, wether it's by using Bootcamp assistant or using an alternative method (I've tried several, including installing windows on an external drive)

my mac is supposed to work with windows 7, but until now, every attempt to install windows 7 stopped with a blank screen and my mac not booting.

I managed to install windows 8, but this time, the bootcamp drivers install shows a "windows 8 ca not be installed on this mac"

I want to add windows in order to work with a few (music) softwares that so far are not released on mac yet,

and I've tried parallel desktop but it's impossible to work like that, the virtual machine requires too much ressources.

I've asked for help on a few forums, but nothing seems to work.

for info, csrutil is disabled, and here's what my partition shows:

start size index contents

0 1 PMBR

1 1 Pri GPT header

2 32 Pri GPT table

34 6

40 409600 1 GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B

409640 936023872 2 GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

936433512 1269536 3 GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC

937703048 7

937703055 32 Sec GPT table

937703087 1 Sec GPT header

every piece of advice would be welcome, but know that I've tried almost everything that one can find on forums and youtube videos ..

MacBook Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12.6), 13", mid 2010, no optical drive

Posted on Feb 8, 2018 1:47 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Feb 8, 2018 8:02 AM in response to thomasfrombesncon

If you still have the Optical drive, temporarily re-install the Optical drive. The Windows designated disk must always remain in the main bay. Install Windows and test and verify. Once verified, replace the Optical drive with the SSD. If you run into any issues windows with repair/restore, you will have to repeat this process.

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Answer 2

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Feb 8, 2018 11:52 AM in response to thomasfrombesncon

The issue is not starting the Installer, but the the EFI/GOT vs BIOS/MBR issue. Your Mac is a preUEFI Mac, and requires a BIOS/MBR installation. This requires the GPT (default for a Mac) to be overlaid by a Hybrid MBR. If you use an optical drive, the default installer is a BIOS/MBR installer and the BC Assistant creates the MBR correctly. Even if you can start the installer, you will see the error in If you see a partition alert while using Boot Camp to install Windows - Apple Support .

This is a road that leads to pain and grief. Using a USB Installer (after modifying Bootcamp info.plist) will force an EFI installation, which is not properly supported on a 2010 Mac.

Apple Macs will behave incorrectly, if the underlying hardware has been modified, because the logic for BC Assistant is driven the Mac Model Identifier and a 'standard' disk configuration, unlike yours.

You are welcome to try alternatives. The other option will cause you to spend money. 😉

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Answer 3

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Feb 8, 2018 5:44 PM in response to thomasfrombesncon

You can try Resolved - Install a Windows 7 partition on Mac OSX without Optical Drive or USB | MacRumors Forums as an option, if you do want to use the Optical drive. It does require you to buy a commercial product - Winclone.

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Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Feb 8, 2018 4:55 AM in response to thomasfrombesncon

Are you using the built-in Optical drive to install Windows? Any other media will cause failures.

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Answer 5

Feb 8, 2018 10:23 AM in response to Loner T

it's not an optical drive problem.

actually, I was able to start the windows installation with bootcamp, but once at the partition select / format during the windows installation, it refused to format and I had a " Windows cannot be installed on this disk / MBR partition table.. EFI systems..GPT disk blablablahh"

it's a well known issue from what I have found over the web, that's why I've added the terminal checkup in my first post.

so if ever someone has a solution, they're welcome.

as mentioned before, I've tried A LOT of solutions that are out there and nothing seems to work, and I'm getting kinda bored.

even on an external drive I face the same issues, so if ever someone has a solution, they're welcome.

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Answer 6

Feb 8, 2018 4:32 PM in response to Loner T

thank you it seems more clear like that.

I guess that's why the drivers for windows 8 got rejected ?

my question all this time was indeed " is there a way to bypass this, with any line of code or terminal command(s) ?"

honestly, I barely see myself going back in there again, and I guess a burner case would be a waste of money ?

but maybe I'll try

thank you for your help.

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Answer 7

Feb 8, 2018 7:51 AM in response to Rudegar

and how do you do that ? ( hi btw )

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Answer 8

Feb 8, 2018 7:52 AM in response to Loner T

it's said in my presentation : no more optical drive.

I've installed a secondary SSD in place of the original optical drive

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Answer 9

Rudegar

Level 10

180,540 points

Feb 8, 2018 2:28 AM in response to thomasfrombesncon

I have an imac 2011 and windows 10 was not officially supported but rather then using the root setup.exe from the driver zip one can just run the driver install separately by navigating to the subdirs

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Answer 10

Feb 8, 2018 7:42 PM in response to Loner T

yes, I've tried this one, I have all these products.. (unsuccessfully either)

it works with windows 8, but not with windows 7.

it seems like windows 7 behaves the same way regardless of the methods and devices :

- windows 8 goes allright, but denies the apple drivers once installed (more exactly, a message pop up saying win 8 cannot be installed on this computer )

- windows 7 doesn't pass the boot "validation", except with bootcamp, but fails to install on the bootcamp partition because, with the EFI / GPT message error

I've tried the 9to5 mac videos also ( which are approximately the same process ), but even using an external drive, same things happen.

I can't remember if I've tried to install the bootcamp version 4 drivers, which are older, than the most recent we have to download by using bootcamp assistant, but maybe I'll give it a try lol

but I think I'm done for this one, I'm running out of time and patience.

I still have the original optical drive from my macbook pro, I didn't throw it away, so maybe if I find myself adventurous enough to remove my secondary SSD, put back the optical drive, try to install windows, and remove the optical drive again to put back the SSD ( it has all my main sound libraries )... maybe, who knows.

but I think unless a miracle happens, it will have to wait that I can afford a new MBP, or better..

anyway, thanks again for you help,

and if anyone has managed to do it, let me know 🙂

regards

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windows on a 13" mid 2010 macbook pro

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