Sunday, 2 November 2008

Windows 7 on Apple MacBook

I've just installed Windows 7 on my MacBook, and I thought I'd do a post on my experiences so far.

The MacBook is a mid-2007 Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz with 2GB of RAM and a spare 60GB Toshiba hard drive in it. It has the Intel 945 integrated graphics card.

The Windows 7 build is the PDC2008 release, build number is 6801. I'm using the x64 build.

I am now up and running just fine after a few minor problems.

First off the 6801 build has the same issue with EFI that the Vista MSDN ISOs have, which causes Apple machines to not be able to boot from them (giving instead a "Select CD-ROM Boot Type" message on boot). This is well documented. The solution, in a nutshell, is to mount the ISO and copy the contents (and the boot information) on to a fresh DVD. UltraISO's default burn settings work just fine for this, very simple.

After that, Windows 7 installed absolutely fine, including picking up the available wireless networks during the last stage of setup. Aero was also working out of the box, already set to the correct 1280x800 screen resolution.

At this point the machine behaved exactly like Vista SP1 does without Boot Camp drivers installed. I went ahead and installed the Boot Camp 2.0.1 drivers, using the BootCamp64.msi file in the Apple folder in the archive to bootstrap all the different driver installations, rather than installing all the drivers seperately as I have done in the past on Vista x64.

They didn't all go on cleanly, but after a reboot I installed the Boot Camp 2.1 update from Apple. This resulted in a completely clean Device Manager, all hardware working, working really smoothly. I would rate the experience so far as better than Vista SP1 RTM.

I will update this post if I come up against anything in the next few days, but for now, very happy.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

just burn the downloaded iso file with disk utility in osx, no need to make another image with ultraiso.

jmoo2 said...

I installed 7 on my MBP as well. Had to manually install the graphics driver to get the Aero interface and broadcomm driver to get wireless access. Everything else is fine except for my sound; i have none.

By default it installs an MS driver; all looks ok but just no sound. Manually installed the Bootcamp Sigmatel driver; still no luck.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

JAmes

Tom said...

Nice trick just burning the CD with Disk Utility in OS X. Thanks for that. I wonder what the difference is that makes it work?

Sound works fine on the MacBook, I think both before and after installing Boot Camp 2.1 drivers.

Have you put the 2.1 update on?

You need Bootcamp 2.0 on before the 2.1 update will apply. I have the files here - may be able to make them available if necessary.

Chris Haaker said...

I have all the drivers working except for the enternet and chipset - this is on the new MacBook Pro. Any ideas? Of course, BC 2.1 is included on its boot disk and I tried them manually as well.

Chris Haaker said...

I have all the drivers working except for the enternet and chipset - this is on the new MacBook Pro. Any ideas? Of course, BC 2.1 is included on its boot disk and I tried them manually as well.

Tom said...

Sorry no specific ideas :-( I don't have a new MBP to try all this on!

I personally would track down who manufactures each of the sound chipset and the ethernet chipset and try their sites directly to see if they have "reference" Vista drivers available.

jmoo2 said...

Tom,

I did install the 2.1 update (after installing 2.0). However, with Boot Camp 2.0 I had the files on my Leopard CD and was able to individually install the files that didn't get installed automatically. However, Apple.com just provide an exe or msi file and from that I can't extract the individual files. So I have a feeling some of my drivers didn't get updated to 2.1.

I've tried with no luck to see if I can download these files. Any ideas? In particular I think I'm missing the the audio & chipset drivers. Not sure if the audio in my MBP is sigmatel, realtek, or something else?? It's the previous generation MBP; i.e. not the iBrick model ;)

Thanks again,

James

jmoo2 said...

Chris,

Have you tried just letting Windows Update find the driver? I THINK it found my broadcomm wireless driver so maybe it's worth a shot?

James

Tom said...

James - I've just checked inside my self-extracting Bootcamp 2.1 update exe, not quite sure where it came from. It has inside it two file:

BCLocUpdateEnable64.exe (1.25MB)
BCUpdateVista64.msp (260MB)

An .MSP file, in case you don't know, is a Microsoft Installer patch file (i.e. an update to a .MSI file)

I don't know of a way to break these open off the top.

Go in to device manager and check the version numbers of the relevant drivers, post them here. I'll check on my 7 install whether the version numbers match. You should then know if you're running 2.0 or 2.1 drivers for those devices.

jmoo2 said...

Tom,

I borrowed OS X installation disc from a mate that had just brought new MBP, installed RealTek audio driver, and now I have sounds :)

Appreciate your help.

James

P.S. Windows Media Player 12 is pretty sweet; like the new Now Playing window.

august said...

I cant get the sound to work, i tried to install the drivers from the cd but, I got a error messeg...
Sombidy knows what i can do?

jmoo2 said...

What error message did you receive and what version of BootCamp are you using?

Try and run the individual .exe files within the BootCap package. This resolved problems for most.

James

august said...

I havent instaled boot camp, and I cant find boot camp 2.0. Just the update (2.1).
Can you help me?

jmoo2 said...

You will need to first install the BootCamp drivers if you want to get the audio working on a Windows install running on a MacBook.

If you only have the 2.1 update then you'll need to download the 2.0 from somewhere, perhaps the Apple site still has it?

If you don't tell us what error message you are getting though it's difficult to be of help ;)

august said...

Hallo
When i tryed to install the boot camp from the drivers on the leopard cd. It says: te installasjon find something wrong, error code 2229.
And when I tried to install the realtek driver it says: installing of realtek HD sounddrivers fail.

I tried to translate this as good as i could. sorry my english, im from norway.

Mac/ed said...

I have all the drivers working on Windows.7.Ultimate.BUILD.6956.x86
except for the audio drivers...i have tried everthing

please some help me out...

august said...

now i finaly got sound on windows 7:D
But can sombody help me find boot camp 2.0? I only find the update.

august said...

@ mac/ed
you can download at here:

http://driverscollection.com/?H=High%20Definition%20Audio%20Codecs&By=RealTek

Mac/ed said...

@august

Thanks for the link :) i will Try this drivers...

mac/ed said...

Whoepieeeeeeeee this drivers are working .
Many thanks august

august said...

@ mac/ed

Do you have the display drivers?

Mac/ed said...

@august

display is working fine for now, on de Mac Book 2.1
whit the drivers from windows 7

are there better drivers...August ?

mac/ed said...

@august

still need this...?

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3860505/BootCamp_2.0_(Leopard)_Windows_drivers