First, when I set up the partitions from OS 10.5.5 through Bootcamp assistant there was no prompt to download the Windows support software (like there was when I installed Bootcamp on my MacBook Air).
I had a copy of Bootcamp 3.1 saved from a previous installation, but when I tried to run the setup file I received an error "Bootcamp x64 is not supported on this computer model." I knew there was an earlier version of Bootcamp 2.1 - that perhaps I could update from - on her Mac OS installation DVD, so I tried that and got a similar error.
To get Bootcamp 2.1 to install on her unsupported Mac, I navigated through the OS 10.5.5 DVD to Bootcamp and Drivers and Apple where the Bootcamp64.msi installer file is. By right-clicking (using a USB mouse since the trackpad drivers were not yet installed), and selecting "Troubleshoot Compatibility" I was able to get it to run.
However, Apple Software Update wouldn't update to the latest version of Bootcamp, and the available update installer from Apple's website required at least Bootcamp 3.0. This is a problem because some of the recent Windows 7 updates cause Windows to crash with the BSOD under the older versions of Bootcamp (a problem caused by some incompatibility with the trackpad driver in earlier Bootcamps and new Windows updates).
So, here is how to get the Bootcamp 3.1 installer to run in Windows 7 on an "unsupported" Macbook:
Make a back-up copy of the "Windows Support" folder. Download the Orca MSI editor HERE and install.
Open up Orca, click the open folder icon and navigate to the Bootcamp64.msi file located in WindowsSupport/Boot Camp/Drivers/Apple. Select the "Launch Condition" table from the left hand column as shown below.
This table lists the conditions that would normally prevent Bootcamp64.msi from installing. You may remove the condition preventing you from installing by right-clicking the corresponding table entry and selecting "drop row." In my case, I dropped the "VersionNT>=600" and "SYSTEMMODELNAME=... " rows because those lead to the error messages that I was receiving when the install failed. Save the new MSI, and install! Make sure that you execute the file as an administrator, and remember you may still have to right-click the bootcamp64.msi file and select "Troubleshoot Compatibility" to get it to work. My coworker has been using Windows 7 on her Macbook under this setup for days now with no complaints!
Note: I did this with Bootcamp 3.1, then manually updated to Bootcamp 3.2 using the install package downloaded from Apple's support site without any problems. The Apple Software Update utility didn't seem to want to update Bootcamp automatically... but then again I had installed an old version of the update software so it may be because of that.
THANK YOU! I was trying to install bootcamp on a late 2008 / 2009 unibody macbook and could not get the damn drivers to install on windows 7 64 bit. This WORKED!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't run this as Administrator after editing the MSI. I would right-click using SHIFT+F10 after selecting the MSI in Explorer, but this didn't provide the 'Run as Administrator' option.
ReplyDeleteI ended up searching for 'cmd' from the Start Menu, hovering my mouse over it and doing SHIFT+F10, running that as Administrator, and then changing to the directory where the BootCamp64.msi was located, and running it from the command prompt. WIN!
Thank you for providing this post! I wouldn't have figured out how to use Orca to accomplish this if it wasn't for your tips.
ReplyDeleteI really hate how Apple decides when your device is too old to continue supporting. I had a first generation iPhone, bought a stereo bluetooth device, and found out it wasn't supported. I jailbroke it and it worked perfectly fine using an app I found. So it was possible. I ended up buying an Android phone shortly thereafter instead of an iPhone 4 because of that, and because of Google Navigation :)
Thanks for sharing such an interesting post with us. You have made some valuable points which are very useful for all readers Mac Support Melbourne
ReplyDeleteIncredible. Thanks for these instructions!
ReplyDeleteInstall Bootcamp 3.3 is a far better action there's no doubt about it!
ReplyDelete