24" iMac & Boot Camp: Your Experience

[topgunn]

So I got my 24" iMac last week. It was big and beautiful and Mac OS X flew. I proceeded to install Windows only to discover that the blue Windows install screen would not appear on the enormous 24" display when I booted up from the CD. I connected an external display and there it is. I installed Windows using the external display and figured once I got all the drivers loaded, the display would work. It didn't. I started looking around and found a few threads on Apple's Support discussions about people with a) a 24" iMac who couldn't use the internal display or b) 23" ACD and a Mac Pro who couldn't use the ACD to install Windows.

The issue is not localized to only people with the 7300GT or only people with the 7600GT. There are more cases of the problem happening with the 7300GT than the 7600GT but it is most likely because there are fewer 7600's out there. One Mac Rumors member, Flyinace2000, actually got a 24"er that ran Windows wonderfully but it had other problems. He exchanged it and the replacement will not. All of the 24" iMac (those with and without this problem) seem to have the same boot rom and SMC versions, GPU's with the same device ID and ROM revision and basically appear to be identical.

I am looking to get a gauge on how prevalent this problem is. If you have a 24" iMac, please post your experience with Boot Camp.

I contacted Apple and they agreed to accept my machine back and to send me a replacement with expedited shipping at no cost to me (aside from being out a computer for a week or two). This is despite the fact that Apple doesn't officially support Boot Camp and the machine worked perfectly the way it was intended, in Mac OS X. While I wait for my replacement, I would like to know what the chances are that it will work with Windows.

Finally, anyone have a guess as to what would cause this sort of thing? I don't think it is Windows because my Ubuntu CD would show either. It doesn't seem to be a drivers issue because the external display works fine. It doesn't seem to be a resolution issue because it won't work in Windows no matter what I set the resolution to. Is it firmware? I don't know.

 

[Flyinace2000]

I was just thinking about starting a thread just like this over at the Apple Support forum, but they do not support Poll's.

I considered sending this one back for oone that "might" boot windows, but i decided not to. The one i sent back had 4 stuck pixels and this one had a perfect display. So i am hoping this is just a Firmware issue that can andwill be fixed.

 

[topgunn]

I might have been more inclined to keep mine if it hadn't had 3 stuck pixels and what i considered to be an uneven backlight. I was willing to live with those things had Windows worked.

 

[ipoddin]

XP works perfectly on my iMac using bootcamp. I just installed it tonight and all is well as you can see in the photos. Dual display and everything (iMac is at 1920x1200 and second monitor is at 1680x1050). The iMac is only 3 days old. Installing Half Life 2 as I type.

I followed the enclosed installation instructions exactly as indicated. The only thing I did during installation was unplug the second monitor.

 

[Gaijin de Moscu]

I voted "OK". Windows installed with zero issues both under Bootcamp and under Parallels. Everything works.

A couple of games for my son didn't run uder Parallels, while others did. But in Bootcamp I have no problems whatsoever.

I have no stuck pixels. But I have a quiet, steady hum which I can hear in a quiet room (I work from 5 am onwards when the apartment is dead silent). Maybe it's a normal computer operation.

 

[Arnaud]

But I have a quiet, steady hum which I can hear in a quiet room (I work from 5 am onwards when the apartment is dead silent). Maybe it's a normal computer operation.

Just voted, haven't tried Bootcamp and don't plan to do so yet. I'll give a try to Parallels first. I just got the machine on last Thursday...

About the "hum", it's mostly there when the screen is lit, i.e. not in the intermediate time when the screen if off, but the computer not sleeping yet. However, coming from an iMac G5 revA... It's heavenly quiet

 

[Konradx]

just installed XP via bootcamp and ive had no problems(on 24" 7600gt). Installing Callofduty2 as we speak

 

[Thrash911]

I have only had my iMac for a little week now. Well I installed Windows XP via Boot Camp twice (I reinstalled OS X just to try it, before I installed too much stuff on it). Both times worked as a charm with no problems at all. Haven't tried hell of a lot in Windows yet. But I have tried Half-Life 2 (including HL2:Multiplayer, CS:Source and Garys MOD) and F.E.A.R... They have all worked just fine.

EDIT: With some fine tuning in graphics details, they run very smooth in 1920x1200.. Um, except F.E.A.R... That game is a spec killer!!!

 

[topgunn]

For those of you who haven't tried it yet, you could tell if your computer has this problem simply by trying to boot off a CD/DVD that is intended to run off a computer with BIOS. For example, any Linux or Windows CD or a Diagnostics CD of some sort such as something from Symantec or pretty much anything else that Windows machines can boot from. If it shows up, yours works. If it doesn't, it has the same problem.

 

[wchong]

i'll post my experiences when i get mine in 2 weeks!

 

[Latino4Me]

I got my iMac 24" 2.33GHz w/ GeForce 7600GT in just 4 days!! It's great and it's fast and screen has no dead pixels! I was able to install Parallels with XP with no problem, but Bootcamp was another issue. When I partitioned the drive and rebooted, all I got was black screen. I was ubale to install Xp under bootcamp. Any work arounds yet? Thanks

 

[rgbmaster]

I've installed VISTA RC2 last night... (that also was lots of fun) but it still would not show up on the main screen... only on external... i've even donwloaded latest nvidia vista drivers...

 

[topgunn]

I am happy to report that I received my replacement 24" iMac today and it does not have this problem. Windows is running swimmingly on my new two-footer.

 

[wchong]

I am happy to report that I received my replacement 24" iMac today and it does not have this problem. Windows is running swimmingly on my new two-footer.

i wonder if the inability to install and operate XP properly is limited to a small number of iMacs.

 

[ipoddin]

i wonder if the inability to install and operate XP properly is limited to a small number of iMacs.

That's how it looks on this poll and responses.

 

[Flyinace2000]

Anyone see this post over at the Apple Discussion forums?

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=686536

He said he was able to get video to appear by unplugging the monitor an repluggin it. This could work for use 24" imac people. When i get hom i am going to try to boot into windows (no external monitor) then remote deskop in and see if i can remove the monitor from Device manager then rescan for new hardware to add it. Its worth a shot.

On another note, what if apple never fixes this via firmware, I am screwed right? I think i am still within 14 days of my replacement getting here, should i roll the dice again to see if i can get a windows bootable computer?

 

[topgunn]

Anyone see this post over at the Apple Discussion forums?

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=686536

He said he was able to get video to appear by unplugging the monitor an repluggin it. This could work for use 24" imac people. When i get hom i am going to try to boot into windows (no external monitor) then remote deskop in and see if i can remove the monitor from Device manager then rescan for new hardware to add it. Its worth a shot.

On another note, what if apple never fixes this via firmware, I am screwed right? I think i am still within 14 days of my replacement getting here, should i roll the dice again to see if i can get a windows bootable computer?

I would ask for a replacement. Your last computer worked with Windows and this one didn't. You would have a better shot than me and I did get a replacement. I went through Apple Care and got nowhere. I went through sales and after speaking with a level two rep (his name was Mike), I had return shipping labels in 5 minutes.

I also read about the people who were unplugging their ACD's to get them to work. They also said that was no longer required after they installed the program/driver WinACD. I didn't read about that until my iMac was already being shipped back or I would have tried it. Look into WinACD before you do anything.

Good luck.

 

[wchong]

i am happy to report that my 24" imac installed windows beautifully!
no errors (Except for those stupid windows "script errors").
all i have to do now is just to download the windows updates, zonealarm, avg antivirus, ad-aware, and spywareblaster.

then i'll be downloading CS:S and hl2!! it's been a while since i play them cuz my gaming rig got messed up.

anyways, i did get an error while partitioning the main HDD and it told me to run disk utility.
easy fix: reboot with your install cd included with your pc. don't reinstall osX, just look for "disk utility" in the tabs above after you boot up and choose "REPAIR DISK".

after it's repaired, boot up normally and run bootcamp again. voila (i left out all the details. i'm assuming you guys know how to work a mac!)

 

[Flyinace2000]

I wish mine booted windows. I really miss playing games and with the new flight sim coming out soon. Apple, PLEASE get us a firmware update or whatever it takes to get these stranded 24" imacs to boot into windows

 

[wchong]

I wish mine booted windows. I really miss playing games and with the new flight sim coming out soon. Apple, PLEASE get us a firmware update or whatever it takes to get these stranded 24" imacs to boot into windows

what problem are u getting?

 

[Arnaud]

Can't change my vote anymore, but i'm currently installing Boot Camp.

The blue screen is on, with Windows installing. It's funny to see such an old MS-DOS / VGA screen expanded on 24" !!!

So, my iMac seems to work fine.

One point of comment though: it took a hell of a time to get the blue screen after restarting, I only had a grey screen for a looooong while.
I got convinced it failed and I would have to reboot the whole thing (and reinstall osx?), but for the sake of my nerves, I gave it more time and went to run some errands in the house.
When I came back in the living room, I saw a funny blue hue, and then saw the installation screen.

Well, my conclusion: give it time before freaking out; I guess it was close to 15mn in my case, after the computer restarted in the installation process ?

 

[wchong]

Can't change my vote anymore, but i'm currently installing Boot Camp.

The blue screen is on, with Windows installing. It's funny to see such an old MS-DOS / VGA screen expanded on 24" !!!

So, my iMac seems to work fine.

One point of comment though: it took a hell of a time to get the blue screen after restarting, I only had a grey screen for a looooong while.
I got convinced it failed and I would have to reboot the whole thing (and reinstall osx?), but for the sake of my nerves, I gave it more time and went to run some errands in the house.
When I came back in the living room, I saw a funny blue hue, and then saw the installation screen.

Well, my conclusion: give it time before freaking out; I guess it was close to 15mn in my case, after the computer restarted in the installation process ?

yea i was freakin out while i was installing it. but my main worry was that my disk needed to be repaired! i thought i had to reinstall, but i didn't (imagine downloading 500mb worth of software updates again!!!)
after installing the mac drivers windows runs like a charm.

one thing though. do u guys know how to enable the mute, volume up, volume down button on XP?

 

[Arnaud]

Installation finished, all fine, on 1920*1200, quite impressive actually.
Even the BT keyboard worked, to my surprise !
(And then I started to wonder why I need Windows in the first place. Rebooted for OS X, I'll check games later...).

Regarding the volume keys, no clue yet. It didn't work with me indeed.

 

[ascender]

I've just installed Boot Camp, mainly to play PES5, HL2 and run a couple of PC-only programs and its worked first time.

 

[wchong]

I've just installed Boot Camp, mainly to play PES5, HL2 and run a couple of PC-only programs and its worked first time.

do u know how to enable the keypad? cuz i don't!