OS X Mavericks Bootcamp Gaming Issues?

[Huntn]

If anyone is having gaming issues with Bootcamp since installing Mavericks, I'd like to hear about it.

This thread: Mavericks Destroyed Bootcamp Partition and some of Apple Community Discussion indicate that if installing Mavericks with an existing Bootcamp partition, Windows functionality may be lost.

I'm not an expert at this, but I'd try to make a backup of your Windows install before upgrading to Mavericks.

 

[elgrecomac]

No problem here

I have a Win7 bootcamp partition and i did a clean install, not an upgrade. I made a bootable ram stick and installed from there. I did erase my old mac partition and after the install, booted into my win7 instance with NO problems what so ever.

BTW for everyone who is using bootcamp, you should be using WinClone for your backups. If there is a problem with your win partition or you need to reformat your drive, restoring the Window bootcamp partition is really easy.

 

[saturnotaku]

Getting Windows 8.1 set up on my 2011 MBP was an exercise in frustration, but it ultimately came together. I ran through the process in this post. The key aspect to getting everything working correctly was to remove the sound and video drivers supplied by Apple. The stock MS audio drivers are fine, but you'll want the latest beta video driver supplied by AMD, if your Mac is so equipped.

 

[Velin]

Getting Windows 8.1 set up on my 2011 MBP was an exercise in frustration, but it ultimately came together. I ran through the process in this post. The key aspect to getting everything working correctly was to remove the sound and video drivers supplied by Apple. The stock MS audio drivers are fine, but you'll want the latest beta video driver supplied by AMD, if your Mac is so equipped.

So do you mean one should install AMD's windows-version driver while you are using Win 8.1 via bootcamp?

 

[saturnotaku]

So do you mean one should install AMD's windows-version driver while you are using Win 8.1 via bootcamp?

You can do it that way. I installed it before upgrading to 8.1. Just make sure you are not running the Apple Windows support software driver before you install 8.1. The default MS driver is fine to start with, but you will want to make sure you have the latest AMD ones for optimal performance.

 

[pcfarrar]

Much better to run Windows on an external Thunderbolt SSD and just leave it disconnected when using OS X.

 

[Dirtyharry50]

I did an upgrade install with an existing Windows 7 bootcamp partition in place and had zero problems. I've been gaming in bootcamp since and have no issues at all.

 

[yabot]

Yeah after Mavericks i took about a 10fps hit in BF3 on Windows 7 for some reason, seems to have gotten a little better now but it was still wierd.

 

[Huntn]

I have a Win7 bootcamp partition and i did a clean install, not an upgrade. I made a bootable ram stick and installed from there. I did erase my old mac partition and after the install, booted into my win7 instance with NO problems what so ever.

BTW for everyone who is using bootcamp, you should be using WinClone for your backups. If there is a problem with your win partition or you need to reformat your drive, restoring the Window bootcamp partition is really easy.

You made no partition changes, left the Windows install alone, but performed a clean install of MacOSX. Was your Mac backed up with Time Machine?

Getting Windows 8.1 set up on my 2011 MBP was an exercise in frustration, but it ultimately came together. I ran through the process in this post. The key aspect to getting everything working correctly was to remove the sound and video drivers supplied by Apple. The stock MS audio drivers are fine, but you'll want the latest beta video driver supplied by AMD, if your Mac is so equipped.

1) Clean install of OS X 10.8.5 via USB stick so Boot Camp 5.0 will be available right away.
2) Download Windows Support Software from Apple (not using Boot Camp Assistant), copy to separate USB drive or DVD.
3) Run BCA, don't check the box to download the support software, set up partitions as desired.
4) Install Windows 8 from DVD as normal.
5) Perform all Windows updates. Reboot as required.
6) Install Windows support software from USB/DVD by running setup.exe in compatibility mode for Windows 7. Reboot as required.
7) Remove the display driver (AMD Radeon 6770M in my case) via Windows device manager, which is accessible through control panel/system. Open up the display adapters, right click on the Radeon entry, and select uninstall. Do not reboot.
8) Remove the Cirrus Logic audio driver through the Programs and Features section of the control panel. It's toward the bottom of the list. Reboot.
9) Download and install the latest AMD Catalyst Mobility beta display driver. Reboot.
10) Install Windows 8.1 from the MS "app store." The first reboot after the installation process starts makes it look like the system has frozen, but be patient, it is working.
11) Once 8.1 has been installed, and you've configured it to your liking, reboot back into OS X.
12) Set your startup disk to OS X in system preferences. Reboot.
13) Download and install Mavericks.

What were your symptoms before replacing the video and audio drivers? Just to verify, the drivers Apple provided for Windows 8 were inadequate?

 

[saturnotaku]

What were your symptoms before replacing the video and audio drivers? Just to verify, the drivers Apple provided for Windows 8 were inadequate?

The issue was a freeze at the Windows boot/loading screen. It wasn't so much a problem with the video drivers as it was the audio ones. The step of uninstalling/updating the display drivers is more a "best practices" reminder since the ones provided by Apple are hopelessly out of date. The latest betas from AMD are pretty good quality and include support/fixes for recent titles as well as access to the full Catalyst Control Panel, which the Apple-supplied software lacks.

The Windows support software is exactly the same whether you're installing it on Windows 7 or 8. This is why to even get it to install at all, I had to run the setup.exe in compatibility mode for Windows 7. Apple should provide a separate download of drivers specifically for Windows 8/8.1, which I think would avoid a lot of headaches.

 

[elgrecomac]

Not quite

You made no partition changes, left the Windows install alone, but performed a clean install of MacOSX. Was your Mac backed up with Time Machine?

Before beginning i made a RAM stick with bootable 10.9 on it
1. I backed up my old osx environment with superduper and my win 7 enviornment with Winclone
2. I reformatted the entire drive
3. I remade two partitions, one for 10.9 and another as FAT32 for windows
4. Using the Ram stick i did a clean install of 10.9 and reinstalled all of my osx apps and data files including itunes data.
5. Using winclone i restored win7 into the Fat32 partition


Done!




What were your symptoms before replacing the video and audio drivers? Just to verify, the drivers Apple provided for Windows 8 were inadequate?

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