Mountain Lion + Windows 7 Ultimate on 2 separate SSDs on Apricorns x2

[MacProFreak]

Probably this is not news for many, but it works! A thing of beauty.

First, I installed OS-X on the SSD on the first Apricorn x2. (PCIe #2)

Then, since bootcamp will not install Windows on anything that isn't in "drawer" #1, I installed Win 7 Ultimate on the second SSD while it was temporarily installed in this drawer #1.

After all Windows updates, I placed this SSD on the second Apricorn x2. (PCIe #3)

Turned on the machine and it booted up right into Windows.

Of course, option key can give you the choice to boot into OS-X as usual.

SSDs are Samsungs 840 Pro. Machine is Mac Pro 5,1 (2010) and the W3690 at 3.46GHz rips. For my standards, this machine is now very fast .

 

[kalex]

very nice. Its on my todo list as well. I just did CPU upgrade few days ago. Now thinking of doing this and installing gtx680 once it comes back in stock in stores

 

[MacProFreak]

I just ran into a problem with this setup. For some reason, when I booted into Win 7 last time, it gave me (super fast, I almost couldn't read it) a message saying "your device is ready to use" after installing some kind of driver automatically, which I believe was related to the second apricorn board where the Win 7 SSD is installed.

Needless to say, it said "your computer needs to be restarted for changes to take effect". So after I restarted, Win 7 doesn't load anymore. After the EFI gray apple logo, the screen goes black and nothing else. It will boot into OS-X fine using the option key.

I'm thinking the Win 7 boot might be pointing to the wrong partition on the second apricorn that has windows in it, as I noticed that SSD has more than one partition.

1) Did anyone go through a similar situation

2) How do I verify where the Win 7 boot process is pointing to? (I know how to do this using grub, but I'm not familiar how it works on the mac).

PS - Win 7 was booting and working fine before this 'found new hardware' thing it did to itself... The found new hardware was the apricorn #2 and/or the actual second SSD or partition.

 

[MacProFreak]

Update: I put the Win 7 SSD on drawer #1 and using the option key it booted up normally. Then, I shut the computer down, put the SSD with win 7 back in the apricorn x2 adapter (PCIe #3) and using option key again, it worked. I have no idea why it's working again, but I'm not complaining. OS-X is the default when I turn on the machine without using the option key. OS-X is on apricorn x2 as well, on PCIe #2. (PCIe #1 is used by the GPU).