Win7 x64 booting natively via EFI (no BIOS emulation)

[mac-hacks]

@acsikos EFI dump not going to do you any good if your not able to boot OS Disk.

1st - reset SMC

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

- Hold Option Key On 1st Reboot after SMC Reset, select your Drive from Boot Screen.

If that doesn't work try this..

- Download rEFIt.iso and try booting it by holding option key & select rEFIt.iso from grey boot screen, choose your Drive from rEFIt menu.

Other Option to Look at.

- Check Your Memory, when you replace HD w/ SSD you might have Knock Memory out of Slot.

- You might have bad memory, try different Memory

 

[acsikos]

@mac-hacks
I think that my EFI is corrupted and this is why I can't bring up startup manager or can't boot from OSX DVD. I am not an expert so maybe I am wrong but I don't know other way to avoid logic board replacement.

I have tried to reset SMC - the same grey screen at boot time, no respond to option key. And this is why I can't boot to rEFIt or anything else.

Memory: I have two 2G modules. I've tried to boot only one or the other - no change, the same grey screen appears at boot. I have no other RAM but this two but I think it is highly unlikely that they went wrong at the very same time.

@acsikos EFI dump not going to do you any good if your not able to boot OS Disk.

1st - reset SMC

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

- Hold Option Key On 1st Reboot after SMC Reset, select your Drive from Boot Screen.

If that doesn't work try this..

- Download rEFIt.iso and try booting it by holding option key & select rEFIt.iso from grey boot screen, choose your Drive from rEFIt menu.

Other Option to Look at.

- Check Your Memory, when you replace HD w/ SSD you might have Knock Memory out of Slot.

- You might have bad memory, try different Memory

 

[duffman9000]

@mac-hacks
I think that my EFI is corrupted and this is why I can't bring up startup manager or can't boot from OSX DVD. I am not an expert so maybe I am wrong but I don't know other way to avoid logic board replacement.

I have tried to reset SMC - the same grey screen at boot time, no respond to option key. And this is why I can't boot to rEFIt or anything else.

Memory: I have two 2G modules. I've tried to boot only one or the other - no change, the same grey screen appears at boot. I have no other RAM but this two but I think it is highly unlikely that they went wrong at the very same time.

Dang...
Is your system still under warranty? I know this in EFI thread, but I'll ask anyway: Did you install Win7 x64 EFI? When this error first occur? After you were done installing Windows after all reboots?

 

[acsikos]

no, the warranty has ended last december. This is why I am so upset
I installed W7 x64 but I don't know was EFI or not. I suppose it was because I use no bootcamp. The error occur after several reboots - after I have installed all the bootcamp drivers

Dang...
Is your system still under warranty? I know this in EFI thread, but I'll ask anyway: Did you install Win7 x64 EFI? When this error first occur? After you were done installing Windows after all reboots?

 

[cbowling816]

i want to do efi boot of windows

but i can't find a website that talked about converting it from mbr to got and booting efi after install, i saw the site before, but didn't save it, and now want to find it

or if anyone knows how to efi boot the windows cd on macbook pro that would be awesome

 

[duffman9000]

i want to do efi boot of windows

but i can't find a website that talked about converting it from mbr to got and booting efi after install, i saw the site before, but didn't save it, and now want to find it

or if anyone knows how to efi boot the windows cd on macbook pro that would be awesome

As far as I know, you can't convert from MBR to EFI boot after installing Windows. If that was the case no one here would have bothered trying to install EFI boot from scratch.

 

[cbowling816]

Actually i there is a way to convert mbr to gpt. After i finish reinstalling windows then the efi bootloader, then convert to gpt i will post how. Typing on ipod is kinda annoying. Btw, does anyone know how i can get the efi files for windows 7 without being able to load install dvd in efi mode? Can i just copy the files off an efi only install cd/usb? If so which files?

 

[srs5694]

As far as I know, you can't convert from MBR to EFI boot after installing Windows. If that was the case no one here would have bothered trying to install EFI boot from scratch.

It is possible, at least on UEFI-based PCs. See here for details of how to do it. Some of those steps won't be quite the same on a Mac, though. For instance, rather than do an in-place MBR-to-GPT conversion, you'd have to convert the hybrid MBR to a standard protective MBR. I have no idea if this procedure would work on a Mac.

 

[cbowling816]

I believe it is possible, however i have not been able to test it since i dont know what boot files are needed for efi boot of windows 7.

 

[srs5694]

I believe it is possible, however i have not been able to test it since i dont know what boot files are needed for efi boot of windows 7.

Please see the Web page to which I linked in my previous reply for this information, and further details:

https://gitorious.org/tianocore_uefi_duet_builds/pages/Windows_x64_BIOS_to_UEFI

The redesign of this forum has left links undifferentiated by color or font from regular text, so inline links (as I used my last post) are hard to see. Bad Web design! Bad! Bad! (Swats Web developer on the nose with a newspaper. )

 

[pesos]

So my retina MBP finally arrived this morning - after configuring the boot camp assistant I connected a sata dvd drive I have via a sata-usb adapter and popped in my Win8 release preview DVD. I selected the EFI option instead of the Windows option just for shts and giggles, and was pleasantly surprised when it booted right up (and fast!).

I made my way to the partitioning screen, but couldn't get it to be happy with the boot camp partition I had created using the Boot Camp utility (mbr). So I figured wth and I opened up DISKPART and cleaned the entire disk, then did a convert GPT. Now I was able to create a partition and windows installed to it (albeit with a warning that it might not be able to boot properly). After copying files it rebooted and started loading up immediately but after a couple of seconds it bluescreens with IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

So close!

 

[624636]

It seems there is new Intel drivers for Win8. Does someone tested it ?

I made my way to the partitioning screen, but couldn't get it to be happy with the boot camp partition I had created using the Boot Camp utility (mbr). So I figured wth and I opened up DISKPART and cleaned the entire disk, then did a convert GPT. Now I was able to create a partition and windows installed to it (albeit with a warning that it might not be able to boot properly). After copying files it rebooted and started loading up immediately but after a couple of seconds it bluescreens with IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL !

I think you didn't do the good process : you don't have to use Boot Camp utility and convert GPT.

 

[cbowling816]

yes, windows 8 efi boot loader works fine, but windows 7 boot loader not so much, so maybe using windows 8 efi boot loader to boot windows 7

also i have managed converting the partition, but all i need to know now is has anyone gotten tianocore to boot on a macbook pro?

im not sure if I'm doing it right, and there really isn't an in depth walkthrough on how to do it. and i really hate having to deal with this stupid hybrid, so which efi files are needed to boot windows 7, and can i get them off of the cd, cause i think the efi video driver is what doesn't work on my macbook so if i can get the proper efi boot files set up manually it should boot windows 7 just fine, and once windows 7 boots there will be a proper video driver as its already installed in windows so it should work ok

 

[mark1234]

As d3v1l already explained, a lot of video drivers still make use of int10h BIOS function call. This means that these video drivers will work well when booting in BIOS (CSM) mode. However, they will not work when you boot in EFI mode.

 

[Mackan]

Apple should fix this EFI boot I think. But I think they are enjoying the situation too much.

 

[srs5694]

As d3v1l already explained, a lot of video drivers still make use of int10h BIOS function call. This means that these video drivers will work well when booting in BIOS (CSM) mode. However, they will not work when you boot in EFI mode.

If this has already been discussed, please excuse my repetition, but has anybody considered digging into the TianoCore source code to pull out its INT10h support functions and build them into an EFI driver? I don't know how tricky this would be -- if they're packaged in a convenient way right now, it might be easy, or if not it could be very difficult. In any event, it might be worth trying for somebody with the right skills and motivation. A quick check suggests that the relevant code may be in MyWorkSpace/IntelFrameworkModulePkg/Csm/BiosThunk/VideoDxe. In fact, I just tried building that code, and I've uploaded it here:

http://www.rodsbooks.com/BiosVideoDxe.efi.gz

That's a direct download link for a gzipped binary; you'll need to uncompress it, copy the resulting BiosVideoDxe.efi file to your ESP, and load it to use it. I can't test it myself, at least not in any meaningful way, since my only Mac is a 32-bit model and that's a 64-bit driver. Even if it doesn't work as-is, it's conceivable that tweaking the code in some way would produce useful results.

 

[mark1234]

Rod (srs5694),

Good idea, although I think it won't be easy. I don't have the skills to do it, but perhaps someone here has.

I have done some testing with the EFI shell from DUET. When I boot into the EFI shell in CSM mode I cannot
change the PCI registers. It appears that all the PCI registers are read-only when booting into CSM mode.
When I boot into EFI (non CSM) mode I can change the PCI registers.

Furthermore, when I boot into EFI (non CSM) mode, I noticed that the Serial ATA controller PCI register
is configured as AHCI.

When I boot in the EFI shell in CSM mode, I noticed that the Serial ATA controller PCI register
is configured as IDE. Apparently, Apple deliberately sets the PCI register to IDE in the CSM module.
Why on earth would they do that?

 

[rip1999eternal]

Apple Forcing IDE in CSM

When I boot in the EFI shell in CSM mode, I noticed that the Serial ATA controller PCI register
is configured as IDE. Apparently, Apple deliberately sets the PCI register to IDE in the CSM module.
Why on earth would they do that?

I also noticed this awhile back on my 2010 macbook air. I have a 2011 macbook air at work to compare to since i work in an IT dept.

They only do that on 2010 models with the nVidia motherboard chipset. Doesn't happen on the 2011+ models with intel chipsets, since those have support for intels ahci drivers. You can load up windows 7 through the csm (non gpt, bios installation) and still have ahci on the 2011+ models.

The only reason i could think they'd do that is compatibility. Currently, if you search for a sata controller driver for the nVidia 320m chipset, which is what the 2010 models have, you won't find anything, so my guess is to avoid compatibility and/or performance issues, they went with forcing ide in the csm bios since ide's been around longer and they knew they wouldnt have any issues there (not counting people like us trying to tweak the registers to use sata...)

 

[pesos]

I also noticed this awhile back on my 2010 macbook air. I have a 2011 macbook air at work to compare to since i work in an IT dept.

They only do that on 2010 models with the nVidia motherboard chipset. Doesn't happen on the 2011+ models with intel chipsets, since those have support for intels ahci drivers. You can load up windows 7 through the csm (non gpt, bios installation) and still have ahci on the 2011+ models.

The only reason i could think they'd do that is compatibility. Currently, if you search for a sata controller driver for the nVidia 320m chipset, which is what the 2010 models have, you won't find anything, so my guess is to avoid compatibility and/or performance issues, they went with forcing ide in the csm bios since ide's been around longer and they knew they wouldnt have any issues there (not counting people like us trying to tweak the registers to use sata...)

They did it because they are lazy. Apple moves VERY slowly with these things - they are still using efi 1.1 for example. IDE may not be the best performing solution, but provided them with simpler compatibility back when they had mixed intel/NVidia chipsets across their hardware lines and made it easier for folks installing Windows XP.

 

[rip1999eternal]

They did it because they are lazy. Apple moves VERY slowly with these things - they are still using efi 1.1 for example. IDE may not be the best performing solution, but provided them with simpler compatibility back when they had mixed intel/NVidia chipsets across their hardware lines and made it easier for folks installing Windows XP.

you're forgeting the timeline of these machines - when those models first came out, some users were still using snow leopard, and xp back then was still an option for bootcamp. Has nothing to do with laziness, at the time ide was still the most reliable option, and the 2.1 specification didn't fit their needs - they don't use 1.1, that's just the version it reports back. what they actually use is a mixed bastard hybrid of 1.1, 2.1, and some of their own stuff. d3v1l actually came to this discovery quite a few posts back.

If you look at the models that came out post 2011, which means the 2011 and 2012 models now, they ALL implement ahci even in CSM, because at the time of their release, XP is no longer a supported option, only 7 and beyond.

As far as efi compatibility goes with windows, the latest release out is 7, which is still using int10h for the video. There's no point in working to make the full efi spec compatible with windows when there isn't something they can work with. We're probably not going to see full efi compliance on Apple's part until after Windows 8 is released, which is supposed to be fully efi compliant and drops the need to have a bios altogether.

Remember - Apple has no interest in providing it's primary hardware support to any operating system other than it's own. Secondary, maybe, but definitely not primary. It'll update it's hardware to support its OWN features first, then later whenever it feels like it it'll update it's hardware / drivers for Windows compliance.

----------

"the new" Verizon iPad; Verizon iPhone 4s; 2012 rMBP
"I hate all operating systems equally, but some I hate more equally than others." .

and congrats on the 2012 rmbp. i'm STILL trying to get one. Most difficult endeavor...EVER.

 

[mark1234]

I also noticed this awhile back on my 2010 macbook air. I have a 2011 macbook air at work to compare to since i work in an IT dept.

They only do that on 2010 models with the nVidia motherboard chipset. Doesn't happen on the 2011+ models with intel chipsets, since those have support for intels ahci drivers. You can load up windows 7 through the csm (non gpt, bios installation) and still have ahci on the 2011+ models.

The only reason i could think they'd do that is compatibility. Currently, if you search for a sata controller driver for the nVidia 320m chipset, which is what the 2010 models have, you won't find anything, so my guess is to avoid compatibility and/or performance issues, they went with forcing ide in the csm bios since ide's been around longer and they knew they wouldnt have any issues there (not counting people like us trying to tweak the registers to use sata...)

The IDE thing is not just related to the NVIDIA chipset.
I have the latest Mac Mini (Model 2011) with Intel chipset and that one has the PCI registers configured as IDE when booting in CSM mode. Apple must have some reason for it, probably to avoid any compatibility issues like you suggested.
But I did not know that a lot of the newer models have AHCI enabled when booting in CSM mode. Let's wait for the new Ivy Bridge Mac Mini (will come out probably later this year) and see if that one has the AHCI enabled.
After all, it's quite useless to put in a SSD when working in IDE mode with Windows.

 

[duffman9000]

I made my way to the partitioning screen, but couldn't get it to be happy with the boot camp partition I had created using the Boot Camp utility (mbr). So I figured wth and I opened up DISKPART and cleaned the entire disk, then did a convert GPT. Now I was able to create a partition and windows installed to it (albeit with a warning that it might not be able to boot properly). After copying files it rebooted and started loading up immediately but after a couple of seconds it bluescreens with IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

So close!

Attempting to boot EFI Windows 8 Release Preview installer on my early 2011 MBP causes the same error. The workaround is to boot from WinPE 4.0 and then run the Win8 Release Preview installer.

I made my WinPE 4.0 boot stick using the Consumer Preview and managed to install the OS. However, it has most, if not all, the same installation issues as Win 8 Consumer Preview.

 

[cbowling816]

ok, so i have succesfully converted hybrid to normal gpt

however i havnt been able to successfully boot tianocore bootduet
not sure if im even compiling it and making correctly

however i am now going to experiment with a combination of windows 8 efi bootloader (which works perfectly) and windows 7 os

maybe we can boot win 7 in efi using win 8 bootloader

if anyone knows how to get tianocore bootduet working on macbook pro (mine has 64 bit efi) let me know

cause i really dont want to be stuck with crappy windows 8

and i equally dont want to be stuck with this stupid hybrid mbr crap

 

[MJL]

no, the warranty has ended last december. This is why I am so upset
I installed W7 x64 but I don't know was EFI or not. I suppose it was because I use no bootcamp. The error occur after several reboots - after I have installed all the bootcamp drivers

What machine do you have? As last resort you can try this: Go to iFixit and search for your machine and then locate where the CMOS battery is located. See if you can remove that for a few minutes and then put it back in. If the EFI settings got its knickers in a twist then that may reset the CMOS (EFI) instead since sometimes the "soft reset" (keyboard) instructions do not work. Was a common thing that was required to get a machine going again twentyfive years ago.

 

[mac-hacks]

Rod (srs5694),

Good idea, although I think it won't be easy. I don't have the skills to do it, but perhaps someone here has.

I have done some testing with the EFI shell from DUET. When I boot into the EFI shell in CSM mode I cannot
change the PCI registers. It appears that all the PCI registers are read-only when booting into CSM mode.
When I boot into EFI (non CSM) mode I can change the PCI registers.

Furthermore, when I boot into EFI (non CSM) mode, I noticed that the Serial ATA controller PCI register
is configured as AHCI.

When I boot in the EFI shell in CSM mode, I noticed that the Serial ATA controller PCI register
is configured as IDE. Apparently, Apple deliberately sets the PCI register to IDE in the CSM module.
Why on earth would they do that?

here link on how to boot ACHI for 2011+ Mac's

There app for older Mac's "ACHI Enabler"