Booting a Mac from Windows using Apple Boot Camp Beta v.1.0-1.4

Updated November 14, 2007

About Apple Boot Camp

For those who downloaded Boot Camp Beta before October 26, 2007, Boot Camp still works in Tiger, though is not longer updated.

Boot Camp enables Intel-powered Macs to boot from Windows. It turns Macs into duel-boot machines: You can either boot the Mac from Mac OS X or from Windows. Unlike virtualization products like Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion, Boot Camp Beta does not give you access to Mac OS X and Windows at the same time. With Boot Camp and Windows installed, you boot Windows by holding the Option key down while restarting. You then select the drive partition that contains Windows.

The Boot Camp installer assistant "dynamically creates" a hard drive partition for Windows without erasing the Mac data. Boot Camp provides drivers for Windows to support the Mac keyboard and various hardware and peripherals from within Windows. Apple says that Boot Camp runs Windows "completely natively."

A NOTE ABOUT THIS PAGE: Although the reports are organized by the Boot Camp version number, tips and procedures for one version may be valid for later earlier or later versions.

Version History

Boot Camp no longer available for download

Friday, October 26, 2007

Apple is no longer offering a download of Boot Camp at its web site. Although the Boot Camp Beta 1.4 page is still up (at least for now), clicking the download link brings up a Page Not Found page.

Apple will no longer offer Boot Camp for Mac OS X 10.4 users, and will not longer offer updates for the Tiger version or driver updates for 1.4. Apple said that the end user license to use Boot Camp Beta expires today when Mac OS X 10.5 ship. "To continue using Boot Camp at that time, upgrade to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard," according to an Apple tech article. Boot Camp Beta should, however, continue to function on Tiger machines.

Boot Camp 1.4 is out; backlit keyboard promised again

August 10, 2007

Apple has released Boot Camp Beta 1.4, a new version of its software for booting Intel-based Macs in Windows.

Apple said that Version 1.4 includes support for backlit keyboards in Windows on the MacBook Pro, a feature Apple had claimed was added to version 1.3, but which readers said did not work. The new version is also has updated graphics drivers. (Readers reported problems with video drivers for version 1.3.) Version 1.4 also promises an improved Boot Camp driver installer, which Apple also listed as a fix in 1.3. Other v1.4 improvements include and updated Windows Help for Boot Camp, improved international keyboard support, and various bug fixes.

Apple warns that when updating Boot Camp with version 1.4, “it's very important to update the Boot Camp Assistant software, create a new Mac Drivers CD and install the updated software it contains onto Windows.”

David Zinkin, who had video problems with version 1.3, had problems with 1.4:

The latest in the saga of my Mac Pro and Boot Camp. I didn't think it would be possible for 1.4 to be worse than 1.3, but it is. Now, even the initial text-only XP install screen is thoroughly corrupted. If I hadn't remembered that F3 canceled the install process, I'd have had to forcibly shut down the machine because not even that much was readable. Resetting PRAM didn't help, and there was no difference in behavior when I retried the process after applying the new Mac Pro firmware update.

If you've tried Boot Camp 1.4

Boot Camp 1.3 adds support for new MacBook Pro, new drivers

June 8, 2007

Yesterday, Apple released Boot Camp Beta 1.3, a new version of the software that enables you to natively boot an Intel-based Mac with Windows XP or Vista. The new version will run on the new MacBook Pro models released earlier this week, which could not run earlier versions of Boot Camp. It also supports the keyboard backlighting feature of the new MacBook Pros from within Windows.

Other features include:

• New graphics drivers
• Improved international keyboard support
• Improved Boot Camp driver installer
• Updated Windows Help for Boot Camp
• Bug fixes

If you’ve tried Boot Camp 1.3 , particularly if it fixes any of the bugs previously reported below.

Boot Camp 1.2 adds Vista support; reader reports keyboard problems. April 2, 2007 -- Last week, Apple released Boot Camp Beta 1.2, an update to the software that enables Intel Macs to boot directly from Windows. The major new feature is support for 32-bit versions of Windows Vista. Boot Camp 1.2 beta includes updated drivers for better Windows support of trackpads, the iSight camera, audio, graphics, and other devices. Apple also said the new version improved keyboard support for several languages. Version 1.2 also adds Apple Software Update for Windows XP and Vista, which can download updates to drivers or other software that Boot Camp adds to Windows.

Boot Camp 1.1.1 adds Core 2 Duo support. September 15, 2006 – Yesterday, Apple released Bootcamp 1.1.1 beta, which adds support for Macs that use the Intel Core 2 Duo processor, such as the iMac 24-inch.

Reader Reports and Tips

REPORTS ON BOOT CAMP 1.0

Reader response to Boot Camp 1.0 overwhelmingly positive; installation problems reported.

April 10, 2006
Tom Quinlan:

I have successfully gotten Windows running with Boot Camp on a 17" iMac. This was WAAAY easier than the hack that has been out for a few weeks. As far as I can tell everything except for the infrared remote is working great. I downloaded the Photoshop Trial and it is quite zippy, to use the technical term.

April 10, 2006
Rob Groome:

I installed windows on my MacBook and it runs really well. The Boot Camp install tool is very nice and seems to have been very well thought out. There are a few issues though:

• No ctrl-alt-delete
• No right click for the mouse

Windows runs very smoothly - fast even.  One of the nicer Windows  systems I have used and it's a Mac!  Crazy.

April 10, 2006
Mark Polzin:

I successfully installed XP on my MacBook Pro yesterday.  Installation was a breeze. Apple takes care of the hard part by creating the driver disk for you and then having it auto install the drivers when you pop it into your drive after the install.

I was able to install Office 2003 without a problem.  During the extraction of the FireFox package the window blinked and the speakers cracked repeatedly forcing me to reboot.  After the reboot FireFox installed fine.

I also installed and ran Call of Duty and it worked great.  Frame rates were impressive and there was no skips during a LAN game. I'm very impressed at this point.

April 10, 2006
Gary Kantz has a problem with the Apple Wireless Keyboard:

I set up Boot Camp in under 45 minutes.  I have an iMac 2.0 Core Duo, 1.5. GB RAM, partitioned 60GB for Windows.  Using a full version of Windows XP Professional it took advantage of both “processors” and runs FAST.  No graphics, sound, or speed degradation whatsoever.  Ran SQL Server apps with ease as well.

One issue is that my Apple Bluetooth keyboard only worked in Windows intermittently.  Sometimes it worked fine, others it did not work at all. Also time and date is not updated – need to do this in the Control Panel each time you boot into Windows (this is a known problem).

Otherwise you would not recognize the difference between this and a Dell in terms of performance.

Boot Camp installation problems and tips

April 10, 2006
Ace Underhill:

Yesterday I purchased a 20" Duo Core iMac for the purpose of seeing how XP runs on it. I followed Apple's instructions exactly, and all was fine until I ran the Mac driver installation app from the CD that Boot Camp created.  The installed died with a 1603 fatal error. I was able to find and install the ATI graphics and Marvell Ethernet drivers, and amazingly enough XP recognizes the Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, but I still need the remaining drivers, particularly the audio drivers.  I sure wish the drivers could be made downloadable separately from the Boot Camp CD, which lumps them together in the install app.

Would be fantastic if someone (who's driver install completed successfully) to make a list of the Mac hardware drivers that XP is using.  A zip file of the actual drivers would be killer, but I'd settle on just a list so I can search around the Net for them myself.

April 10, 2006
Brad Freeman:

I tried to install Boot Camp on my iMac Intel today and it keeps popping up a dialog telling me I must upgrade my system software first. I already was running 10.4.6 and installed the Firmware Update. I even tried downloading and reinstalling the Combo Update, repairing permissions, etc., but still get the same error message.

April 10, 2006
Kevin Kincaid:

I attempted to install on Boot Camp on a MacBook Pro running update 10.4.6 with latest firmware and got the error described at this web page.

May 30, 2006
Zachary Smith recommends using Service Pack 2:

You might want to mention SP2 being a requirement as the installer has problems with SP1.

May 30, 2006
Martin White has a suggestion for using the proper Windows XP media:

One thing that can trip you up: Make sure you are using Windows XP install media that directly boots into the setup. Initially I tried to use my MSDN DVD, which presents you with a boot menu, however the keyboard is not functional at this stage so I could not enter my choice. I had a Windows laptop to hand so was able to burn one of the MSDN ISO images to a disc and use that instead.

Can't boot into Mac OS X after installing Boot Camp

April 10, 2006
Zack can no longer boot from Mac OS X:

When I used Boot Camp, everything worked fine in Windows.  Then when I went to boot up in OS X the Apple would show up, then the progress indicator showed up, then black--the computer turned off.  So it boots Windows just fine, but Mac OS X doesn't work.  I lost all of my Mac data on my hard drive.

A Fix:

May 30, 2006
Lincoln Holbrook

This is in response to Zack about being unable to boot the Mac operating system after he installed Windows XP.

I had the exact same problem on my iMac 20" Intel Core Duo running 1 GB RAM with the upgraded video card. I was worried that I had lost all the data as well, but I decided to use the Tiger Installation Disc 1 to boot from and run Disk Utility. This fixed the problem and allows me to boot both operating systems with zero hassles. I did not lose any data on either system and both seem to be running stable.

When booting from this disk, don’t go through the Mac OS X install. Instead, when you get to the installation choices screen, go to the top of the screen and click on the menu items. One of the items allows you to get into Disc Utility where you have the option to "repair disk." Once that was completed, I took the DVD out and rebooted into Mac OS X with no problem.

Boot Camp display driver update problem, advice on other drivers; FIFA06 problem

NOTE: below, a reader offers a fix for this problem.

May 19, 2006
Feisal Paruk updated the Windows video driver in Boot Camp, with bad results. (We’re not sure that Boot Camp supports this.) Paruk also describes how he got Bluetooth to work in Boot Camp:

I have an Apple MacBook Pro. I used the Boot Camp Beta to install Windows XP Pro. Had a problem playing FIFA06 on Windows so I tried updating the display drivers by installing the latest Catalyst driver software off the ATI website. (The MacBook Pro has a ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics adaptor). Gave me an error "INF Error: Video driver not found" and rejected the driver update. I find this weird because I did install the Mac drivers for Windows XP, which the Boot Camp software had previously burnt onto a CD during the setup process. How do I update my display driver?

I find that driver CD written by Boot Camp to be generally dodgy because my Eject button doesn’t work either on Windows. Apparently the driver for the Eject button is on the CD somewhere. Bluetooth also didn’t work until I manually installed the driver by pointing to the driver file on the Boot Camp driver CD. It seems as though all the drivers on the CD don’t auto install when you double-click the exe. Instead it seems that you must install each driver individually.

November 13, 2006
Joe Desi

I am able to run FIFA 06 but all options like team selection, etc, just keep changing automatically and do not allow me to pick. 

If you know the answer to the display driver update problem, or would like to comment on the other driver issues

Workarounds for lack of Ctrl-Alt-Delete keys in Boot Camp Beta

May 30, 2006
Rob Groome

You can get the ctrl-alt-delete to work by using Microsoft’s remapkey.exe that comes with the Windows Resource kit, but you have to use the right meta key to do it.  Not perfect, but that does work.

I was reading Joshua Byers' review of Boot Camp Beta for Intel Macs and wanted to inform him of a tiny "fix-it" program that I found to solve the "Right Click" issue on the Intel MacBook Pro's when using Boot Camp to run XP. 

The program is called applemou.exe and was made by RH Designs. The program makes the touch pad click button work the same as "CTRL-Click" in O SX for using "Right-Click" in windows. It is freeware and is clean.  I simply put it in the Start Up folder and it will run every time.

Unfortunately I haven't figure out a way for the software to run every boot without the "Apple Mouse Utility" window opening (you can close this window and it will run silently still), but I can put up with that minor annoyance to get my right click back.  Its copyright is in 2002, and it comes as a ZIP file with a READ ME.txt with the EULA. It works fine in all apps that I've tried, including games, and web browsing.

August 16, 2006
Heydar Adel:

I installed applemou.exe and it works perfectly. You can use the "/s" command to make the pop-up go away.

August 16, 2006
Normand Despins Quebec city Canada provided more details:

Here is the solution to get rid of the splash screen at boot time: Instead of putting applemou.exe in the Startup Folder, put applemou.exe into Program Files (C:\Program Files) and create an alias of the application. Put this alias into the Startup Folder (C: \Documents and Settings\Yourusername\Start Menu\Programs\Startup). Now go to the alias properties and add /s (space /s) after the path in the field labeled Target: You must add a space /s just after the last quotation marks.

August 16, 2006
Jason Stevens:

Per the docs that come with it, the /s switch makes it run without bringing up the window. You can add that switch to a shortcut, in its Properties window. So, I put applemou.exe in Program Files, made a shortcut, added the /s (which must be done after the quotes) and put that in the Startup folder. Works great!

Article: How Boot Camp Works

August 29, 2006

Tech writer Daniel Eran Dilger offers an explanation of How Boot Camp Works at his web site, Roughly Drafted.

REPORTS ON BOOT CAMP 1.1 AND 1.1.1

This a problem reported by many readers in August of 2006 with then-new MacBook and MacBook Pros. The MacBook would shutdown while running Windows in Boot Camp. Later reports noted that it could happen without running Boot Camp. It was latter determined that the problem was one of defective batteries in the MacBooks. The MacBook's energy conservation measures would not kick in while running Windows, creating a lot of heat that the defective battery was sensative to.

You can find reader reports on this issue on our Intel Mac Cross-platform Issues page.

(There is also an unrelated, more recent problem with MacBook bateries and Parallels Desktop.)

Graphics driver problems in Boot Camp 1.1

August 31, 2006 -- John Wright in the UK regrets upgrading Boot Camp to v.1.1. He believes there is a conflict with the graphics driver:

I updated to Bootcamp 1.1 and had no end of trouble. It ended up booting up into Win XP and after a few seconds crashing straight back to the boot stage.

I eventually used F8 on Windows boot to get in and use Safe mode, then system restore, to eventually get back to the state it was in before the upgrade.

Still, it crashed. I eventually managed to prevent brightness.exe and the Apple time fix executable (.exe) file from autoloading.

I reckon the problem lay at the door of a conflict between ATI graphics driver and the Brightness.exe bolted on.

I have now disabled it by using Windows Defender Software explorer. Deleting it can cause more problems than it is worth. I also dumped the right click fix ( that's what your mouse is for) and the Apple keyboard support as I use smartkeys to remap the keyboard e.g remapped F12 as delete key.

The iSight camera worked perfectly but has now gone bellie up and the driver will not reinstall.

I think I will wait till Bootcamp 1.5 or so - it causes too much weeping and screaming otherwise.

MacBook Boot Camp problem: USB goes dead in Windows 

September 1, 2006 -- We've reported this week of the widespread problem of MacBooks unexpectedly shutting down. Blogger Dan Eran hasn't seen that problem but his MacBooks are losing USB in Windows:

I set up five MacBooks running Boot Camp. I haven't seen the problem with machines shutting off, but I do have problems with USB failing on certain machines.

Three of them have no problems, but two seem to have issues with wake; they wake up from sleep, but the keyboard and trackpad are both unresponsive. The Power button will usually shut down Windows gracefully, but sometimes I have to use it to turn the machine off.

After suffering this type of stroke, one of the USB ports is also dead, but the second one, closest to the audio jacks, still works. I can plug in a keyboard and mouse and work normally (although I can't ever get the rest of USB working again in Windows; the internal keyboard, mouse and other port remain dead until I restart.) Nothing else on the machine has a problem: video and everything else works normally. It's just half the USB.

I tried swapping around RAM, which seems to have no effect on the wake crash - I used the original Apple RAM and alternative Samsung upgrade parts, but see no correlation between RAM and wake. It is somewhat hard to test because it seems to only fail on wake sporadically at first. After the first couple tries, it seems to fail all the time after that.

I also imaged the "bad OS" Windows install from a problematic machine to another one and didn't see the problem on the other machine, so I've mostly ruled a driver or user problem on the machine (i.e., a specific unique software install that was causing USB to fail on wake).

It looks like a hardware problem specific to two of the five machines, but I don't see the problem when booting into Mac OS X.

I've seen people casually mention a failure to wake from sleep, but the affected machines I have will pretty much lose their USB every time I put them to sleep.

If you’ve seen this problem

Dead USB in Windows still a problem with Boot Camp 1.1.1 release

October 9, 2006 -- Mark Cascella reports that the Boot Camp 1.1.1 update does not solve the USB-in-Windows problem:

I too have noticed this problem on my MacBook Pro: The USB goes dead, the keyboard, trackpad and/or mouse are unresponsive on wake-up.

I downloaded Bootcamp 1.1.1, and installed the latest drivers, but these problems persist.

Tip: Utility for keys and mouse functionality in Boot Camp, Parallels

September 11, 2006 -- Daniel C. told us about XP Mac Mouse Utility (US $12, free upgrades) a Windows utility that allows the use of certain keys when running Windows on Intel Macs with Boot Camp or Parallels Desktop. the utility provides a shortcut for the right click, cnt-alt-del, and screen print key,and has a multi CPU display indicator.

Mac Pro and DMA access to HD's, Cinema Display: Issues, workarounds, and a fix

September 20, 2006 -- Michael Perbix reports on workarounds to some known hardware problems with the new Mac Pro and Boot Camp:

I am confirming that there is a workaround for getting full DMA access to the SATA hard drives in the Mac Pro when dual booted into Windows XP (Boot Camp). I wrote this note in the Macenterprise list.

I received my new Mac Pro yesterday and set it up in the following manner: Bay 1 - OSX System drive Bay 2 - Windows Bay 3/4 - Stripped for Video work.

I did some research and saw that most people were getting slow access on the HD (PIO mode, not DMA).  There are articles all over about how to fix this, here is one.

I can verify that the slipstreamed XP Pro SP 2 works and gets full DMA HD access.

I didn't have time to rearrange my desk for the new display, so I used my 19" Samsung LCD to do the install.  I installed XP and did the Boot Camp 1.1 driver CD, so far so good...time to go home.

Today I moved the 30" Cinema Display over and finally had a chance to boot XP again (had to get SOME work done today) and had some strange artifacting on the display.  I downloaded the new Bootcamp 1.1.1 and installed those drivers.  The display cleaned up nicely but there was no sound.  Supposedly users of MacPro with the 1900XT are having issues with the 23" and 30" Cinema Displays not being able to sync up with the video modes used.  If you use another monitor for set-up, then use your ACD screen, it works.

Another post in the Apple forums mentioned that there is one unknown device in Device Manager (PCI Device) that you can manually update the drivers with the RealTek drivers installed by the Apple driver CD.  Viola....sound...but only on the internal Mac Pro speaker, even though I have speakers plugged into the rear audio jack.  I have not tried plugging into the front headphone jack yet.  Supposedly you can fix this by doing all Windows updates, and then re-installing drivers from Boot Camp 1.1.1. 

If you can comment on these issues

September 25, 2006 -- Michael Perbix sent us an update to his report of last week regarding problems with Mac Pro and DMA access to hard drives using Boot Camp: He also recommends a Windows utility for controlling the Apple Cinema display from within Windows.

I did a full update to Windows XP and then re-installed the Apple drivers.  I also plugged and unplugged my speakers from the back jack, to the front headphone hack back to the back jack. The RealTek HD Audio Manager actually recognized the back port and the front port, and recognized where I was plugging and unplugging from. The sound then started to work as it should.

I also found a nice utility called WinACD for controlling the Apple Cinema Display (brightness etc) from Windows.

I still have an issue with artifacting of certain colors on my 30" display.  If I dumb the resolution down to 800x600 then back up to full resolution the color fixes itself until next reboot. I have yet to find a permanent solution to that.

If you've seen this fix or these artifacts

September 27, 2006 -- Michael Perbix says an Apple update for the Mac Pro fixes the problem of Mac Pro and DMA access to hard disks using Boot Camp:

The latest Firmware for Mac Pro users fixes the issue with DMA access to the hard drives while dual booted into Windows (ala BootCamp).  You no longer need to create a special slipstream Install CD with special drivers.

Problem and workaround for Boot Camp/MacBook Pro and modem

November 13, 2006 -- Harry Erwin reports a problem with using a modem from Windows in Boot Camp:

My experience is that the Apple Modem is unable to connect in Win XP Pro due to noise--works fine on the Mac Mini running Win XP Pro.

I solved the problem by disabling Bluetooth and AirPort and it works fine.

Bootcamp 1.1.1 keyboard glitches and a fix

October 6, 2006 -- Ken Cousins reports keyboard problems with Boot Camp Beta 1.1.1, the update that Apple released last month.

Boot Camp Beta 1.1.1 added support for newer Macs with Core 2 Duo-based processors, such as the 24-inch iMac. The release was also supposed to improves support for Apple keyboards. Cousins, however, said that he lost some keyboard functionality in Windows :

I updated my Mac OS X firmware a few days ago, and updated to Boot Camp 1.1.1 at the same time (I run XP for a slew of Windows-only specialty apps I need for my job). While I'm glad they fixed the driver issues with iSight and the headphone/speaker output, I find that some common keyboard shortcuts no longer work in Office or Firefox.

"Dead" shortcuts in Word: ctrl+P, ctrl+O, ctrl+N

"Dead" shortcuts in Firefox: ctrl+L, ctrl+K

I use InputRemapper to switch the location of the ctrl, fn, Win, and Alt keys. I've tried the shortcuts with InputRemapper turned off, turned on, and re-configured, to no avail.

If you’ve seen these problems with Boot Camp 1.1.1

November 13, 2006 -- Two readers reported keyboard problems with the MacBook Pro and Boot Camp. Harry Erwin said:

My USB Apple keyboard experiences intermittent disconnects in Win XP Pro--again it works fine on the Mac Mini. I suspect a power problem.

David Morris reports:

I was just trying to install the latest boot camp driver update on my MacBook Pro Windows XP install, and I clicked "continue anyway" as it was trying to install the "Apple keyboard support", it paused, and then gave me a blue screen and shut down.

Now when I boot into Windows, the keyboard doesn't work and I can't type my password to log in. I don't have an extra keyboard handy at the moment, but I will at the office tomorrow, so I will try that, but I also read somewhere that that will not work. I've been running XP for months, and saw there was a drivers upgrade, so I thought I’d give it a whirl. If you have any insight into this problem, I couldn't find any documented case of it.

November 16, 2006 -- Edward Danley responded our report of earlier this week about a problem with the Apple Keyboard in Boot Camp. Danley had the problem and fixed it:

I ran into the same type of problem when I first installed Boot Camp but I blamed the problem on myself. I didn't try an external keyboard but the external mouse did not function.

I was a fresh install of Boot Camp/XP. As I installed the Apple drivers, it crashed. Not unusual for Windows so I simply rebooted. I got check disk errors on XP restart (not good but considering the crash not unusual). After the restart, the keyboard and mouse/track pad would not function at all.

I sat back and tried to think about what happened. I realized I had taken a shortcut. I read that you can extract the Apple drivers and not actually burn/waste a CD. I had simply copied those drivers from my Mac to my FAT32 XP drive.

I went back, reformatted and reinstalled XP this time using a true CD to load the Apple drivers and everything went perfectly.

Tip: running FIFA 06 in Boot Camp

November 13, 2006
Joe Desi is another reader having the problem running FIFA 06 in Windows in Boot Camp: 

I am able to run FIFA 06 but all options like team selection, etc, just keep changing automatically and do not allow me to pick. 

November 21, 2006
Tim Hyland responded to our reports of problems running FIFA 06 for Windows in Boot Camp. Hyland found a way to make it work:

I had the same problem myself. I believe the readme file the comes in the FIFA 06 install  describes this problem.

What I did was open Control Panel -> System -> Device Manager , and disable all unneeded USB devices. Typically with Windows, many of the devices are indistinguishable, named "Generic USB  Device" or similar. Hence disabling is an effort of trial and error -- watch out, as some "USB devices" are your keyboard and mouse! I found it sometimes helpful to right-click on a device and view its properties - sometimes it gives some sort of an indication as to what the device is. Warning - accidentally disabling the mouse can lead to problems - if that happens, just use the keyboard to navigate and enable it again.

Try as many different combinations as needed - writing them down helps - until FIFA 06 works normally.

If you've tried this how it worked for you.

TIP: Use your VPC copy of Windows in Boot Camp, Parallels

November 21, 2006 -- MacOSHints.com has a tip on how to use the copy of Windows bundled with Virtual PC with Boot Camp and possibly with Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion. The procedure involves download Windows XP Service Pack 2 and creating bootable CD. It’s not a simple procedure.

December 1, 2006 -- Several readers reported that the method we reported of using Virtual PC's copy of Windows in Boot Camp and Parallels (and iEmulator) does work. However, they said that there is an issue with the activation of Windows XP.

REPORTS ON BOOT CAMP 1.2

Keyboard, trackpad freeze in Win XP with Boot Camp 1.2

April 2, 2007
Reader Eric B. reports that the new drivers broke the trackpad and keyboard functionality, and worse:

I installed Boot Camp 1.2 beta on my MacBook Pro. However, I can’t get the keyboard drivers nor the trackpad drivers to work. While the drivers install fine in Windows XP, after the restart, keyboard and trackpad are frozen. I did a complete re-install (recreated Boot Camp disk, installed Windows XP), and again everything went fine including the drivers install until the reboot. Now I got the famous Black Screen of Death. I tried several fixes, but could not get the keyboard nor the trackpad to work.

April 4, 2007
Bob Gitre:

I am having the same issue, MacBook Pro 2.33 GHz, Boot Camp 1.2 with Windows XP Pro.

Keyboard and mouse seemed to work fine. I then began the windows update process. After the first reboot, the keyboard and pad are not operable. Nothing to do but hard reboot back into OS X.

I can run Win XP in Parallels just fine.

If you've seen this problem

Suggestion for fixing keyboard freeze in Boot Camp 1.2

April 23, 2007

Daniel Robinson sent us a fix for the keyboard freeze seen in Windows booted with Boot Camp 1.2 the occurs after the upgrade:

Me too, keyboard and mouse, don't work, however they will intermittently work and they did for about the first 10 boots! But I did manage to fix it.

Its not exactly a foolproof method and my problem has been intermittent so I'm not sure if it's long lasting. All I did was totally disable Bluetooth on the Mac OS X side of things and booted up in Windows. My keyboard was functioning which meant I could hit Enter for the mouse driver install, which then got that working. (Also I had the original Mac driver disc created by Boot Camp in the CD-ROM drive.) I have an Intel Core 2 duo 17" iMac with Windows XP SP2.

If you've tried this fix

Keyboard and trackpad stop working on Boot Camp 1.2

April 26, 2007
Jason Siemens' keyboard and trackpad stopped working after installing the Boot Camp 1.2 update, a problem others readers have previously reported. Seimens said:

I experienced the same problem as several other users with Boot Camp 1.2 on a 15" MacBook. The keyboard and trackpad work fine until the Boot Camp Drivers are installed. Afterwards the keyboard and trackpad are complete unresponsive.

Boot Camp keyboard drop out may be related to Apple keyboard

Sheila Hall said she doesn't see the problem of the keyboard not working in Boot Camp when using a Dell keyboard with Windows:

One of the issues I have seen from the beginning is the keyboard will "drop" or stop responding. You will hear the sound that Windows makes when something disconnects and then a short time later you will hear it make the "reconnect" sound. So far the only way I've found to fix it is to either disconnect or reconnect the keyboard (physically) or to replace the Apple keyboard with a Dell keyboard. I installed BootCamp 1.1.1 and then upgraded to 1.1.2.

TIP: Use Remote to boot into OS X when Boot Camp disables keyboard

Donald McDaniel offers a suggestion for Boot Camp users who can’t boot back into Mac OS X because Boot Camp 1.2 disabled their keyboards. He suggests using the Apple Remote that comes with all Mac models except the Mac Pro. Here’s how:

While I've not seen this problem (I use non-Apple keyboards), I have had great success using the Apple Remote to choose boot partitions from the Apple Boot Menu.

To do this, simply press and hold the "Menu" button when the grey Boot screen appears (immediately when the music starts), until the Boot Menu appears.

Then use the "Previous/Next" button to navigate between devices/bootable partitions, and press the "Play/Pause" button to boot into your chosen OS .

The Apple Remote does work properly (with iTunes or Windows Media Player only) under Vista, BTW.

Keyboard issue also seen with Bluetooth

Shelly Helfand

Problems I've had with Boot Camp 1.2 have to do with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Installed Vista on my iMac and the Mac drivers. Installed the keyboard and mouse in Vista with no problem It recognized both. Problem occurs when I shut down and restart Vista. Keyboard won't work at all and it takes about a minute for the mouse to work. The keyboard and mouse both show up as installed.

April 9, 2007

A reader named Mark:

I run Boot Camp 1.2 as well and the wireless keyboard freezes on booting up Windows XP. If I click the mouse buttons rapidly on start up it operates sooner. The keyboard will only operate if I turn it off then on again.

Suggestion for Boot Camp 1.2 problem with OS X booting

A few more readers commented on the problem of Boot Camp not booting into Mac OS X unless the PRAM is reset. Ray Waggoner found a way to put an end to the problem:

I too experienced the Boot Camp problem also on my Mac Pro. Unless I pressed the Option key at boot time and manually selected OS X the system would boot into Windows.

I installed a third hard disk drive and installed a copy of OSX on that drive. After installation the new OS X install drive suddenly became the default boot drive instead of windows.

Oddly enough, opening System Preferences/System/Startup Disk and selecting your boot volume of choice and clicking "restart" had no permanent effect on the way the Mac booted. It would, of course, restart with whatever boot volume you selected, but at the next reboot the changes simply would not stick and it would default back to previous settings.

Finally I discovered the cure! Open System Preferences/System/Startup Disk and select your boot volume of choice and DO NOT click Restart. Simply close the window. The next reboot your Mac Pro will boot the Partition you selected.

If you've tried this if it worked for you.

Bruce Showalter has to reset the PRAM with every boot:

I have the same issue as reported on your site. I have a 2x2.66 GHz Dual Core-Intel Xeon running Mac OS X 10.4.9. I just recently (Saturday in fact) installed XP SP2 after installing Boot Camp 1.2 In my case zapping PRAM is only good for the session. Once I boot back into XP the cycle begins again. As such, the Option key at boot is the more reasonable short term workaround.

NOTE: Boot Camp 1.3 fixed this problem (see below).

Verification of fix for Boot Camp booting into Windows only

Jennifer Lum was having the problem of Boot Camp not booting into Mac OS X unless the PRAM is reset. She wrote to report verify a fix we previously reported:

I just wanted to let you know that your solution to highlight Mac for startup disk but not restart at that time seems to have cured my MacBook from defaulting to Windows. Thanks for the help, this has been driving me bonkers!

REPORTS ON BOOT CAMP 1.3

Boot Camp 1.3 fixes Mac OS X boot bug | Top of Page |

June 11, 2007

Brian Kneebone reported that Boot Camp 1.3 (released last Thursday) fixes the problem of Boot Camp not booting into Mac OS X unless the PRAM is reset:

FYI, Boot Camp 1.3 resolves all of my Windows not booting back into Macintosh issues on my Mac Pro. It's not posted on Apple's website, so they must have slipped this in quietly. Regards,

Kneebone was the first to report the problem with version 1.2, and other readers confirmed it.

Boot Camp 1.3 keyboard driver problem on MacBook Pro | Top of Page |

Note: a fix is suggested below.

June 11, 2007

Michael Sneider discovered that upgrading Boot Camp to the new version 1.3 disabled some of the keys. It also doesn’t support the backlit keyboard, a feature that Apple says is supported. Sneider wrote:

I've installed the Boot Camp Beta 1.3 drivers on my rev. A 15" Core Duo 2.13 GHz MacBook Pro, Windows XP SP2 with all current updates. I cannot get the keyboard driver to work properly. I have no access to the special function keys (volume up/down, brightness up/down or eject), nor does the keyboard backlighting work in any way.

I do not have the Apple Keyboard icon in the system tray any longer like I had with Boot Camp 1.2. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling, rebooting, manually launching, etc., but can't get the keyboard driver to activate. The keyboard works (I can type), but no access to the special keys that require the driver. Everything else seems to work (wireless, iSite camera, bluetooth, graphics, scrolling trackpad).

I'm using 10.4.9 with all the current security patches.

Readers verify Boot Camp 1.3 problems with keyboards | Top of Page |

Readers verified a problem we reported last week that upgrading Boot Camp to v1.3 disabled some of the keys and doesn’t support the backlit keyboard on the Mac Book Pro. One reader offered a suggestion.

David Moss describes the issue:

Same problem as Michael Sneider. No keyboard control of volume, eject. I’m using a Mac Pro with latest current security patches.

An anonymous reader sent us a suggestion for a Mac Pro:

I had a similar issue, my keyboard pulsed.

Steps to resolve: zap the PRAM three times and then enter Windows in Safe Mode (FN+F8). After login open Control Panel.

Open System control panel; Choose device manager.

Delete the drivers listed with yellow exclamation points.

Restart the machine in normal mode, you will need an external USB keyboard because the internal drivers are gone!

Reinstall Mac drivers. My issues were resolved.

While it did clear the exclamation marks in Device Manager it did not fix the misbehavior of the backlight. The keyboard does function for input.

Phil Pham tried this on a MacBook with negative results:

Don’t try [the above suggetion]! I did it on my MacBook Pro and it disabled the keyboard and trackpad both stopped working. I'm a systems admin at my office of 40 people so I'm pretty technical.

After this, I managed to get the keyboard and trackpad working as before. I had to reinstall the keyboard drivers and the trackpad, I had to tell it to use the HID drivers initially instead of the apple ones. Then I reinstalled the Apple ones from the Boot Camp CD. So Now My Trackpad works with two-button right-click and two-button scrolling. My keyboard still doesn't recognize the special Fn keys.

Joshua Davidson could not get into Safe Mode:

Since the update, I can't login. The keyboard does not work at all. I can't even use a CD to reinstall or safeboot.

Zachary Seldess sent us the error info:

I'm experiencing the same problem as Michael Sneider as posted on the forum June 11: keyboard driver not working, not loading into system tray. Here's the error from the system log: This is not a one-time occurrence, it has happened on every startup:

Source: Service Control Manager
Category: None
Event ID: 7000

Description:

The KeyAgent service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

I encountered exactly the same problems when I updated to Boot Camp 1.3 on a 15" Core Duo 1.7 GHz MacBook Pro running 10.4.9 with all available updates.

Marietta Haller:

I've installed Boot Camp 1.3 because version 1.0 crashed during Windows update and I was unable to boot from Boot Camp afterwards. Then I tried to repair Windows after installing Boot Camp 1.3. I have no mouse and keyboard anymore during setup (repair-setup) with Windows XP-CD.

If you've seen this problem with Boot Camp 1.3

Fix for Boot Camp 1.3 keyboard problems: back-grade drivers | Top of Page |

David Moss found that the keyboard problems with Boot Camp 1.3 were caused by the new drivers:

I found that I could put the driver from 1.2 on and re-boot and all came back.

If this worked for you

Joseph Gasdia doesn't have the problem, but has a suggestion:

I ran the Boot Camp driver disk in my Windows on my Mac Book Pro. Everything works as they said it should. My keyboard lights up and my volume and brightness keys look and work as the do in OS X.

You do have to hold the 'fn' key in Windows, or else XP thinks your hitting 'F1' or 'F2" , etc. Other than that Boot Camp 1.3 works nicely.

Ludger Heide of Germany has an observation:

Since I installed Boot Camp 1.3, I saw a little icon at the left of the start bar, but not in the tray area. When I clicked on it, I found out it was the keyboard scheme control. It showed two options: Deutsch and Deutsch (Apple). So believe this Computer is in the keyboard scheme English and not English (Apple), in which the special keys are active. That's my guess.

Fixing Boot Camp 1.3 keyboard problem -- only one driver back-grade needed

Michael Sneider, who first reported the keyboard problems with Boot Camp 1.3, reported success by going back to the version 1.2 keyboard driver.

Just a quick follow up on my initial MacBook Pro keyboard problems. While I was never able to get the 1.3 driver running, I was able to restore function (without backlight) by reinstalling the keyboard driver from Boot Camp 1.2. I left all the other Boot Camp 1.3 drivers intact.

Earlier this week, another reader reported back-grading drivers, but didn't specify which one.

Registry edit for fixing Boot Camp 1.3 keyboard issues, including backlighting

I found something of a fix/workaround that appears to work for me. I altered the following registry key, from this:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"Apple_KbdMgr"="\"C:\\Program Files\\Apple Keyboard Support\\KbdMgr.exe\""

To this:[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"Apple_KbdMgr"="\"C:\\Program Files\\Boot Camp\\KbdMgr.exe\""

I no longer see the icon that looks like a keyboard key with an A on it in the system tray, instead I see something that looks like a black diamond. Now I have:

• Brightness control
• Volume control
• Eject
• Backlit keys

Re-installing the 1.2 keyboard drivers also worked for me and restored the key functionality, but didn't provide the backlit keys. My machine is a 2.16ghz MacBook Pro with 32-bit Windows XP Home.

If you've tried this fix

Boot Camp backlit keyboard suggestion doesn't work for readers

Several readers commented on previously reported registry edit fix for enabling a backlit MacBook keyboard while booted from Windows with Boot Camp 1.3. Two said that the registry string was already at the recommended setting. A third reported that his backlighting and other keys were working as advertised.

Joshua May:

I've also seen this problem on my Mac Book Pro (I have a 15", 2.16 GHz Dual Core). Strangely though it only affects my windows account and not my fiancée’s, which is very bizarre.

On my account the key mapping seems to be totally random, with some keys correctly corresponding to what the key shows, while others print out random punctuation or numbers. The QWERTY letters seem to be the most affected. Other keys don't seem to have anything mapped to them at all!

I tried to registry edit fix, but my Apple_KbdMgr string was already set to "C:\Windows\Program Files\Boot Camp\KbdMgr.exe".

I also tried reinstalling the Apple Keyboard driver from v1.3, but that didn't work. I had to roll back to 1.2, then reinstall over 1.3 without the keyboard driver, which worked. < >

No, it didn't give me the backlight function as I kept the 1.2 keyboard driver, even though I upgraded everything else to 1.3. I didn't want to take the risk of losing my key mapping again. I'll wait until 1.4.

Soliman:

I didn't need to apply the fix, since my registry already had:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] "Apple_KbdMgr"="\"C:\\Program Files\\Boot Camp\\KbdMgr.exe\

Still no backlit keys in Windows XP with Boot Camp 1.3 on a 15" Core Duo 1.7 GHz MacBook Pro running 10.4.10 with all available updates. Reinstalling Boot Camp 1.3 drivers didn't fix the backlight either.

I've been using Boot Camp ever since Apple released it (version 1.0), and have been updating it as the updates became available. I never had any problem until version 1.3 could not deliver on its promise of backlighting. Everything else worked as promised in all versions; including 1.3.

Casey Muratori had no keyboard problems at all:

Contrary to Brian Kneebone's experience, my keyboard backlight works perfectly and is controllable by the special fn keys exactly as you would expect (brightness control, on/off, etc.)

Contrary to Michael Sneider's experience, I have had no problems with the special keys (audio, monitor brightness, etc.) They are all functional as would be expected, and show the little translucent overlay indicating their status whenever you press them.

TIP: Win sys restore to restore Boot Camp 1.3 keyboard

Sandy Luebker said that a Windows system restore fixed the keyboard issues with Boot Camp 1.3:

I was having similar issues with Boot Camp 1.3 with no icons in my taskbar to control display and sound along with no keyboard backlighting. It worked flawlessly when I originally installed drivers. I did a Windows system restore and I think the problem started when I networked my MacBook Pro to another notebook in Windows or when I changed the name of my MacBook Pro when networking the 2 notebooks. Anyways, Windows system restore and presto, full 1.3 functionality.

if this approached worked for you.

TIP: Windows key remapping customization for Boot Camp | Top of Page |

I wanted to share a nice change to the keyboard mapping which makes the Mac keyboard much more like a Windows keyboard.

You can modify the following registry entry:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]

to have a key called "Scancode Map". In it, you can put arbitrary remappings that map one key to another.

I made a new addition to my standard set of remappings (caps lock to control, etc.) to replace that pesky little baby enter key (to the left of the arrow keys) with a right control key, which is what would normally be there on a Windows keyboard. Here is the proper 4-byte entry to put into the scancode map key to do this:

1d,e0,1c,e0

I have also attached an example .reg file which contains my preferred set of remappings (so far) for this Mac Book Pro keyboard. It remaps the caps lock key to be a control key, the "Apple" keys to be ALT keys, and the baby enter key to be right-control.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]

"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00, 05,00,00,00, 1d,00,3a,00, 38,00,5b,e0, 38,00,5c,e0, 1d,e0,1c,e0 00,00,00,00

It all makes the keyboard WAY more usable!