Installing Vista RTM on Macbook Pro

C

cRuNcHiE

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I just thought i would start a thread about my experience with installing the Vista RTM using bootcamp.

Do not ask me where to get Vista RTM (final) as i wont tell you, sorry.

It is currently installing so i thought i would write this while i wait :)

So far i have:

  1. Installed bootcamp
  2. Burned the driver cd(this will no doubt be useless in vista)
  3. Made a test partition of 20gb
  4. Put in the vista DVD when it asked for the XP cd
  5. rebooted:

This is where i encountered one problem. The Vista bootmenu to choose 32bit or 64bit comes up but the keyboard did not appear to work.

It times out eventually on 32bit and the installer starts to load.

Luckily the keyboard does start working as the installer loads so i was able to enter my cd-key ok.

It did still let me choose to install the 64bit version in the actual installer so i selected that as the core2duo is 64bit.

The partition selector shows several partitions, i believe these are the EFI partitions.

I selected the last partition which is 20gb, where i want to install Vista.

The installtion begins.....
Expands files,
completes ok.
reboot.
I did not have to press any keys to get it to boot the Vista partition
"please wait while windows prepares to start for the first time"
completing installation (so far so good! this is where i had a problem when installing on my main pc with a usbhub, removed the hub and it was fine)
The Macbook does not seem to get any problems here
Screen flickers as it installs graphics drivers. This is normal
There was a slightly worrying pause where the screen was black showing just mouse pointer and not alot happening!
It rebooted again and windows is now loading! :D
I enter my username, timezone etc It then checks the PC's performance
I log in and im at the Vista Desktop :)

Ok now to check the hardware:
It has given my Macbook Pro 2GB ram, 160GB hdd, 2.33 core2duo an overall rating of 4.7
CPU 5.2
Memory 4.7
Grahpics 4.9
Gaming graphics 4.9
Primary hard disk 4.8

I have noticed the optical output appears to be on, i think in osx this only turns on when you plug in the cable.

Graphics- OK (Ati already have Vista RTM drivers available as well should you want those)
Gigabit Ethernet is already installed automatically!
Sound already installed and working!

ISSUES:

The only devices that do not have drivers (yet) are
built in i-sight
Network controller (this will be the WiFi, i'll look for a driver in just a mo!)
Performance counters ( I have no idea what that could be!?)
One USB Human interface device has an exclamation mark saying it cannot start. I do not know what that could be.
I plugged in a logitech usb mouse and its working fine.
Keyboard CD eject button does not work (use r-click eject in mycomputer)

I have been looking for drivers but sadly the AR5008 wifi only has XP drivers at the moment , no 64bit Vista ones yet :(
Hopefully that will change fairly soon!

I suspect the performance counter device that has not instaled is quite important because vista does seem to take a lot longer to boot on the macbookpro than it does on my other pc.

The fans are also not controlled properly because right now its extremely noisy :(

General performance throughout is very speedy however and most programs like firefox etc load quicker in windows than in osx
 
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Cheers I might try this, I have a Vista Build 64 bit, it's an early one but it would be worth trying although if I get my PC up and running again I'll have no use for Boot Camp. :)

Let us know how it develops.
 
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Lots of stuff wasnt working for me untill I installed xp first and load all the drivers then install vista. Thats what I had to do on my MacBook. Its a pain but the only way I found to get most everything working right
 
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C

cRuNcHiE

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Do you have a macbook or a MB pro though? and which version.

I have the newer core2duo MBP which has the 802.11n Wifi so the drivers i need will be different to a coreduo macbook pro.

Anyways, like i said most stuff is already installed, its only the wifi that is a pain at the moment.

Im talking about Vista 64bit as well, you cannot run the 64bit installer within windows XP, only the 32bit version.
 
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you can extract the wifi drivers from the xp driver disk. I can't remember exactly how you do it - try google for that bit - or if you run the driver installer, before it tells you it has failed search for a new driver on c: and it picks it up before the driver installation rolls back.

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C

cRuNcHiE

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That wont work in my situation as i am using Vista 64bit, it may for Vista32 however.

You can't use XP32bit drivers or vista 32bit in Vista64bit

The bootcamp driver cd is for XP32bit only
 
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I played with the 64bit Vista RTM for a few days and I am already starting the move back to the 32bit RTM, any user machine running 64bit will be slower thanks to all the virtual 32bit environments running.
They have come along way from the rc1 and rc2 builds though.

I acquired mine via my MSDN subscription.
 
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MacBook Pro 17" - Vista RTM x86: Successful

Just got my MBP in the mail today, followed by a ravenous install of BootCamp 1.1.2 and Vista RTM x86 (build 6000) from MSDN.

I decieded to go the 32-bit route until drivers are more widely available- I'm running x64 on my (Intel PC) desktop and it was a bear getting all the drivers working on that; from following threads it seems (for now) a Mac notebook is only be more difficult.

Anyway, here's a few tips for our community:

Stay away from the install of the 1.1.2 installer disc: it fails (even in administrative & XP compatibility mode). If you do, a note about the rollback: It seems to not really rollback the unnecessary install of XP ATI control panel and sound support applications, so I'd suggest a cleanup of those legacy apps from the Programs/Features and either add the actual ATI Vista beta driver, or leave the default WDDM driver.

Instead, open a to Command Prompt and run:

"E:\Install Macintosh Drivers for Windows XP.exe" /V /a

When the installer opens and you continue by selecting the language, after you hit next, you can specify a directory to save the drivers. This will extract them individually (I chose the 'Program Files\Macintosh Drivers' directory) so you can manually install drivers for some of the mentioned 'unknown devices'.

Wireless: 'Net5416' directory contains x86 drivers (albiet XP release, but signed and working in Vista86) for the Atheros AR5008 wireless card - (prior to installation Device manager lists the unknown device simply as Network Adapter)

ISight: 'iSight' directory contains drivers for... yes, suprise: the iSight. It's working for me in x86 Vista as well.

Haven't tracked down "Performance Counters" or the 'USB HID' (I suspect it's the Apple BT adapter), will update as I figure these out.

'Nother trick of note from thread digging: Win2003 Server Resource Kit has a keyboard remap utility to add a 'delete key' so you can Ctrl+Alt+Del should you join to a domain or need the use of the handy Windows delete key.

Cheers~
 

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