Filed under: Software, Troubleshooting
Boot Camp users: We're stuck in Windows
Talk about a
nightmare. Several Boot Camp users have logged on to Apple's discussion boards to share their horror story: The can't
boot back into Mac OS X. Forum user TChi wrote:"It all worked fine until I wanted to start up OS X. Then the startup screen never progressed. I actually left and came back an hour later and it was still just the gear thing spinning around."
There are at least ten other posts there that describe the same issue involving XP on a MacBook Pro via Boot Camp. A number of fixes have been posted, but (as of my typing this) a one-size-fits-all solution is yet to be offered. The lessons to be learned here? A.) Boot Camp is beta software B.) Carbon Copy Cloner is your friend and C.) Being stuck with Windows is your punishment for installing Windows (that last one was a joke)!
Seriously, if you've had a similar experience and have found a fix, feel free to post it here (or at Apple's discussion board). Your fellow Mac users will thank you.
[Via PC World]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Eric said 5:46PM on 4-13-2006
you dont have to specifically point out the last one is a joke.
Tell you what, i've left a DVD disk in windows, and then tried to boot back to mac.
What happend? I can not even see the apple logo after the reboot, the disk kept spinning and the MacBook Pro 2.16G + 7200RPM HardDisc + 2G Ram (AKA TOP SPEC) wont boot!! I then taken it back to Regent Street and the Genius (?) told me that it'll take a few days to make sure wether they can take the disk out.
So... my conclusion: MacBook Pro is stupid, apple is stupid blondes, only looks good.... blah blah
Fortunately i got a replacement, but my customer profiles emails other important things are gone... Back Up? yes this is 3 days old laptop and i was about to back things up by the end of the week ... because it sounded like a FVCKING RELIABLE MAC . (NOT TO MENTION i've spend 2 days to load up photoshop, office, aperture, windows xp, updates and patches,... only the adobe update on both platform took me 2 hours and i'm on a 24mbps line).
MacBook Pro... pile of ironic sh1t.
(you will understand why i write this if you jst lost £££ client contacts and several nights of good sleep)
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Eric said 5:51PM on 4-13-2006
Some more:
The new macbook pro which has sn starts from W8613. (Rev D) has:
whinineineineine.
and it'll DEFINITELY burn your D**K (google it) if you left it on your lap while charging.
seriously i'm considering to start a website call macbookprosuck.com , someone please tell me if there were already ppl doing similar things so i can simply be a contributor and sav a few bucks frm godaddy.
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David Kelly said 5:55PM on 4-13-2006
Beta.
No more needs to be said.
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Kevin said 5:55PM on 4-13-2006
oh, boo hoo.
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Silver said 6:02PM on 4-13-2006
Just got my new 20" iMac set up today. Guess I'll hold off on Boot Camp for a bit though...
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plopp said 6:13PM on 4-13-2006
Well. I got this problem on my iMac. What I had to do was to turn off the computer instead of just restarting it.
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eugene said 6:16PM on 4-13-2006
oh, a beta software has issues, cry me a river. oh a 1st rev piece of hardware from apple has some issues, the horror, an absolute travesty!
come on. if you REALLY expected a perfect product 1st rev you're nuts. (not just apple, but anything. and yes i know the argument that if a company, apple or otherwise, wants to put out a product it should be "perfect" from jump etc etc etc, but that's not the way it works)
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Mark D. said 6:23PM on 4-13-2006
I installed XP fine, but unlike the first poster I didn't do it after I put on valueble files. I mean anything with a EULA that warns that the company is not responsible for and does not condone use on weapons control/flight/life-vital machines should tip you off as to the beta nature fo the product.
As for the heat, well, my old Compaq got about as hot as the bottom of the MBP, the top, though, is the real heat point. I have a feeling they run the heatpipe and sink across the top strip, and though it never bothers me, I worry about how it might affect the screen when I close it after a serious design session. The whine is avoidable by enabling/disabling the mirror widget, and never occurs in windows period. Granted I don't like it,but unlike a physical issue, it is avoidable, and that's far easier to live with.
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Wheels said 6:38PM on 4-13-2006
"C.) Being stuck with Windows is your punishment for installing Windows (that last one was a joke)!"
No it's not. You may not have intended it that way, but no, no it's not.
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Ryan said 6:40PM on 4-13-2006
In other news, Parallels had a pretty "substantial" (at least in my mind) upgrade to Beta 3 of their software and if you install their Tool Box it's actually a pretty good virtualization, and way better then emulation by far. That being said, this is not applicable to the gamers or anyone who needs every last drop of horse power out of their machine. For me though, using my non-Mac aps (aka Visio, Access, and Virtual Studio 2005) seems to be working out for me personally. I'd throw Office in there, although I still prefer and use the Mac version - but if that wasn't the case, I'm sure it be seamless and probably similar speeds. I don't know how virtualization vs. rosetta matches up but they remind me of each other in this instance...
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Joshua Ochs said 6:48PM on 4-13-2006
Okay, first off, it's beta software. Secondly it's Windows.
However, if you repartition your drive using the Windows installer (after being told explicitly not to in the instructions) then you deserve what you get - a trashed computer. (This seems to be what most of these people did.)
Eric: Hold the eject button during startup - it will eject before the bootloader even comes up. Would have saved you a lot of time and trouble. However, a jammed CD is hardly a cause for your little rant. Meanwhile, the heat is no worse than any other laptop (especially thin ones like this). Go ahead - return your MacBook Pro, and buy a last-generation Powerbook if you want to avoid "1st rev" issues, or buy an 8lb Dell if you want to avoid heat and anything to do with Apple. And please take your immature little "macbookprosucks" with you.
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Syldaras said 7:09PM on 4-13-2006
Having played a bit with Boot Camp on our 20" iMac at work, I have noticed one thing that RELIABLY stymies the boot process, and even the new "Startup Disk" Control Panel that Apple wrote for XP: External hard drives. You'll note that in the documentation for Boot Camp, Apple explicitly notes that it is intended for use on a single drive system only, and that the bootable partition must be on that drive. Apparently, having an external drive with a bootable OS on it confuses the hell out of the boot loader (and the aforementioned Control Panel), so try turning them all off before rebooting. *NOTE* - This applies to EVERY reboot, not just when switching OSs. 'Course, it could just be my machine, but ever since I figured it out, I haven't had any problems. Hope it helps!
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Brad said 7:20PM on 4-13-2006
Actually, that last one shouldn't be a joke.
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Brett said 7:27PM on 4-13-2006
#1:
Stating the obvious here, but you used a FREE, BETA, REPARTITIONING software on your primary production machine, without backing everything up first! You're not too bright are you?
If you had backed your data up by using Carbon Copy Cloner or a similar utility, you would have restored your data in an hour instead of 2 days.
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Eric said 8:02PM on 4-13-2006
the thing that confuse me is the macbook pro hardware design...
why they make such a driver that does not hv an emergency lowlevel eject key?
and why macbook pro HAS to read thro the optical driver BEFORE it can load the hard drive... ?
and why doesnt apple allow user to hav a EFI setting jst like all other pc laptops that you can press f2/del watsoever to enter the bios?
apple had been over confident of its quality assurance team and suppliers.
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Joe Jacobs said 8:44PM on 4-13-2006
BootCamp is a beta and you get what you deserve. Windows is not meant to be on a Mac, and when you install it you are screwing over the true Mac you had. Honestly, the last comment was not a joke, and Windows is Windows, so deal with it. I am proud to say I won't and can't install Windows on my Mac. As it should be.
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Jer said 8:59PM on 4-13-2006
Eric, in my experimenting with boot camp on an office iMac holding down the eject key during power up has always ejected the disk, before whatever operating system was chosen got around to loading. You may have to hold it down for a long time.
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air540 said 9:32PM on 4-13-2006
you guys are pathetic, i agree with whoever said they aren't putting windows on a macbook pro. besides the fact that windows blows... you are putting a beta... a BETA software on your main machine... in many cases without backing up? you people who are doing this are complete and total morons. anyone who feels the need to blame apple doesn't deserve to live because they couldn't read the first disclaimer before they installed it. keep blaming others for your stupidity... you're obviously getting places because of it!
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Edsel said 9:44PM on 4-13-2006
I don't understand you people. You've been telling us Microsoft users for *DECADES* that computing with an Apple is serenity, switch to a Mac, follow the Light, it's a new day....blah, blah, blah. Okay, I switched to Mac three years ago and have never been happier, you were right; I've now got 5 networked Macs and three iPods @ home.
So tell me, why in damnation are you Macaholics so desperate now to soil your serenity with Gates waving his Windows battle flag on your Macs? Are you *CRAZY*? Tweaking & tinkering are fine but installing WIndows on a Mac is like inviting your best friend to a Jim Jones Kool-Aid party. It's a killer - JUST SAY NOOOOOO!
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Michael. said 9:56PM on 4-13-2006
@Edsel
LOL. Exactly.
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