Keeping GPT format on a new partition: installing windows without bootcamp?

I want to keep the gpt format on a new partition. And currently it seems impossible to do that, even with several reinstalls and different methods.

Here is what I want to do:

I want to install win 2012 without a CMS BIOS, meaning I want to use its UEFI booting capabilities to avoid the bios emulation that bootcamp uses.

Already tried methods:

1) simple partiton via disk utility and diskutil using FAT
Result: Failure to detect GPT in win 2012 install -

2) Same as 1 using HFS+
Result: thinking that when I format for fat it creates a hybrid gpt partition, resulting in the aforementioned error, it still doesnt let me install due to failure to detect gpt.

Im out of ideas, I read in a mac magazine in brazil that it was a simple thing to do, currently thinking of making the partitions that I need when installing osx using disk utility, so that it avoids the hybrid gpt.

Or this could be caused by mac using already a hybrid gpt as default and in the end I will need a program to make a true gpt.

Currently I foresee a problem, I dont know if the EFI bootloader would accept and read the windows partition, since it engages when a hybrid gpt is made

I also foresee that if this is done, we could have switchable gpus in windows.

 

Isn't this impossible, since what Boot Camp does is emulate a bios environment for Windows and without this environment Windows would be broken? That's according to my rather limited knowledge in Macbooks though, I might be wrong.

EDIT: As it turns out, I'm wrong. Macs use EFI, Windows supports EFI, so all should be fine and dandy. This link might help: mac - How do I install a 64-bit Windows 7 on a Macbook Pro without Boot Camp? - Super User

 

thing here is that macs use EFI, but they dont strictly follow intel standards, its a frankenstein basically.

The main problem being that I want to avoid the CMS BIOS (bios emulation is autodetected and auto applied by the EFI)

People have done this with workarounds unneeded and sincerely unwanted.

I want, currently, to try to make this as simple as possible, I might have found a way, which is basically to use gdisk to create a new gpt protective boot mbr, to simply kill that aberration which is the hybrid mbr that they created in that gpt.

by doing this I would have no other problems in installing win 8 or even win 7 sp1, though for the latter some hacks regarding which preference based on the bootloader for the installer would be needed, the el torino always defaults to mbr instead of gpt, thus emulating bios at the efi bootloader and crapping out any attempt to make a gpt install.

 

What is the advantage in that approach? In the past, I would have guessed that you were trying to avoid setting the SATA controller to IDE mode when booting Windows, but since that is supposedly no longer an issue with the latest Macs I don't know what is to be gained.

 

the 2011 macs still use ide over ahci in windows, and there is also faster boot times, also there is the possibility without CMS that people can unlock switchable gpus since you can just look at OSX what pcie ports are used for the gpu and modify the package in there to install both driver together, there is also the matter of hyper V

 

Sounds interesting. If you are successful, could you provide a full run-down on what you did and on what is now possible / no longer possible with your method?

I assume, it is still possible to boot into MacOS? Also, I assume that adding a third boot option (for example booring into Ubuntu) could be handled easier than before.

 

that was the main idea, to give fair and possible to follow step by step instructions.

Regarding problems, as I can see there isnt any kind of problems here in terms of booting. It was done in the consumer preview by a few people and it was broken in win 8 rtm, so the problems that I will describe are the ones that happened on win 8 RP and CP.

Wifi issues, sometimes it didnt engage correctly, possible bug is due to badly installed drivers
BSOD happens, possible related to madre teresa trying to return from the dead, I have no clue at all.

And thats pretty much it. I have saw a IT professor tying to do this in his mbp 15 early 2011 base model, but he was installing win 2008 r2 and had problems with BSOD due to gpu drivers and hyper v not liking each other, which was sorted out after the updated hyper v to the end and then installed the drivers for the gpu

I have seen some instructions of how to do this in win 7, and man they are a mess.

here is one specific to ubuntu, given that you put another bootloader in place of the efi bootloader, this enables you to boot
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFIBooting

MacRumors Forums - View Single Post - Guide: How To Install Windows 8 RTM & Ubuntu 12.04 on Mac

and the above has been my framework along with others posts of the kind and a trip or several to technet and apple developers

problem is, this is time consuming a wrong install means that I need to wipe the drive and install OSX as base again, and I had my NAS crap out on me on friday 4am, so I have dedicated myself to restore everything that I had and put things to work until monday 4am. Im extremely tired and pissed off, I have only run 12km on saturday and since I stopped smoking this is my stress relief.

 

Finally its done!

The problem always was the GPT format that OSX uses, so to avoid that you just create a winpe4.0 thumb drive and format the windows partition with that. and just install things kind of normally from there on.

This has indeed the benefits of gpu switching and faster boot times, for 2011 and earlier it also gives us ACHI, so while its troublesome its worth in a sense.

Im not going to waste time writing this, this thread explains it well enough!

MacRumors Forums - View Single Post - Guide: How To Install Windows 8 RTM & Ubuntu 12.04 on Mac

Do rep machacks for that thread, the guy did it in win 7 and did again on win 8. btw to add the drivers for win 8 already in the installation drive makes the ctrl+alt+del problem for win server users disappear.

 

ok I purchased mountain lion today, and guess what? the easy to do step of winpe4.0 is now a complicated mess.

if anyone wants to try, you need to do this fairly non basic steps

Windows Developer Preview – Create a WinPE 4.0 Boot ISO | /// stealthfield

 

Thanks for the link to installing Windows in this way. I have some questions though, that the link does not answer, and I hope you can:

- How do you the installation with Windows 7? There was only talk about Windows 8.
- Why did the EinPE 4.0 part get more complicated with Mountatin Lion? It seems the creation of the WinPE 4.0 Boot ISO is not dependent on ML
- Some of the links provided by the guide are no longer available (dropbox links). Do you still have them saved?

 

I dont have any of the links saved.

To install win 7 its the same procedure, there is a link from one of my previous posts that details the installation on win 7 as well, its from the same guy,

The winpe part got more complicated due to the image that s/he made for that isnt available anymore, so you have to create it yourself. Its frustrating thing to do, with a lot of trial and error, it took me 4 tries to get it working, only to receive a new gpu for my old notebook and reactivate it, thus nullifying my work on this.

This might be essential for people that are going to use thunderbolt egpus, or at least the DIY variant.

But you get the idea of this?

Simply the GPT partition has a non standard code for MBR, thus to make it happen, we are going to use the windows GPT format.

1) Erase everything using windows install or winpe and partition the drive
2) Install OSX
3) Erase the other left bit for windows install
4) Install windows

in theory its not hard.


Meaning:

1) Erase everything using the windows install = During the installer, you have the option to install or clicking on the lower left button that is written troubleshoot, its one of the first steps, use the command prompt in there and do the same steps as described by him
2) Install OSX
3) Same thing as 1
4) Install windows