Resolved Archive of older Bootcamp Windows Support software? Trackpad issues

[Janichsan]

I'm looking for a hopefully complete archive of the Windows Support software for Bootcamp, including smaller updates. What I can find via Google and Co. are only few archived versions, mostly either very old, incomplete, or focused on a few select releases.

 

[Altemose]

I'm looking for a hopefully complete archive of the Windows Support software for Bootcamp, including smaller updates. What I can find via Google and Co. are only few archived versions, mostly either very old, incomplete, or focused on a few select releases.

That is going to be a difficult find, however if you know which versions exactly you are looking for I can take a look around as we have a few versions archived at work.

 

[Janichsan]

That is going to be a difficult find, however if you know which versions exactly you are looking for I can take a look around as we have a few versions archived at work.

Probably any 6.1.x version before 6.1.7748 (that's the one from December 2019) would do fine.

 

[Altemose]

Probably any 6.1.x version before 6.1.7748 (that's the one from December 2019) would do fine.

What machine is it for? You may have luck using Brigadier from within Windows to download the software. It typically downloads an older revision.

 

[Janichsan]

What machine is it for?

Late 2016 15" MacBook Pro with Touchbar.

You may have luck using Brigadier from within Windows to download the software. It typically downloads an older revision.

I will try that. Thanks for that tip.

 

[Altemose]

Late 2016 15" MacBook Pro with Touchbar.


I will try that. Thanks for that tip.

Is there a reason you need the older version of the software rather than downloading the newest version from Boot Camp Assistant?

 

[Janichsan]

Is there a reason you need the older version of the software rather than downloading the newest version from Boot Camp Assistant?

Yes: the December version messed up the trackpad driver for me. I have already tried pretty much everything to fix that with the latest versions short of completely re-installing Windows (i.e. just re-installing the driver, deleting the current driver and re-installing, resetting SMC, etc.), without success.

 

[satcomer]

You can get all the different versions at Apple Downloads - BootCamp!

 

[Janichsan]

You can get all the different versions at Apple Downloads - BootCamp!

Unfortunately not. That was one of the first places I searched. If you look closely, you'll see that there are only versions of the BootCamp Support Software up to 5.1.x and a smaller, incomplete more recent update. There are no complete packages of the BootCamp drivers of version 6.x.

 

[Altemose]

Yes: the December version messed up the trackpad driver for me. I have already tried pretty much everything to fix that with the latest versions short of completely re-installing Windows (i.e. just re-installing the driver, deleting the current driver and re-installing, resetting SMC, etc.), without success.

Gotcha - have you gotten any of the drivers through Brigadier? I have not seen any issues with the December driver pack, in fact it seemed to fix most of the reliability issues most users had in our environment. However, they were more so issues with graphics drivers and sleep mode when USB devices were connected that were resolved.

 

[Janichsan]

Gotcha - have you gotten any of the drivers through Brigadier?

Yeah, Brigadier downloaded me the original versions of the Bootcamp drivers for my MBP (6.1.6500 – the December version is 6.1.7748), but I hadn't had the time or patience yet to fiddle around with my Windows installation. So I don't know yet if this will help.

 

[Altemose]

Yeah, Brigadier downloaded me the original versions of the Bootcamp drivers for my MBP (6.1.6500 – the December version is 6.1.7748), but I hadn't had the time or patience yet to fiddle around with my Windows installation. So I don't know yet if this will help.

Excellent! Keep us posted!

 

[Janichsan]

Excellent! Keep us posted!

Since I finally found the time to install the old drivers, I can report that they didn't help. My trackpad still only works very rudimentary under Windows.

 

[Altemose]

Since I finally found the time to install the old drivers, I can report that they didn't help. My trackpad still only works very rudimentary under Windows.

That leads me to believe that it is likely not the actual trackpad driver itself.

 

[Janichsan]

That leads me to believe that it is likely not the actual trackpad driver itself.

Seems so. But I have no idea what else could be the reason.

 

[Altemose]

Seems so. But I have no idea what else could be the reason.

It is hard to say without seeing what is exactly going on with your system in particular. Did you uninstall all of the Boot Camp software and install the older version or did you merely change the trackpad driver itself? One thing you can try is going into Device Manager as an Administrator, locating your trackpad (which may not be clearly identified and use an alternative name such as PS/2 Compatible Mouse), right click and choose "Uninstall Device". If given the option, use the "Delete the Driver Software from the System" option. Typically, this has resolved any issue we have seen with Windows and driver issues, but then again, we put the MDT/SCCM driver pack at the root of the C: drive for any system that ships with our image at my work so it makes for easy redetection.

 

[Janichsan]

Did you uninstall all of the Boot Camp software and install the older version or did you merely change the trackpad driver itself?

I only removed and re-installed the trackpad driver. Is there even a way to remove the installed BootCamp software as a whole? Windows seems to treat it as disparate bits and pieces, which – as far as I can see – would have to been removed individually.

One thing you can try is going into Device Manager as an Administrator, locating your trackpad (which may not be clearly identified and use an alternative name such as PS/2 Compatible Mouse), right click and choose "Uninstall Device". If given the option, use the "Delete the Driver Software from the System" option.

That's precisely how I proceeded.

 

[bogdanw]

There is a comprehensive list of BootCamp packages here https://gist.github.com/nuomi1/16133b89c2b38b7eb197
You could search in the Revisions section for an earlier version for your model MacBookPro13,3

 

[Altemose]

I only removed and re-installed the trackpad driver. Is there even a way to remove the installed BootCamp software as a whole? Windows seems to treat it as disparate bits and pieces, which – as far as I can see – would have to been removed individually.


That's precisely how I proceeded.

I believe the entire Boot Camp suite can be removed from within Settings.

 

[Janichsan]

I believe the entire Boot Camp suite can be removed from within Settings.

Unfortunately not. That's what I meant with the "disparate bits and pieces" I mentioned. This how the Bootcamp software appears in the Windows Settings (it's in German, but you'll get the idea):

What's more, trying to remove any of the Bootcamp drivers this way does not really seem to do anything: the entry in this list of installed software disappears, but the drivers remain installed according to the Device Manager.

There is also an entry "Bootcamp Services", but this only appears to be the system tray tool to restart your Mac into macOS again (which hasn't been functional for years now).

 

[FlunkedFlank]

I believe I'm having the same problem. Mid-2015 MBP w/ AMD. Windows 10 1909 latest version. I was on 1803 or 1809 previously and everything was fine, I think it was the update to 1909 that killed it. Caused Bootcamp to stop loading the trackpad driver and possibly other drivers. The Bootcamp control panel doesn't show all the tabs it used to, including the trackpad one. Are you seeing the same problem in in the control panel?

 

[Janichsan]

I believe I'm having the same problem. Mid-2015 MBP w/ AMD. Windows 10 1909 latest version. I was on 1803 or 1809 previously and everything was fine, I think it was the update to 1909 that killed it. Caused Bootcamp to stop loading the trackpad driver and possibly other drivers. The Bootcamp control panel doesn't show all the tabs it used to, including the trackpad one. Are you seeing the same problem in in the control panel?

View attachment 908129

Well, that would explain why I could no longer find Apple's trackpad settings after I noticed something was awry. At least for me, it didn't seem to have been the Windows 10 1909 update which messed with the trackpad, though, at least not alone: after the 1909 update, it still worked fine for me, but after I got a Bootcamp driver update via Apple's own updater a week or so later, the trouble began.

However, possibly good news: after you reminded me of that, I checked the Bootcamp control panel again, and lo and behold, the "Trackpad" tab was back for me, but all multi-touch features were turned off. After activating these again, the trackpad now again works as intended.

So, I have to guess one of my reinstallation attempts restored the control panel, but I just didn't notice it because I didn't check.

 

[Altemose]

Unfortunately not. That's what I meant with the "disparate bits and pieces" I mentioned. This how the Bootcamp software appears in the Windows Settings (it's in German, but you'll get the idea):


What's more, trying to remove any of the Bootcamp drivers this way does not really seem to do anything: the entry in this list of installed software disappears, but the drivers remain installed according to the Device Manager.

There is also an entry "Bootcamp Services", but this only appears to be the system tray tool to restart your Mac into macOS again (which hasn't been functional for years now).

If I recall correctly, the removal of Boot Camp Services should remove all aspects of the Boot Camp software. Apple, like other vendors, installs the drivers in a modular fashion to ease updating issues. That is why you are seeing the various packages in Settings --> Apps instead of a single Boot Camp entry. Many vendors are adopting this approach when they ship a single model installer (e.g. Microsoft Surface) as it allows the update service to handle each driver individually rather than downloading a multi-GB update each time.

I believe I'm having the same problem. Mid-2015 MBP w/ AMD. Windows 10 1909 latest version. I was on 1803 or 1809 previously and everything was fine, I think it was the update to 1909 that killed it. Caused Bootcamp to stop loading the trackpad driver and possibly other drivers. The Bootcamp control panel doesn't show all the tabs it used to, including the trackpad one. Are you seeing the same problem in in the control panel?

View attachment 908129

You may need to run Apple Software Update to verify that you have the latest update, as there was a December 2019 update released. Likewise, you may want to right click on your trackpad in Device Manager and run the Update Driver wizard.

Well, that would explain why I could no longer find Apple's trackpad settings after I noticed something was awry. At least for me, it didn't seem to have been the Windows 10 1909 update, which messed with the trackpad, though, at least not alone: after the 1909 update, it still worked fine for me, but after I got a Bootcamp driver update via Apple's own updater a week or so later, the trouble began.

However, possibly good news: after you reminded me of that, I checked the Bootcamp control panel again, and lo and behold, the "Trackpad" tab was back for me, but all multi-touch features were turned off. After activating these again, the trackpad now again works as intended.

So, I have to guess one of my reinstallation attempts restored the control panel, but I just didn't notice it because I didn't check.

That is interesting that the driver was overwrote (likely in the 1909 upgrade or Boot Camp update) yet it did not properly grenade/reinstall the settings configuration.