Resolved Graphics issues Vista 64-bit Boot Camp early 2009 24" iMac

[erahf]

I've been trying to install Vista 64-bit on my early 2009 24" iMac with Nvidia Geforce GT 130, and without the help of other posts on this forum would have been pretty stuck from the get-go!

I'm sure you know that technically Vista x64 isn't supported on this model, and so I've had to use workarounds to get the drivers to install from the .msi on the OS X install disc. I've had some fairly drastic problems even before this however, as on first starting up Vista and being greeted with the Welcome Center, there is a rapid flickering of resolutions, making it impossible to do anything. I've been able to get past this to a degree by disabling the Welcome Center through winconfig, and as I say have been able to install Boot Camp and the drivers through running the .msi file as an administrator. So I now have a working Bluetooth Mac keyboard and Wi-Fi. The flickering doesn't happen on startup without the Welcome Center on, but if I do load the Welcome Centre, or anything that seems to strain the graphics even slightly, it starts again, and I can't do anything until I Ctrl-Alt-Del out and back in, which resets it.

The display drivers from the OS X Install Disc don't seem to have installed properly, and Device Manager still says I have only a "Standard VGA Display Driver" installed. I've tried installing drivers from the Nvidia website, both letting it detect hardware (and install the Verde drivers for Geforce GT 130M) and downloading the Geforce GT 130 drivers manually. With both methods the installation starts normally, and then fails very early into the progress bar without giving an explanation. Using archived drivers from Nvidia I can install them, and Device Manager finds them, but on updating it tells me the system "cannot read from the specified device."

Any tips on what could be causing this would be greatly appreciated! I've read on other threads about modifying the .inf to Apple's hardware ID for the graphics card, but I haven't been able to find out how to extract the ID from the .msi on the install disc. Do you think this would be useful for me to try, or is there something else going on here?

Thanks for the help, and apologies for the waffling!

 

[brandone]

Modified INF will work and I can make it for you... However, I would try to install the drivers from the leopard dvd once more. You said that you ran the msi as an administrator. I am guessing you ran it under a profile that has admin privilege, but is not the actual administrator account. Believe it or not, this makes a huge difference. To enable the administrator account do the following:

Click the Start Menu
Right Click Computer ----> Click Manage
Select Local Users and Groups ----> Select Users
Right Click Administrator ----> Click Properties
Uncheck Account is Disabled
Click OK
Exit Computer Management Window
Logon as Administrator

Install BootCamp Drivers Properly:
Open the Leopard Install Disc
Double Click Boot Camp
Double Click Drivers
Double Click Apple
Right Click BootCamp64 ----> Run As Administrator

Using this method, it will run through the BootCamp installation normally. If this doesn't work, i will make the custom INF. But it is not preferable. Good Luck.

 

[erahf]

Hi Brandone, thanks for the fast reply.

You're right, I hadn't tried that! Looking just now though I can't see the Local Users and Groups tab you talked about. Am I being blind +/- stupid?

 

[brandone]

Open up a command prompt and type:

net user administrator /active:yes

This should enable the administrator account.

 

[erahf]

Success! That let me install the drivers off the disc, and finishing the windows updates let me install the new drivers successfully.

Thanks for all the help! Now I just wish I'd come here sooner..

 

[brandone]

Success! That let me install the drivers off the disc, and finishing the windows updates let me install the new drivers successfully.

Thanks for all the help! Now I just wish I'd come here sooner..

Happy it all worked out for you! Now you can pass on your knowledge!

 

[flipster]

This might sound like a stupid question, but I need an answer; Can I install windows 7 64 bit on my 2008 iMac?

Specs are in my sig.

 

[brandone]

You sure can. As long as you have at least an Intel Core2Duo, you can run Windows 7 x64 using my install method.