Installing Windows 10 on iMac 11.1 without Bootcamp...

[Pet2k]

Hello community,

I've run into some problems while installing Windows 10 on my iMac 11.1.

I already had Windows 10 up and running on my Mac with BootCamp and it worked kinda well. But some day I ran into some issues with my Mac and then i reinstalled the whole machine and deleted Windows in that process.

While I tried reinstalling Windows I noticed that my Super Drive isn't working properly. It is able to read some discs, but none of my Installation disks anymore. Cleaning it didn't help. So, I can't use BootCamp to install windows.

Then I tried installing Windows natively via USB-Drive. It worked like a charm and was extremely fast. But then I ran into other issues... While installing the drivers i noticed some strange behaviour in Windows. After installing the Display driver the internal display didn't work anymore. Also the Apple keyboard and mouse don't work correctly. Scrolling isn't possible and the Keyboard-function-keys aren't working.

I installed Windows countless times on this Mac before and I never had any issues like that before. I read that it has something to do with some legacy "drivers" the Mac is using in UEFI-Mode which aren't compatible with Windows running in UEFI. I also read that there is a method to change the problematic settings/drivers by using rEFIt or rEFInd.

But there are two issues with the guide I found:

1. Some of the terminal commands didn't work for me, but I couldn't figure out why

2. I can't find the guide anymore

So I thought you could help me with installing Windows natively on my Mac. Did someone accomplish a Windows 10 native installation on an iMac 11.1?

I would really appreciate your help!

Oh, and i don't really want to use an external DVD-drive because now I'm curious if I'm able to get it work natively.

Greetings

Pet2k

P.S.: Sorry for my bad English, didn't write in English for a long time.

 

[chrfr]

Use the Bootcamp utility to download the Bootcamp drivers for your computer. You don't have to do the Windows installation again; just put the drivers on a USB drive. (or are these the drivers you installed? It's not clear in your message.)

 

[yashiharu]

same with iMac 12,2 here
can't install windows 10 in BIOS / EFI mode ...

 

[Pet2k]

Use the Bootcamp utility to download the Bootcamp drivers for your computer. You don't have to do the Windows installation again; just put the drivers on a USB drive. (or are these the drivers you installed? It's not clear in your message.)

Hello,

I‘m sorry that i didn’t make it clear;

These where the drivers I installed. I tried Bootcamp 4 (for the graphics drivers) and bootcamp 5.1 for the rest (still the same results)

 

[yashiharu]

finally, I've disassembled the iMac 2011 again and put back the SuperDrive.
Windows 10 (BIOS mode) installed perfectly, included all the drivers it needed from Bootcamp 6.1.
Also, my newly upgraded ac wifi+BT4.2 combo card works with the driver which provided by the seller.

next move: eGPU!

 

[Fishrrman]

I've been a Mac user since 1987.
Almost NEVER have "touched Windows".

My advice:
Unless you absolutely, positively have-to-have native Windows bootability, use an "emulation solution" instead of BootCamp.

It could VMWare Fusion, Parallels, the free "Virtual Box".
Or... for some applications... "Crossover" might work (runs Windows apps without Windows).

 

[Pet2k]

I've been a Mac user since 1987.
Almost NEVER have "touched Windows".

My advice:
Unless you absolutely, positively have-to-have native Windows bootability, use an "emulation solution" instead of BootCamp.

It could VMWare Fusion, Parallels, the free "Virtual Box".
Or... for some applications... "Crossover" might work (runs Windows apps without Windows).

Well, the problem with emulation is that it is unbearably slow (at least on my Mac). The iMac is already 10 years old. Using only 8gigs of ram and running an old gen. 1 Core-i5.
Which isn’t a problem running windows non-emulated.

I sometimes use the Mac for light workloads like working in some small assemblies in CAD. At least I did as long as I had windows running.

But it isn’t possible for me to do that while emulating windows.
[doublepost=1548865063][/doublepost]

finally, I've disassembled the iMac 2011 again and put back the SuperDrive.
Windows 10 (BIOS mode) installed perfectly, included all the drivers it needed from Bootcamp 6.1.
Also, my newly upgraded ac wifi+BT4.2 combo card works with the driver which provided by the seller.

next move: eGPU!

I‘m happy that you could get your SuperDrive working again!

But is your iMac capable/able to use eGPUs? I thought this would only be possible with iMacs from 2012 and younger (the slim edged iMacs)

Does anyone else might know a solution/workaround for installing windows 10 natively?

 

[yashiharu]

Well, the problem with emulation is that it is unbearably slow (at least on my Mac). The iMac is already 10 years old. Using only 8gigs of ram and running an old gen. 1 Core-i5.
Which isn’t a problem running windows non-emulated.

I sometimes use the Mac for light workloads like working in some small assemblies in CAD. At least I did as long as I had windows running.

But it isn’t possible for me to do that while emulating windows.
[doublepost=1548865063][/doublepost]

I‘m happy that you could get your SuperDrive working again!

But is your iMac capable/able to use eGPUs? I thought this would only be possible with iMacs from 2012 and younger (the slim edged iMacs)

Does anyone else might know a solution/workaround for installing windows 10 natively?

I can use eGPU on MacOS, and now working on windows 10.

not a big difference so far ...