Windows – Mac running Windows 7 unable to detect Mac hardware, Windows Support Software issue…how to fix (no USB)

bootcampdriverinstallwindows

At wits end here. Been following David Anderson's tutorial and never truly had success with it. First time, years ago, keyboard and cursor never functioned but external variants circumvented the need. Now, I can't get it to work at all, internal or external.

Main issue has been acquiring the Windows support files from BootCamp.
help.apple.com list many "tutorial installation" like this but most are fake as no installation button exist. On older Macs, BootCamp doesn't allow only installing the files and additionally require an external USB.

So…I used this incredibly-difficult-to-find compatability reference by Apple and determined I needed…5. A Google search narrowed it to BootCamp5.1.5640 which I acquired from CNET.com. Sadly, files were dirty; lacked tracker & keyboard drives. A random search lead me to a seemingly amazing utility called Brigadier which automatically detected my Mac spec' and installed a clean BootCamp5.1.5640. Unfortunately, keyboard and tracker still non-functioning.

Running the BootCamp files manually in Emulator after having created Window 7 (merely for error-testing) had error messages claim it to be the wrong version for this system. Additionally attempted to manually run the .exe drivers via command prompt in Step #8 but returned "The subsystem needed to support the image type is not present."

I, too, like mentioned in comment section of first link, had the error "this version of System Recovery Options is not compatible with the version of Windows you are trying to repair." I fixed it in step #7, after setting up settings–prior to accepting them–by rearranging the SATA Ports in following order:
Windows version.iso — SATA Port 0.
bcss.vmdk — SATA Port 1.
bootcamp.vdmk — SATA Port 2.
Makes sense Windows.iso can't repair bcss.vdmk if latter is loaded first, I suppose. I mention this in-case of relevance, but it was either rearrange or get a new .iso.

I thought too that it may be possible to trick…the whole shabang to accept the tracker/keyboard exe driver of the Windows Support SoftWare by renaming it to one of the drivers that actually work (like screen) and hope it make a go. Untested, due to likely chance of failing.

If I had been able to boot Windows 7 with a functioning key-board In reckon I would have fixed this but stuck with Mac I'm forced here.

Details:
Operating systems is Windows 7 SP1 Ultimate & Mavericks (10.9.5).
Computer is Macbook Pro11,1 Retina, 13-inch, mid 2014.
BootCamp5.5640 is suggested by numerous sources to be compatible; action disagree.

EDIT #1:
Improved Mac to Yosemite 10.10.5. Tested a new Windows 7 .iso from Apple, same result (both internal and external equipment non-functioning–with exception of in advanced boot menu). Additionally, I tested Windows 8.1 and it appeared non-functioning at Step #10 (internal keyboard giving no results) until I connected an external USB mouse (which worked) then suddenly internal keyboard and mouse worked too. I continued the steps but the Windows 7 activation key didn't allow installation of 8.1. Have Windows 10 too but assume it will be same results (what's worse is if it works and voids key for use of activating Windows 7 later). Like mentioned in comment section, I will attempt to use Window's 8.1 dism command to install 7 but a little jiffy on the details. Additionally, with the new .iso images; I was able to arrange them in order of SATA ports as in the tutorial posts, results are the same.

Best Answer

The answer, you referred to in your question, started out as an answer to the question Boot camp install of Windows 7 issue, no bootable devices. This question was often asked by owners of older Macs where the optical (DVD) drive was either damaged or replaced by a second internal HDD or SSD. The improved answer, which you referred to, was thought to be general enough to cover later Macs with no internal optical drive, but could still support a BIOS booting Window 7. However, this answer has proven to fail at step 10 for several model Macs where neither a keyboard, mouse, or trackpad would work. Fortunately, other questions/answers have been posted (such as Is it possible to use Boot Camp with Windows 10 from an external HDD?) where this fatal step 10 can be avoided. Since your updated question indicates you can get a keyboard, mouse or trackpad to work with Windows 8.1, I posted the instructions below for installing Windows 7.

Instructions for Installing Windows 7 SP1 using Windows 8.1 ISO

This method does not use VirtualBox. Instead, the method relies on being able to boot from a Windows 8.1 flash drive. However, if this does not work out, a virtual machine could be use, but the instruction for doing so have be omitted from this answer.

The following files were downloaded from the internet. You can substitute files from another source, if you wish.

The drive letters are given below along with a described. If you get different drive letters, then make the appropriate substitutions.

  • Drive C: is the fourth partition on the internal drive. Here I assume this partition has been MS-DOS (FAT) formatted and named BOOTCAMP by the Yosemite Disk Utility application
  • Drive D: is the bootable Windows 8.1 flash drive. Basically, a flash drive created using the Boot Camp Assistant and the Windows 8.1 ISO.
  • Drive E: is a MS-DOS (FAT) formatted flash drive containing the Windows 7 SP1 files.
  • Drive F: is a MS-DOS (FAT) formatted flash drive containing the Boot Camp Support Software files.

Note: Here, I assume different flash drives were used for Window 7 SP1 and the Boot Camp Support Software, although an individual flash drive could be substituted.

Use the Startup Manager to boot from the Windows 8.1 flash drive. You should see the following image.

Press the shift+F10 key combination to open a Command Prompt windows, as shown below.

Enter the commands shown in the example below.

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.3.9600]


X:\Sources>wmic logicaldisk get volumename,name
Name  VolumeName
C:    BOOTCAMP
D:    WINDOWS8
E:    WINDOWS7
F:    BOOTCAMP5
X:    Boot


X:\Sources>format c: /fs:ntfs /v:BOOTCAMP /q
The type of the file system is FAT32.
The new file system is NTFS.
Enter current volume label for drive C: BOOTCAMP

WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK
DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST!
Proceed with Format (Y/N)? y
QuickFormatting 204.3 GB
Creating file system structures.
Format complete.
     204.3 GB total disk space.
     204.3 GB are available.

X:\Sources>dism /get-imageinfo /imagefile:e:\sources\install.wim

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.3.9600.17483

Details for image : e:\sources\install.wim

Index : 1
Name : Windows 7 HOMEBASIC
Description : Windows 7 HOMEBASIC
Size : 11,710,161,360 bytes

Index : 2
Name : Windows 7 HOMEPREMIUM
Description : Windows 7 HOMEPREMIUM
Size : 12,222,587,449 bytes

Index : 3
Name : Windows 7 PROFESSIONAL
Description : Windows 7 PROFESSIONAL
Size : 12,122,886,417 bytes

Index : 4
Name : Windows 7 ULTIMATE
Description : Windows 7 ULTIMATE
Size : 12,285,492,779 bytes

The operation completed successfully.

X:\Sources>dism /apply-image /imagefile:e:\sources\install.wim /index:4 /applydir:c:\ /checkintegrity

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.3.9600.17483

Applying image
[==========================100.0%==========================]
The operation completed successfully.

X:\Sources>dism /image:c:\ /add-driver /driver:f:\$WinPEDriver$ /Recurse /ForceUnsigned

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.3.9600.17483

Image Version: 6.1.7600.16385

Searching for driver packages to install...
There was a problem opening the INF file. f:\$WinPEDriver$\IntelHDGraphics64\autorun.inf Error: 0xE0000100.
Found 9 driver package(s) to install.
Installing 1 of 9 - f:\$WinPEDriver$\AppleBluetoothBroadcom64\AppleBTBC64.inf: The driver package was successfully installed.
Installing 2 of 9 - f:\$WinPEDriver$\IntelHDGraphics64\DisplayAudio\IntcDAud.inf: The driver package was successfully installed.
Installing 3 of 9 - f:\$WinPEDriver$\IntelHDGraphics64\Graphics\igdlh64.inf: The driver package was successfully installed.
Installing 4 of 9 - f:\$WinPEDriver$\IntelxHCISetup\Drivers\HCSwitch\Win7\x64\iusb3hcs.inf: The driver package was successfully installed.
Installing 5 of 9 - f:\$WinPEDriver$\IntelxHCISetup\Drivers\HCSwitch\Win7\x86\iusb3hcs.inf: The driver package was successfully installed.
Installing 6 of 9 - f:\$WinPEDriver$\IntelxHCISetup\Drivers\xHCI\Win7\x64\iusb3hub.inf: The driver package was successfully installed.
Installing 7 of 9 - f:\$WinPEDriver$\IntelxHCISetup\Drivers\xHCI\Win7\x64\iusb3xhc.inf: The driver package was successfully installed.
Installing 8 of 9 - f:\$WinPEDriver$\IntelxHCISetup\Drivers\xHCI\Win7\x86\iusb3hub.inf: The driver package was successfully installed.
Installing 9 of 9 - f:\$WinPEDriver$\IntelxHCISetup\Drivers\xHCI\Win7\x86\iusb3xhc.inf: The driver package was successfully installed.
The operation completed successfully.

X:\Sources>bcdboot c:\windows /l en-us /s c: /f bios
Boot files successfully created.

X:\Sources>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 6.3.9600

Copyright (C) 1999-2013 Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: MININT-DQVBS9Q

DISKPART> select volume c

Volume 6 is the selected volume.

DISKPART> active

DiskPart marked the current partition as active.

DISKPART> exit

Leaving DiskPart...

X:\Sources>exit

After the Command Prompt window closes, click on the red X. When the popup shown below appears, click on the Yes button.

When the Mac restarts, hold down the option key until the Mac boots to the Startup Manager. Next, hold down the control key while selecting Windows on the internal drive.

After Windows 7 finishes installing, you will need to run the Boot Camp Support Software installer.

Suggestions, If You Can Only Get a Keyboard, Mouse or Trackpad to Work.

If only an external or internal keyboard works, you should still be able to navigate by using the keyboard. Once you have installed Windows 7 and run the setup utility included in the Boot Camp Support Software, the keyboard, mouse and/or trackpad should work.

If you can not get the keyboard to work, but can get a mouse or trackpad to work, then you can use the on-screen keyboard. When booting Windows 7, you will see the image shown below.

If you click on the icon in the lower left, you will get the following popup. Select Type without the keyboard (On-Screen Keyboard), then click on the OK button.

The result should be the appearance of the on-screen keyboard, as shown below.

Related Question