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I have a Mac Pro from 2010. I've set it up with BootCamp and Windows 7 back in 2010.

When in macOS, I can change the boot disk to BOOTCAMP and it will boot Windows 7 on restart. When in Windows7, there is the BootCamp tray icon I can click and choose "Boot to OS X", but on reboot it will not load macOS but will boot from the "OS X Base System" instead.

Is there a way I can fix BootCamp in Windows, so it will choose the right macOS disk instead of this recovery disk?

The reason I'd need to do this is that I wanted to upgrade to a PC graphics card. The card works great in macOS and in Windows 7, but it doesn't show the boot menu (ALT at startup), so the only way I could get back to macOS from Windows is to choose "Boot to OS X".

I updated to macOS Sierra 10.12.1 and also installed a new BootCamp version in Windows (BootCamp 5.1) but the problem is still there. My guess is, that back when I installed BootCamp in 2010, OS X didn't have that recovery disk yet. So probably BootCamp now thinks "Recovery HD" is my regular OS X installation for some reason.

Update

I'll add info about my disks. diskutil list gives this output:

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS master                  498.6 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             1.3 GB     disk0s3

/dev/disk1 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk1
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS backup_mp               999.9 GB   disk1s2

/dev/disk2 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *3.0 TB     disk2
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk2s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS data_disk               3.0 TB     disk2s2

/dev/disk3 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk3
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk3s1
   2:       Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP                427.3 GB   disk3s2

master is my OS X partition where 10.12.1 Sierra is installed on.

When selecting "Boot to OS X" in Windows, it should boot from master. But it always boots from Recovery HD instead.

Update 2

I couldn't find a solution for why BootCamp's "Boot to OS X" functionality doesn't work. But I found a workaround today:

  • I set my master (macOS) as startup disk.
  • I installed BootChamp in macOS. It allows me to click "Restart into Windows". This doesn't change the startup disk but boots into Windows just one time.
  • When in Windows, I can simply reboot and it will start macOS again.

This way I can boot both operating systems without seeing the EFI boot menu.

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  • So what you want is to boot OS X by default?
    – FrontENG
    Commented Oct 28, 2016 at 8:16
  • If you actually open the CP rather than just the simple Restart to Mac OS, do you get a choice of disks? See i.sstatic.net/G69pX.jpg Long-term I'd invest in a proper Mac-flashed graphics card [or keep your old one for emergencies] - macvidcards.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Oct 28, 2016 at 9:11
  • What version of 0S X were you using before Sierra? Also, do you know if you are using Core Storage? I have a 2011 iMac with Windows 10 and Sierra. I am not encountering the problems you are having. I am not using Core Storage. My Windows 10 is an upgrade from Windows 7, so I am using the Boot Camp Support Software for Windows 7. I other words, I did not install any Boot Camp Support Software after upgrading to Windows 10.
    – David Anderson
    Commented Oct 28, 2016 at 11:10
  • @FrontENG the problem is that in order to boot to Windows I have to change the startup disk in OS X. After doing so, the Mac always boots to Windows and within Windows can't set it back to boot OS X.
    – Sky
    Commented Oct 28, 2016 at 13:49
  • @Tetsujin yes I get a choice of disks. And no, a proper Mac-flashed graphics card was not an option because they are too expensive and still not really up-to-date. Seen that everything (apart the boot menu) works great with a standard PC card, I wanted to take that option. And yes, I'll keep my old card for emergencies, that's a good idea.
    – Sky
    Commented Oct 28, 2016 at 13:54

1 Answer 1

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A possible solution would be to install rEFInd in your EFI partition. I would first test by installing rEFInd on a USB flash drive. If MacOS and Windows boot from rEFInd, then you could copy rEFInd to you EFI partition.

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  • I've read about rEFInd yesterday, but I couldn't find any info about whether this also works with non EFI graphics cards (seen that I want to use a standard PC card). So the question is, would it show the boot menu to me or not? Installing it on a USB flash drive for testing is a cool idea, I'll try that this evening.
    – Sky
    Commented Oct 28, 2016 at 14:04
  • I've done several tests with rEFInd now, but unfortunately couldn't solve my problem with it. rEFInd doesn't show up when I have the PC graphics card in my Mac Pro. Anyways, rEFInd seems to start and tries to book OS X but my screen remains black (I've set OS X as default boot target in rEFInd). However, I can boot Windows by hitting W and it works. With my Mac graphics card both Windows and OS X work. Idk what's wrong here...
    – Sky
    Commented Oct 29, 2016 at 15:16

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