windows 11 on utm

By Justin Harris, 5 October, 2022

Forum
macOS and Mac Apps

Hello,
I installed windows 11 several months ago, running on UTM. The process was nice and straight forward, and I am pretty happy being able to run it that way. However, the last few times I have loaded it up, I get a message about this version expiring or not working soon. As most will know if you have done this by now, any build of Windows 11 that will work on an m1 Mac has to be downloaded from the Microsoft Windows Insider program. So, they are dev builds, meant to be updated fairly frequently. However, when I search for updates, I get a message about how my machine does not meet Windows 11 requirements, so is not elegible to receive all updates.
So, my question is, has anyone else run in to this, and more importantly, is there a fix that does not require downloading another build from Microsoft and doing a complete reinstall? Surely there has to be a way to do it without having to start from 0. If anyone has an idea, I would really appreciate it before this version completely stops working.

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Comments

By Chris on Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 04:35

Download an unzip the following file.
https://github.com/AveYo/MediaCreationTool.bat/archive/refs/heads/main.zip

After extracting the file, locate Skip_TPM_Check_on_Dynamic_Update.cmd located in the bypass11 subfolder. Run this file by pressing enter and accept the UAC prompt. Reboot Windows and check for updates again. You only need to run this script once. Check for updates at any time after this point and it should work normally.
From my understanding, this tricks the system into thinking it's installing Windows Server which doesn't perform checks for TPM 2.0 or SecureBoot. You still get the updated Windows 11 builds though. It would be nice if UTM properly virtualized all the requirements. If you need additional files to force it to join the dev channel, let me know. I have a folder of tools to bypass all these ridiculous requirements.

By Justin Harris on Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 04:35

Did that, but Windows update is still not finding anything. Am I supposed to do something else other than Windows update?

By Chris on Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 04:35

If your goal is to get constant updates from the Dev channel, here's a file that will force the VM to join the Dev channel even though you can't do it from the interface because it has a hissy fit about system requirements. Make sure you've joined the Insider program and signed in under Settings. Microsoft releases new dev builds about once a week. Import the following .reg file and restart, then check for updates again. If successful, you should be able to upgrade to the latest build which is 25211.1010 as of this writing.
https://winaero.com/downloads/2021/06/dev_channel_for_win11.zip

By Igna Triay on Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 04:35

So microsoft isn't planning on releasing a arm iso to the public as with the rest of their os, where you can find isos for intel baced systems? Or is this still in the testing phase and they'll release the iso soon?

By Tayo on Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 04:35

Hi:

I tried to bootcamp Windows 11 on my 2017 Macbook Pro, but no luck. I'm running the Ventura Beta, and right now at least the option to set partition size is grayed out for sighted and VoiceOver users alike. Is there a way to do this? Would probably also need to get past the checks for TPM chips and the like, since even when I went ahead and tried it anyway it says this PC doesn't meet the minimum requirements.

By Chris on Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 04:35

Microsoft has some sort of exclusive deal with Qualcomm that's supposedly going to end soon, though that was said about a year ago, so I have no idea what their definition of soon is. Presumably if the deal ends instead of being renewed, Microsoft could license the ARM version to anyone that wanted to use it, including use on Apple Silicon. I hope this happens at some point in the not too distant future, as it would be a shame to scrap these machines after Apple stops supporting them with macOS updates. Apple has stated the machines can run it, but it's ultimately up to Microsoft, as I don't expect Apple to put in the work to create drivers for all the hardware features. Then again, you never know, but running Windows natively on these new Macs is a really exciting prospect. Unlike iOS devices, these machines aren't locked down from what I've read. The lack of upgradable components is a shame, but this is Apple, so what did you expect? If they've fixed the mouse issue and Ventura is really as good as people are telling me, I'm strongly considering a new Mac Mini with the M2 chip when that arrives.
Bootcamp is better discussed in a different topic.

By Justin Harris on Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 04:35

I tried to download the file but got error 403. I don't so much care about weekly updates. I just want something that will keep me ahead of the curve and keep my vm working. If dev channel is the only way, that's fine. But I could not download it.

By Chris on Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 04:35

I'm not sure why you're getting an error, the direct link works for me. I downloaded the zip and uploaded it to my web server, try this link instead and let me know when you've downloaded it so I can delete it.
https://christopherw.me/files/dev_channel_for_win11.zip

By Justin Harris on Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 04:35

Got it downloaded, and Windows updated.
One more unrelated issue I'm hoping you might be able to help with. I have been able to get flash drives recognized on Windows, but not audio interfaces. UTM will prompt me asking if I want to use the device on Mac or Windows, but even if I choose Windows, the vm never seems to recognize the device. Guest tools are of course installed. Do you know of an alternative usb driver that might fix this?

By Chris on Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 04:35

I can't help you directly, as I don't have an Apple Silicon Mac, but I was helping a friend of mine get Windows up and running on an M1 MBP with UTM. Someone else told us you have to go into the VM settings under USB and set something to USB 3.0 in order for USB devices to work correctly. I forget where it is and I'm sorry I can't help you out further.

By Justin Harris on Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 04:35

Dude, you are freaking brilliant! Didn't even know I could edit vm settings once created in utm, but that did the trick. Works perfectly. Now, if I could just get caps lock working as nvda key, I'd be set. I've tried tons of stuff, most of which is outdated, and it hasn't worked. Have you managed to do it?

By Chris on Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 04:35

When I was running Windows in Fusion on my 2013 MacBook Air, I used SharpKeys to remap a key in Windows. I've been told this can be done in macOS using some third-party tools, but I'm not sure how. Download and extract this zip and run the program. It says this version is the only one compatible with the ARM version of Windows. You need to select a key from the first list such as grave accent or Caps Lock and then select the function in the second which in this case would be Insert.
https://github.com/randyrants/sharpkeys/releases/download/v3.9.4/sharpkeys394.zip