Stable but won't boot if not used for a few days. Slightly vexed.

[bmoney]

Hi All,

I've had generally a wonderful experience with my hackintosh for the last 4 years thanks a lot to this site. I built the computer for pro audio use and it still holds its own with newer systems and get the job done except..... if I don't use the machine for a few days it tends to not boot up - generally freezing before the desktop comes up.

I thought upgrading to Yosemite might help, I skipped mavericks BTW.

Interestingly, in ML the machine would just power off at random (if not used for a few days) and then be fine on next boot or maybe have to be booted and restarted in safe mode. No, it wasn't the power supply I swapped that out and with another higher end PS.

My temporary fix has been to boot from an earlier Yosemite startup HD in safe mode (which I cloned when I thought the system was stable) and repair permissions on my main drive. Sorry I didn't copy the repair log but I remember it says among other things that display prefs have been repaired. After this main drive works. In ML all I had to do was start in safe mode and reboot and it would be OK until I didn't use the computer for a few days.


-I've never done a clean install of any of my Hackintosh's OSes since the first which was 10.6
-I replaced the CMOS battery
-Also, in yosemite, the machine now never fully shuts down. Its screens will be black with a half a line shutdown circle on the starup screen- PS running.

Any tips or help will be greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance.

Best,
Bradford

 

[neilhart]

Hi All,

I've had generally a wonderful experience with my hackintosh for the last 4 years thanks a lot to this site. I built the computer for pro audio use and it still holds its own with newer systems and get the job done except..... if I don't use the machine for a few days it tends to not boot up - generally freezing before the desktop comes up.

I thought upgrading to Yosemite might help, I skipped mavericks BTW.

Interestingly, in ML the machine would just power off at random (if not used for a few days) and then be fine on next boot or maybe have to be booted and restarted in safe mode. No, it wasn't the power supply I swapped that out and with another higher end PS.

My temporary fix has been to boot from an earlier Yosemite startup HD in safe mode (which I cloned when I thought the system was stable) and repair permissions on my main drive. Sorry I didn't copy the repair log but I remember it says among other things that display prefs have been repaired. After this main drive works. In ML all I had to do was start in safe mode and reboot and it would be OK until I didn't use the computer for a few days.


-I've never done a clean install of any of my Hackintosh's OSes since the first which was 10.6
-I replaced the CMOS battery
-Also, in yosemite, the machine now never fully shuts down. Its screens will be black with a half a line shutdown circle on the starup screen- PS running.

Any tips or help will be greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance.

Best,
Bradford

Is this a dual boot with OS X and Windows?

Well anyway I suggest that you make bootable clones of your system and set these drives aside (be sure to confirm that these clones are bootable). This is your safety net.

Then go to the app store and download Yosemite.

Download the current UniBeast and MultiBeast for Yosemite. Also check your BIOS version. Download the appropriate the correct DSDT.aml file from the DSDT data base. You will also need a copy of ShowAllFiles to view the hidden files (found in the Downloads >Community Software area).

Follow the UniBeast guides to build the Chimera/Yosemite USB installer, select legacy USB while running UniBeast. ref: http://www.tonymacx86.com/guidebeast.php

Then use the ShowAllFiles app to show hidden files, copy the DSDT.aml (change the name as needed) to the USB installer device to /Extra.

Also copy MultiBeast to the root of the USB installer.

Then set this USB installer aside.

Then I would take the machine apart and do a real cleaning and inspection. Use compressed air to get the dust out of the system. The idea here is to resolve your hardware system issues. Check each fan is free and clean the blades. You want to unplug and re-plug every connection including the memory modules. Assume that you find no issues with the parts.

If this were my system, I would remove the CPU Cooler, and remove the old thermal compound from the top of the CPU and bottom of the cooler. And just for kicks, unlatch and re-latch the CPU socket lever.
Then reassemble the CPU cooler using new thermal compound (use any popular thermal compound, just insure that it is new/fresh and spreads easily; just a small amount for a thin film, mate the parts and then take them apart and check that the coverage is adequate but not excessive).

Reassemble the system with just the drive that you want to be the new Yosemite system drive.

Now install Yosemite per Tony's guide: http://www.tonymacx86.com/yosemite-...-x-yosemite-any-supported-intel-based-pc.html. If you run into trouble, you always have your clones as a safety net.

However, if you do have issues, you have the TonyMacX86 community here to help answer questions and provide guidance.



Good modding,
neil

 

[bmoney]

Hi,

Neil, Thanks for or your response.

No, its not a dual boot machine.

Again, I'm currently running Yosemite (installed over ML following the unibeast guide) and I do have a clone which I'm starting up from when the main drive.

Because the machine works perfectly if used every day and only has a problem if its not used for 2-3 days i'm thinking the issue is software related since repairing permissions solves the problem. I'm wondering what changes OS or boot wise when the machine isn't used for a couple days.

It seems like you're suggesting me doing a clean install? Would a time machine restore be OK if I went this route or would that just copy something buggy or problematic back into the OS?

Thanks,

B