Yosemite won't boot from HDD on XPS 8500

[cmn699]

I have successfully got audio, and I have changed the UseKernelCache from 'yes' to 'no'. I still need to look for the flags for my GTX card, however, it is booting first time, every time. Thanks.

I have successfully got audio, and I have changed the UseKernelCache from 'yes' to 'no'.

Good to know you could fix your sound problem and one of the things you did was to change UseKernelCache=Yes to UseKernelCache=No .
For the benefit of those reading your post, can you explain other steps, if any, you had taken to get your Audio back. In a previous post you had already mentioned your first step:

ALC887/888b Current v100302 is the audio driver that I have selected.

So, you did not use the Optional HDAEnabler from Multibeast?

Since You already had nvida_drv=1 within the string pair of <key>Kernel Flags</key> and also<key>GraphicsEnabler</key>
<string>No</string>
<key>IGPEnabler</key>
<string>No</string>
and currently you are constantly getting your nVidia Graphic driver to control your Display, I agree you have chosen the correct entries in Boot.plist for your nVidia Graphic Card and no need to search for that.
Finally you did not mention if you ever had to enter any boot flags at all to reach the log in screen since your last troubleshoot. Do you still have to type in -f at boot time?
Did you add -f to Kernel Flags.

If you make all those questions clarified, your post will become useful to those searching for answers with the same or similar hardware.

Thank you for posting back.

 

[PointTwoOne]

Good to know you could fix your sound problem and one of the things you did was to change UseKernelCache=Yes to UseKernelCache=No .
For the benefit of those reading your post, can you explain other steps, if any, you had taken to get your Audio back. In a previous post you had already mentioned your first step: So, you did not use the Optional HDAEnabler from Multibeast?

Since You already had nvida_drv=1 within the string pair of <key>Kernel Flags</key> and also<key>GraphicsEnabler</key>
<string>No</string>
<key>IGPEnabler</key>
<string>No</string>
and currently you are constantly getting your nVidia Graphic driver to control your Display, I agree you have chosen the correct entries in Boot.plist for your nVidia Graphic Card and no need to search for that.
Finally you did not mention if you ever had to enter any boot flags at all to reach the log in screen since your last troubleshoot. Do you still have to type in -f at boot time?
Did you add -f to Kernel Flags.

If you make all those questions clarified, your post will become useful to those searching for answers with the same or similar hardware.

Thank you for posting back.

I did not add -f to the Kernel Flags, I had already installed the Optional HDA Enabler, so i re-installed it, and made the changes to the boot.plist file that you suggested. I tinkered with the Sound options in System Preferences and both audio out ports on my PC work. System sounds and videos (YouTube, films etc.) work a treat. I do not have to use -f after making those changes to the boot.plist file (<key>UseKernelCache</key><string>No</string>).

I hope this clarifies the steps I took to improving my experience of the OS.

I only have one question. After installing the nVidia graphics drivers, will the fans on my GPU automatically turn on when my GPU gets to a certain temperature as I don't really want to fry my GPU? Other than that I am 100% happy with my OS X experience.

Thanks.

 

[cmn699]

I did not add -f to the Kernel Flags, I had already installed the Optional HDA Enabler, so i re-installed it, and made the changes to the boot.plist file that you suggested. I tinkered with the Sound options in System Preferences and both audio out ports on my PC work. System sounds and videos (YouTube, films etc.) work a treat. I do not have to use -f after making those changes to the boot.plist file (<key>UseKernelCache</key><string>No</string>).

I hope this clarifies the steps I took to improving my experience of the OS.

I only have one question. After installing the nVidia graphics drivers, will the fans on my GPU automatically turn on when my GPU gets to a certain temperature as I don't really want to fry my GPU? Other than that I am 100% happy with my OS X experience.

Thanks.

After installing the nVidia graphics drivers, will the fans on my GPU automatically turn on when my GPU gets to a certain temperature as I don't really want to fry my GPU?

First of all thank you for making your post useful to others. If you think you have accomplished everything for this topic, please make your thread as "Solved".
Regarding the hardware question, here is my opinion:

Normally,the GPU fan should start spinning the moment you Turn the Power On by pushing the Power Button of the Computer Chassis [case=Box=Tower].
GPU fans are usually Powered via a 6 pin PCIE Power Cable straight from the Power Supply or at times through a Molex to 6-pin Power connector bridging one of the Molex power cable coming out of the PSU .

Most often because the fan might be attached to the under belly of this monstrous GPU, the fan is often hidden from our direct vision if the Computer case is in an upright position. If you want to verify the fan spinning, lay the tower on the side and then turn the Power On and watch .

I too will hate to lose a very expensive nVidia Video card from a failed fan after days of struggle to get the System working!

My short answer to your question, if you have connected the Power through the Right cable, the Fan works OK. Also make sure you have several other System fans connected to Motherboard fan connector pins to cool your Computer as and when the heat starts to build.

Yeah, 'Overheating' is still one of the most common causes for unexplained computer freeze while it is in service and for premature death of a lot of things including the precious Processor.

 

[PointTwoOne]

First of all thank you for making your post useful to others. If you think you have accomplished everything for this topic, please make your thread as "Solved".
Regarding the hardware question, here is my opinion:

Normally,the GPU fan should start spinning the moment you Turn the Power On by pushing the Power Button of the Computer Chassis [case=Box=Tower].
GPU fans are usually Powered via a 6 pin PCIE Power Cable straight from the Power Supply or at times through a Molex to 6-pin Power connector bridging one of the Molex power cable coming out of the PSU .

Most often because the fan might be attached to the under belly of this monstrous GPU, the fan is often hidden from our direct vision if the Computer case is in an upright position. If you want to verify the fan spinning, lay the tower on the side and then turn the Power On and watch .

I too will hate to lose a very expensive nVidia Video card from a failed fan after days of struggle to get the System working!

My short answer to your question, if you have connected the Power through the Right cable, the Fan works OK. Also make sure you have several other System fans connected to Motherboard fan connector pins to cool your Computer as and when the heat starts to build.

Yeah, 'Overheating' is still one of the most common causes for unexplained computer freeze while it is in service and for premature death of a lot of things including the precious Processor.

When I was running this GPU on Windows 7, with all the drives installed, the GPU's fans would only start to spin then it got to a certain temperature or if I manually turned them on. The GPU is connected with the 6 pin PCIE Power Cable (see picture). There is a small space which I think nVidia designed to be there so that you could see if the fans are spinning. Is there any OS X application that can be downloaded to manually turn the fans on or off? In my PC case there is only space for one more fan, I have upgraded this from the stock one so that it has a higher air flow change rate. Thanks.