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So, essentially and without doing a direct, report comparison, it appears we got a very similar report from EtreCheck.

I've never experienced startup issues, on my mid-2010 MBP, with any recent OS Xs (Lion, Mtn Lion, Mavericks, & now, Yosemite). I'll go further to say that I've not experienced any halting, usage issues with any aforementioned OS Xs. ...And since I'm using a MBP older than yours, it seems your issue's cause isn't directly due to Yosemite, but rather, some pre-existing software corruption, or hardware fault, on your MBP that oddly enough, isn't causing an issue for Mavericks.

While I've always wanted my Macs to use the latest OS, assuming the hardware would run the latest smoothly, I can unequivocally say I like Yosemite, which syncs really well with my iOS devices and iCloud. I never hesitated making the move from Mavericks to Yosemite as I felt it would run well on my MBP. ...When we get to 10.11, I may find my mid-2010 hardware, which has no more room beyond the installed 8GB RAM, behind the curve and will have to forego 10.11 (or, 10.12) until I get a new MBP.

Can any enlighten what EFI does?

Thanks, pbGuy, for the added info.

Just a thought . . . you may want to start a new thread asking for an explanation of EFI.

My original subject was about startup issues and the EFI subject is kind of buried in this thread (as a bit of a tangent from the original topic). Someone who could help you with EFI might not even see your inquiry if they do not read this whole posting.

As for the startup problem: Not an issue so far - fingers are crossed - with going back to Mavericks. I am tempted to try Yosemite again, but after two full cleans, downloads and installs of the OS (and transferring files from Time Machine), I think I will stick with Mavericks for the time being.

Directly from the horse's mouth, Intel Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and Unified EFI (UEFI) and Unified Extensible Interface Firmware Forum all the technical detail you could want.

This is standard operating procedure. The EFI partition is never mounted. (Well, I suppose it might be mounted briefly during the boot process, but it is never (still) mounted during normal operations.)

Thanks for all the info, Folks.

I decided to give YOSEMITE 10.10 another try. (Third time lucky? . . . or just plain stubborn.)

I had done the drive scan. No alarms reported there. Replaced the two 8-GB RAM sticks with two 2-GB sticks. Same startup problem, so put the 8's back in again. (Yes, both sets of sticks - or the RAM slots themselves - could have issues, but checking the System Report seemed to indicate that all sticks registered correctly when snapped into place.)

Then, I did the following (i.e. clean install) :

1. backed up all my stuff on the EXHD using Time Machine
2. ran "one-pass ZEROS" to erase the drive using Apple's ONLINE recovery/DU
3. ran "repair drive" using same DU
4. installed Yosemite.

The whole process took the usual amount of time and loaded, installed, re-booted, et al, as expected. No stalls, hangs, freezes, blank screens, crashes, or the like. So far, so good.

However, I will NOT transfer my stuff (yet) from the EXHD, but instead stay with the MBPro/10.10 factory default settings, etc. See if any "start up" issues develop. If all seems OK in a few days, I will then use Migration Assistant to transfer my goods and settings from the EXHD.

I have always used MA to do such transfers, but is there something else I should do which would reduce the possibilities of glitches along the way?

I was thinking of adding the applications one at a time. I only have a dozen or so that did not come with Yosemite. A slow, PITA process for sure, but not too daunting. Perhaps there is a third-party app which has been the culprit all along (????). Just guessing here.

Again, Guys, thanks. Will update either way : With cheers all around . . . or frisbee the gizmo out the window!


P.S. Early 2011 - 17" MBPro with Yosemite, i7 core and 7200 rpm HD.

It's been quite a carousel ride; I hope you've finally got the brass ring!

Since you've completed a pretty clean install of Yosemite, which is working, I'd recommend manually setting up your Sys Prefs and manually copying folders / files over in lieu of using Migration Assistant. The last thing you would want is for whatever "snake in the grass" you previously had, to get reintroduced. ...Just my 2¢.

Update:

For the past few days, I have worked with my MBPro using Yosemite FACTORY settings as though it just came out of the box.

Last night, I transferred the files and folders (dox and pix) from the backup EXHD without restoring from Time Machine - just drag and drop. Did the same for the third-party apps as well or re-downloaded new copies from their websites.

As suggested, I did not use Migration Assistant at any stage.

Did a new Time Machine backup with a fresh MBPro and Yosemite.

So far . . . so good. Not a blip. Fingers and toes - and anything else you can think of - are crossed !!

Thanks.