FileVault2 + Yosemite + PC NVIDIA GPU not working

[rontheancient]

I had a brilliant plan to upgrade my Mac Pro from Mountain Lion to Yosemite...bad idea. It was a clean install with the stock 8800GT, turned on FileVault and swapped back in my 660Ti, thats when I ran into trouble.

With the PC NVIDIA GPU under Mountain Lion with FileVault2, I would normally decrypt the disk "blind" by just typing in the right keys and hoping the sequence was right.

Under Yosemite, the same typing-blind trick wont work any more. The machine simply wont boot with ONLY the PC GPU installed. I spent over an hour swapping hardware and I was finally able to boot with the PC GPU after turning off FileVault (with the stock 8800GT).

Is this a known issue? I couldnt find any reference to it in search.

 

[sarthak]

I wouldn't classify it as an issue with OS X itself but rather, the lack of an EFI boot screen does not permit the use of FileVault. It is not easy to select the user account and type in the password with no display especially if you have a guest account enabled.

Not Recommended Blind Keyboard Combo:
To enter without a display connected or no EFI boot screen.
i. Press the key that starts with the first letter of your username to highlight the user account.
ii. Press enter to allow for log in prompt
iii. Type password and press enter to log in.
This method works to highlight the account if the username begins with any letter except for G (in which case it would conflict with Guest unless turned off).

It may be best to have a single user account with guest access turned off. This way with FileVault enabled and no EFI boot screen you should just be able to type your password and press enter. However, this assumes your account is selected upon boot, has password box and text cursor in the box allowing you to input your password (which it should be).

Recommended:
If you want to use FileVault you will have to get an original Apple video card or Sapphire 7950 Mac Edition / GTX680 Mac Edition or modified PC card with EFI boot screen.