Ch.10 Mac Os X 10.5 Support Essentials 2008

Front 1

1. What are the four primary startup stages in Mac OS X,and in what order do they start?

Back 1

1. The primary startup stages are: firmware,booter,kernel,and user environment (in that order).

Front 2

2. What are the visual and/or audible cues ofthe stages ofstartup?

Back 2

2. Each stage is indicated by the following: firmware,startup chime or bright flash ofthe power-on light followed by a light gray screen on the primary display; booter,a dark gray Apple logo on the primary display; kernel,a small dark gray spinning gear or spinning earth icon below the Apple logo; and user environment,a bright blue screen on all displays followed by the login screen or user desktop.

Front 3

3. What does the firmware do? What is the POST?

Back 3

3. The firmware initializes the Mac’s hardware and locates the booter file on a system volume.The Power-On Self-Test (POST) checks for basic hardware functionality when your Mac powers on.

Front 4

4. What role does the launchdprocess serve during system startup?

Back 4

4. The launchdprocess is ultimately responsible for starting every other process and application.It also manages system initialization and starts the loginwindowprocess.

Front 5

5. What items are automatically started by launchdduring the system initialization process?

Back 5

5. During system initialization the launchdprocess automatically starts LaunchAgents, LaunchDaemons,StartupItems,and the /etc/rc.local UNIX script.

Front 6

6. What role does the loginwindowprocess serve in system startup?

Back 6

6. The loginwindowprocess displays the login screen that allows the user to authenticate, and then sets up and manages the GUI user session.

Front 7

7. What is the difference between startup items and login items?

Back 7

7. Startup items are opened during system initialization by the parent launchdprocess on behalfofthe root user.Login items are opened at the end ofthe user session setup process by the user’s specific launchdprocess.

Front 8

8. What happens during user logout?

Back 8

8. During user logout the user’s loginwindowprocess does the following: requests that all user GUI applications quit; forcibly quits any user background processes; runs any logout scripts; records the logout to the main system.log file; resets device permissions and preferences to their defaults; and finally quits the user’s loginwindowandlaunchd processes.

Front 9

9. What happens during system shutdown?

Back 9

9. At system shutdown the loginwindowprocess logs all users out and then tells the kernel to quit all remaining system processes.Once the kernel quits all system processes,the Mac will shut down.

Front 10

10. What is the difference between Safe Boot, Safe Mode, and Safe Login?

Back 10

10. Safe Boot refers to when the system is starting up; Safe Mode is when the system is actually running; and Safe Login is when the system starts up the user session.

Front 11

11. Which items are not loaded when Mac OS X safe-boots?

Back 11

11. When Mac OS X safe-boots, it will not load third-party KEXTs, LaunchAgents, LaunchDaemons,StartupItems,fonts,user login items,or user-specific LaunchAgents.

Front 12

12. What keyboard combination is used to safe-boot Mac OS X?

Back 12

12. A Safe Boot is initiated by holding down the Shift key during system startup.

Front 13

13. How do you further resolve an issue that disappears when the Mac successfully safe-boots?

Back 13

13. Ifan issue disappears when the Mac successfully safe-boots,then you must find and remove or quarantine the third-party startup resource that caused the issue.The best way to isolate the problematic item is to start up the Mac in verbose mode and then observe where the startup process fails.Verbose mode is initiated by holding down Command-V during system startup.