About time I posted this for my own benefit. I always wanted to just list down the special shortcuts\/commands\/procedures for my powerbook, which I’ve used at one point in time. Since I’m posting it, might as well make it useful for other folks as well… so before I continue, here are some things to remember (for those of you who are new to this):<\/p>\n
CMD<\/code> is the Command button, shown as an apple and clover icon, depending on what you identify better with.<\/li>\nCTRL<\/code> is Control button, also printed as “ctrl.”<\/li>\nALT<\/code> is the Option or Alternate button. Designated as “option” & “alt.”<\/li>\nFN<\/code> is the Function button, displayed as “fn” usually at the bottom left of the keyboard.<\/li>\nPOWER<\/code> is the power button.<\/li>\nENTER<\/code> is the Enter or Return button<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nPressing these buttons during startup will have different effects<\/p>\n
\nX Force OSX Startup\nALT Select boot volume\nC Boot from CD\nN Network boot\nR Force screen reset\nT FireWire target disk mode\nSHIFT SAFE MODE\nCMD+V Verbose mode\nCMD+S Single-user mode\nCMD+ALT+O+F Open Firmware\n<\/pre>\nResetting the PMU<\/h2>\n
Hold down the following keys for at least 5 seconds:\nCTRL+ALT+SHIFT+POWER<\/code><\/p>\nResetting PRAM and NVRAM<\/h2>\n
Hold down the following keys while powering up:\nALT+CMD+P+R<\/code><\/p>\nDo not let go until you hear the chime at least<\/em> three times.<\/p>\nYou can also do it via Open Firmware by typing:<\/p>\n
reset-nvram\nset-defaults\nreset-all<\/p>\n
note: reset-all<\/code> should’ve sufficed, but after confirming, it doesn’t reset the NVRAM as it should.<\/p>\nVerbose boot mode<\/h2>\n
Verbose booting is like the \/sos<\/code> argument in WinXP, which bypasses the graphic “wait screen” and shows what’s actually happening to the operating system while booting up. In OS X, this is particularly useful for power users, since there have been quite a number of instances wherein the operating system wouldn’t go past the spinning wheel (or grey screen) when a user tries doing something “special.” By booting in verbose mode, you can see exactly where the system has stalled.<\/p>\nFor permanent Verbose booting, in the terminal, type:\nsudo nvram boot-args=\"-v\"<\/code><\/p>\nYou can find out the status of your boot args with:\nsudo nvram boot-args<\/code><\/p>\nLog-in screen trick<\/h2>\n
You’d think that you’ll have to either select either the normal login (a list of names and icons) where you only have to input the password, or a more secure way which requires both usernames and passwords.<\/p>\n
Say you, on occassion, want to access the root<\/code> account (assuming you have enabled it, it’s disabled by default). Since the normal login screen never displays the root account as a choice, you would think you need to set your login mode to that which requires a username and<\/em> password.<\/p>\nWhile that is one way of doing it. What you didn’t know<\/em>, is that you already have the best of both worlds in the normal screen. Simply press ALT+ENTER<\/code> then click on any displayed name. Voila,<\/em> you have now temporarily switched to the alternate input screen! Now you can enter those hidden usernames (e.g. root<\/code>) while retaining the default eye-candy login screen.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"About time I posted this for my own benefit. I always wanted to just list down the special shortcuts\/commands\/procedures for my powerbook, which I’ve used at one point in time. Since I’m posting it, might as well make it useful for other folks as well… so before I continue, here are some things to remember …