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OS X / TIPS

7 Mac Startup Options Every OS X User

Should Know

By Jim Tanous on September 29, 2014 at 2:00 AM • @mggjim

Apple has a reputation for making products that “just work,” but many Mac usersmay still need to occasionally troubleshoot their desktop or laptop. Thankfully,there are a number startup options that are available on recent Macs to aid in bothtroubleshooting and system management. Here’s a look at seven essential Macstartup options that every OS X user should know.

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Recovery Mode

Starting with the release of OS X Lion in 2011, Macs have offered a Recovery Modethat users can access to diagnose hardware issues, restore Time Machine backups,

manage hard drives, and even reinstall OS X itself. To use Recovery Mode, reboot or

start your Mac and hold the Command and R keys simultaneously on your keyboard

as soon as you hear the familiar startup chime. Keep holding as your Mac boots,

which may take a few moments depending on its specific configuration. You can let

go of the keys when you see a screen similar to the screenshot below.

Recovery Mode is possible thanks to the installation of a hidden recovery partition

on your Mac’s hard drive, and allows the user to perform the aforementioned tasks

without needing an OS X DVD or USB installer. To perform recovery tasks on older

versions of OS X, such as OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, users needed to boot from the

install DVD.

A recovery partition will be created by default on new OS X installations and

upgrades, but not every Mac configuration is supported, including RAID system

drives. Further, if your Mac’s drive lacks a recovery partition for any reason, you maystill be able to access OS X recovery tools via OS X Internet Recovery, which loadsthe recovery information directly from Apple’s servers. To use this feature, you’llneed an active Internet connection and a Mac introduced after the public availabilityof OS X Lion, which includes the Mid-2011 MacBook Air and up.

Startup Manager

Most Mac users will probably only ever use the single drive that came with theirsystem. But for those who want to use multiple internal drives or partitions,Windows via Boot Camp, or boot to external drives, you’ll need to use the Mac’sbuilt-in Startup Manager. Simply reboot your Mac and hold the Alt/Option key onyour keyboard as soon as you hear the Mac’s startup chime. After a few moments,you’ll see all of the bootable devices appear on your screen accompanied by theircorresponding icons and volume names.

The Mac Startup Manager will update as needed, so if you add or remove bootabledrives or devices on your Mac, the list will automatically display the current options.You can use your mouse, trackpad, or keyboard to select the desired drive, andeither click on its upward arrow button or press Return once you’ve made yourselection. As long as the Mac is compatible with operating system contained on theselected drive, your Mac will continue booting the designated operating system.

Examples of when you may need to use the Mac Startup Manager include booting toyour Windows Boot Camp partition, booting to a complete cloned backup of yoursystem drive, or reinstalling OS X from a DVD or USB drive.

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The Mac Startup Manager works great if you have a number of boot options from

which to choose, but your Mac also recognizes a few additional startup keys that

direct it to boot immediately from a specific source. These keys include holding

the C key during boot to boot directly from an inserted CD, DVD, or bootable USB

drive, and holding the N key to perform a NetBoot to a compatible network server.

Safe Boot

If you’ve ever worked in the Windows world, you may be familiar with Windows Safe

Mode, which starts the operating system with the bare minimum level of drivers and

software to help you isolate the cause of a software issue or conflict. OS X offers a

similar mode called Safe Boot. Just as with its Windows counterpart, OS X Safe Boot

should be used to help troubleshoot issues that may be caused by corrupt or

incompatible software, or to help isolate software issues from hardware failures. To

use it, press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard as soon as you hear your Mac’s

startup chime. Keep holding Shift until you see a gray progress bar appear beneath

the Apple boot logo.

When triggered, Safe Boot will force a check of your startup volume’s integrity, load

only the minimum required OS X kernel extensions, disable all user fonts, clear font

caches, and disable all startup and login items. All of these tasks equate to a

significantly longer boot time compared to the default “normal” OS X boot process,

so don’t panic if your Mac takes longer than usual to boot.

Once you reach the usual OS X login screen or desktop, you’ll notice the words “Safe

Boot” in red letters in the menu bar. You’ll also likely notice slower overall system

and graphics performance, as OS X is using default drivers to help you track down

your software or driver issue. You won’t want to use Safe Boot day-to-day, of course,

as many common and useful functions are not available in this mode, but it is an

essential step in troubleshooting your Mac. When you’re ready to return to “normal”

mode, just reboot your Mac without holding down the Shift key.

Reset PRAM

Your Mac’s parameter random-access memory (PRAM) stores important information

such as the type and identity of your OS X system drive, the presence of any other

internal drives, the number and type of connected devices, screen resolution, andspeaker volume. If your Mac isn’t acting as expected, a PRAM reset is usually the firstand easiest troubleshooting step to try. You’ll also want to make sure you preform aPRAM reset after you replace your Mac’s hard drive, unless you like waiting fiveminutes for the system to boot while it searches in vain for the old missing disk.

To reset PRAM, shut down your Mac and find the Command, Option, P, and R keyson your keyboard. You’re going to need to power your Mac up, and then press andhold all four keys simultaneously as soon as you hear the startup chime. It’s a littletricky at first, and you may miss it on the first attempt, but just keep rebooting yourMac until you’re comfortable contorting your fingers to reach all four keys at thesame time.

Keep holding the keys until your Mac reboots itself and you hear the startup chime asecond time. At this point you can release the keys and your Mac should boot asnormal. Note that settings such as resolution and system speaker volume will be setto defaults, so don’t be startled if your Mac’s startup chime is a bit louder on thesecond boot.

Verbose Mode

There’s a whole lot going on when your Mac boots, but Apple, always concernedabout design and user experience, hides the details behind the familiar light grayboot screen. This makes booting your Mac a simple and pleasant experience, butcan also hamper troubleshooting efforts.

To see what’s really happening during your Mac’s boot process, you’ll want to

enable Verbose Mode, which lets you see the messy details during boot in order to

identify any drivers, kernel extensions, or other issues that are causing your Mac

grief. To use Verbose Mode, reboot your Mac and press and hold the Command

and V keys simultaneously as soon as you hear the Mac startup chime. You’ll soon

see quickly moving rows of text instead of the gray boot screen, and you or a tech

support rep will be able to see exactly what is causing the issue you’re attempting to

troubleshoot.

Single User Mode

Related to Verbose Mode, Single User Mode also shows you the full details of your

Mac’s boot process. But instead of finishing the boot and bringing you to the default

OS X login GUI, it gives you a text terminal which can be used for everything from

advanced troubleshooting to hard drive repair.

To boot into Single User Mode, reboot your Mac and hold down the Command and S

keys simultaneously until you see white text appear on the screen. You can begin

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using the terminal once the boot process finishes and you see root# on the screen.

Your Mac’s Single User Mode is similar to that found in Linux, and many of the

commands are the same between the platforms. Once you’re ready to exit Single

User Mode, just use the command “exit” to restart the system and boot normally.

Enable Target Disk Mode

Target Disk Mode is a very useful feature exclusive to Macs that, in effect, lets you

turn your Mac into an unnecessarily complex external drive. While in Target Disk

Mode, you can connect your Mac to another Mac via FireWire or Thunderbolt and see

the contents of the Mac’s drive mounted on the second Mac as if the drive were an

external FireWire or Thunderbolt device. This not only lets you easily access data on

a Mac’s hard drive, it also lets you use one Mac’s hardware to boot another Mac’s

operating system and data.

To use Target Disk Mode, reboot your Mac and hold down the T key as soon as you

hear the startup chime. Keep holding until you see a white FireWire or Thunderbolt

logo appear on the screen (depending on your Mac’s hardware capabilities). You can

now directly connect your Mac to another Mac with a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable

and access the first Mac’s drive. When you’re done, unmount the first Mac’s drive

from the second Mac in OS X and press and hold the first Mac’s power button until

the system powers off.

Summary

It’s important to read over the description of each Mac startup option to ensure that

you understand its use and purpose. Once you’re familiar with these options,

however, just use the table below as a handy guide in case you forget the specific

keys necessary for each option.

STARTUP KEYS DESCRIPTION

Command-R Boot to OS X Recovery Mode

Alt/Option Access Mac Startup Manager

C Boot to CD, DVD, or USB

N NetBoot

Shift Safe Boot

Command-V Verbose Mode

Command-S Single User Mode

Command-Option-P-R Reset PRAM

T Enable Target Disk Mode

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TAGS: #BOOT #HOW TO #MAC #OS X #PRAM #RECOVERY MODE #SAFE BOOT #SAFE MODE #STARTUP MANAGER#TARGET DISK MODE #TIPS #TROUBLESHOOTING

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