Troubleshooting the Kernel

Issues at the kernel stage are indicated by an inability to reach the bright blue screen, as evidence of a failure to load all KEXTs, the core BSD UNIX system, and ultimately the system process. If this is the case, your Mac is stuck at the light gray screen with the dark gray spinning gear icon.

To troubleshoot the kernel:
>Start up the Mac while holding down the Shift key to initiate a Safe Boot. In addition to the Safe Boot procedures covered in the “Troubleshooting the Booter” section ear- lier, this will force the kernel to ignore all third-party KEXTs. If successful, the kernel will start the system ␣␣␣␣␣␣␣ process, which will continue to safe-boot. Completing the kernel startup stage via a Safe Boot indicates the issue may be a third-party KEXT, and you should start up in verbose mode to try to identify the problem KEXT.

>Start up the Mac while holding down Command-V to initiate verbose mode. The Mac will show you the startup process details as a continuous string of text. If the text stops, the startup process has probably also stopped, and you should examine the end of the text for troubleshooting clues. When you find a suspicious item, move it to a quarantine folder and then restart the Mac without Safe Boot, to see if the problem was resolved. This may be easier said than done, as accessing the Mac’s drive to locate and remove the item may not be possible if the Mac is crashing during startup. This is an example of where FireWire target disk mode really shines. As covered in Chapter 4, “File Systems,” you can easily modify the contents of a problematic Mac’s system vol- ume using target disk mode and a second Mac.

N O T E :If your troublesome Mac successfully starts up in Safe Boot mode and you’re trying to find the issue, do not use Safe Boot and verbose mode at the same time. If the startup process succeeds, verbose mode will eventually be replaced by the stan- dard startup interface and you will not have time to identify problematic items.

>If the kernel cannot completely load while safe-booting or you are unable to locate and repair the problematic items, you may need to reinstall Mac OS X on that volume.

Troubleshooting the Booter

Issues at the booter stage are indicated by a flashing dark gray prohibitory icon—evidence of a failure to load the kernel.
To troubleshoot the booter:

>If you’re starting up the Mac from a volume containing a system this Mac has never booted from, the prohibitory icon usually indicates that the version of Mac OS X on the volume is not compatible with your Mac’s hardware.

>Start up the Mac while holding down the Shift key to initiate a Safe Boot. The booter will first attempt to verify and repair the startup volume, indicated by a dark gray progress bar across the bottom of the main display. If repairs were necessary, the Mac will automatically restart before continuing. If this happens, continue to hold down the Shift key. The booter will verify the startup volume again, and if the vol- ume appears to be working properly, the booter will attempt to load the kernel and essential KEXTs again. The booter uses the most judicial, and slowest, process to load these items. If successful, the booter will pass off the system to the kernel, which will continue to safe-boot.

>If the booter cannot find or load a valid kernel, you may need to reinstall Mac OS X on that volume.

Firmware Password on Mac OS X

Security goes beyond settings passwords and encrypting data. Mac OS X supports additional methods to secure the system itself. Setting a firmware password helps prevent circumvention of the OS-level security through an unauthorized boot device. Antivirus protection helps insure that any viruses that might come from other operating systems on the network won't threaten your data.

Firmware Password
You can configure a firmware password to enable low-level hardware protection for your Mac. A firmware password helps prevent unauthorized users from booting your Mac from an external hard disk, optical disc, or USB key drive. In order to complete this process you’ll need the Snow Leopard Install DVD.

To set a firmware password:
To set a firmware password, follow these steps:

1 Log in with an administrator account and open the Firmware Password Utility (located on the Mac OS X installation disc in /Applications/Utilities/)or(in recovery under utilities menu).
2 Click the "Require password to change Open Firmware settings" checkbox.
3 Enter a password in the Password and Verify fields.
4 Click OK. A confirmation appears. Click the lock icon to prevent further changes.

You can test your settings by attempting to start up in single-user mode. Restart the Mac while holding down the Command and S keys. If the Mac displays the login window after starting up, changes made by the Firmware Password Utility were successful.

To reset a firmware password:
To reset a lost or forgotten Firmware Password, access to the inside of the Mac is required (just like resetting a PC BIOS password requires removing the on-board battery).
To reset a firmware password, follow these steps::
1 Shut down the Mac.
2 Change the memory configuration by adding or removing RAM.
3 Start up the Mac (This will clear the firmware password).
4 Shut the Mac down again.
5 Return the RAM to its original configuration.
6 Start up the Mac

Note: For information on recovering a lost firmware password on a MacBook Air (Late 2010), refer to http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3554

Virtual Box - free ware

VirtualBox is a family of powerful x86 virtualization products for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).

VirtualBox runs on Mac OS X, Windows and Linux and supports a large number of guest operating systems including but not limited to Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), and OpenBSD.

VirtualBox is being actively developed with frequent releases and has an ever growing list of features, supported guest operating systems and platforms it runs on. VirtualBox is a community effort backed by a dedicated company: everyone is encouraged to contribute while innotek ensures the product always meets professional quality criteria.

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Avid-approved Apple Computers for Pro Tools 9.0 Systems

The following Apple computers have been tested and approved by Avid for use with Pro Tools|HD and Pro Tools|HD Native systems with Pro Tools HD 9.0 software for Mac OS X 10.6:

Desktops
Mac Pro
Mac Pro "Westmere"(all models, all speeds)
Mac Pro "Nehalem" (all models, all speeds)
Mac Pro "Harpertown" one or two Quad-Core 2.8, 3.0, 3.2GHz
Mac Pro "Clovertown" two Quad-Core 3.0GHz
Mac Pro "Woodcrest" two Dual-Core 2.0, 2.66, 3.0GHz
iMac
Intel i3, i5, i7
Aluminum models with Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 and above (introduced mid 2007)*
Mac Mini
Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 and above (introduced mid 2007)*

Laptops
MacBook Pro
17-inch and 15-inch models with Core i5 and i7 processors
17-inch, 15-inch, and 13-inch aluminum "Unibody" models with Core 2 Duo "Penryn" processors
17-inch and 15-inch Core 2 Duo (T8300/T9300) "Penryn" models (introduced early 2008)
17-inch and 15-inch Core 2 Duo (T7500/T7700) "Santa Rosa" models (introduced mid 2007)*
MacBook
White or Black 13-inch Core 2 Duo (T8100/T3300) "Penryn" models (introduced early 2008)
White or Black 13-inch Core 2 Duo (T7300/T7500) "Santa Rosa" models (introduced late 2007)*
Not supported with late 2008 and newer aluminum "Unibody" models, or 2010 white model**

*Earlier models not tested or supported

** The late 2008 aluminum "unibody" MacBook models, all newer MacBook models, and all MacBook Air models are equipped with USB ports only. Because recording to the internal drive or USB drives is not recommended, these models are not tested or supported. There is no way to connect a FireWire drive (or FireWire audio interface) to Mac laptops without FireWire ports or ExpressCard slots.


Overview page: Pro Tools 9.0 System Requirements

SDXC Card

Secure Digital (SD) is a non-volatile memory card format developed by Panasonic, SanDisk, and Toshiba for use in portable devices. It is widely used in digital cameras, digital camcorders, handheld computers, netbook computers, PDAs, media players, mobile phones, GPS receivers, and video games. Standard SD cards have an official maximum capacity of 2 GB, though technically they can store up to 4 GB.[1] SDHC (High-capacity) cards have a maximum capacity of 32 GB. SDXC (eXtended Capacity), a specification announced at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, allows for up to 2 TiB cards.
The format has proven very popular. Changes to the interface of the established format have made some older devices designed for standard SD cards (≤4 GB) unable to handle newer formats such as SDHC (≥4 GB). All SD cards have the same physical shape, which causes confusion for many consumers

Apple Magic Trackpad - Replaces Mouse use.

The new Magic Trackpad is the first Multi-Touch trackpad designed to work with your Mac desktop computer. It uses the same Multi-Touch technology you love on the MacBook Pro. And it supports a full set of gestures, giving you a whole new way to control and interact with what’s on your screen. Swiping through pages online feels just like flipping through pages in a book or magazine. And inertial scrolling makes moving up and down a page more natural than ever. Magic Trackpad connects to your Mac via Bluetooth wireless technology.

Magic Trackpad is just like the trackpad on the MacBook Pro — but bigger. It’s made with the same advanced touch-friendly and wear-resistant glass surface. But with nearly 80 percent more area, it’s the largest Multi-Touch trackpad made by Apple. So there’s even more room for you to scroll, swipe, pinch, and rotate to your fingers’ content. And since the entire surface is a button that clicks, you can use it in place of a mouse.

Magic Trackpad features the same sculpted aluminum design as the Apple Wireless Keyboard, and side by side the two sit flush at the same angle and height. Go from typing to gesturing in one motion, or do both at the same time. you’ll enjoy a reliable, secure connection up to 33 feet away. Magic Trackpad detects periods of inactivity, and it’s equipped with an on/off switch.

The Price of Apple Magic Trackpad INR is Rs 4000/-.