Previously on Intel machines, zapping PRAM was limited to two restarts. Under Snow Leopard, it seems it's back to as many as you want, just like the old days.
|
|
Previously on Intel machines, zapping PRAM was limited to two restarts. Under Snow Leopard, it seems it's back to as many as you want, just like the old days.
•
[19,195 views]
Hint Options
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
Interesting find. Any particular reason you've found for more than that?
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
I always used to do it three times. But Apple always recommended two, and warned never more than three. Not sure what would happen with two vs three vs four.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
Could someone elaborate what this means? I never knew about any kind of two restart limit and am not sure what that is supposed to mean.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
I'm pretty sure that there is no two restart limit under Leopard. I maintain hundreds of Intel Macs, and think I would have noticed if, when I've had to zap their PRAM, I didn't hold the keys down for three or more chimes (as is my habit). Do you mean something different by the two restart limit?
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
Wow, decaffeinate a little. Your "tip" should be deleted, not because it isn't sufficiently technical, but because it just isn't true. Snow Leopard makes no change to the PRAM zapping behavior. Pointing this out isn't snobbery, it's an attempt to keep Mac OS X Hints a great resource of factually-correct information. You've contributed enough to this resource in the past that I'm sure you can agree with that goal.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
...and somehow I end up commenting on my own comment, instead of the original poster's comment, below. (I blame too little caffeine.)
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
I get your point, and this site is excellent for inside tips and sharing info that would be otherwise undocumented. But Rob can't possibly test every hint, and so it's not his responsibility to make sure everything is factual. That's why we have discussions. But some people here, the "snobs", are crass and disrespectful, and just want to prove their superiority by knocking what they think are bad hints. Many times I've seen a bad hint turned good by users who prefer discussion and examination over jabs and pissing contests. In this case I had to dig deeper myself only after I realized other people weren't seeing what I was. A bit more brain power and less snobbery would have made it a much more effective search, I think.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
Isn't PRAM zapping a hardware function, and not a software function anyway?
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
Not that it really is that important, but I've never been limited to two on any of my Intel Macs. I routinely do 3 (old habit pattern) even though Apple said only 2 was needed, but there never has been any restriction. So I have no idea what this message is about.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
Patently false.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
This hint should be deleted. Zapping the PRAM occurs before the startup drive is even polled...which is often one of the reasons for zapping the PRAM to begin with.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
tough crowd. Anyway, when I got my first Intel machine, a core duo iMac, I discovered I could only zap PRAM twice. Same thing when I first got my Mac Pro. I submitted this hint under Snow Leopard because this is the first I noticed I could do as many as I wanted again. Maybe we should chalk it up to a firmware update somewhere along the lines.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
When I worked at Apple there were arguments based on belief, not fact, about how many extra chimes were sufficient to reset the PRAM.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
First off - Firmware Updates are completely seperate from OS Upgrades. There have been some Firmware/ System Upgrades simultaneously - that's usually when you do an install and the computer takes 15-30 minutes to reboot and then does it a couple of times.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
The future is here.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
you said it bro.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
<tech-snob rant>
I think it's funny how ancient troubleshooting steps carry on well beyond their usefulness. As of OS X, resetting your PRAM does very VERY little. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1242 In OS 9 and before, it was important, and it really DID fix things. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379 </tech-snob rant>
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
interesting. Explains alot.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
Sorry, but you are mistaken about it not being important in OS X. I've had some RAM problems in the past where RAM wasn't reporting it's real size when newly installed. Zapping the PRAM fixed it every time.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
Read the Apple support article that Detrius posted: Mac OS X: What's stored in PRAM Specifically, read this section from it:
Basically, if you're having an issue with video settings, startup drive selection, or speaker volume, then resetting PRAM *might* help. For anything else, it won't help. And if your time zone happens to not be US Pacific time, then you introduce a new problem by zapping PRAM. Go ahead, keep zapping PRAM. As Douglas Adams said, it's mostly harmless. But as Apple's support site says -- and really, I think they would know -- if you're trying to solve any other problem, it's very unlikely to help. ---
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
Read the article a bit closer and you'll see it says "Some information stored in PRAM includes" (emphasis added), which seems to indicate it is not an exhaustive list. For example the list doesn't say anything about time zone information, but the text below explicitly says time zone information should be checked, indicating that is stored in PRAM too.
Short of you calling ewelch a liar for saying it has worked for him in the past I can't see how you can continue this line of reasoning. I'll add that I've certainly seen zapping the PRAM fix all kinds of weird behaviour from not listing boot volumes to audio corruption. That said (and back to the original topic), I can't say I've ever come across a limit to how many times PRAM can be zapped, and I'm not sure why I should care. Surely twice is sufficient? ---
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
Agreeing - I'm a tech, and I do this all the time for all kinds of Macs running all kinds of operating systems. Nothing's changed with regards to this in Snow Leopard.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
As one of the things PRAM zapping does is "DVD region setting" then a two go limit would be understandable, as I recall on PCs you only get a couple of attempts allowed at setting/changing the DVD region of the drive so this actually does make sense to me.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
If I understand correctly then it's not about the total number of times the PRAM can be reset. It's about how often one can do it while holding down the keys in a single attempt. So: how many times one can hear the startup boing using the procedures from Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
Resetting the PRAM doesn't change the DVD drive's region - that would be catastrophic, as there is indeed a limit as to how many times you can change that (it's 5, if I remember correctly).
10.6: The return of unlimited PRAM zapping
not to open an old wound (and not that it should have to come to that, no thanks to the snobs here) but just to shed a bit of light on the discrepancy... After discussing with an old Mac guru of mine, we concluded that the apparent PRAM zapping limit I experienced was caused by the fact that all three Macs, two of mine and one of a friend, had bluetooth keyboards attached, and after the second zap, they became unrecognized until the startup completed. I have no way of testing this now, but it's the only explanation that makes sense, because I'm 100% certain I'm not imagining the stuff.
How-to: open an old wound
Typical how you're writing "wasn't totally on the mark" when in fact your "zapping PRAM was limited to two restarts" was plain wrong. Why is it that hard for you to admit you were wrong?
How-to: open an old wound
Well, if that's what it all comes down to for you, who's right and who's wrong, I was wrong. Totally wrong, dead wrong. I'm so gosh darn sorry. Whatever I can do to make it up to you, oh wise and mighty one, please tell me and I'll prostrate myself before your greatness and beg for forgiveness. I mean, how dare I submit an observation here, without being TOTALLY RIGHT!
How-to: open an old wound
Did you have any chance to look into that mirror yet?
How-to: open an old wound
Yes, I looked into the mirror, and I am so uncool. I'm consulting my self help books now to see how I can avoid all this projection in the future. Thank you so much for helping me see the light. I mean, it feels great to admit how wrong I am on a tech site. Nevermind the discussions, I was WRONG! |
SearchFrom our Sponsor...Latest Mountain Lion HintsWhat's New:HintsNo new hintsComments last 2 daysLinks last 2 weeksNo recent new linksWhat's New in the Forums?
Hints by TopicNews from Macworld
From Our Sponsors |
|
Copyright © 2014 IDG Consumer & SMB (Privacy Policy) Contact Us All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. |
Visit other IDG sites: |
|
|
|
Created this page in 0.33 seconds |
|