Types of Mac OS X startup modes. Mac Safe Mode imac Safe Mode

The good thing about the Mac OS operating system is that it is easy to learn and works almost flawlessly. But this does not mean that the possibility of problems arising with it is completely excluded. If it happened software glitch, most often you can eliminate it yourself. The main thing is to choose the right tool, and in this case, a method for emergency startup of a computer. On a MacBook, there are more than a dozen emergency modes that you can enter when you boot your computer. In this article, we’ll look at how each mode is useful and how to get into it.

Table of contents:

Recovery Mode

To get into recovery mode, when you turn on the computer, after the sound signal about the start of the boot (if any), but before the boot indication appears, you need to hold down the Command+R key combination on the keyboard.

Recovery mode offers the user to use utilities to:

System Restore from backup copy, recorded in Time Machine. This can be done if the backup mode was enabled when the computer was running;
Reinstalling Mac OS. The utility allows you to quickly reinstall step by step operating system computer;
Read information on the Apple website. This may be required if problems arise with the computer and there is no other device to visit the site;
Check for availability problems hard disk, or erase information from it.

Recovery mode in Mac OS is useful when the computer does not boot, and the reason for this may be system damage. In this case, you can restore a copy of the system or reinstall it.

Autorun manager mode

To switch to startup manager mode, you need to hold down the Option button and the Menu button. It's worth noting that if you have an Apple Remote (connected to your device), you can use it instead of the Option button.

Startup manager mode is required to switch between operating systems, for example, if Windows is installed on the computer as the second system.

Boot mode from external CD/DVD drive

To boot from external drive, you need to hold down the C button when starting the computer.

If the installation version of the operating system Mac systems The OS is available on disk, you can install it in a similar way. But it is worth noting that in this moment Computers running Mac OS have virtually no optical drives, and this boot option is only available for computers based on Intel processors.

Please note: If your computer does not have a disc drive, you can boot from an external CD/DVD by inserting it into external drive connected to a computer via USB.

Booting in external hard drive mode

To go to this mode download, you will need to enable it first. For this:

In this mode, you can transfer information from one MacBook to another at high speed. To do this, you need to connect computers to each other via a FireWire or Thunderbolt connector. The computer on which the external mode is enabled hard drive, will appear on the second computer as an external drive, and it will be possible to transfer data from it at high speed.

Safe mode

To boot into safe mode, you need to hold down Shift when starting the computer.

Safe mode useful when it is necessary to solve problems that have arisen in the operation of the computer, for example, when the system does not boot for one reason or another. When you start your computer in safe mode, a diagnostic test is performed, according to which Mac OS can independently fix some of the problems that have arisen.

Starting the computer in safe mode assumes that functions and programs that are critical for the operation of the system are loaded. If your computer is experiencing problems due to third-party applications, your MacBook will be able to boot into Safe Mode without any problems, from where you can remove third party applications or disable them automatic download at system startup.

Network recovery mode

To boot into network recovery mode, you must use the keyboard shortcut Command+Option+R when starting your computer.

This boot mode is close to safe mode, but it has one important difference. You need to boot Mac OS into it if you need to restore the system. For example, when the partition on the disk that is responsible for recovery is damaged, you can use this mode and use the distribution kit from Apple servers to reinstall the system.

Boot logging mode (Verbose mode)

To switch to detailed logging mode when the computer boots, you need to hold down the Command+V key combination.

This mode assumes that the Mac OS computer will boot normally. Its difference from the standard computer startup is that instead of the usual loading indicator, the user will see how the computer startup process progresses. Advanced user can determine from the boot protocol what exactly there are problems with if there are computer malfunctions.

Diagnostic mode

To enter diagnostic mode on a MacBook, you need to hold down the D button while booting.

The diagnostic mode on computers running the Mac OS operating system is required to test the hardware components of the device. In it you can check which hardware components are faulty, as well as perform initial diagnostics. If you suspect that it is out of order or damaged HDD, faulty RAM, there are problems with the processors, you can check them through the diagnostic mode.

Network diagnostic mode

To switch to network diagnostics mode on Mac OS, you need to hold down the Option+D buttons when starting the computer.

This mode is almost identical to that discussed above. It also allows you to test your computer's hardware components. The difference between this mode and the previous one is that it uses diagnostic tools located on Apple servers (an Internet connection is required). Accordingly, this mode can be useful in situations where an SSD disk or HDD drive is partially or completely damaged.

Boot mode via NetBoot server

To get into boot mode from the NetBoot server, you need to hold down the N button while booting.

This mode is used to restore the operating system. It can be used if the other recovery methods discussed above are not suitable for one reason or another. Recovery mode via NetBoot means that the finished recovery disk image is located on a server that can be accessed via the network.

Please note: This mode is most often used system administrators to restore the functionality of Mac OS computers that are connected to a single network but not connected to the Internet.

Command line mode

To boot into command line mode, you need to hold down the Command+S key combination when booting the computer.

In command line mode, also called single-user mode, only command line. This mode is suitable if you need to diagnose your computer or carry out maintenance. To use the command line on Mac OS, you need knowledge of UNIX commands.

PRAM/NVRAM reset mode

To reset PRAM/NVRAM when the computer boots, you need to hold down the Command+Option+P+R keys. They must be held until the computer reboots (about 20 seconds). If the computer beeps at startup, it will sound again accordingly..

sound signal NVRAM is a small non-volatile memory that stores Mac settings

OS. Depending on what kind of computer it is, it changes the list of settings stored in this memory, for example, this could be screen resolution, boot volume, volume, etc. Resetting these settings may help if you have problems booting your computer.

SMC (System Management Controller) reset mode

Depending on what kind of Mac OS computer you have, the reset methods differ:
Spontaneous changes in the keyboard backlight level;
Problems with changing the display backlight level - lack of response to the brightness up/down keys, incorrect choice of backlight level when auto-brightness is on;
The computer does not respond to attempts to turn on (pressing the power button);
Incorrect reaction of the computer to opening/closing the lid. For example, the computer may not wake up from sleep mode or may not turn on (new MacBook models automatically turn on when the lid is opened);
Problems with battery charging or MagSafe indication of the battery charging process and operating mode;
Problems with recognizing the amount of battery charge, rapid discharge; Inclusion additional cooling
(coolers) at low load;
Malfunctioning sleep mode - spontaneous falling asleep and waking up;
Problems in the operation of system or third-party applications - constant crashes, freezes when loading;

Problems with the external display. In one of the previous articles, I wrote about what steps should be taken. I think it would be fair if a similar article appeared about the MacBook. After all, what could be worse than the situation,, and you clearly realize that all your information remains on it, the accumulation of which was spent hundreds of working hours. In this article, I will outline an emergency action plan when your MAC flatly refuses to start. It is not at all necessary to perform absolutely all of the above steps. But we still need to act.

If your MacBook won't boot or freezes on boot, it could be due to:

problem with hardware (HDD, memory, controller, processor, etc.);
problem with OS X (for example, upgrading to El Capitan)
newly installed hardware (disconnect all USB devices)

As in the case of an iPhone that won’t turn on, the first thing to do is make sure that the MacBook’s battery is not simply discharged or the charger has not failed. If something is still displayed on the screen or even the boot process begins (which ends up stuck on a spinning disk or even breaks down), you should try following the steps described below in the order they appear.

If your MacBook is completely frozen and requires a reboot -
Need to create bootable USB flash drive with OS X?-
MAC stuck on white screen after updating OS X -
Read more about different boot modes -
You don’t know what the screen that appears when you boot your MAC means -

STEP 1: Boot into Safe Mode

First, you should try booting your MacBook into Safe Mode, which limits the scans and downloadable functionality your Mac performs at startup. I don’t guarantee that after starting in this mode, your MAC will suddenly start working as before, but it’s still worth a try.

Turn off your MacBook and then turn it on while holding down the shift button. Booting into Safe Mode may take a long time (if your computer boots at all), so be patient. If you want to know what exactly happens when you boot into Safe Mode, you can boot your MacBook by holding down the shift + Command + V buttons, which in turn will launch Safe Mode + verbose mode on your MAC.

Verbose mode is an optional boot mode for the operating system (including OS X, Windows, Linux), in which the screen displays detailed information about downloadable drivers, software and processes occurring when the computer boots.

Be patient and attentive during Mac downloads Book. If your computer does boot into safe mode, try simply rebooting it from top menu Apple. If the MacBook now boots up in the usual way, we will assume that the situation has been corrected and now everything is fine. If the MacBook does not boot, proceed to the next step.

STEP 2: Download Disk Utility

There can be a lot of reasons why a MacBook freezes when loading. But let us check now and then discard or try to fix the reason related to your MAC hard drive problems. The easiest way hard checks disk is starting Disk Utility(Disk Utility).

The first step is to turn off your MAC. If MacBook stuck on gray (white, blue, pink...) screen with a spinning disk, you need to force it (the computer) to turn off. To do this, press and hold the power button for 5-8 seconds.

To launch Disk Utility, you need to get into OS X recovery mode. To do this, hold down Command + R when you turn on the computer. If everything went well, you will be taken to a screen with a title MAC OS X Utilities(see picture below). On this screen you need to click on “ Disk Utility» (Disk Utility). Then click on the name of the built-in hard drive on the left side of Disk Utility and start the verification process by clicking on Verify Disk on the lower right side of the screen. Wait for the verification to complete.

If any problems are found, you will be prompted to correct them. Confirm your intentions by clicking on Repair Disk. After that, try restarting your MacBook again.

STEP 3: Target Disk Mode

As the saying goes, “it’s better to have a bird in your hands than a pie in the sky.” How are you doing with data backups? Well, the data that was stored on your MacBook... And now it won’t start... Sadness! If data loss on your MacBook doesn’t particularly worry you, skip straight to the next step. But if you are now in a cold sweat trying to remember whether you copied anything valuable to other disks or flash drives, then here is another gift from Apple for you - EXTERNAL DRIVE MODE.

Target Disc Mode- a special boot mode unique to MAC computers, which allows you to access your computer’s hard drive without loading OS X. Using this mode, you can save data when your MacBook does not boot for any reason.

To launch external drive mode and gain access to the contents of the MacBook hard drive, do this:
1 Find another MAC computer. If you don't have one personally, ask your friends
2 Connect both Macs using a Thunderbolt cable
3 Turn off your MAC. If necessary, hold for more than 5 seconds POWER button
4 Press the T button immediately after turning on the MacBook and hold it until the blue screen Thunderbolt icons.

You just launched External Disk Mode. This mode, roughly speaking, turns your MAC into external hard disk. If everything went smoothly, your friend's MAC will show an additional external hard drive in Finder. Now copy and save everything you need.

When you're done with the drive, you'll need to eject it into the Finder like any other device. After that, disconnect the Thunderbolt cable and turn off your MAC computer (by holding down the power button for more than 5 seconds).

STEP 4: Reinstall OS X

If none of the previous steps brought “relief,” all that remains is to reinstall the OS X operating system. To do this, you need to boot the computer again in recovery mode, well, remember as in step 2. To do this, turn on the computer while holding Command + R.

Wait for OS X Utilities to load and select from the list Reinstall OS X. Follow the onscreen instructions until you completely reinstall the operating system.

If your MAC has not mastered the installation of OS X or has been running on a fresh operating system for a short time, most likely there are some more serious problems with your MAC. Such problems may occur due to recently installed new hardware (memory, hard drive, etc.). Check your new hardware for compatibility with your computer.
If you have not installed anything on your MAC, you need to check the existing modules (hard drive controller, memory modules, etc.). But it is better to entrust such checks to service center specialists.

After upgrading to OS X Yosemite, there is sometimes an issue where the Mac constantly boots into Safe Mode. In this mode, only the services necessary for the operation of the system and several utilities for checking the system are loaded. Usually, to boot into safe mode, you need to hold down the ⇧Shift key when you turn on the computer, but sometimes the system boots into safe mode on its own.

If you have this problem, there are a few things you should pay attention to.

Does the system actually boot into safe mode?

Distinctive features of Safe Mode in earlier versions OS X had a progress bar on the loading screen. In OS X Yosemite, this remains unchanged, and in addition, the rainbow circle instead of the cursor during loading has been replaced by a miniature progress bar. Also on the login screen account You will see a red “Safe Mode” sign in the top right corner of the screen.

Reset PRAM

By holding down the ⇧Shift key while turning on the computer, you issue the OSX boot command. Your Mac can save these commands to a special drive called PRAM (parameter RAM) and in the future you will not need to hold down the ⇧Shift key. If this happens, you can try to solve the problem by resetting PRAM. To do this, restart the computer and, when you hear the computer boot signal, hold down the key combination ⌥Alt/Option + ⌘Command + P + R. Wait until the system reboots and release the keys after the boot signal repeats.

Repair or format your hard drive.

Another one possible reason Your computer constantly booting in safe mode may be due to errors in formatting your boot disk.

Start your computer in recovery mode (by holding down the key combination ⌘Command + R when you turn on the computer) and select Disk Utility. In the window that opens, hold down the ⌘Command key, click on the boot volume and the disk on which it is located, then click the Check disk button in the First Aid tab. This way you will run a check of volume layout and disk formatting. If errors are found, click Fix Disk. Restart your computer to see if the problem is resolved.

If your Mac still boots in Safe Mode, it's worth formatting your hard drive and restoring your data from a Time Machine backup. To do this, first make sure that you have a full backup of your system (if not, you should definitely do so), then boot your computer again into recovery mode. Launch Disk Utility, select your hard drive in the left column and open the Disk Partition tab. Select “1 Partition” from the drop-down menu, then click the “Options” button at the bottom of the window and make sure that GUID is selected as the partition scheme. Give the section a name and select Mac format OS X Extended (magazine). Click Apply.

When the process is complete, close Disk Utility and select "Restore system from Time Machine backup"

Having trouble formatting your hard drive?

In some cases, damage to the hard drive prevents Disk Utility from formatting it. Messages appear stating that the partition cannot be disabled or the disk is busy. In these cases, you need to boot from another disk, format the problem disk and restore the system.

To do this, you need to install OS X on a free external USB drive and start the system from it. This way you can use Disk Utility and format the problem disk as described above. After this, you can start your Mac in recovery mode by holding down the key combination ⌥Alt/Option + ⌘Command + R when starting the computer, and selecting Restore your Mac from a Time Machine backup.

The result is a repaired hard drive with restored OS X and all user data, and the system should start normally.

Why are they needed and when to use them.

Generally, the Mac runs smoothly. However, anyone can encounter a problem that prevents OS X from loading.

The system has a whole set of tools for emergency computer startup, system recovery, and specific startup methods for non-standard situations. Let's take a closer look at everything possible options Mac computer boot.

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Most modern Macs support more than 10 ways to start the system. To get into any of them, you need to hold down a certain button or key combination immediately after the start sound when turning on the power.

1. Recovery mode

Why is it needed: Recovery mode provides access to Disk Utility, OS X Installer, and the Time Machine backup recovery service. You need to boot in this mode if the system does not start in the usual way, to restore it from a backup or completely reinstall it.

How to get: press the combination Command (⌘) + R after the sound signal indicates that the computer is starting to turn on until the loading indicator appears.

2. Autorun manager

Why is it needed: If the second system on the Mac is Windows, then in this menu you can choose whether to boot into OS X or into Window.

How to get: hold down the button Option (⌥) or point the previously paired Apple Remote at your Mac and hold down the button Menu.

3. Boot from CD/DVD

Why is it needed: Mac computers Intel based with an optical drive or with a connected external CD/DVD drive can be loaded from a disk. If you have an OS X distribution on the disk, you can install the operating system.

How to get: clamp WITH.

4. External drive mode

Why is it needed: any Mac with a FireWire or Thunderbolt port, you can use it as an external drive for another Mac to transfer large amounts of data between computers or to expand the storage on a second computer.

How to get: You will first need to go to Settings – Boot Volume and activate External drive mode. After this, you should hold down the button while loading T.

If you don’t want to risk the data on your Mac’s drive, choose a capacious and fast flash drive.

5. Safe Mode

Why is it needed: safe mode allows you to eliminate problems that arise during normal loading of OS X. When the system starts, the integrity of the drive will be checked and only the most necessary components systems. If third-party applications caused startup errors, the system will boot without problems.

We use this mode when OS X crashes and freezes when loading. If the Mac boots into it, we begin to disable the automatic loading of applications that launch along with the system.

How to get: clamp Shift (⇧).

6. Network recovery mode

Why is it needed: This mode is similar to the previous one, but allows you to restore the system from a distribution downloaded from the Apple server. To do this, you will need to connect to a network with Internet access. This mode should be used if the normal recovery area of the disk is damaged.

How to get: use a combination Command (⌘) + Option (⌥) + R.

Specialized devices from Apple will help you save data and be able to restore from a backup.

7. Reset PRAM/NVRAM

Why is it needed: A special partition of Mac memory stores certain settings (speaker volume settings, screen resolution, boot volume selection, and information about recent critical errors). If errors occur that may be related to these settings, you should reset them.

How to get: After the beep, press and hold Command + Option + P + R. Hold down the keys until the computer restarts and you hear the boot tone a second time.

8. Diagnostic mode

Why is it needed: This mode is designed for testing Mac hardware components. It will help identify the cause of the computer malfunction. If there is a suspicion of a malfunction of Mac components, we boot and check.

How to get: press the button D.

9. Network diagnostic mode

Why is it needed: like the previous mode, it is intended for testing hardware components. However, if your Mac has hard drive or SSD problems, Network Mode will download everything needed for testing from the Apple server.

How to get: press the key combination Option (⌥) + D.

10. Boot from NetBoot server

Why is it needed: In this mode, you can install or restore the operating system over the network. To do this, you will need a ready-made disk image, which is stored on a server accessible over the network.

How to get: just press the button N.

11. Single-player mode

Why is it needed: In this mode, only the command line will be available. You should only boot this way if you have experience with UNIX commands. Advanced users will be able to perform computer maintenance and troubleshoot system problems.

How to get: press the combination Command (⌘) + S.

12. Detailed logging mode

Why is it needed: This mode is no different from the standard Mac boot. However, during system startup, instead of the usual indicator, you will see a detailed system startup log. This may be necessary to understand which OS boot process is causing the error or failure. Please note that this mode is aimed at advanced users.

How to get: press the combination Command (⌘) + V.

13. Reset System Management Controller (SMC) parameters

Why is it needed: such a reset should be used if there is system errors, which do not disappear after rebooting the system and turning off/on the computer. Below is a list of similar problems in which Apple experts recommend resetting the controller parameters:

computer fans spinning at high speeds for no reason (when the Mac is idle);
improper operation of the keyboard backlight;
incorrect operation of the power indicator;
The battery charge indicator on the laptop does not work correctly;
the display backlight is not adjustable or is adjusted incorrectly;
Mac doesn't respond when you press the power button;
the laptop reacts incorrectly to opening and closing the lid;
the computer goes into sleep mode on its own;
problems arise when charging the battery;
The MagSafe port indicator does not correctly display the current operating mode;
Applications do not work correctly or freeze upon startup;
Errors occur when working with an external display.

How to get: on different Macs this reset done in excellent ways.

On desktop computers:

On laptops with a non-removable battery:

Shift + Control + Option

On laptops with a removable battery:

Bookmark the article so you don't have to search for it if problems arise.

Just yesterday, while updating my old Mac Mini from OS X Lion 10.7.4 to 10.7.5, which is used as a media server, I encountered a strange problem. After downloading and installing the necessary packages, the computer asked to restart and then got stuck on gray screen downloads.

No matter how perfect Mac OS is, various mysterious glitches still occur. You can try to overcome the problem by booting in safe mode.

Safe mode

Starting Mac OS in Safe Mode:

Make sure your Mac computer switched off.
Press the computer's power button.
Immediately after you hear the start tone, press and hold the Shift key. Shift must be pressed as quickly as possible after the start signal, but not before it.
Release Shift when you see a gray Apple icon and a progress bar (looks like a loading icon).

disabling all autorun elements;
loading only kernel extensions necessary for operation;
disabling third-party fonts, that is, only system fonts located in the folder are loaded /System/Library/Fonts, and the font cache is also cleared;
forced verification file system boot volume and access rights correction;
removing the dynamic loader cache, which can cause problems after a system update;
disabling Quartz Extreme graphics acceleration.

Resetting PRAM and NVRAM

You can also try to solve problems by resetting PRAM(parameter RAM - parametric random access memory) and NVRAM (non-volatile RAM - non-volatile memory). It contains disk startup settings, which may contain errors not related to the hardware. When you start your Mac, hold down Command + Option + P + R until the computer restarts and you hear the system startup sound. If your Mac boots normally, check your settings by going to System Settings— many were probably dropped.