“When it comes to troubleshooting, I always try the simplest things first, and these two tricks have been successful in solving some 90 percent of the Mac problems I’ve encountered,” Adrian Kingsley-Hughes writes for ZDNet.
“I’ve used these to solve a wide variety of weird Mac issues, ranging from poor performance and systems not wanting to boot up (or which are taking a long time to boot), to the fans running crazy or the screen being blank,” Kingsley-Hughes writes. “The following is information that all Mac owners should know, and can help prevent you having to take an unnecessary trip to see a Genius at your nearest Apple Store.”
Kingsley-Hughes explains how to:
• Reset SMC (System Management Controller)
• Reset PRAM (Parameter RAM) / NVRAM (Non-Volatile RAM)
Read more in the full article here.
…If that doesn’t help…
Reboot, holding down the Command-R keys. This will boot your Mac to your Recovery volume. Choose Disk Utility and have it repair your boot volume.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314
My first Macbook (2009) was my main machine for 4 years. I had to force a reboot once in that time. My Air (2013) has been more finicky unfortunately, but it’s still a breeze compared to Windows machines that would crash or produce assorted errors on a weekly basis.
The most time consuming are PICNIC and caused by a loose nut on the keyboard.
It’s not like these “tips” are a big secret. But most “newbie” Mac users don’t know them.
Because Macs stay useful for so long, a possible cause for “not wanting to boot up” (for desktop Macs) and other odd issues is the little PRAM battery getting weak or being dead. It’s a $3 part, but an iMac needs to be opened up to replace it.
A lot of people do nor even no how to reboot an iPhone never mind do a PRAM reset on a Mac. I see thousands of computers come into our service centre only to have a technician work there magic in front of the costumer. To their amazement they are walking out the door two minutes later with a fully functional Apple product and a smile on their face.
More people should call AppleCare though. It’s really underutilized.
I’ve been using Mac since 1989 and Apple since 1979. My 2013 MBA is the very first Mac that I have actually had to reload Yosemite from El Capitan. Even the Apple folks don’t know what’s wrong. I’m sure the my MBA is the exception rather than the rule, but since I had so many operational and software issues I will not upgrade my other two MBA”s to El Capitan probably forever.
Actually got a chance to use this info tonight. I fired up my 2008 15″ MBP and ended up with a reset password screen for a forgotten password. I never got to the password screen to enter it. Reboot didn’t work, got the same screen. Finally able to access password screen and sign in by resetting PRAM. Thea!!! 🖖😀⌚️
Thanks! (I suppose I should also thank Adrian Kingsley-Hughes of ZDNet)
I just had a problem with my daughter’s mac mini not connecting to the WiFi (and mouse problems) and I remember bookmarking this article.
I’ve been using Mac’s since 1984 and never heard of reseting the SMC. It worked! I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. 😉
Thanks again.
After it started working, I also reset the PRAM for good measure.