Tech Question - OS X Boot

there's at very least a method of turning off the boot screen, so you can watch it start up DOS style... i don't know about actually getting the prompt... and for the life of me i can't remember, let me try and dig up the method...

pnw

From a post by someone (can't remember who) along time ago....

hey i just thought i'd post this for any UNIX junkies out here. i know i've always gotten a wierd satisfaction watching my linux boxes boot in a pure text fashion. now i have the same on my mac.

sudo nvram boot-args="-v"

that will do it for you and now your mac will boot with the cool quasiretrofuturistic textmode.

sudo nvram boot-args=""

turns it back off.

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Originally posted by sickboy_osX
Now is that in Open Firmware or is that in Mac OS X? I didnt think there were any users in OF but, nvram would be somthing that was used in OF.

hmmmm

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Just open up the terminal in OS X and enter the commands as per my previous post 🙂

Originally posted by sickboy_osX
Now is that in Open Firmware or is that in Mac OS X? I didnt think there were any users in OF but, nvram would be somthing that was used in OF.

hmmmm

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😕

Originally posted by sickboy_osX
🙂 i did, thanks for the help

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It worked then?
was it as expected or just similar?
does that adjust your thinking about open firmware?
what advantages or informations would this modification provide me or would it just be a cosmetic "windoze like" interest?

Originally posted by kettle
It worked then?

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yes it works. but it's 'permanent' in the sense that it's in firmware. if you want to set it back you have to do it manually. i wouldn't recommend messing around with this stuff unless you know what you're doing. the 'sudo' prefix is to fake superuser privledges, which can have adverse effects on your machine if you're not cautious.

what advantages or informations would this modification provide me or would it just be a cosmetic "windoze like" interest?

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nvram is a place in memory where HDD independent settings are stored that the kernel needs early in the boot process. there are certain switches ie. -v or -s that can be tripped manually with keystrokes at boottime or 'permanently' with switches stored in the nvram.

the example in this thread dumps you into verbose mode, where you can see a step-by-step process of booting from almost start to finish. it doen't really have too many useful purposes:

• debugging
• troubleshooting boot issues

You can find all this information and more in the Console log of every session on your computer which is automatically ran every time you start your machine.

This mode could be likened to your windows analogy if you were to hold down the F8 key after POST on a Windows box. There you would have safe mode, last safe boot, etc. which is semi-equivalent in a sense to some of the nvram switches.