The Methodology
This book is based on material provided to
students attending Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.4, a three-day,
hands-on course that provides an intense and in-depth exploration
of how to troubleshoot Mac OS X. For purposes of consistency, we
have maintained the basic structure of the course material, though
you may complete it at your own pace.
This course is designed to help experienced
users become experts who are able to support other Mac OS X users
by:
-
Providing knowledge of how Mac OS X works
-
Showing how to use diagnostic and repair
tools
-
Explaining troubleshooting and repair
procedures
For example, in Lesson 8, "Network Configuration and Troubleshooting,"
you'll learn basic networking concepts (knowledge). You'll acquire
network configuration and troubleshooting techniques using Network
preferences and Network Utility (tools). And you'll explore methods
for troubleshooting networking issues (procedures). In addition,
each lesson includes troubleshooting tips for dealing with common
problems.
You'll also apply what you've learned by
performing hands-on exercises.
Finally, you'll learn how to integrate your
knowledge, procedures, and tools using the Apple troubleshooting
process. The troubleshooting process is a method for systematically
solving problems.
Lessons
1 through 7 focus
on the elements involved in setting up, configuring, and
troubleshooting a standalone Mac OS X computer:
-
Mac OS X installation
-
Users accounts
-
File systems
-
Permissions
-
Application environments
-
Command-line interface
Lessons
8 through 10 deal
with configuring Mac OS X to work in a networked environment. You
will troubleshoot issues involving network services, such as file
and Web servers, and configure Mac OS X to provide network
services:
-
Network configuration and troubleshooting
-
Accessing network services
-
Providing network services
Lessons
11 and 12
introduce you to the support in Mac OS X for attaching hardware
devices and printing:
Lesson
13 reveals the technical details of how Mac OS X starts up, and
Lesson 14 explains how
to implement Apple's General Troubleshooting Flowchart to correctly
identify and fix machines that have unknown software issues:
-
Startup sequence
-
Troubleshooting
In an effort to be informative but not
overwhelming, we have included several supplementary appendices.
They may be valuable to you, though they are not considered
essential.
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