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:

• Peripherals

• 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.