[Ham-Mac] Alarm clock result.

[Thomas Rees]

Just for the record, and for your piece of mind, John,
the events you recount are actually what it is supposed to do, given 
the keys pressed. In particular, your,

> press thecmd-opt-p-r keys.....more success this time, the computer 
> tries to load
> up the software, and then stops, tries again, and stops etc......I let
> it continue for four events, and then released the keys

did the trick. Indeed, it did it 4 times.
On startup the machine goes through its POST (Power-On Self Test) 
operation, then senses the cmd-opt-p-r combo and then, finally, resets 
the Parameter RAM to it's default values. It then forces a reset at the 
cpu, which causes it to do a warm reboot. Why it doesn't just continue 
it's boot with a default pRAM, I don't know. Maybe (maybe!) somebody at 
Apple remembers.
Also for the record, in 18 years of Mac admin, I can't very few if any 
professional admin types that would let go of the keys after only one 
"chime" reset. At least two and often 3 or even 4. As if it will change 
anything. Perhaps it is the standard American idea, "If a little is 
good, a lot is better". Or maybe I just surround myself with neurotic 
computer geek friends.

Trees - KB7XL


On Tuesday, January 28, 2003, at 10:17 AM, Cleeve wrote:

> I posted the results this morning, but it appears to have gone astray,
> so, lets try again....
>
> etc etc etc
"We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal,
and then we leap in the dark to our success."

Thoreau