Eclectic Light has all kinds of delight for any Apple geek
Mac Geek Gab, my favorite podcast, is like the old “Car Talk” radio program, but for Apple geeks. It’s one of a handful of podcasts I listen to religiously and I learn something new in every episode. Over the years, I’d heard hosts Dave Hamilton and John F. Braun direct listeners to the Eclectic Light Co. website for a solution many times but had never visited it myself.
Recently, the hosts were talking about how new Macs with Apple M1 processors finally ditch the arcane key commands for startup modes such as recovery and safe.
So, Intel Mac users restart their Macs and then immediately hold down:
· Command-R for macOS Recovery mode.
· Option-Command-R for macOS Recovery over the internet to install or upgrade to the latest compatible version of macOS.
· OptionShift-Command-R for macOS Recovery over the internet (to reinstall the macOS version that came with your Mac.
· Shift for Safe Boot mode.
· T for Target Disk mode.
And so on.
But if your Mac sports an M1 processor, you can forget those (and all those other) hard-to-remember startup key shortcuts. Instead, press and hold down the Power button until the startup options window appears, and then select the startup mode you desire.
The Mac Geek Gab guys were 100 percent correct about Eclectic Light’s explanations — they were among the clearest and most concise I’ve seen and were well worth reading.
But it turns out the Eclectic Light website is much more than a couple of useful articles. I went there seeking information about startup modes, but I fell down the rabbit hole. I spent more than an hour perusing the other geeky delights, including more than 40 free Mac utilities created by Howard Oakley, the site’s proprietor and chief illuminator.
And these are not just free utilities, they’re free and useful ones, such as:
· Silent Knight, for checking your Mac’s security systems.
· T2M2 (The Time Machine Mechanic), for analyzing and diagnosing Time Machine issues.
· Scrub, for cleaning folders or volumes of potentially sensitive data.
· Cirrus, for controlling, investigating, and diagnosing iCloud issues.
· Alifix , for refreshing Aliases and identifies broken Aliases
But wait, there’s even more!
Beyond the useful (and free) utilities, you’ll also find an outstanding collection of articles and links to items of interest to anyone wanting to know more about what goes on under the hoods of new M1based Macs.
Another section offers thousands of well-curated links to articles about troubleshooting specific Mac issues.
Finally, since the site’s subtitle is “Macs, Painting and More,” you’ll also find musings and images on art and painting.
So, check out Eclectic Light Co. today if you can spare the time. Or bookmark it and enjoy it some other time. Either way, if you’re a Mac geek, you’ll want to have it on your radar.
Resources
Eclectic Light Co. https://eclecticlight.co
Startup Modes on M1 Macs: https://eclecticlight.co/2020/11/28/startup-modes-for-m1-macs/
Startup Modes on Intel Macs: https://eclecticlight.co/2019/11/16/ which-startup-mode/ Mac Geek Gab www.macgeekgab.com