Tell me more ×
Ask Different is a question and answer site for power users of Apple hardware and software. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 2 down vote favorite

Is there a best-practice way of dealing with a system crash or a system freeze? I know of the "force-quit" keyboard shortcut. But what if it doesn't work? I just bought a MacBookPro and I am switching from Linux. In Linux there is a possibility to shutdown the X window system, and log in from a text console, or one can communicate with the kernel directly via magic SysRq-key, and for example, remount a hard disk read-only or reboot the system.

share|improve this question
SysRq-key is mapped to F13 on Macs, see: apple.stackexchange.com/questions/17986/… – kenorb Aug 3 '12 at 18:28

1 Answer

up vote 4 down vote accepted

If force-quitting doesn't work you have a few options:

  • Sit it out and wait for the Mac to churn through whatever it is stuck on (this doesn't always work, but I've had beachballs go away over time).
  • Trying opening Activity Viewer and see if you can kill the process there. Same caveat as above.
  • Force-shutdown the Mac by holding the power button for seven seconds. This always works.

The relationship between Mac OS X and the Unix underpinnings aren't the same as they are between X window/GNOME and the kernel. It isn't nearly as open, so there is really no messing with the kernel near as I can tell in Mac OS X. I usually go the route I mentioned above and as long as I maintain the system properly and regularly I always seem to get back on my feet without any problems.

share|improve this answer
I must admit, this is a bit surprising. Isn't the use of the power button dangerous? Again, on Linux it's usually the wost thing you can do, resulting eventually in a corrupted file system. Thanks! – Julian Wergieluk Oct 25 '10 at 18:20
1  
I've never had a problem with the file system upon killing the power to a Mac ever. I've had open files get corrupted, but I save early and often, so it's been a long, long time since that has last happened. – Philip Regan Oct 25 '10 at 18:29
3  
Recent versions of OS X use file system journalling by default, which means the file system can almost always heal itself after a crash. Mind you, this does nothing to protect the contents of open files... – Gordon Davisson Oct 25 '10 at 19:35
I bought a new MacBookPro last thursday, and I already had a system freeze three times. Two of them while copying data from an external hard disk and one after a system update.. not a very lucky start :( But you are right Gordon: with journaling a file system should be able to rewind to the last working state. – Julian Wergieluk Oct 25 '10 at 21:24
Journalling doesn't work by rewinding, it actually does more the opposite: it completes whatever file operations were in process when the computer crashed. – Gordon Davisson Oct 28 '10 at 22:09

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.