Startup and System Issues Flashcards
7 cards from real ACSP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Startup and System Issues flashcards as text
A Mac with Apple silicon displays a loading bar during startup that stops at about 50% and then the system shuts down. What is the most likely cause?
Answer: A firmware update was interrupted mid-installation
An interrupted firmware update can leave Apple silicon Macs in a partial state, causing startup to stall at a progress bar before the system powers off.
Which key combination forces an Intel Mac to bypass the internal startup disk and boot from an external or network source?
Answer: Option (Alt)
Holding Option (Alt) at startup on an Intel Mac opens Startup Manager, letting the user select any available boot volume including external drives and NetBoot images.
After installing a new kernel extension, a Mac immediately kernel panics on every boot. What is the fastest way to recover without reinstalling macOS?
Answer: Boot into Safe Mode to prevent the extension from loading, then remove it
Safe Mode skips non-essential kernel extensions, allowing you to boot successfully and remove the problematic extension before returning to a normal startup.
A technician needs to revive a Mac with Apple silicon that won't turn on at all. Which tool and connection are required?
Answer: Apple Configurator 2 connected via USB-C to the appropriate port on the target Mac
Apple Configurator 2 can revive or restore Apple silicon Macs by connecting a USB-C cable from a host Mac to the specific DFU port on the target Mac.
Which of the following symptoms most strongly indicates a corrupt spotlight index rather than a startup disk hardware failure?
Answer: The Mac boots normally but Spotlight searches return no results or unexpected results
A corrupt Spotlight index causes search failures but does not prevent the Mac from booting, unlike hardware or filesystem failures that typically manifest before or at the login window.
On a Mac with Apple silicon, what does holding the power button until startup options appear allow you to do that was not possible on Intel Macs using the same action?
Answer: Access the full Startup Options screen including Recovery, Safe Mode, and volume selection without a keyboard shortcut
Apple silicon Macs replace multiple Intel startup key combinations with a single long power-button press that surfaces a unified Startup Options UI.
A user reports their Mac starts up and shows the desktop but the Dock and menu bar never appear. Which step should a technician try first?
Answer: Log out and back in, or force-quit and relaunch the Finder
The Dock and menu bar are managed by the Finder process; relaunching the Finder via Force Quit is the least destructive first step when the desktop loads but the UI shell is missing.