verbose mode boot

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verbose mode boot

Hi,

I have a clean install of snow leopard (no upgrade from tiger or leopard) and when I boot up I get a significant pause at the following:

launchctl: Please convert the following to launchd: /etc/mach_init.d/chum.plist

launchctl: Please convert the following to launchd: /etc/mach_init.d/dashboardadvisoryd.plist

launchctl: Please convert the following to launchd: /etc/mach_init.d/pilotfish.plist

I looked around the internet and other people have had this problem but I've never seen a solution how to fix it. There was a reference to utilities Cron and Lingon and I tried both but they were ultimately unhelpful.

Anyone have any advice on how to fix this problem? Applecare also told me that I have to bring it into the store because only a "genius" can fix it which seems a little ridiculous. It's a software glitch and there is no reason for me to drive an hour when I can simply issue a command line.

Macbook Pro 15", Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Apr 4, 2010 2:23 PM

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Answer 1

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Apr 4, 2010 3:34 PM in response to alphaace

Don't boot into verbose mode. Maybe if you explain why you're doing it, someone can help. Alternatively, peruse the google hits when searching for *'verbose mode boot mac'*

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Answer 2

alphaace Author

Level 1

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Apr 4, 2010 5:16 PM in response to baltwo

I'm sorry but I think you misunderstood. I was getting a significant delay in my boot so I booted into verbose mode to see what was causing it. Those 3 items cause a good chunk of the pause. That is why I want to know how to fix it. How is not booting into verbose mode going to change that?

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Answer 3

R C-R

Level 6

17,782 points

Apr 4, 2010 7:03 PM in response to alphaace

FWIW, in the /etc/mach_init.d/ folder the only item on my iMac is the dashboardadvisoryd.plist. The 'chum' & pilotfish items probably are from an optional install of the Developer Tools. CHUM = "Computer Hardware Understanding Development" in Apple's slightly weird nomenclature. (See pilotfish(plist) CHUD Tools Manual Page & chum(8) CHUD Tools Manual Page for a bit more about that.)

If you are not a developer, you probably don't want the CHUM stuff. If you are one, make sure you have installed the latest Developer Tools package.

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Answer 4

alphaace Author

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Apr 4, 2010 7:09 PM in response to R C-R

Hi,

I do write code from time to time in C++ so I need the developer tools. Thanks for clarifying what they are though!

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Answer 5

baltwo

Level 9

62,362 points

Apr 4, 2010 9:37 PM in response to alphaace

Well, I don't see any of those launchctl entries on of my normal boots, that's why I surmised that your were booting into verbose mode (also, the subject led me to that conclusion). I have Xcode Tools installed, so I see all three of those plist files in that directory, but none of them slow up the boot process. Now that you've cleared that up, reinstall Snow Leopard, and see if that returns things to normal. If so, then run Software Update and bring the system up to 10.6;3.

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Answer 6

alphaace Author

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Apr 5, 2010 7:56 AM in response to baltwo

Whether I boot in verbose or regular mode does not make a difference. All that verbose mode does is show what it's doing while the gray screen appears with the circle. If you check the boot log it will still show up.

Reformatting would be like killing an ant with a nuke. Being that this a UNIX derivative, I should be able to simple switch the location of those plists or something similar. Anyone has any other ideas other than reformat?

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Answer 7

R C-R

Level 6

17,782 points

Apr 5, 2010 8:52 AM in response to alphaace

alphaace wrote:
Reformatting would be like killing an ant with a nuke.

Indeed it would, but the suggestion was to reinstall Snow Leopard, not to reformat the hard disk. Assuming you have a relatively fast Internet connection or a downloaded copy of the OS updater to quickly get you back to whatever OS update you want, reinstalling Snow Leopard is really no big deal & an excellent way to get rid of all kinds of hard to track down problems in system files. However, it is unclear if it would touch the files installed with the developer tools…

Regarding that, note that these are not ordinary plist files that just store user preferences but ones that actually determine what daemons launchd will (or should) start up as part of the mach initialization process. As with anything owned by & reserving exclusive write privileges for system (root), you should be very sure you understand the consequences of altering these files in any way before you do that.

For instance, if you disable the chud stuff, don't expect the tools that depend on them to work as expected. That being the case, it would be much simpler & less dangerous to follow the instructions included with the Developer Tools to uninstall the lot -- remember, these are optional parts of that package, so if you just want to keep Xcode & the rest, you don't need them.

Speaking of which, just about everything there is to know about the OS that Apple makes public can be found in the /Developer/Documentation/DocSets folder, which you can access through Xcode & its various search & filter functions. Searching (not filtering) on "mach_init" will get you a bunch of useful results, including "Getting Started with launchd," which you may find of interest.

Also check out "Introduction to System Startup Programming Topics," especially the section on daemons.

Message was edited by: R C-R

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