Category Archives: Labs

Posts about computer labs and classrooms at Williams College

Mac – Use PMSET for Sleep timers and Power Management

Posted on April 18, 2019 by

On the Mac there are a number of ways to control the sleep timers.  Some seem to work better than others.  For Mojave (MacOS 10.14.x) I have switched to using the command peset. peset -g      shows a list … Continue reading →

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Windows – Finding the right Windows ADK

Posted on March 12, 2019 by

When building a Windows PE (Preinstall Environment) or prepping systems to be imaged and cloned you are going to need a set of tools in the Windows ADK (or older versions of Windows AIK). The trick is that you have … Continue reading →

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Mac OS – SIP or System Integrity Protection

Posted on February 13, 2019 by

SIP (System Integrity Protection) isn’t a bad thing. It actually protects your mac from a whole host of otherwise nasty infections. However, it can sometimes get in the way of doing important mac management tasks. To disable SIP: Boot the … Continue reading →

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Mac OS – Kernel Extensions

Posted on February 13, 2019 by

In 2018 Apple introduced secure kernel extensions to their MacOS. Earlier applications could install kernel extensions without the user knowing or specifically being required to “approve” that extension. Think of kernel extensions like drivers and other very deep operating system … Continue reading →

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Mac – Diagnosing Boot Issues

Posted on November 19, 2018 by

I recently came across a useful post to help diagnose when a mac doesn’t boot properly. For the full link see: https://eclecticlight.co/2018/09/18/diagnosing-a-mac-which-cant-complete-booting/ Here is the extracted diagram:

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MacOS – Creating a clean initial image

Posted on July 24, 2018 by

To create a “clean” image – Basic goal – you don’t want anything except the basic MacOS installed. So be certain that the mac serial number is not scoped to a JAMF pre-stage enrollment. You don’t want JAMF to install … Continue reading →

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Mac – Reset SMC for slowness or wake/sleep issues

Posted on July 17, 2018 by

The SMC (System Management Controller) controls a number of things related to power management on a mac. If it isn’t working properly it can cause fans to run, the cpu to run slow, and/or, the mac not to wake from … Continue reading →

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Mac – Tool to help download specific macos installers

Posted on July 11, 2018 by

It isn’t always easy to get all of the right pieces for a particular MacOS update/install.  For example, if you are running MacOS 10.13.5 already the traditional ways of going to the Map App Store or doing system updates won’t … Continue reading →

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Mac – 10.13.4 – Wipe and clean install of OS

Posted on May 10, 2018 by

On a mac that is already running 10.13.4 and that has an APFS drive you can wipe the drive and reinstall the OS without having to boot to anything external, external drive or netboot. Get the MacOS 10.13.4 (or better) … Continue reading →

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