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Leopard Reference Library: Hardware & Drivers
Apple's computers integrate accepted industry-standard technologies such as USB with Apple technologies such as FireWire to create high-performance machines that are easy to use. Developers can extend the capabilities of these computers by creating compatible peripheral devices, video cards, RAM, and other add-on products.

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Xserve User's Guide (PDF)
Explains how to install, operate, and update Xserve systems. Includes expansion and hardware specifications.
Guides 2008-06-09
iMac Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of iMac computers introduced in April 2008.
Guides 2008-04-28
RAM Expansion Developer Note (HTML)
Details requirements of RAM modules for use in Mac computers.
Guides 2008-04-28
15-Inch MacBook Pro Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 15-inch MacBook Pro computer introduced in February 2008.
Guides 2008-03-04
17-Inch MacBook Pro Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 17-inch MacBook Pro computer introduced in February 2008.
Guides 2008-03-04
Xserve G5 Developer Note (HTML) (PDF)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the Xserve G5 computer introduced in January 2005.
Guides 2008-02-21
PowerMac G4 (HTML) (PDF)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the PowerMac G4 introduced in January 2003.
Guides 2008-02-20
Xserve Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 4-core and 8-core Xserve introduced in January 2008.
Guides 2008-02-08
MacBook Air Developer Note (HTML)
New document specifies internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the MacBook Air computer introduced in January 2008.
Guides 2008-01-18
Mac Pro Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the Mac Pro computers introduced in January 2008.
Guides 2008-01-09
15-Inch MacBook Pro Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 15-inch MacBook Pro computer introduced in November 2007.
Guides 2007-12-14
17-inch MacBook Pro Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 17-inch MacBook Pro computer introduced in November 2007.
Guides 2007-12-14
Apple Xserve Diagnostics User's Guide (PDF)
New document that explains how to use Apple Xserve Diagnostics tool to test server hardware.
Guides 2007-12-04
MacBook Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the MacBook computer introduced in November 2007.
Guides 2007-11-10
iMac Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of iMac computers introduced in August 2007.
Guides 2007-08-07
15-inch MacBook Pro Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 15-inch MacBook Pro computer introduced in June 2007.
Guides 2007-06-11
17-inch MacBook Pro Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 17-inch MacBook Pro computer introduced in June 2007.
Guides 2007-06-11
MacBook Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the MacBook computer introduced in May 2007.
Guides 2007-05-17
15-inch MacBook Pro Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 15-inch MacBook Pro computer introduced in October 2006.
Guides 2007-05-03
15-inch MacBook Pro Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 15-inch MacBook Pro computer introduced in October 2006.
Guides 2007-05-03
iMac Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of iMac computers with SuperDrive introduced September 2006.
Guides 2007-05-03
Mac Pro Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the Mac Pro computer introduced in August 2006.
Guides 2007-05-03
Mac Pro Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the Mac Pro computers introduced in April 2007.
Guides 2007-04-05
17-inch MacBook Pro Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 17-inch MacBook Pro computer introduced in October 2006.
Guides 2007-04-04
iMac Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the iMac computer introduced in January 2006.
Guides 2007-04-04
Mac mini Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the Mac mini computer introduced in February 2006.
Guides 2007-04-04
MacBook Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the MacBook computer introduced in May 2006.
Guides 2007-04-04
MacBook Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the MacBook computer introduced in November 2006.
Guides 2007-04-04
17-inch MacBook Pro Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 17-inch MacBook Pro computer introduced in April 2006.
Guides 2007-04-03
Power Mac G5 Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the Power Mac G5 introduced in October 2005.
Guides 2007-03-06
Xserve Developer Note (HTML)
Guides 2007-01-12
17-inch iMac for Education Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 17-inch iMac for Education computer introduced in July 2006.
Guides 2006-11-07
iMac Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of iMac computers with Combo drive introduced September 2006.
Guides 2006-09-07
iMac G5 Developer Note (HTML)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the iMac G5 computer introduced in October 2005.
Guides 2006-04-07
15-inch PowerBook G4 Developer Note (HTML) (PDF)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 15-inch PowerBook G4 introduced in October 2005.
Guides 2005-10-27
17-inch PowerBook G4 Developer Note (HTML) (PDF)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 17-inch PowerBook G4 introduced in October 2005.
Guides 2005-10-19
iBook Developer Note (HTML) (PDF)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the iBook G4 computer introduced in July 2005.
Guides 2005-07-26
eMac Developer Note (HTML) (PDF)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the eMac computer introduced in May 2005.
Guides 2005-05-03
iMac G5 Developer Note (HTML) (PDF)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the iMac G5 introduced in May 2005.
Guides 2005-05-03
Power Mac G5 Developer Note (HTML) (PDF)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the Power Mac G5 introduced in April 2005.
Guides 2005-04-29
Mac mini Developer Note (HTML) (PDF)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the Mac mini introduced January 2005.
Guides 2005-04-05
12-inch PowerBook G4 Developer Note (HTML) (PDF)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the 12-inch PowerBook G4 introduced in January 2005.
Guides 2005-02-04
Xserve G5 PCI Hardware RAID Card (PDF)
Explains how to install the card in an Xserve G5 and how to set up a RAID volume.
Guides 2005-01-03
Xserve G5 Quick Start (PDF)
Explains where to find information for installing, setting up, using, and monitoring Xserve G5 systems.
Guides 2005-01-03
Xserve G5 Using the Hardware RAID PCI Card (PDF)
Explains how to use the software provided with the Hardware RAID PCI Card to configure and manage RAID operations.
Guides 2005-01-03
Xserve G5 Using Xserve Remote Diagnostics (PDF)
Explains how to use the Xserve Remote Diagnostics tool to test server hardware.
Guides 2005-01-03
Xserve RAID User's Guide (PDF)
Explains how to install the Xserve RAID system, connect it to a host system, and configure RAID storage.
Guides 2005-01-03
Power Mac G5 -- Single Processor Developer Note (HTML) (PDF)
Specifies the internal design, I/O features, and expansion capabilities of the single processor Power Mac G5 introduced October 2004.
Guides 2004-10-19
All Hardware Products (HTML)
A list of links to all Apple hardware developer notes.
Guides
SMARTQuery (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstration of how to access and use S.M.A.R.T. disk monitoring functionality
Sample Code 2007-05-30
CPUGestalt (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Deprecated - Shows how to determine the processor type of the Macintosh you're running on.
Sample Code 2003-10-27
Thermal considerations for Mac Pro FB-DIMMs (HTML)
TN2156: Design considerations and specifications for the AMB and Heat spreader for the Mac Pro
Technical Notes 2006-11-10
I/O Kit Power Controller (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
TN2076: Describes code to include in a KEXT in order to register for power management events.
Technical Notes 2003-06-20
Power Manager 2.0 (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
TN1190: Describes the Macintosh Power Manager 2.0.
Technical Notes 2000-08-14
High-Speed SDRAM Design Considerations (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
TN1138: Illustrates certain issues with the design of high-speed SDRAM DIMM modules.
Technical Notes 1998-08-01
Fundamentals of Open Firmware, Part II: The Device Tree (HTML)
TN1062: Describes the Open Firmware device tree.
Technical Notes 1996-09-01
Generating a Non-Maskable Interrupt (NMI) (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1264: Explains how to generate a non-maskable interrupt (NMI) on modern Macintosh systems.
Technical Q&As 2008-10-13
Programmatically causing restart, shutdown and/or logout (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1134: Describes how to programmatically cause restart, shutdown, sleep or logout.
Technical Q&As 2008-09-24
IODeviceTree and the I/O Registry (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1120: Describes the IODeviceTree plane in the Mac OS X I/O Registry.
Technical Q&As 2008-09-18
Disabling Processor Cores on a Multi-Core System (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1141: Describes how to disable processor cores on a multi-core system for testing purposes.
Technical Q&As 2008-09-16
The "packages" node in the device tree (HTML)
HW90: Describes the "packages" node in the Open Firmware device tree.
Technical Q&As 2006-02-22
DDR SDRAM ICs for PowerBooks and iBooks that use Memory bus slewing (HTML)
QA1344: Specifies DDR SDRAM IC optimization for PowerBooks and iBooks that use Memory bus slewing.
Technical Q&As 2004-03-18
Installing an I/O Kit KEXT Without Rebooting (HTML)
QA1319: Describes the state of the art of installing I/O Kit kernel extensions (KEXTs) without requiring a restart.
Technical Q&As 2003-10-28
Sleep vs. Doze on Mac OS X (HTML)
QA1309: Discusses and demonstrates sleep versus doze detection on Machintosh Mac OS X
Technical Q&As 2003-10-09
SDRAM Problems With Self-Powered USB Devices (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW82: Alerts that non-compliant, self-powered USB devices plugged into a G4, can cause problems with low-voltage-sensitive SDRAM .
Technical Q&As 2003-08-21
Bluetooth Radio Power Class for Apple Systems (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1278: Notes Preferred Bluetooth Transmitter Characteristics for products designed for Apple Systems.
Technical Q&As 2003-08-06
DRAM DIMM power pin connections for Macintosh Computers (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1271: Discusses design considerations for DRAM DIMM power pin connections for Macintosh Computers.
Technical Q&As 2003-07-04
Power adapter Sensing for the 17" PowerBook (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1266: Details Design and detection considerations for 17-inch PowerBook power adapters
Technical Q&As 2003-06-12
Empty Memory Objects (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1259: Describes how two memory management edge cases are handled by the common Mac OS memory allocators.
Technical Q&As 2003-04-21
Faster DDR DRAM in the 867MHz Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors) (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1191: Confirms the use of faster DDR DRAM in the 867MHz Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors).
Technical Q&As 2002-08-19
PC100 SDRAM DIMMs on the Flat Panel iMac (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1130: Describes PC100 SDRAM DIMM limitations on the "original " Flat Panel iMac.
Technical Q&As 2002-03-18
Power Management; Policy Maker vs. Power Controller (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1121: Describes the differences between a Power Management Policy Maker and a Power Management Power Controller.
Technical Q&As 2002-02-13
Working with Configuration Variables (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1119: Explains how to delete a specific Open Firmware configuration variable without using Command-Option-P-R.
Technical Q&As 2002-02-13
Energy Star PCI Device (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1108: Provides useful information for developers of Energy Star-compliant PCI devices.
Technical Q&As 2002-01-15
IOKit Framework Headers (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1107: Describes the differences between the headers in IOKit.framework and the I/O Kit headers in Kernel.framework.
Technical Q&As 2002-01-15
Menu Bar Clock and NVRAM (HTML)
QA1102: Explains why booting with the Command-Option-P-R keys doesn't reset date and time preferences.
Technical Q&As 2001-12-21
Resetting NVRAM to factory defaults (HTML)
QA1103: Describes what happens when you boot holding the Command-Option-P-R keys.
Technical Q&As 2001-12-21
Reducing the size of Physical Memory in Open Firmware (HTML)
QA1099: Describes how to configure the Power Macintosh so less memory is recognized than is actually present.
Technical Q&As 2001-12-20
SDRAM, CAS Latency for the (HTML)
QA1071: Describes the supported CAS Latency values for the "QuickSilver", PowerMac G4 CPUs.
Technical Q&As 2001-09-13
Determining RAM size & location in New World Machines (HTML)
QA1065: Demonstrates Open Firmware method of determining RAM size & location in New World Machines.
Technical Q&As 2001-08-01
128Mb SDRAM ICs limitation on original "Bronze Keyboard" Powerbook G3 (HTML)
QA1040: Outlines Memory ICs design limitation on original "Bronze Keyboard" Powerbook G3.
Technical Q&As 2001-06-21
Displaying PCI Configuration Registers contents in Open Firmware (HTML)
QA1036: Demonstrates how to display PCI Configuration Resister contents in Open Firmware.
Technical Q&As 2001-05-18
Open Firmware Memory bus speed (HTML)
HW97: Describes a method to display memory bus speed for G3 or G4 Macintosh in Open Firmware.
Technical Q&As 2000-09-22
Open Firmware version number (HTML)
HW96: Discusses the unique values of Open Firmware version numbers.
Technical Q&As 2000-09-22
The "chosen" node in the device tree (HTML)
HW88: Describes how to find the "chosen" node in the Open firmware device tree.
Technical Q&As 2000-09-05
The "green" PCI bus (HTML)
HW93: Explains why the PCI bus is considered "green".
Technical Q&As 2000-09-05
Open Firmware device tree nodes (HTML)
HW86: Explains the usage of the "@n" notation in Open Firmware device tree nodes.
Technical Q&As 2000-09-05
PCI class codes (HTML)
HW91: Explains why PCI class codes are important.
Technical Q&As 2000-09-05
PCI Macintoshes and CardBus controllers (HTML)
HW87: Explains why older PCI Macintoshes do not recognize a Cardbus controller.
Technical Q&As 2000-09-05
Maximum Memory for the "Firewire" PowerBook (HTML)
Deprecated - HW83: Discrepancies between PowerBook Developer Note and TIL articles 14870 and 58582, regarding maximum memory configurations.
Technical Q&As 2000-03-13
A SCSI little secret (HTML)
HW81: Details what to expect when accessing the motherboard SCSI bus on the Blue & White G3.
Technical Q&As 1999-12-20
PCI Header types (HTML)
HW78: Describes the three required types of PCI headers to be provided in its configuration header space.
Technical Q&As 1999-11-15
Explanation of SDRAM configuration Nomenclature (HTML)
HW75: Explains the three-part "Device configuration" numbers for SDRAM in the Power Mac G4 Computer Developer Note.
Technical Q&As 1999-10-18
Are the Name Registry device tree nodes unique? (HTML)
Deprecated - HW64: Discusses whether Name Registry nodes copied from the Open Firmware device tree are unique.
Technical Q&As 1999-10-11
How do I change the numeric base for the Open Firmware user interface? (HTML)
HW66: Explains how to change the numeric base for the Open Firmware user interface.
Technical Q&As 1999-10-11
How do I determine the top of the Open Firmware dictionary? (HTML)
HW69: Explains how to determine the top of the Open Firmware dictionary.
Technical Q&As 1999-10-11
What is the word "see" and how do I use it to help me find what a word does? (HTML)
HW72: Explains the function and use of the Open Firmware word "see".
Technical Q&As 1999-10-11
Detecting specific ROM-in-RAM Mac (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
Deprecated - HW49: Identifying a Mac by name ("iMac"), and better alternatives for determining specific features ("has Firewire").
Technical Q&As 1999-10-05
Which Machines Support Driver Services Library and the MP Nanokernel? (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW63: Lists the systems that do and don't support the Driver Services Library and the MP Nanokernel.
Technical Q&As 1999-07-12
The AAPL, slot-name property and PCI (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW61: Discusses the use of the AAPL,slot name property for PCI
Technical Q&As 1999-04-19
Determining the version of Open Firmware on your Mac (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW60: Describes a method to display the version of Open Firmware on a Macintosh.
Technical Q&As 1999-03-29
dl command in 1 machine mode (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW51: Describes using the "dl" command in 1 machine mode.
Technical Q&As 1999-03-29
Stopping Forth command scrolls (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW57: Describes how to limit Forth commands from scrolling off the screen.
Technical Q&As 1999-03-29
Booting after invoking the Open Firmware user interface (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW48: Tells how to boot a system after entering the Open Firmware user interface.
Technical Q&As 1999-02-15
Difference between using Restart or Shut Down in the Finder's Special menu in Open Firmware (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW47: Explains the differences between using Restart or Shut Down on Open Firmware
Technical Q&As 1999-02-15
Do PowerBooks have a PCI bus? (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW43: Explains that a Powerbook has a PCI bus.
Technical Q&As 1999-02-15
How does Open Firmware generate the name property? (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW39: Describes the Open Firmware name property generation process.
Technical Q&As 1999-02-15
Invoking the Open Firmware user interface (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW45: Describes how to invoke the Open Firmware user interface on startup.
Technical Q&As 1999-02-15
PCI bus on the iMac (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW42: Explains that the iMac has a PCI bus even though it has no expansion slots.
Technical Q&As 1999-02-15
What are configuration variables in Open Firmware? (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW38: Defines the configuration variables in Open Firmware.
Technical Q&As 1999-02-15
What are snag keys in Open Firmware? (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW35: Explains Open Firmware snag keys, including examples of their function.
Technical Q&As 1999-02-15
What is meant by 1 machine mode vs. 2 machine mode with respect to Open Firmware? (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW36: Documents 1 machine mode vs. 2 machine mode in Open Firmware.
Technical Q&As 1999-02-15
PrepareMemoryForIO in the NewWorld (HTML)
DV33: Explains the correct use of PrepareMemoryForIO on DMA buffers when writing a device driver for DMA software.
Technical Q&As 1998-12-07
OTScheduleDeferredTask When Task Running (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
NW52: Describes what happens when you use OTScheduleDefferedTask to schedule a task that is running.
Technical Q&As 1997-10-13
Detecting a CD-ROM (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
DV18: Demonstrates CD-ROM drive detection.
Technical Q&As 1997-01-31
DR Emulator Caches (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
Deprecated - HW28: Describes the Dynamic Recompiling emulator's cache, including a description of when to flush the cache.
Technical Q&As 1996-04-08