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Leopard Reference Library: Hardware & Drivers
Open Firmware is the nonproprietary name of firmware that complies with IEEE Std 1275-1994. It is the ROM-based software that tests and initializes the hardware, determines the hardware configuration, loads or boots the operating system, and provides interactive debugging facilities in case of faulty hardware or software.

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I/O Kit Framework Reference (HTML)
Describes the I/O Kit classes that support non-kernel access to I/O Kit objects through the device-interface mechanism.
Reference 2009-03-04
Kernel Framework Reference (HTML)
Describes the APIs and classes (including I/O Kit families) that support kernel-resident device drivers.
Reference 2009-01-06
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
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
Fundamentals of Open Firmware, Part III: Understanding PCI Expansion ROM Choices for Mac OS (HTML)
TN1044: Recommended contents for PCI expansion ROMs, including a table of standard devices, properties and methods.
Technical Notes 2001-06-26
Determining Open Firmware version (HTML)
HW100: Demonstrates how to find out the version of Open Firmware on your Macintosh.
Technical Q&As 2000-10-06
Was that a path I just saw? (HTML)
HW101: Describes the Open Firmware path that is occasionally shown at boot time.
Technical Q&As 2000-10-06
What is an Open Firmware devalias? (HTML)
HW99: Describes devaliases in Open Firmware.
Technical Q&As 2000-10-06
Running files from a hard drive in Open Firmware (HTML)
TN2001: Demonstrates editing, saving, and retrieving Open Firmware commands to a file on a Macintosh hard drive.
Technical Notes 2000-09-22
The "/aliases" node in the device tree (HTML)
HW89: Describes the aliases node in the Open Firmware device tree.
Technical Q&As 2000-09-05
Locating the 1275-1994 Standard Document (HTML)
HW85: Alerts that the Open Firmware (IEEE 1275-1994) document can't be found at the IEEE Standards Association site.
Technical Q&As 2000-07-17
What is an Open Firmware phandle, and why can't I access it from the Mac OS? (HTML)
HW76: Explains an "Open Firmware phandle" and why it is inaccessible from the Mac OS.
Technical Q&As 1999-11-15
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
Can you explain the words "begin" and "again"? (HTML)
HW70: Explains the Forth looping words "begin" and "again" and how to escape such a loop.
Technical Q&As 1999-10-11
Using "words" in Open Firmware (HTML)
HW73: Explains how to search for specific entries within all the global and local Open Firmware words.
Technical Q&As 1999-10-11
What is the return stack in Open Firmware and can I use it? (HTML)
HW67: Describes the purpose of the Open Firmware return stack and how developers can use it.
Technical Q&As 1999-10-11
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
What is a tokenizer? (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW58: Defines a tokenizer.
Technical Q&As 1999-03-29
Changing the configuration variable in Open Firmware (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW40: Tells how to change the configuration variable in Open Firmware.
Technical Q&As 1999-02-15
Difference between an Open Firmware word and method (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW46: Describes the differences between an Open Firmware word and an Open Firmware method.
Technical Q&As 1999-02-15
Switching between one and two machine mode for the Open Firmware user interface (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW37: Explains how to change from one machine mode to two in the Open Firmware user interface.
Technical Q&As 1999-02-15
What are generic names in Open Firmware? (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
HW34: Documents the generic names in Open Firmware.
Technical Q&As 1999-02-15