Mac Testing Tools?

[Ormond]

What tools do the pros use to give a Mac a thorough testing?

Some fairly unreliable people are sending me a replacement machine, and I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to learn more about how to check out a machine and detect any possible issues.

I'm going to wipe the drive clean and install a fresh copy of OSX, so I guess I'm really talking about hardware testing.

I know nothing about this really, so anything you can share will likely be educational here.

Thanks!

 

[oldscribe]

Hi,

Why not take the Apple hardware test for a spin have a look here.
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201257

 

[honestone]

Besides doing what oldscribe stated, you should also consider the following.

How do you plan on wiping the machine's internal drive clean? To do that, you would need to hook up that machine to either another working Mac (assuming both Macs have a Firewire 800 port), so that you can boot the replacement Mac in "Target Disk Mode" (this link explains what that is: http://osxdaily.com/2010/04/07/how-to-boot-a-mac-in-target-disk-mode/), or have an external drive that has a bootable "system" on it (like what SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner creates).

Once you have the connectivity established, you would start Disk Utility on the "working/active" device, perform Disk First Aid on the replacement machine's internal drive, and assuming no serious issues arise, use Disk Utility to Erase and Format (and if necessary, Partition) that internal drive. You could then install an "acceptable" OS onto that drive ("acceptable" means, of course, what the machine you are obtaining can accommodate).

 

[Ormond]

Thanks for the link, and the education! That does seem the place to start.

 

[Ormond]

Hmm...

Can't seem to get Apple Hardware Test to launch.

I'm following these simple instructions carefully...

1. Shut down your computer. Then, press the power button to turn it back on.
2. Press and hold the D key before the gray startup screen appears.

The machine just boots up as normal. Tried it a couple of times.

I'm running Yosemite on a 2011 27inch iMac.

http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...inch-aluminum-mid-2011-thunderbolt-specs.html

The problem may be that I installed Yosemite from a disk I bought on Amazon, which may not have included Apple Hardware Test. Do I understand correctly that Apple Hardware Test is not built in to OSX? Or perhaps I am confused about that?

All the tutorials I can find talk about how to run Apple Hardware Test, not how to get it.

My only other question is, is Apple Hardware Test what the pros use? As example, is this how they diagnose Macs at the Apple Store, repair shops etc?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[honestone]

I know you are probably ignoring me, but maybe when you press the power button, AT THE SAME TIME, press and hold the D key. Then release it when the gray startup screen appears.

Given that you are using a 2011 iMac machine, that would indicate that you would run the "Apple Hardware Test". Also, did you insure that the only things connected are 1) the power plug, 2) the mouse, and 3) the keyboard? (I would suspect the Ethernet adapter is not critical to be connected. See my test below). And note that there does not seem to be a difference between "Apple Hardware Test" and "Apple Diagnostics" for the first two steps.

For which tests various shops use, it of course will depend on what the issue is. Since you have not stated any issues with the machine, it is difficult to know which test/tests to use. Given that the machine boots up as normal, there does not seem to be any issues.

So, you should follow the instructions I gave above for analyzing the internal hard drive.

By the way, how exactly did you wipe the internal hard drive clean, and then did the installation? That could help.

Update: I just did this test on my mid 2013 13"MacBook Air (with V10.11.6 of El Capitan), and it worked fine (and as I suspected, no issues were found). All I had connected was the power plug, and the little receiver for my Logitech mouse (no Ethernet adapter). What I did was press the Power On button, and at just about the same time, pressed the D key and held it down. I never saw a gray startup screen. It just went into the test.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

is Apple Hardware Test what the pros use? As example, is this how they diagnose Macs at the Apple Store, repair shops etc?

Probably a combo of AHT, Drive Genius, DiskWarrior, Tech Tool Pro maybe AppleJack

 

[honestone]

Probably a combo of AHT, Drive Genius, DiskWarrior, Tech Tool Pro maybe AppleJack

Those are, most likely, the tools they have available. But, the ones they use depend upon the issue. For example, for someone having an issue with a slow running machine, AHT would not help much, if at all. But, if there is a lack of power coming into the machine, AHT would be the way to go.

In all my years of owning Macs, I have never once needed to use AHT. On the other hand, I have needed to use DiskWarrior, Tech Tool Pro, and Onyx.

 

[Ormond]

Thanks, I'll check those out. Appreciate the education.

Is Apple Hardware Test built in to OSX, do you know? Or is it a separate app I probably need to go find somewhere?

 

[honestone]

For more recent versions of the OS (ie, no install DVDs), AHT is built into the OS (see my post above about running Apple Diagnostics on my MacBook Air). But, if you do have install DVDs for a Mac OS, then AHT is on one of those DVDs. Even in that case, once you install the OS, AHT (or Apple Diagnostics) is installed also.

The other tools that have been mentioned (Disk Warrior, Drive Genius, Tech Tool Pro, AppleJack, and Onyx) test other parts of the hardware. Actually, Tech Tool Pro can test the sensors inside your machine, the battery for laptops, fans, memory modules, Video memory, and SMART. Except for Onyx, all those other products cost money. And, AppleJack can not be used with any OS after Snow Leopard, ie, OS 10.6.8.

And of course the primary feature of those other products is that they can do comprehensive testing and "software" repair of the drives.