The
Pane InfoThe
Pane InfoThe item System Information lists technical details about the current computer system. This includes data not accessible by the System Profiler application of Mac OS X.
The section Computer contains the marketing name of the computer, the internal type code used by Apple to identify this model series, the system's serial number, its unique identification (UUID), and the date and place of production.
The second section Hardware Information lists details about the processor and system bus configuration, as well as the available cache and main memory sizes. After pressing the button More Info…, technical details about the CPU(s) will be shown. This includes the full identification label of the processor(s), Intel's family, model and stepping numbers, the number of cores, and the number of physical and virtual address bits.
The entry Capable of 64 bit operation does not indicate
whether your system has a 64-bit or 32-bit processor. It shows whether the
current combination of processor, mainboard, firmware and operating system
would allow full 64-bit operation. The analysis is done by Mac OS X, not by
TinkerTool System.
Another detail sheet, available via the button Show management records… lists technical information which has been stored into the management memory of the computer. It includes:
These management records are not computed by TinkerTool System but only retrieved by it. They have been stored by the manufacturer into the so-called System Management BIOS area of the system's firmware when the computer was assembled.
It is possible to either print the contents of the main information window, or to save it into an HTML-based text file. Such documents can be used to automatically generate inventory records for all your computers. Press the buttons Print… or Save as text…, respectively. Created text files can be opened by any web browser or by the TextEdit application included with Mac OS X.
After selecting the tab item Logs and Reports, you will have direct access to more than 90 categories of log recordings kept by Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server. The operating system collects notification, warning and error messages in such files, especially for components of the system which don't have a direct graphical user interface. Administrators can use this information to keep track and analyze problem situations which occurred in the past. Logs are simple text files which are filled line by line over time. Most services also note time and date in each line, so it becomes easier to understand the series of events that occurred.
The possibly available logs and reports are presented by a browser with two columns: The left column allows you to select the information category or service, the right column allows you to select between the available subcategories or detail reports. Either double-click an item at the right side or press the button Open to open the respective log. A text window will show you the contents of the selected log file. The log file currently in use by the operating system is presented first. If the system additionally holds archived log files containing older records, they can be displayed with the pop-up button Available archived logs in the lower left corner of the text window. Note that you can open as many windows simultaneously as you like. The logs can also be printed or saved into text files, using the respective buttons at the lower right corner of each window.
For security reasons, logs that may keep potentially confidential or security-critical information cannot be opened by every user. You must be logged in as user with administrative permissions in order to access the contents of such specially protected logs. Some logs may be empty because you did not enable the associated service on your computer, or you are using the standard version of Mac OS X, but this service is available as part of Mac OS X Server only.