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Technical Q&As: Accessibility
The I/O Kit is the device driver subsystem of Mac OS X and is part of Darwin. For many device types, such as HID class devices, the I/O Kit enables communication with and control of the device from user space. Although support for many device types is built in, developers can, if necessary, use the I/O Kit programming interfaces to create drivers for assistive devices.

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Generating an NMI Without a Programmer's Switch (HTML) ()
QA1264: Explains how to generate a non-maskable interrupt (NMI) on CPUs without programmer's switches.
2004-04-26
How can I tell if a PCI device has on board I/O space? (HTML)
QA1287: Demonstrates "how to" tell if a PCI device has on board I/O space.
2003-09-24
SDRAM Problems With Self-Powered USB Devices (HTML) ()
HW82: Alerts that non-compliant, self-powered USB devices plugged into a G4, can cause problems with low-voltage-sensitive SDRAM .
2003-08-21
Bluetooth Radio Power Class for Apple Systems (HTML) ()
QA1278: Notes Preferred Bluetooth Transmitter Characteristics for products designed for Apple Systems.
2003-08-06
Faster DDR DRAM in the 867MHz Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors) (HTML) ()
QA1191: Confirms the use of faster DDR DRAM in the 867MHz Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors).
2002-08-19
PC100 SDRAM DIMMs on the Flat Panel iMac (HTML) ()
QA1130: Describes PC100 SDRAM DIMM limitations on the "original " Flat Panel iMac.
2002-03-18
IODeviceTree & the IORegistry (HTML) ()
QA1120: Describes the IODeviceTree plane in the Mac OS X IORegistry.
2002-02-13
Energy Star PCI Device (HTML) ()
QA1108: Provides useful information for developers of Energy Star-compliant PCI devices.
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.
2001-12-21
PCI Bus? (HTML)
QA1104: Answers the question, "Do all Macintosh computers have a PCI bus?"
2001-12-21
Resetting NVRAM to factory defaults (HTML)
QA1103: Describes what happens when you boot holding the Command-Option-P-R keys.
2001-12-21
SDRAM, CAS Latency for the "Quicksilver" PowerMacG4s (HTML)
QA1071: Describes the supported CAS Latency values for the "QuickSilver", PowerMac G4 CPUs.
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.
2001-08-01
The "packages" node in the device tree (HTML)
HW90: Describes the "packages" node in the Open Firmware device tree.
2000-09-05
Checking for the Printer Driver (HTML)
DV42: Describes a legacy Mac OS technique avoiding system hangs when using serial drivers on USB systems.
2000-06-19
A SCSI little secret (HTML)
HW81: Details what to expect when accessing the motherboard SCSI bus on the Blue & White G3.
1999-12-20
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.
1999-10-11
Invoking the Open Firmware user interface (HTML) ()
HW45: Describes how to invoke the Open Firmware user interface on startup.
1999-02-15
SCSI ID from vRefNum (HTML) ()
DV29: Legacy Mac OS technique for identifying the ID of a SCSI Parallel device containing a specified disk volume.
1997-05-23
Detecting a CD-ROM (HTML) ()
DV18: Demonstrates CD-ROM drive detection.
1997-01-31
ANSI SCSI Standards (HTML)
Deprecated - DV03: Describes past Macintosh systems that did not fully support the ANSI SCSI-1 standard.
1995-07-01
Getting a List of Drivers & LUNs (logical unit numbers) (HTML)
Deprecated - DV04: Describes a legacy Mac OS technique for obtaining a list of SCSI Parallel drivers, devices, and LUNs.
1995-07-01