{"id":80983,"date":"2022-03-07T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/?p=80983"},"modified":"2022-03-07T14:22:18","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T20:22:18","slug":"whats-connected-to-your-mac-system-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/80983-whats-connected-to-your-mac-system-information\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Connected to Your Mac? System Information to the Rescue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What\u2019s connected to your Mac?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>How does your Macintosh know what it\u2019s connected to? Or how do you know when a device isn\u2019t seeing your Mac?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class='youtube-player' width='1170' height='659' src='https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aXd7FsjcIpI?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;' sandbox='allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation'><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A significant headache happens when you plug something in, and it <em>doesn&#8217;t show up. <\/em>Is it the cable? Is it the device? Is it the port? Your Mac keeps a dynamic list of everything the operating system sees. It\u2019s visible inside an application called <em>System Information<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are two ways to get there. Either navigate to Applications &gt; Utilities and launch System Information. Or you can go to the Apple menu. Highlight \u201c<em>About this Mac\u2026\u201d Then <\/em><strong><em>Hold down the option key<\/em><\/strong><em>, <\/em>and now it says \u201c<em>System Information\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now we get some long lists!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the left, <em>Hardware<\/em> has a long list of items that <em>may <\/em>be attached. For example, I&#8217;m 100% sure that there hasn&#8217;t been a Firewire connection on my Macintosh for a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I generally look at the USB chain first, as it&#8217;s the most common place for a piece of hardware to be plugged in. Wait, do you have a Thunderbolt dock? USB items appear in the USB section, even if they&#8217;re connected to a Thunderbolt Dock.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A look at my setup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Just to give you a feel for my setup, I have quite a bit of kit connected. This includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>A Stream Deck XL and a regular Stream Deck<\/li><li>A LoupeDec CT<\/li><li>An Elgato Cam Link 4k (attached to a mirrorless camera)<\/li><li>A generic mechanical keyboard (what can I say, I like the \u201cclicky clicky\u201d feel)<\/li><li>An Apple keyboard (when I need silent typing)<\/li><li>A Logitech 502 mouse, because I want a mouse with weights (seriously, you can add\/remove weight from it)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The video will show far more. It&#8217;s worth exploring <em>everything<\/em> your Mac sees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, I have my iPhone attached in the video, then I remove it. The list <em>will not update<\/em> until I go to the File Menu &gt; Refresh. Or hit <strong>Command+R<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rule is <em>if System Information can&#8217;t see it, neither can your Mac<\/em>. Maybe it&#8217;s the cable. Perhaps it&#8217;s the port. Perhaps it&#8217;s the device. But if you can&#8217;t see it in System Info, neither can your Mac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A rare (but remarkable) headache is when System Information sees a device, but your Mac doesn&#8217;t. Then it&#8217;s usually that your Mac is missing some critical piece of software or driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is even the ability to save your System Report to it send to someone else. Just be warned, they get all your serial numbers and other identifying information (which I had to blur in the video!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;ve never tried it out, System Information provides a great many insights into your Mac!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-related-posts\">Related posts:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/79658-do-this-before-you-reset-your-iphone\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Do This Before You Reset Your iPhone<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/79654-hot-corners-hidden-system-shortcuts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hot Corners: Hidden System Shortcuts<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/79165-apple-updates-macos-ios-ipados-watchos-and-tvos\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Apple Updates macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/79138-mac-tutorial-shutter-encoder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mac Tutorial: Shutter Encoder<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever plug something into your Macintosh and the item doesn&#8217;t show up? System information to the rescue!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":81024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"class_list":["post-80983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-tips"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.2 (Yoast SEO v20.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What\u2019s Connected to Your Mac? System Information to the Rescue<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ever plug something into your Macintosh and the item doesn&#039;t show up? 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