---
title: handleStart
framework: hiddriverkit
role: symbol
role_heading: Instance Method
path: hiddriverkit/iouserhiddevice/handlestart
---

# handleStart

Performs any custom initialization associated with starting the device service.

## Declaration

```occ
virtual bool handleStart(IOService *provider);
```

## Parameters

- `provider`: The IOService provider for this object.

## Return Value

Return Value true if initialization was successful, or false if it wasn’t.

## Discussion

Discussion When defining a custom service, override this method and use it to perform any custom initialization. For example, you might allocate memory for your service’s instance variables and store a reference to the provider object for later use. The default implementation of this method returns true, and performs no other actions. Don’t call this method yourself. The Start method calls it when starting up the service.

## See Also

### Running the Service

- [Start](hiddriverkit/iouserhiddevice/start.md)