Startup Tone is Too Loud

[Squire]

Maybe I'm just getting old but when I fire up my Mac, that startup tone just seems too loud. I've tried tinkering with the volume. If I mute the Mac before shutting down, I don't get the tone. If I have the volume on even a little bit, I get it loud and clear. Usually I just put the machine to sleep but not always. Sometimes I'm up early (5 AM) checking email before work. Every time I hear that tone, I feel like I'm going to wake the whole family up (2-year old, and 6-month old kids plus wife).

Any suggestions?

Squire

[Simon Liquid]

Get a pair of headphones to plug in. It's a drag, but it's the best solution I know.

[Squire]

I was hoping I wouldn't get that response. ;) The other day (again, 5 AM), I turned on my Mac and had the foresight to unplug my Pro speakers. (I still got a muted tone, though. Is there an internal speaker, too?)

Oh, well. Thanks for the tip.

Squire

[benixau]

on the iMac i think you mean? Yes. There is a single internal (mono of course) speaker - like the ones you found on the front of the old PowerMacs (its on the new ones too you just cant see it).

The other solution is to mute the system before you turn it off. To do this easily just create an apple script that goes like this (this works)

set volume 0
tell application "Finder"
shutdown
end tell

then put this apple script in your login items:

set volume <0/0.05/0.1/0.2/0.4/0.7/1.2/1.9/3/4.6/7>

for the last script the values represent the sound volume as so: 0%, 10%, 20% … until the last one which is 100%

This is not the best solution but a decent one. All you then do is once you are done on your system you can then just double click and run the script and it will do its magic: enjoy.

[Squire]

Benixau: Wow. Ummm...thanks a lot. It seems a bit complicated, though. In order to do that, I'd have to ask you a bunch of dumb questions. If it means I have to click something before I shut down, I suppose I could just mute the system when I shut down.

Again, thanks a lot for your reply.

cheers,

Squire

[ZenPirate]

Just hold down the mute key on your keyboard (F3) for a few seconds when you boot.

[Flowbee]

Better yet, don't shut down your Mac at night... just put it to sleep. When you wake it up in the morning... no chime!

[Durandal7]

Get a good set of speakers, actual stereo speakers like 16" Polk Audios not those wimpy "computer speakers." Hook these speakers up to amplifier. Plug the amplifier into your headphone port (you can find a cord to do it at Radioshack.) Set the computer volume to about %50 and just start using the volume knob on your amplifier, you'll get precise volume control and you'll never need to worry about system volume again.

[benixau]

laptops need to shutdown if your going to take them on long trips.

Here are the two scripts you need;
Shutdown - run this when you want to shutdown
WakeUp - put this is your home folder (for safe keeping) and add it to your login items. It will turn your volume up to half way once you log in.
I have included both of the editable versions of the scripts as well in case you want to change the volume level on them.

Enjoy.

[revenuee]

Originally posted by Durandal7
Get a good set of speakers, actual stereo speakers like 16" Polk Audios not those wimpy "computer speakers." Hook these speakers up to amplifier. Plug the amplifier into your headphone port (you can find a cord to do it at Radioshack.) Set the computer volume to about %50 and just start using the volume knob on your amplifier, you'll get precise volume control and you'll never need to worry about system volume again.

Ya i have this set up going as-well ...

works great

[Squire]

First of all, thanks for your help everyone. It's amazing how willing people- complete strangers- are to help here.

ZenPirate: I held down the mute key (not F3, but the one on my number pad) and it didn't work. I'll try F3 next time.

Flowbee: Typically, I put the machine to sleep but sometimes my wife turns it off if my kid is a little to excited about getting his mitts on it. (The computer is less attractive to a 2-year old when it's off.)

Durandal7: That's what my setup will be like shortly, I hope. I'm going to splurge on a set of Logitech z-680 speakers and an LCD TV then hook everything up to the speakers- Mac, PC, PS2. If I buy a kickass home theater system instead, my little mini system in the living room will be running my Mac.

benixau: I downloaded those scripts. Again, I'm a total idiot. I tried to open them and it asked me to choose a program to open them with. Kind of lost there. In over my head, etc.

Again, thanks.

Squire

[benixau]

*scratches head*
i don't understand.
can someone else help me here.
I did the scripts and they worked on my own system. maybe i am using an OSA and don't know it .....

i will look around for you. Does someone know a better way to do this?

[shadowfax]

can someone tell me why laptops need to be shut down on long trips? i never do. how long are you talking about?

[ZenPirate]

Originally posted by shadowfax
can someone tell me why laptops need to be shut down on long trips? i never do. how long are you talking about?

my iBook has only been off three times. Initial start-up when purchased new, when sent in for a new lcd cable, and when sent in for a logic board. That's it. As for the mute key, it works on my machine, a 2002 iBook.

[shadowfax]

exactly. the only time mine gets shut down is so i can start it again. i usually go 10-40 days without a restart, and the only reason i ever update is for software updates from apple.

[rjrufo]

Originally posted by benixau
*scratches head*
i don't understand.
can someone else help me here.
I did the scripts and they worked on my own system. maybe i am using an OSA and don't know it .....

i will look around for you. Does someone know a better way to do this?

I tried downloading the scripts, and had the same problem. What did you use to create them? I tried opening them in Script Editor, with no luck. Same with BBEdit and TextEdit. The later two showed a lot of unreadable hieroglyphics, scattered with some readable text.

One thing that may help, you may need to save the scripts with the file extension visible. I'm thinking that the compression didn't know what the files were, and just saved them as documents. Upon decompression, all the data was lost. I could be wrong on this, but it sounds like a good explanation.

[Rower_CPU]

I never shut down my PowerBooks either. Sleep mode is perfect for traveling.

Another fun way to mute at shutdown would be with a logouthook script.

http://www.macosxlabs.org/tools_and_scripts/script_archive/script_archive.html#logout

[benixau]

Originally posted by rjrufo
I tried downloading the scripts, and had the same problem. What did you use to create them? I tried opening them in Script Editor, with no luck. Same with BBEdit and TextEdit. The later two showed a lot of unreadable hieroglyphics, scattered with some readable text.

One thing that may help, you may need to save the scripts with the file extension visible. I'm thinking that the compression didn't know what the files were, and just saved them as documents. Upon decompression, all the data was lost. I could be wrong on this, but it sounds like a good explanation.

hmmm - i see. I am really tired. Sorry, but yeah. Could someone else pelase use what i posted a few posts up and make a proper set of apple scripts, both editable and executable and zip them up using stuffit <8 fo this guy. I want to help but it seems that for the short term i cant.

sorry thanx and sorry.