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Is there a way to disable the startup sound?

Y

yyy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 10, 2007
192
17
I'm using Mountain Lion on MBP 13 and I tried every solution I could find, such as: StartupSound.prefPane, Psst, StartNinja and nothing works. I restart my Mac a lot (I don't like leaving it on for too long) so I need a solution that works permanently (I don't want to mute the sound before every shutdown).

Any ideas?
 
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

Guest
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
30
located
Why do you not use the SLEEP feature instead of shutting your Mac down?
I and many others use that feature quite successfully, no need to relaunch the Mac and all the applications every time you want to use it.
 
T

tekno

macrumors 6502a
Oct 15, 2011
842
4
simsaladimbamba said:
Why do you not use the SLEEP feature instead of shutting your Mac down?
I and many others use that feature quite successfully, no need to relaunch the Mac and all the applications every time you want to use it.
Click to expand...

Great reply. Instead of helping the OP tell them to use the computer differently (even though they've clearly expressed why they prefer to shutdown).
 
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

Guest
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
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located
tekno said:
Great reply. Instead of helping the OP tell them to use the computer differently (even though they've clearly expressed why they prefer to shutdown).
Click to expand...

And? It is still a valid reply. Many people I know, who switched to Mac OS X, shut their Macs down all the time, not knowing of the SLEEP feature, because Windows' sleep feature was a bit crap. When I showed them Mac OS X' sleep function, they changed their behaviour.
Of course I could link to another tidbit of software, but sometimes a change of behaviour brings new light.

But then again, you replied, again not really helping, only voicing your disdain. I should be used to that by now. And I am. So what the ****...
 
NMF

NMF

macrumors 6502a
Oct 27, 2011
885
21
tekno said:
Great reply. Instead of helping the OP tell them to use the computer differently (even though they've clearly expressed why they prefer to shutdown).
Click to expand...

What the OP does is stupid though. It's your civic duty to stop people from using their computers stupidly.

OP, use the Sleep function and join us in 2012! :cool:
 
Feed Me

Feed Me

macrumors 6502a
Jan 7, 2012
831
6
Location Location
gentlefury said:
if you mute your system volume before shutting down it will not make the chime when it starts up.
Click to expand...

This.
Maybe get something set up that mutes your volume when you press the shutdown button?

The startup chime always scares the crap out of me if I've been listening to loud music the night before.
 
W

wethackrey

macrumors 6502
Feb 27, 2007
259
17
Redondo Beach, California
yyy said:
I'm using Mountain Lion on MBP 13 and I tried every solution I could find, such as: StartupSound.prefPane, Psst, StartNinja and nothing works. I restart my Mac a lot (I don't like leaving it on for too long) so I need a solution that works permanently (I don't want to mute the sound before every shutdown).

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
The sound is actually a diagnostic. If a bank of memory fails during the power on self test, the tone changes. Even plugging external speakers into the headphone jack doesn't completely disable the start-up sound from the built-in speaker.

Arcana's Startup Sound Preference Pane hasn't worked since Snow Leopard.

I did find this solution, though I've not tried it myself. I'd be interested to know if it works for you.

----------
simsaladimbamba said:
And? It is still a valid reply. Many people I know, who switched to Mac OS X, shut their Macs down all the time, not knowing of the SLEEP feature, because Windows' sleep feature was a bit crap. When I showed them Mac OS X' sleep function, they changed their behaviour.
Of course I could link to another tidbit of software, but sometimes a change of behaviour brings new light.

But then again, you replied, again not really helping, only voicing your disdain. I should be used to that by now. And I am. So what the ****...
Click to expand...
Hey, I too use sleep far more often than shutdown. But, since the OP joined MacRumours in 2007 and has tried various software solutions, I have to assume he's not new to the party and knows about sleep.
 
sweetbrat

sweetbrat

macrumors 65816
Jun 17, 2009
1,443
1
Redford, MI
tekno said:
Great reply. Instead of helping the OP tell them to use the computer differently (even though they've clearly expressed why they prefer to shutdown).
Click to expand...

Restarting the computer all the time isn't practical or necessary. It's pretty obvious that simsaladimbamba was trying to point that out to the OP. Perhaps he/she thinks that it needs to be shut down regularly in order to run properly. A lot of people coming from Windows seem to think that and are reluctant to just put their computer to sleep. Sometimes the most helpful answers are the ones that don't just answer the question but actually try to point out a better way of doing something. Your post, on the other hand, provided no useful information at all, so why judge others?
 
G

gentlefury

macrumors 68030
Jul 21, 2011
2,866
23
Los Angeles, CA
Feed Me said:
This.
Maybe get something set up that mutes your volume when you press the shutdown button?

The startup chime always scares the crap out of me if I've been listening to loud music the night before.
Click to expand...

I used to get in trouble during screenings if I had to restart for some reason...LOL. I learned that trick early on.
 
Y

yyy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 10, 2007
192
17
I know many people advise not to restart the computer too often but sometimes I have to. If I'm going outside for a long trip and I occasionally need to use my computer, I want to keep as much battery power as possible so I shut down the Mac when it's not in use. Or if I need to reboot to Windows (I don't like virtualization apps).

Anyway, it's frustrating that a high-end "pro" product must chime whenever it's turned on. You'd think after so many years of development Apple would allow us to change that. After all, they didn't make the iPhone or the iPad chime on startup.

And BTW, I tried this solution too and it didn't work. Thanks anyway!
 
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P

Pared3s

macrumors regular
May 14, 2010
119
22
If the OP doesn't know about the Sleep function he should use it but I still think a solution to this would be helpful. If you have a Mac that has an SSD in it the start up/shut down times are ridiculously fast. Because of that I find myself shutting down the Mac more because it saves the battery a bit more. This is helpful when traveling and wanting to conserve juice.

It used to be that you could hold down the mute button when powering up but that doesn't work anymore.
 
T

The "Dude"

macrumors regular
Sep 29, 2011
120
0
Wethackrey is correct, the startup tone is a diagnostic feature to let you know the computer is booting properly. It's also the cue to let the user know when to press any keys during boot up like specifying a boot drive or external cd.
 
1

12dylan34

macrumors 6502a
Sep 3, 2009
884
15
NMF said:
What the OP does is stupid though. It's your civic duty to stop people from using their computers stupidly.

OP, use the Sleep function and join us in 2012! :cool:
Click to expand...

I would agree. My dad shuts off his iPad every time he's done using it and it drives me crazy. Possibly even worse than the computer thing, haha.
 
P

Pared3s

macrumors regular
May 14, 2010
119
22
Last edited:
P

Pared3s

macrumors regular
May 14, 2010
119
22
yyy said:
Doesn't work for me on a 2010 MBP. Even manually muting the sound before shutdown doesn't work.
Click to expand...

If you tried the terminal method above, you need to remove the "hooks" that you implemented. Otherwise, if you set it up incorrectly, this could cause it to always "unmute" before logging in thereby always keeping the startup chime on.
 
GoreVidal

GoreVidal

macrumors 6502a
Jun 19, 2011
597
0
How about just plugging a 1/8" headphone jack of some sort on start up if you're trying to be stealthy. Like this?

31J-oBHX-CL.jpg
 
P

Pared3s

macrumors regular
May 14, 2010
119
22
RKO said:
Ok it is working here as I have restarted my MBP a few times to test it out. Did you check off the preferences pane?
Click to expand...

Does Auto Mute "un-mute" the sound after a restart? In other words, does the sound level get restored to whatever level it was at when shutting down?
 
P

Pared3s

macrumors regular
May 14, 2010
119
22
RKO said:
No. Upon restarts the chime stays off until you change it in the prefs or you use the keyboard shortcut to do the same(Command F 10).
Click to expand...

Thanks for letting me know. I didn't want to install it just to check that.
 
Y

yyy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 10, 2007
192
17
OK, I've figured out what the problem was: it turns out that when external speakers are plugged in to the MacBook, it's only possible to change the volume level of the external speakers while the chime sound always comes from the internal speakers.

What I did was to unplug the speakers, mute the the volume, then plug in the speakers again. Now there's no chime sound on startup and I didn't need to use any 3rd party app to do that.

Thanks again for the replies!
 
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