Hey all - I just noticed the classic startup chime is absent from my new 2017 iMac. Could other 2017 iMac owners please confirm that so I know there's nothing wrong?
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2017 iMac Owners - They killed the chime???
- Thread starter camresu
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I think it's been dead since the late 2016 MacBook Pro.
Thanks tarsi's - It looks as though they did indeed kill it from the 2017 iMac as well. Always liked the chime to let me know all is well on a restart or boot up.
RIP Glorious Mac chime!!
RIP Glorious Mac chime!!
well, here's how to restore the startup chime on a macbook pro. It may work for the imac.
http://appleinsider.com/articles/16...startup-chime-to-apples-new-2016-macbook-pros
http://appleinsider.com/articles/16...startup-chime-to-apples-new-2016-macbook-pros
Thanks jerwin. I actually looked into it. The iMac firmware doesn't allow for a bootaudio parameter.
The BootAudio parameter is in fact supported by the 2017 iMac (try sudo nvram -p to confirm it).
However, this method to reenable the startup chime apparently does not work, on the new iMacs or the 2016 MacBook Pro that many sites reported it in reference to.
Sadly for those who liked it, the startup chime seems to be gone forever.
Not as long as I hang on to my current hardware. Thank you Apple, for making me want the 2017 iMac a little bit less.
Not as long as I hang on to my current hardware. Thank you Apple, for making me want the 2017 iMac a little bit less.
Yeah, I'm going to miss it the one time every few months or so I reboot the machine.
Well it is like this.
Mac owners have been grumbling for years about the chime, and using third party apps to try and kill it. So they have done it for them. With most users only re-booting their machine once every few weeks at a software update install, it is only a minor matter,
Guess to reset NVRAM, do the old PRAM reset, but like MB hold down keys for twenty or more seconds in absence of the chimes?
Mac owners have been grumbling for years about the chime, and using third party apps to try and kill it. So they have done it for them. With most users only re-booting their machine once every few weeks at a software update install, it is only a minor matter,
Guess to reset NVRAM, do the old PRAM reset, but like MB hold down keys for twenty or more seconds in absence of the chimes?
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Glad the chime has gone, sods law dictates that one of my kids would have maxxed out the volume before killing the mac previously and the full blast through a monster speaker set up would dislodge a well glued wig....
I am not happy about losing the chime...dual booting with the Option key is now a guessing game. Unless someone can recommend an EFI boot like rEFIt that no longer seems to work. Having to restart my mac 5 times to get a dual boot because I was too early, or too late...can't be good for my mac.
I know there might be technical reasons or whatever for removing the minor "cosmetic" stuff, but things like these (the startup chime, the light up logo on previous Mac notebooks, etc.) to me are what gave Apple systems just that little extra "flavor" to set them apart. It saddens me to to see stuff like that go away over time.
Go by the grey screen, restart then hold down the option key when you go from black to grey screen.
The chime (chord) is/was the signal that the POST (power-on self-test) is finished. Start-up key sequences (like Shift for Safe Mode or CTRL+R for Recovery) are ignored until POST is done, and are also ignored once OS boot begins (appearance of Apple logo) - there's a limited window of opportunity to invoke an alternate boot.
So one needed a "wait for it, wait for it..." signal of some sort. Back when everyone was using CRTs, that signal was auditory, as display warm-up took longer than POST.
Not long ago (from my aged perspective), there might have been a 5-second or longer wait before POST was finished, but that pause has gradually shrunken to about 1 second on 2015 Macs, and is so short on 2016 and 2017 models as to seem instantaneous.
Sure, Apple could have kept the startup chord from a sense of tradition, but it's unnecessary as a practical matter. "Wait for the startup sound" has no place in tech documentation if there's nothing to wait for. As one of those trained to "wait for the startup sound," it seems better to just wean us off a vestigial organ (note).
So one needed a "wait for it, wait for it..." signal of some sort. Back when everyone was using CRTs, that signal was auditory, as display warm-up took longer than POST.
Not long ago (from my aged perspective), there might have been a 5-second or longer wait before POST was finished, but that pause has gradually shrunken to about 1 second on 2015 Macs, and is so short on 2016 and 2017 models as to seem instantaneous.
Sure, Apple could have kept the startup chord from a sense of tradition, but it's unnecessary as a practical matter. "Wait for the startup sound" has no place in tech documentation if there's nothing to wait for. As one of those trained to "wait for the startup sound," it seems better to just wean us off a vestigial organ (note).
New Macs haven't been chiming through external headphones, speakers or audio interfaces since 2006. Always happens through the internal speakers on Intel Macs.
This thread is about the iMac, not MacBook. Even so, it is pretty common these days to simply keep a MacBook in sleep mode and open the lid to wake it up instead of having to boot it up in a public setting.
Is there a reasonable replacement to rEFIt that is relatively easy to install? The change from black to grey is so slight that it is easy to miss. I've used rEFIt before and it was great, but the newer rEFInd requires turning off one thing or another (system processes)...and the install instructions are somewhat complex even though I am pretty tech savvy.
It might be very infrequent, but it's nice to have some indicator on boot-up other than a pitch-black screen. Especially when you're trying to do a recovery or dual-boot.
They removed the chime from the macbook pro because it arguably makes sense. They removed the chime from from the imac because it was (now) in line with the macbook pro. And then they'll remove it from the mini and the pro, which arguably need it the most.
The backlight engages very subtly. It is easy to recognize even in a well-lit room. It isn't grey exactly but it is absolutely noticeable. As soon as this happens, press the keys.
If you want the chime (back), consider 2 mandatory issues:
1) there's got to be a command somewhere,
2) there's got to be a sound file somewhere.
The earlier suggestions might establish the command, but where is the file gone?
;JOOP!
1) there's got to be a command somewhere,
2) there's got to be a sound file somewhere.
The earlier suggestions might establish the command, but where is the file gone?
;JOOP!
Apple has re-written the instructions for steps like resetting NVRAM and booting to Recovery:
How to reset NVRAM
Shut down your Mac, then turn it on and immediately hold down these four keys together: Option, Command, P, and R. Keep holding the keys for about 20 seconds, during which your Mac might appear to restart. (If you have a Mac that plays a startup sound when you turn it on, you can release the keys after the second startup sound.)
When your Mac finishes starting up, you might want to open System Preferences and adjust settings that have been reset, such as sound volume, display resolution, startup disk selection, or time zone.