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anyone seen my startup sound?

C

[CoRdOvA]

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 7, 2003
15
0
aus
Hi,
i know a lot of people dont actually like the startup sound, or want to get rid of it, but.....

for about a week now, my start up sound has decided to just disappear! every time i turn the computer on, there is no sound.

-yes, i have my volume up.
-i have checked it starting up with internal and external speakers - no luck.

i'm just concerned that maybe there is something going wrong and things are going to get worse... or maybe i just accidently changed an option or something??

if anyone has any ideas how to get it back, it would be greatly appreciated. I dont really mind that much that it has gone, but it makes me think that things arent running to their best.
Thanks!
 
[CoRdOvA] said:
Hi,
i know a lot of people dont actually like the startup sound, or want to get rid of it, but.....

for about a week now, my start up sound has decided to just disappear! every time i turn the computer on, there is no sound.

-yes, i have my volume up.
-i have checked it starting up with internal and external speakers - no luck.

i'm just concerned that maybe there is something going wrong and things are going to get worse... or maybe i just accidently changed an option or something??

if anyone has any ideas how to get it back, it would be greatly appreciated. I dont really mind that much that it has gone, but it makes me think that things arent running to their best.
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Sorry, I havn't seen it anywhere! lol Not much of a help but thought you deserved at least one reply! Come on guys someone must know? I was always under the impression that when you restarted and you heard the noise it meant that it had restarted properly - if the sound is not there does it not mean something is wrong? I dunno
 
my powerbook only plays the sound when i don't have it muted or turned down.

for example. if i shutdown with the volume down i won't hear it. if i shut it down so that i can hear other sounds in os x then i hear the startup sound before i get the grey startup screen.

but you said your volume was up.. i don' tknow what to tell ya
 
This won't be any help to you but the same thing happened to me about 2 months ago, the chime just didn't happen. 2 weeks ago it came back with no action on my part that I could tell. I haven't had any other troubles.
 
[CoRdOvA] said:
Hi,
i know a lot of people dont actually like the startup sound, or want to get rid of it, but.....

for about a week now, my start up sound has decided to just disappear! every time i turn the computer on, there is no sound.

-yes, i have my volume up.
-i have checked it starting up with internal and external speakers - no luck.

i'm just concerned that maybe there is something going wrong and things are going to get worse... or maybe i just accidently changed an option or something??

if anyone has any ideas how to get it back, it would be greatly appreciated. I dont really mind that much that it has gone, but it makes me think that things arent running to their best.
Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'm sorry that I can't offer you any specific advice to help, but just thought that I would add that I absolutely love the startup sound - it's one of the most reassuring sounds to my ears. Sounds bizarre, but the startup sound tells me I'm dealing with a Mac, and just makes me damned happy. Just my 2c, and a bit mad, but I do love my macs
 
I also love the sound. Normally the sound means all systems are go. I don't think XP has that kind of system or does it? The sound is cool. Even though I have taking a liking to my old Powermac 6100 sound. But, the dong is better. Heck I love all the sounds of the macs from 94-present.

Back on topic, does anything else sound instead of the chime? Or is there no noise and justs starts up? When did you get the pbook? Did it chime before?
 
quagmire said:
I don't think XP has that kind of system or does it?
Click to expand...

I know PCs use that "BEEP" to tell you about the system. Like if its one short beep, all systems are go. But if you get like 3 beeps or long one or something alongs those lines...."Housten, we have a problem".... :D

(course I'm not an expert on that, so I could be wrong)
 
The only thing I can think that you have done is that you have turned down the sound before shutting down, when the computer starts up it uses the sound level from the last shutdown with the chime. Also if you have headphones plugged in you will not hear the startup sound unless you have them on.
 
I don't think there's anything wrong - you get a broken glass sound if there's something wrong I believe. There was something on the Apple support I read the other day about the startup sound disappearing if you have USB speakers plugged in through the hub in your cinema display.
 
quagmire said:
Heck I love all the sounds of the macs from 94-present.
Click to expand...

My brother's 5260 makes a rather humourous sound when there's no memory installed. Hard to explain a sound, of course, but it's like an ominous DUM-DUM-DUMMMM, followed by drums and a cymbal. :eek: :D
 
This is probably far fetched b ut in the last edition of Macworld someone asked how to change it. MW responded it could not be done bc it was part of the system hardware. However, they did come out with a way to turn it on/off via f keys. It doesnt sound like that is your problem, but they do mention that slooking at the "free StartupSound.prefPane (find.macworld.com/0030) and application that lets you set the volume of the startup sound, anwhere from muted to really, really loud"
The full article is on page 80 of the MW september 2004 issue under the Mac OSX hints.
 
All that prefpane does is when you shutdown your Mac it mutes the volume. And when you start it up, it unmutes it (or lower/raise the volume of course). The Boot sound is located on the logic board I believe and is there to diagnose a problem. If you're booting up fine, then there's no problem. But I'd call AppleCare or take it to an AppleStore to have them check on it as in the future you might have difficulty pinpointing a problem.

Like if you hear a bong and the computer doesn't startup, it's hdd failure. And if you don't hear the bong and there's no bootup, it's usually logicboard related.
 
Are you by any chance a non-Admin user?

I think I've seen this at work. The "Admin" user has the sound muted, and thus no sound at startup, even if the "normal" user of that machine does have to volume turned up.
Not too sure if that was exactly the case... but could be food for thought. :rolleyes:

If the Mac is your own... then forget this post (you probably are an Admin user) :D

Anyway... try resetting PRAM as stated above.
 
Reset the PRAM to restore startup sound

I have lost the startup sound several times. Each time I was able to restore it by resetting the PRAM: hold down the command, option, P, and R keys when starting up. hold until you hear the starup sound a second time.
I know it is difficult to hold down 4 keys at once, but that is the price we pay...
 
io89 said:
I have lost the startup sound several times. Each time I was able to restore it by resetting the PRAM: hold down the command, option, P, and R keys when starting up. hold until you hear the starup sound a second time.
I know it is difficult to hold down 4 keys at once, but that is the price we pay...
Click to expand...

Firstly, thanks everyone for your input...

io89 and NusuniAdmin, i tried resetting the PRAM, but no luck. Well,, i think i held the keys down for long enough... i couldnt hear the first or second startup sound so i wasnt sure :p

I will check out a few of the other suggestions.. not looking good so far.
Thanks everyone!
 
Hold down the keys for at least two chimes (five times to be sure). If you're still not sure how long that is, then hold them down for a little over a minute, then release.
 
King Cobra said:
Hold down the keys for at least two chimes (five times to be sure). If you're still not sure how long that is, then hold them down for a little over a minute, then release.
Click to expand...

please read, he can not hear the chimes at ALL.

The screen should flicker after a few seconds after booting while holding the keys....let the screen do this a couple of time. If the school does not flash on then off quickly then ah well.
 
NusuniAdmin said:
please read, he can not hear the chimes at ALL.

The screen should flicker after a few seconds after booting while holding the keys....let the screen do this a couple of time. If the school does not flash on then off quickly then ah well.
Click to expand...

he is actually a she by the way :eek:

Tried to do the PRAM thing for longer (more than a minute) but still nothing.... Also, during this process, the screen is just black.. no flickering either... although sometimes i can hear some crackle noises from my speakers... this is probably a bad wire or something.. so dont know if it is anything to note. the speakers work perfectly once started up.

think this is where i just accept that my startup chime has gone on holiday and may not return.

siliconjones, what and where is the CUDA button?? :confused:

thanks everyone for your help :)
 
[CoRdOvA] said:
siliconjones, what and where is the CUDA button??
Click to expand...
Duff-Man says...it is a small button on the motherboard, usually very close to where the battery is located...I didn't see where you said exactly what hardware you have so I can't be more direct (it's late so maybe a read over that....). If you unplug the power (always a good idea if you are opening the case) and hold the button once for a good 5 count....that ought to do it....oh yeah!
 
Duff-Man said:
Duff-Man says...it is a small button on the motherboard, usually very close to where the battery is located...I didn't see where you said exactly what hardware you have so I can't be more direct (it's late so maybe a read over that....). If you unplug the power (always a good idea if you are opening the case) and hold the button once for a good 5 count....that ought to do it....oh yeah!
Click to expand...

ohhh... that sounds kinda scary... :(

i have a 15" al powerbook... and what does this button actually do?? reset something? as you can tell, i'm really up with the technical lingo.... ;)
 
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