Can i turn off that start up sound?

[HC Penniwicket]

I sometimes turn it on early in the morning and the noise is pretty loud coming out of the speaker in the back...

 

[emw]

You could always mute your sound before shutting down, sleep instead of shutting down, or use this handy utility.

 

[gauchogolfer]

That 'bong' chime is called a 'post' and it's actually important for the system. (OK, the Power On Self Test isn't actually a sound, but passing the test activates the chime). The exact sound it makes can give you information about the status of the system as it boots up. You can certainly mute the speakers before shutting down, but turning it off altogether is neither possible nor desirable.

If you hold down the mute button (f3) on the keyboard at startup, it will mute the chime. However, your normal system speaker settings won't be affected.

 

[Glen Quagmire]

Wrong. Turning off the start-up sound is both desirable (it's too darned loud) and possible (at least if you have a PowerPC Mac).

http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~arcana/StartupSound/index.en.html

Works fine for me. And my Mac.

 

[gauchogolfer]

Wrong. Turning off the start-up sound is both desirable (it's too darned loud) and possible (at least if you have a PowerPC Mac).

http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~arcana/StartupSound/index.en.html

Works fine for me. And my Mac.

OK, you can turn it off by muting the speakers. But you can't eliminate the sound from the startup sequence short of doing that. I suppose turning down the volume is a nice touch: thanks for the link.

 

[macOSX-tastic]

does this mean that if you dont hear a chime when you start up, theres something wrong with your system?

s

 

[mad jew]

Lack of POST is not a warning per se. It usually means the speakers are muted but it can mean hardware failure too.

The POST works in a combination of beeps, with each number representing different RAM or ROM errors. Newer Macs also have a sequence that can be played if the CPU is being crap.

For more information, check out this link for old Macs and this link for new Macs (PPC).

 

[gauchogolfer]

does this mean that if you dont hear a chime when you start up, theres something wrong with your system?

s

If your speakers are not muted, you should hear a single chime when you pass the POST. If your system fails the POST, you'll hear different chimes, depending on your system. Here's the Apple Knowledge Base article. No sound + flashing power LED = bad RAM.

Edit: curses, foiled again by mad_jew