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The startup sound disappeared on my iMac
- Thread starter Spoiled
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Your startup sound is linked to your system volume. If your volume is muted in OS X, your startup chime won't sound.
The startup sound is NOT linked to your system volume. It is completely independent and can not be changed in Preferences. Unless there is shortcut that I am unaware of, the only way to mute the startup chime is to dig into Terminal, or use any number of apps that adjust system properties.
Here is a tutorial on how to turn it off. Perhaps you can restore it to the default setting by following the tutorial.
http://osxdaily.com/2012/11/04/disable-mac-boot-chime/
Here is a tutorial on how to turn it off. Perhaps you can restore it to the default setting by following the tutorial.
http://osxdaily.com/2012/11/04/disable-mac-boot-chime/
Mine has always been linked to my system volume. If I hit mute and then restart, the sound is muted. However, I usually have my iMac's audio going out through an Optical cable to my receiver. In this situation, it uses the last setting for the internal speakers (i.e., whatever it was before I plugged in the optical cable). For me to update this, I have to unplug the optical cable and then adjust audio as needed.
Sounds like the analog to optical converter is downstream of settings that are adjusted in Preferences, whereas the onboard sound is upstream.
Same in my late 2011 imac with ML. I can turn up or down the startup chime with system preferences volume. What ever the setting was when you shut down is what it will be when you start up. If the mute button is checked, chime is muted. If you attach external speakers, you have to unplug them from the imac, then set the volume lower, then plug the external speakers back in. The startup volume you set will hold for the chime.
It was also this way in my late 2009 imac.
It was also this way in my late 2009 imac.
Resettiing the PRAM always seems to restore my Mac startup-chime to full ear-splitting volume in addition to fixing the problem I am after. I don't know how the volume of the chime gets reduced with normal usage of the computer.
My iMac 2012 is same. If volume is down when I shut it off, it comes on low. If muted, then no sound. If high, then loud on start up.
The startup chime IS linked to your system volume. Good grief go try it yourself. Set the volume in OS X (not the login screen) to max, and then reboot. Then do the same thing and set the volume to 3 bars or 4 bars, and then reboot.
So again, the startup chime is linked to your system volume. If you reboot with your volume set to anything but MUTED, you will hear a chime. If you mute your system before rebooting, then the system won't chime.
That link you posted and Terminal command did not work for me at all on my 2012 iMac running 10.8.2. The chime is still directly linked to system volume.
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It doesn't. Resetting PRAM resets the volume of the chime on ONLY that next boot to max for some reason. When you reboot the next time, chances are you didn't reboot with your volume set to max, so the chime is much quieter.
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Good grief I DID try it for myself, and on my 2008 iMac the startup chime volume is completely unaffected by the volume in my system preferences, the volume as set by the keyboard volume keys, and still sounds as the same level whether it's been muted or not. Good grief, maybe different hardware acts differently!
OK, well if you noticed, the original post refers to a 2012 iMac. I know for a fact that every iMac since at least 2009 the chime is linked to the system volume. I assumed that since you were replying to the post of someone with a 2012 iMac that you'd at least have the same hardware before replying.
Apparently not.
Again, to the original post, and anyone with a recent iMac, the chime is linked to your system volume. So just mute your iMac before you shut down.
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[doublepost=1567009560][/doublepost]Wish I had read this first. When my startup gong stopped, I immediately went to recovery mode and the disk utility for repairs. It was so simple. Just a volume adjustment. Somehow I inadvertently muted it.
Thank you .
For anyone with a 2017 or later iMac, none of this applies. There is no startup chime anymore.
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It bothered me for a few days. There are other indicators that my Mac is booting so I stopped thinking about it ... till I saw this thread.
Not really, my 2008 iMac startup sound is also linked to the system sound. When I mute it or turn the volume down, there's no sound or very little sound when I restart it/turn it on.
Thread from the dead.
But I love posts like this where people confuse a 2008 iMac with a 2012 one and dive incorrect information based on their comprehension. Just oof!
Just another small point about the start-up sound now the subject has been resurrected:
It was an indicator or system health each note being triggered by a hardware system check.
If there was a note missing or if it sounded off, it meant that something in the hardware wasn't working properly.
Um. You guys do realize you're rebutting a post from six and half years ago, from a user who hasn't logged in for almost three years, right?
But, you're absolutely correct!
But, you're absolutely correct!