MacBook Startup Chime Repeating

Hi, I have a late a late 2009 Macbook and im having a problem with the startup chime repeating and its starting to get rather annoying. It usually just gets to the point where i get sick of listening to it and just hold down the power button to restart it. I have had a look around on other forums and have seen a few people posting the same problem but im yet to find a solution. Have tried the 4 key combo for reseting the PRAM and the problem went away for a couple of days, not sure if it was just a coincidence or... taking it into apple to get looked at isn't really an option as i'm not in the original country of purchase and am constantly travelling at the moment. Anyways has anyone had the same problem or has any ideas on how to solve this? it would be very much appreciated!!
Also it sounds like the chime sound file is corrupted, it crackles a little towards the end of it and cuts off before it finishes and then just loops again....
Message was edited by: ValdiCBU

Hello v:
Welcome to Apple discussions.
The single chime is an audible indication that the Mac has successfully performed self testing at start up.
The repeat is a new one and I do not know if that is indicating some sort of hardware issue.
You could reset the PRAM again and also reset the SMC:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Barry

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Macbook Startup Chime Repeats

Hi guys, I have a 2.26ghz Macbook and when i start it up the chime keeps repeating over and over again until i get sick of it and hold the power button to force shut it down, sometimes it will start up fine after that and boot right up and sometimes it keeps repeating again, then i just leave it for a few hours and try again and it will usually work. Also over the last day or so i've been getting a mixture of the repeating chime and the blank white screen with no apple logo and grey spiral. Does this sound like a hardware or software problem?
I've already tried reseting the PRAM and SMC, I've ran the hardware test which came up clean, checked the drive with disk utility and eventually reformatted the HDD and reinstalled Mac OSX but still no change. I'm not running any extraordinary software just google chrome, Skype etc. so that shouldn't have any thing to do with it.
If anyone out there can point me in the right direction it would be very much appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Valdi

Thanks for your reply's, yes it is booting from the right disk i only have the one partition. If it where hardware problem would i notice any other changes other than the booting up problem? cause other than that its running perfect. Any one else got any input though? but its looking like ill have to take into the shop to get looked at only thing is i don't have one any where near i live

Re: Can't reboot -- chimes repeat over and over.

Hey man, im having a simular problem with my Macbook the startup chime repeats but only some of the time and usually boots into Mac OSX after restarting it a couple of times. Anyways just wondering if you managed to get this problems solved? any help would be appreciated!

Faulty logic board -- had to send Mac for repair. Hope yours is fixed more easily!

Mac Mini won't boot, repeating startup chime

This afternoon I noticed that my Mac Mini (1.5 GHz Intel Core Solo) was acting sluggish. I opened up activity monitor and saw that the process 0 (kernel_task ?) was using about 50% of the CPU. Assuming that it was in the middle of something, I left it alone for another 10 minutes. Still 50% red in the CPU Usage graph in Activity Monitor. I then turned the computer off. When I turn it back on, I get a gray screen, one normal startup chime, followed by somewhat quieter startup chimes about 1 -2 seconds apart. I've tried resetting the PMU, starting up with no USB connections, safe mode, by CD, etc. I don't think the keyboard is even recognized. I know that works, because I tested it on my laptop.
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Thanks!

OK, well it would not make any difference that the install disk was already inserted - as long as the Option key was being held down at the right moment, the system would go into the boot loader screen even if there were no bootable volumes.
Make sure the Option key is down immediately you hear the first chime. If you've been doing that, it would be an indication of a more serious fault.
Try an SMC reset to make sure the system hasn't just corrupted the management controller, then try again.
An SMC reset can be accomplished as follows:
-From the Apple menu, choose Shut Down (or if the computer is not responding, hold the power button until it turns off).
-Unplug all cables from the computer, including the power cord and any display cables.
-Wait at least 15 seconds.
-Plug the power cord back in, making sure the power button is not being pressed at the time.
-Then reconnect your keyboard and mouse to the computer.
-Press the power button on the back to start up your computer.
If that doesn't work, there's a hardware fault. In which case the nature and pattern of sounds you hear after the initial chime may be the clue, since these may be the system giving an audible report from the power-on self test. Are these regularly repeating beeps? rather than chimes? If so, you should hear a pattern of 1, 2 3 or 4 of them followed by a second pause, then repeating.

No Startup Chime on the Boss's MacBook

My boss is currently in Mexico and his MacBook has started having problems. He can turn it on, the power light comes on and the HD starts spinning, but it never gets to the startup chime. It simply continues to run with a black screen until he holds down the power button to turn it off. He does not have his system CD's with him.
The laptop is about 4 - 5 years old with 4 GB of RAM. About 6 months ago he upgraded to Snow Leopard.
His brother will go down to join him in about a week and I'm going to send DiskWarrior and a firewire cable to see if he can start up from the CD or use another Mac to start his in target disk mode and run DiskWarrior from the working Mac. The problem is that where he is in Mexico Macs are rare to nonexistent.
Suggestions?

never mind. the issue was that the speaker jack connection was loose! (blush)

MBA repeats startup chime but doesn't boot up. Why?

MBA timed out while Applejack was running then shut down and now repeats startup chime but fails to boot up.

And exactly what MBP model do you have? What version of OS X is installed? What version of AppleJack did you use?

MacBook shuts down about one minute after startup chime

I have an older (2007?) Macbook, and I think it is running OS X Snow Leopard (10.6.3). I can't verify this because it won't boot up. It does the same thing whether on battery or ac power: startup chime, grey screen with apple logo, twirling spokes, and grey bar filling in. Then, exactly one minute and 38 seconds after the chime, it goes black (keyboard and everything).
I have tried unplugging and waiting, starting with and without the battery, resetting PRAM (tried that a bunch of times), and starting in safe mode with shift (doing that caused it to shut down in 1:08).
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Or is there another trick to try?
Thanks!

Try this support article > Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
Boot from the Snow Leopard disc following the instructions from that article.
While you have Disk Utilty open, check the S.M.A.R.T. status at the bottom of that window.
Hopefully it says: Verified

Macbook Pro not starting up no startup chime

Friday afternoon, I attempted to start up the Macbook Pro but after the Superdrive made a sound, I don't hear any startup chime. Yesterday night, after having to remove the battery and by inserting the RJ-45 Jack into the Macbook Pro, I finally got the thing to boot and I was able to back up both my Mac *AND* my iPhone 5. However, this morning, in spite of me taking the battery out and also going back to Wi-Fi connection, this morning when I had the Macbook Pro sleep (Macbook Pro Early 2008, 2.6MHz, 15-Inch), when I tried to wake it up, the Macbook Pro won't display any video, so I turned the Macbook Pro off by holding the Power Button until the Macbook Pro turned off. Now I tried to reboot the Mac by doing a PRAM plus an SMC Reset before I attempted to get the Mac to boot up again. I turned the power on, same thing happened on Friday Afternoon. That's the bad news. The good news is that I was able to have my Macbook Pro backed up whilst it was running yesterday night. The MagSafe Adapter is displaying a "connected" light (Green/Amber), and I know that the Superdrive is working fine, but I don't hear a start-up chime.
Now to tell you guys, I've been using a heavy amount of Flash on the Mac, and all I know is that Apple has been very ballistic against Flash due to Flash causing Macs to crash day after day.
Long story short. Turned the power on (even without the battery in), MagSafe Adapter is working fine, no startup chime. I also heard about the mass GeForce recall that affects certain Macbook Pros as well. I don't want to think it's the Logic Board or the Processor, even worse, the CMOS Battery. I also don't want to think that my Macbook Pro is infected with a Boot Sector Virus neither.
Seriously I don't want to see myself buying a new Macbook after 4 years of having the same Mac I have, but it could be the worst case scenario. I have my Mac backed up on the Time Capsule, just in case I must move to a newer, lighter Mac since I'm more of a mobile Mac user.

Well 4-5 years seems to be the average life span of a MacBook Pro computer depending upon use, how much dust it's inhales and hasn't been cleaned out
Also in my opinion that machine is too old to handle 10.7 or 10.8, despite Apple's say otherwise, you should have stayed with 10.6.8
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Step by Step to fix your Mac
Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
Install/upgrade RAM or storage drive in Mac's
How to revert your Mac to Snow Leopard

MacBook Pro keeps shutting down immediately after startup chime

I booted into Windows 7 on my boot camp partition and was about to play Dirt 3 for the 1st time. I was in the options menu of the game and my MacBook Pro just shut down/turned off instantly.
I turned back on, holding in Option so I could boot into Windows again, but the computer just turned off immediately after the startup chime. I turned on again, this time I didn't hold in Option, so I could boot into OS X (my default startup volume) and the same thing happened - MBP shut down immediately after the startup chime. I tried again, same thing. I tried again, and this time it booted fine into OS X, and all seems ok.
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Hi. When you were in the recovery drive doing permissions, did you try and run a repair of the boot drive? Did you try single user mode? Try these first and then go back and try to reinstall the operating system.When I say repair boot drive I don't mean permissions. There are both options in disk utilities.When you open disk utilities ,you will see in the left column two drives plus possibly a boot partition that look like an external driv. click on the second drive and in first aid use repair disk. If you still can't boot and it will not let you restore, you may have to do a clean install. http://support.apple.com/kb/PH18869?viewlocale=en_US

MacBook Air (mid-2011) stuck in startup chime loop

Everything was working fine last night, but this morning all I get is a gray screen (no Apple logo) and the repeating Startup Chime. Help?
I tried booting with Shift key help down, tried Command Option P+R, etc. Nada. Only recent problem I have had is that occasionaly it seems to Shut Down when Sleeping and I am forced to hold down Power Button to get it to Boot, or I receive the Error Message that it Shut Down Unexpectedly.

You hav to take the computer to the Apple store and have it checked out.
Resetting SMC will not help in this case.
Genius Bar reservation
http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

No startup chime, red light, fans running loud...

yeah, I know that there are other threads with the same topic, but I just wanted to know how common this problem is?
How many people have experienced this?
What are the common disturbances?
What is going on?
Why is such an expensive, powerhouse computer become such a puny electronic product because of power issues?
I posted this in another thread but,
Here's my story:
I am having the same problem.
Now before you start taking advice to back up all your data, reformat your hard drive, and reinstall all the software; please take note of a few things:
first off, I'm ****** that this is happening to me. I spend $5000+ for a "reliable" Apple computer. Then it doesn't want to turn on because its not safe. Sorry if I drown this post with bitter sarcasm but I am coming to the end of the line with my patience.
I called Apple Care, read a bunch of posts (here and elsewhere), and yes I do know about the SMU Reset button (like that really does anything?).
My problem happened a few weeks ago and I thought nothing of it at first. There was a power outage for a quick second and it turned everything off. When I went to turn on my computer, there was no chime, the red light was on, and the fans were running and eventually began running very loud. After letting it run like that in hopes of the screen lighting up, I turned it off by holding the power button. By the way, there's nothing on the screen and the keyboard doesn't work (I use a wireless keyboard, but I plugged in the OG cord keyboard to push whatever series of buttons recommended by these "geniuses") Trust me, the computer doesn't make it to that part of the boot process, so stop with commandoption+PR or F12 to get the CD out. It doesn't work! What's up with this computer! It can handle all these intense calculations,etc. but a power surge is going to shut it down indefinitely.
So I left the computer came back the next day, turned it on and its fine. Cool, I'm happy. It's Working!! I go on a few weeks, then I go to turn it on this Monday, same problem. But actually a worse situation. I had a client come over and the computer wouldn't work. I looked like a idiot. Couldn't do anything cause my computer didn't want to turn on. I do music production/editing. I use my G5 for running ProTools LE. I have other programs but that is the main one I use. There's nothing wrong with it. It's optimized for use with the mac. So those people who are going to advise me to uninstall all my software and all that - I appreciate your concern but don't give advice when you don't know anything!
So I am getting frustrated. My client left a little disappointed, but what can you do? I tried to call AppleCare on Mon. but it was Memorial Day. So I waited for Tues.
Tues morning, my computer turns on like everything is fine.
I'm happy but cautious. I talk to AppleCare rep. He tells me that it is a common problem they have heard about with the G5's. Wherever blackouts, brownouts, spikes, sags, dips, and other electricity inconsistencies occur, the Power Mac G5 has a breaker in it which flips so it doesn't receive uneven power supply and damage internal components.
I like that feature. Good thinking Apple. Protecting my investment from bad electrical grids. But I don't like the fact my computer has a mind of its own where it decides when it wants to boot or when it wants to sit there and run its fans all loud.
I shut down Tues morn to go to work. I come back in the evening, it doesn't want to boot up. Instead of getting angry trying a bunch of times to turn on/turn off the computer, I leave my house all together and go and have a few drinks. I come home ,don't even look at my computer, and go to bed.
I wake up Wed. morning. Go to turn on my computer. Successful boot. It's running. Okay, I think, I'm going to get down to the problem. I read all the logs, not like I know every piece of info, but just to see what's happening. Everything looks fine. I decide to run the AppleCare CD Tech Tool. It says restart holding down C. I do that. When the gray Apple Logo comes up, all this writing about kernals comes up and it tells me to restart or shutdown. I shutdown and attempt to restart, same problem: no chime, red light on, and fans eventually spin loud. Now the CD is stuck in there. I'm going to take it to the Apple Store tomorrow to if these "geniuses" can figure it out.
(Just a side note: Apple calls them geniuses, but its hard for me to think some disconnected college kid with a bad haircut and questionable social skills knows what's up with the power supply issues of a computer; maybe I'm wrong, but you can run your diagnostics and look at the chart of what to do and all that BUT Apple needs to listen to the people)
I am going to get a UPS (uninteruptable power supply) with a clean sine wave output to curb the issue at my end. It's not my fault I live in a area that receives uneven power output. I live in Los Angeles. Summer is starting up and I think its going to be hot, so blackouts, power dips and sags are inevitable. I just don't understand why Apple hasn't considered this problem and fixed it with something:
A recall to change the power supply, Is it something on the logic board?, are they going to reimburse me for lost income (Ha, yeah right)
I really want to know how many people are having this problem?
From what I've heard, it is a common problem.
So I think we need a common solution.
If its so common, it must be the computer. We are all going to live in different areas where the power may vary. Not all of us have the consistent power flow of 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, CA. So if it is such a common problem, Apple needs to fix it.
I can't spend more than five grand on a super duper computer and have it wuss out on some power issues.
Its a loss of income and productivity to me.
I can't have that anymore.
Sometimes my computer turns on, sometimes it doesn't.
I bought my PowerMac G5 in April 2006, its been about a month and a half and I'm having these problems.
Thank you for your time.
If anyone else has been having this problem, I feel for you.
It was been very difficult for me not to curse in this post, but I have tried to extend the same respect to all that use these discussion boards to create dialogue, find help, and create solutions.
LETS FIX IT!
Peace,
Swami G
Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.6) Dual 2.3 Ghz / 4.5 GB RAM

Well, you can see my specs below. I have the same problems as you, just worse. I am also running (as I have my previous systems) on an APC Smart-UPS 2200, and it doesn't solve this problem.
I bought my machine last December. In early March (just 2 days before my 90 days of phone support were up), I woke the computer from sleep to check email; about 5 minutes later it just froze. I had to force it down, but it never even got to the startup chime.
Called Apple, bought Apple Care on the spot, spent about 45 minutes on the phone with two levels of support, and Apple couldn't really diagnose the problem. They decided to send out a replacement logic board, processor unit and power supply for on-site service (I don't have an Apple service center nearby).
Nearly two weeks later the technician arrived with the parts, installed all of them, and - nothing. The system still exhibited the same symptoms as before the repair. He spent around five hours here, most of it on the phone with Apple. They decided that the processor unit they shipped was defective, so they sent another processor unit.
Nearly another two weeks later, the re-replacement processor unit arrived with the tech. He installed it, and everything worked. This was around April 1.
Fast forward to last Wednesday. Arrived home from work, tried to wake the Mac. Nothing happened. Had to force the machine off. Never booted again. Called Apple and went through the motions again. They're sending another logic board, processor unit, and power supply.
I asked about having the machine replaced since this will be the third repair attempt, considering it took two visits and nearly a month to repair it the first time it died. Apple was unwilling to replace it but I was told that if I had another failure, a replacement would be in the cards.
I agree with you about needing reliability in a computer as expensive as a Power Mac. It is not acceptable to have this kind of failure, repeatedly, with this kind of system. If my Windows PC has a hardware failure, I can take care of it myself. A top-end power supply is ~$200, a quality system board is ~$200-$300 - all very doable, and in very little time, if the need arises. A Power Mac logic board is ~$1K, a cpu module is well over $1K, who knows how much that crappy power supply costs, etc. If you have Apple Care, you face the kinds of downtime I'm having to deal with. A month without use of your computer. I mean, if I buy a Dell workstation, or an HP workstation, and pay an extra $200-$300 for service and something fails, Unisys will be here the next day and it will be fixed. That's the standard business class service experience you get from those companies with a computer that costs $600, much less the $3000+ you dish out for a Quad Power Mac. Apple's response is unacceptable.
It's a good thing I have kept my Windoze machine around, cause it's really saved my butt the last 2-3 months; that also makes me really sad, because in the last 6-7 years of Power Mac ownership I've had zero problems with any of them. My dad has my previous machine, a Rev A Dual 2.0 G5, and it's rock solid.
I sure hope that the Intel based Power Mac replacement doesn't suffer from what ever seems to afflict the recent Power Macs. I would absolutely hate to abandon OSX, but I will not put up with this kind of quality failure (hardware & service) again.
Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.4) Quad 2.5 GHz, 4GB RAM, Disk0: 74GB WD Raptor

Input and output audio not working and no startup chime

The audio, both input and output, on my MacBook Pro has stopped working as well as the startup chime. Otherwise the computer starts up and seems to be working normally. Any ideas as to what the problem is and solutions?

Hey, my MacBook Pro has been doing the EXACT same thing off and on for a few weeks now.
I'm just now having time to browse the forums, so I've not even asked about it.
Yesterday it all started working normally - all sounds.
I'll follow this discussion for sure.
There definitely seems to be enough 'Mac-Daddy' Mac Helpers on here to be able to easily resolve this issue.
i.e.: Andreas! Just reading her stuff lets me know she REALLY knows what she's talking about & is able to explain the highly advanced info in terms people actually get!
Thanks for asking that question!
~dOiTdiGiTaL~

Re-Start Issue: Chime Echo after startup chime ??

My 20 Intel Imac running OS 10.4.9 has developed a minor problem related to its startup sequence and I suspect firmware startup instructions:
When using the control panel startup disk dialogue to reboot from Windows XP back into OS 10 I get a repeating shorter echo of the familiar startup chime and the machine will not reboot into Mac OS until I hold down the power key at the back and force it to.
Similarly, altho with less serious effect, the machine echoes its startup chime a second or two following the normal restart chime when in OS 10, but in this case it des then reboot normally.
I suspect a corruption of firmware or NVRAM but I am unable to force a reset of NVRAM by holding down COMMAND-OPTION-O-F during restart. This works on a PPC G5 but does not seem to reset NVRAM on an Intel-based Mac.
Any suggestions from the list as to the cause and fix for this strange echo of the startup chimes ??

A NVRAM or PRAM reset is accomplished with Option +  + P + R.
Startup key combinations for Intel-based Macs
The startup chime is an indication that your RAM is OK and the Mac has passed the Power On Self Test. You might try reseating the RAM modules.

Delay before startup chime: bad sign?

Recently I (sometimes) have an unexpected delay between pressing the power button of my macbook and the startup chime (quite a few seconds). Scary. Then everything works fine.
Is there something that I should worry about?
Patrick
Belgium
Earth

patrick bonckaert wrote:
Recently I (sometimes) have an unexpected delay between pressing the power button of my macbook and the startup chime (quite a few seconds). Scary. Then everything works fine.
I don't really think it's an issue.

Lowering/muting startup chime volume on iMac 14,1 (Late 2013)?

Hello everyone,
Has anyone had any luck lowering or muting the startup chime volume on the iMac 14,1? I'm aware that general threads exist for muting the startup chime volume but a lot of solutions only work on Macbook Pro's.
Here are the techniques that I've tried or aren't practical:
- remembering to mute the volume before you shutdown
- never turning the iMac off, leaving it in sleep mode
- using StartNinja
- using Psst
- using the "Startup Sound" System Preferences pane.

I knew I had to deal with this answer (rkaufman's). But I suppose it's good that you posted this in case people who don't know any better want to mute their chime. You are absolutely right, which is why I'd prefer to simply lower the default volume of the chime rather than it being whatever the volume was right before one shuts down the computer.
One solution I've found is to leave Psst running in the background, which is a kludge but at least it works.
The person named den.thed above clearly did not read the original post.

MacBook Startup Chime Repeating

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