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)

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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.

Startup Chimes with audio cable connected?

My Mini has started to sound it's healthy startup chime even when there is an audio cable connected to the audio/headphone output. The output works fine and sends audio to the speakers, but how can I mute the chime at startup?
Previously it always muted that sound with a cable connected and I believe it started chiming when I updated to 10.5.4.
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The mini generates the startup chime via the internal speakers regardless of whether external speakers are connected or not - the necessary support for the hardware audio port isn't loaded until after the power-on self test (which is what generates the chime) so in common with the iMac range, the chime comes from the internal speakers.
The only way to mute the chime at startup is to set the Sound preference pane to Mute (check the 'Mute' box in the Sound Effects tab). There are also some utilities such as Startup Sound (http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~arcana/index.en.html) which variously succeed in muting the chime, though these tend to get broken with MacOS updates.

G4 startup chime=ok, video=no, keyboard commands=no

Hi everyone.
I have a dual 1ghz mirror door G4 that stays on most of the time. Last night it was working fine but this morning it wouldn't wake from sleep so I shut it off by holding down the power button. It will occasionally freeze at night, so this didn't seem to strange. Now though, it makes the startup chime and the fans (and maybe HD) makes some noise, but no video displays. Startup key commands are also not working and I cannot get the cd drive open (it is empty now), but even if I could get a disk in there I couldn't get it to boot up without the keyboard working.
So far I have tried:
unplugging all peripherals
leaving everything unplugged except the keyboard and monitor
removing the battery
resetting the pmu
removing non apple ram
resetting pram doesn't work
Does anyone have any suggestions? I really appreciate your help.
Thanks,
Rob

Well, no luck with inserting the Tiger install cd and disconnecting the hard drives. Like I said, everything sounds normal when starting up the computer, the fans go on and you can hear the hard drives and cd spinning.
I have tested the keyboard on another computer and it is working, but when starting up the G4 eject, resetting PRAM, cmd-c, and cmd-t don't work. The monitor as well sits idle (with the LED yellow) when you disconnect the monitor cable it turns green and says no signal and check cable. Once you reconnect it it goes black again with the LED changing back to yellow.
The startup process is initiated by the firmware and therefore regardless of having a functioning OS, hard drive, or cd drive, something should come up on the screen and key commands should work.
Hopefully this isn't something major like the motherboard going out or something similar. I am certainly no hardware expert, but it seems like something along those lines.

No Startup Chime- no joy

My MacPro was working just fine. Then it just started failing to boot. When I press the power button there is no startup chime and the monitor shows the grey Apple. It then moves on to blue screen with rotating grey clock. Blue Screen changes it's colour tone every so often. Computer makes activity noises then finally settles on blue screen no clock.
I can T boot and see all 4 drives ok. I have run fsck via Single User and boot drive appears to be ok.
Can I try anything else??

It means you have corrupted system files and need to reinstall OS X. You may be able to do the following:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then quit DU and return to the installer.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.
The lack of a startup chime, however, may suggest a failed motherboard or power supply.

No Startup chime and grey screen only

Hi,
I have a 15" Powerbook G4 1.5Ghz (Tiger), it has no startup chime (just the click, whirr of the hard drive spinning up) and it goes to a light grey screen and nothing else.
if I connect it to an external monitor then I see my desktop on the external monitor but still nothing on the laptop screen. I replaced the screen and the LVDS cable and it is still the same result.
I tried resetting PRAM but since there is no chime and the external monitor comes on last I can't really tell if that did anything. I also tried booting into open firmware (to reset NVRAM) but again it doesn't seem to work since the external monitor powers up last in the startup cycle.
Any suggestions?
PRAM battery? (which is almost certainly dead).
Thanks

I'd try resetting the PMU also:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431

The startup sound on the desk top imac has stopped is this a sign of hacking?

The startup sound on my imac has stopped is this a sign of startup hacking?

The startup chime means the Power-On Self Test (POST) has been passed successfully, and that no hardware failure or issue has been detected. There are ways to prevent it from sounding, one of them being to put your sound output to mute. You can also use a Terminal command to keep it off, but it'll reset to normal next time your restart your Mac.
There's a neat little prefpane that keeps it off between restarts. It's called (brace yourselves) StartupSound. Available for free here.
Could it be that you just muted your Mac?

Startup Sound Pref Pane killed Startup Chime...

I made the mistake of installing and trying out the Startup Sound Pref pane from Arcana -
http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~arcana/StartupSound/index.en.html
I'm running 10.5.6 on an Al Intel iMac. What it seems this pane will do is allow you to turn the startup chime down, but not adjust it back up...if you mute it, it's muted permanently. I've tried uninstalling the pane and flushing caches, and zapping PRAM (though I can't tell if it actually zapped). Still no Startup chime.
I want the Apple default back...how do I fix?..

If you want to start from scratch I would download 1.1b2 and run the Uninstaller that comes in the .dmg, which should remove all vestiges of Startup Sound.pref from your Mac.
Normally the System Volume controls the volume of the Startup Chime if it is the last thing that you adjust before you Shut Down your Mac. For example, if you set the System Volume to the level at which you want to hear the chime and then Shut Down your Mac, when you Restart your Mac, that should be the volume level that you hear the chime. Likewise, if the last thing you do is mute the System Volume and then Shut Down the Mac, when you Restart the Mac, you should not hear the Startup Chime.
The one caveat to this is if your Mac has been sleeping. If you waken your Mac and immediately Shut Down, when you Restart the Mac, the Startup Chime will be muted. To insure that your Startup Chime is not muted, after you awaken your Mac, either play a sound intentionally or adjust the System Volume, then Shut Down your Mac and when it Restarts the Startup Sound should be the level that you have set.
On my iMac Intel, even though I have external speakers, the Startup Chime plays through the internal speakers. On my old iMac G3, with external speakers connected, everything plays through the external speakers.
The Startup Chime is your Mac alerting your that it has passed the POST (Power On Self Test), and that the Test has found usable RAM installed at startup. iMacs, based on the model, have a series on Alert Codes, chimes, beeps or flashing power indicator lights, that alert you when the POST encounters problems.

Regular + 3 startup chimes with USB Drive

I want to know if this behavior is normal.
I have a 300GB USB drive (formatted as Mac OS extended (journaled)) connected to my mac mini with its power on all the time. When I start up the mini after the USB drive has spun down I get the regular startup chime plus 3 lower volume startup chimes. The activity light on the USB drive flashes during the 3 chimes. Then the system starts normally with the USB drive icon on the desktop.
If I shutdown the mini and start it up again but now the USB hard drive has not spun down, I get the normal single chime. Also, if the USB drive is disconnected, I get the normal one chime.
Are the subsequent 3 chimes at startup OK and just telling me that there is an external hard drive?

I got my mac mini in March.
I plugged the hard drive into a different USB port...still the same 3 extra chimes at startup.
I plugged in a USB flash drive. It made no additional sounds. It appears it's just the hard drive.
As I said before, I notice no problems with the mini. I just used iMovie to edit a two hour home movie and burned it using iDVD.
Does anyone have an external hard drive connected to a USB port and NOT experience extra chimes at startup?
Intel Mac Mini Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.7) Apple BT Mouse & Keyboard

My startup chime not muted anymore.

I do not want to remove it but all of a sudden even though I have my volume muted when I shutdown it still chimes when I start up. I have added no software but I had a crash yesterday where the Mac told me I needed to shut it down. After startup I had a bluescreen crash. Since then I have reinstalled the latest 10.6.8 combo as well as repaired permissions.
I have normal volume control.

It's not one of life's necessities, no. It is an awesome sound though. It's a pick-me-up.
I do find it curious that my old SE, SE30, IIci, LC475, Power Macintoshes 7500 and 8500, and PowerBook G3 always had the startup chime through the external speakers and this machine doesn't.

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

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).
I have two disks that came with the MacBook: OS X Install Disc 1 and Disc 2 (2007; v10.5), plus one disk Mac OS X Snow Leopard Install DVD. If I should try rebooting or reinstalling, which disk(s) should I use?
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
All I can suggest is you run through this list of fixes, install OS X on a external drive (reboot twice from it to change the EFI firmware) and see if it's a internal hard drive issue, if you have to replace the internal drive, make sure to remove the fans and clean the vents there of dust, but it could be the heat damage to the video chip has already occurred and is irreversible.
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.
Any idea what's going on?

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

TS1367 My PowerMac G5 will not start up. There is no startup chime, no display and the fans speed up and sound like and airplane after about 30 seconds. Can someone help?

I push the power button, and it turns on, but there is no startup chime, no video display, and after 30 seconds, the fans spin up. Any ideas?

G5 has these hardware issues:
-- bad capacitors on logic board
-- bad capacitors in power supply
-- badly soldered video chip
-- "There were several Mac models with flat panel displays that had bad displays.
     Most had serial numbers beginning with "W8"---the code for one specific factory.
     This affected PowerBooks as well. If that's the case, the rest of the computer
     is probably fine." by Allan Jones in
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Google: g5 capacitor replacement kit
More info on capacitor replacement kits
http://jimwarholic.com/2008/07/how-to-repair-apple-imac-g5.php
http://thecapking.com/applg5.html

No Startup Chime on the Boss's MacBook

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