Startup Chime and volume

Since upgrading to Snow Leopard, whenever my computer is turned on the chime is very loud as well as volume once logged in. I deleted the soundpref plist, however the problem still persists. Any suggestions?

Ok.. try resetting the PRAM/NVRAM, instructions here.
Restore PRAM and NVRAM to Defaults :
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.
7. Your computer’s PRAM and the NVRAM are reset to the default values.
It corrects ...
Contents of PRAM
Some Macintosh computers may not have all the settings described below. For Mac OS X information, refer to Mac OS X: What's Stored in PRAM?
Status of AppleTalk
Serial Port Configuration and Port definition
Alarm clock setting
Application font
Serial printer location
Autokey rate
Autokey delay
*Speaker volume*
Attention (beep) sound
Double-click time
Caret blink time (insertion point rate)
Mouse scaling (mouse speed)
Startup disk
Menu blink count
Monitor depth
32-bit addressing
Virtual memory
RAM disk
Disk cache
Carolyn

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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

G4 (Digital Audio) has no startup chime and memory problems

Our trusty old G4 has worked perfectly for over five years in spite of swallowing all sorts of upgrades. It was working fine on Saturday, but I noticed that System Profiler > Memory indicated that DIMM2 was bad, so I removed it and restarted. System Profiler then indicated that DIMM1 was bad. I thought this was unlikely, but I pulled it and also decided to replace the 5+ year old battery.
When I tried to restart, there was no chime and it only got as far as lighting up the logic board and running the fans. I then spent the rest of the day going through the whole litany of resetting PMU, CUDA, etc to no avail and then replaceing the upgrades with the original parts. When I got to the optical card the computer started up with no chime and ran everything normally. System Profiler then reported one DIMM as being PC100, even though it reported it as OK and included it when reporting the total amount of memory. It had been identified as PC133 before the startup problem happened.
I took the DIMM to my local repair shop and it checked out as a PC133 and passed all tests. The present situation is that the computer starts up with no chime and has passed all TechTool Pro tests and DiskWarrior says the directory is fine. Does the memory misidentification indicate a problem? How do I get my startup chime back?
Webb
PM G5 1.8/A 3GB, MBP 2.16, PM G4 DA , iMac600SE, 9600/G4, Older Macs/OS 7-10.3 Mac OS X (10.4.7) G5 has 2 Raptors, 4X 300GB eSATA. G4 has dual 1.2GHz, 2 X SATA, FW & SCSI drives

Yes, that is always a concern. The computer has a RAID 1 that is cloned every day plus a clone in our safe deposit box. We had a fire that changed all our backup ideas. We had two backup sets, but everything was in our home office.
Webb
PM G5 1.8/A 3GB, MBP 2.16, PM G4 DA , iMac600SE, 9600/G4, Older Macs/OS 7-10.3 Mac OS X (10.4.7) G5 has 2 Raptors, 4X 300GB eSATA. G4 has dual 1.2GHz, 2 X SATA, FW & SCSI drives

17-inch Mac Book Pro does not boot. No startup chime and no video.

Hey guys,
My Mac Book Pro refuses to boot. Whether it's running off the power supply or on the battery, it does the same thing: I hit the power button, I hear the disc drive make it's usual sound, but no apple boot chime, and no video. It just sits there, blank screen and all. Last night in my frustration, I held the power button down for about 5 seconds and the light in front started blinking as if it was expecting a firmware update. I immieditely shut it off. I hope that didn't make the problem worse, but regadless it still has the same problem. I have a feeling my logic board took a dive. What's weird is, I was using it, it was plugged in, I left it for a bit, it went into sleep mode, and that was the last time it was on. It's as if I can't get it out of sleep mode. I've turned it on and off a dozen times, taken the battery out, etc.. And nothing. Any suggestions?

Dead On Arrival (DOA) Product: System Failure Out of the Box
An Apple-branded hardware product is considered DOA if it shows symptoms of a hardware failure, preventing basic operability, when you first use it after opening the box. If you believe that your product is DOA, please call AppleCare Technical Support at 1-800-APL-CARE (1-800-275-2273) within 30 calendar days of the invoice date. AppleCare Technical Support will determine whether the product is DOA and offer you the following options:
Replacement: Apple, at its expense, will ship another of the same product. AppleCare Technical Support will put you in touch with an Apple Store Customer Service Representative who will arrange for replacement and the DOA product’s return.
Service: You may have the product repaired. However, once you choose that option, you may not request replacement of the product.
If AppleCare Technical Support determines that a returned product is not DOA, Apple will apply Apple’s standard product warranty to the product. Further, if AppleCare determines that you have misrepresented a returned product’s condition and that the product is not DOA, Apple may impose a $400 handling fee.
This DOA policy applies only to Apple-branded hardware products currently offered at the Apple Store. As new products are offered, Apple reserves the right to determine whether or not this policy applies. This DOA policy does not apply to third-party products that do not bear the Apple brand name. You must call the manufacturer directly with any third-party product issues.

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.

Loud startup chime

I have tried everything I think from installing the soundpref.pane software, ninja and psst software, turning the volume down or muting the volume before shut down, but nothing appears to reduce the startup chime's volume. The only thing I haven't tried is the shutdown scripts that are posted on some forums as I am concerned that I might make a hash of it.
The loud startup chime has only come into being recently; I have no idea why. I don't mind the chime, but I need to turn it down as it's quite invasive.
I don't think I'm the only one with this issue as there appears to be a number of other Lion users that can't seem to quieten, or shut off their startup chime.
Has anyone found a reliable solution apart from sticking your fingers in your ears before startup?
Chris

Why do you power down your machine, just let it sleep. It will start up a lot quicker and it's better for the electronics. Heat and startup are the worst condition for electronic devices.

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.

G3 B&W - No startup chime

This is strange.... When I first started working on this G3, there was no startup chime. I plugged in a auxillary speaker system into the headphone port on the back, and was able to get it for a few times until it stopped through there....
I had problems with this system starting until I had to had to reset the system (CUDA for 30 sec and Zapping PRAM). I then lost the sound......
I have alert sounds through the front speaker, but no startup chime......

startup chime has been known to disappear randomly and reappear equally randomly. I think I got mine back once after running combo update for an unrelated issue.
Unless you need the cue for pressing a startup key (ie- booting from optical drive, safe mode) i wouldn't worry about it. Even without the chime you can pretty much time that just right.
If it really bothers you search the discussions for 'startup chime' and sort through the myriad of reccomendations until you find one that works. Personally i wouldn't worry about it.

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.

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
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/21630224#21630224
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

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~

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.

No boot and no startup chime

Hi,
I have a late 2009 Mac mini and yesterday I decided to install Ubuntu on a bootcamp partition which I created in Mac OS X. However, the Ubuntu installation failed for some reason and when I went to restart my Mac mini made one solid beep for about 2 seconds. This beep only sounds on occational boots but the Mac mini never shows any picture on my monitor and the startup chime never sounds either. I can hear the hard disk spinning up without making any abnormal sounds and the super drive works because it ejected my Ubuntu disk when I first rebooted to find this problem. The power LED does come on.
I have had look around on the internet and the apple site says that 1 beep means that there is no RAM installed. But, there is and I know that it works because I have tested it in my 2010 Mac mini. The Mac mini does not post far enough to enable the keyboard and so I have been unable to try and reset the PRAM and the SMC. Although, I have managed to reset the EFI (I think) by pressing and holding the power button until the LED flashes and the Mac mini restarts.
I would really appreciate any help as I need this machine.
Many thanks,
Connor

Dead On Arrival (DOA) Product: System Failure Out of the Box
An Apple-branded hardware product is considered DOA if it shows symptoms of a hardware failure, preventing basic operability, when you first use it after opening the box. If you believe that your product is DOA, please call AppleCare Technical Support at 1-800-APL-CARE (1-800-275-2273) within 30 calendar days of the invoice date. AppleCare Technical Support will determine whether the product is DOA and offer you the following options:
Replacement: Apple, at its expense, will ship another of the same product. AppleCare Technical Support will put you in touch with an Apple Store Customer Service Representative who will arrange for replacement and the DOA product’s return.
Service: You may have the product repaired. However, once you choose that option, you may not request replacement of the product.
If AppleCare Technical Support determines that a returned product is not DOA, Apple will apply Apple’s standard product warranty to the product. Further, if AppleCare determines that you have misrepresented a returned product’s condition and that the product is not DOA, Apple may impose a $400 handling fee.
This DOA policy applies only to Apple-branded hardware products currently offered at the Apple Store. As new products are offered, Apple reserves the right to determine whether or not this policy applies. This DOA policy does not apply to third-party products that do not bear the Apple brand name. You must call the manufacturer directly with any third-party product issues.

Delay between pushing power button and startup chime

When I push the power button to turn on my Macbook, I have to wait a longer time for the startup chime to chime. Anybody know of a reason/solution?

katawu wrote:
When I push the power button to turn on my Macbook, I have to wait a longer time for the startup chime to chime. Anybody know of a reason/solution?
Longer than what? I have to wait about 2.5 seconds with mine.

Mac Mini won't boot, distorted startup chime, gray screen

Hi all --
I've seen similar posts (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12170891&#12170891) but thought I'd start a new one, mainly because I haven't heard anyone mention the startup chime.
I woke up my 2007 stock Mac Mini Friday morning and the cursor was frozen. Unplugged and replugged the mouse to no avail. Couldn't force quit, so I had to power down. Restarted with a badly distored startup chime (not "speaker breakup" from excessive volume, just distortion, and some "stuttering") and a gray screen that didn't go away. Restarted many, many times. Inserted Snow Leopard DVD to run Disc Utility but it wasn't recognized -- just a gray screen. Tried resetting the PMU and SMC with no results. Tried booting into single-user mode (with a wired USB keyboard) to eject the DVD, but no luck. Tried open firmware, but nothing. Once in an while I would get the Apple icon and a spinning progress bar that never went away.
Took it to the Genius Bar, where they tried to boot from a Firewire drive, with no success. The best they could do was tell me my 17-month old Mac was out of warranty. That confirmed, I took it home, cracked it open and removed the Snow Leopard DVD (with a credit card) to insert the install disc it shipped with. That didn't work. A couple of times it looked like it would, but then after the spinning bar I got the multilingual system bomb message. Tried to run Hardware Test, but nothing. Put in original Disc 2... and that gave me a flashing folder! Progress! Forced the DVD out and slipped in Disc 1. That started to read, and then I got some kernel-panic looking text and a shutdown. My last attempt was to create a USB boot drive from the original install discs, but my old Sawtooth won't let me run the installer.
Is there any hope at this point? I just bought the thing last May, so I've had it less than a year and a half. The distorted startup chime makes me think the logic board is fried and no amount of fooling with the startup drive will make a difference. The only thing out of the ordinary in this case was that it went to sleep last Thursday night with a DV camera hooked up via Firewire.
I'm not thrilled about giving Apple any more money for another Mini, but I'm heavily invested in Logic Studio so I don't have much of a choice of platform.
I'm pretty sure I'm doomed, but I thought I'd post anyway. A quick internet search shows I'm not the only one with the gray screen of death on a fairly new Mini. Thanks in advance for any pointers.

Thanks.
The Genius was able to get to the Apple logo and spinning... thing (what used to be the beachball). His theory was that as long as the Snow Leopard disc was in there, the boot process would never get to the Firewire port. Once I got home I literally pried the Snow Leopard disc out and put in the original install disc. But any progress whatsoever ends in the system bomb message.
Thing is, I had tried to eject the disc by booting with the mouse button down. But on restarting, the laser in the optical mouse flashes quickly, once. I don't think the USB ports are going "live" at all... so I can't get into single user mode, safe mode, hardware test, anything. The Genius' keyboard was no help in that regard. So yeah, I suspect a hardware problem.
A search of "gray screen of death" shows this happening to a lot of models.

Startup Chime and volume

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