Turning off the start-up sound (Ta-Da)

[DeltaMac]

Simple app, but from the product page -

The method Psst uses to change the volume does not work on every model!

As the boot chime indicates that the Mac has passed that portion of the POST, it's a good thing to hear! You can also choose to not shut your Mac down, and then the boot chime would only be heard when you need to restart. It's better than that horrible clangy thing that Windows does, both at open, and close. Now, that's something that really grates...!

[Hippo Man]

Originally Posted by DeltaMac

Simple app, but from the product page -


As the boot chime indicates that the Mac has passed that portion of the POST, it's a good thing to hear! You can also choose to not shut your Mac down, and then the boot chime would only be heard when you need to restart. It's better than that horrible clangy thing that Windows does, both at open, and close. Now, that's something that really grates...!

I know that the chime can be useful, but I want the option to turn it off when I want to. I don't need to be protected against myself.

As for the startup sound under Windows ... yes, it's annoying, but I can at least turn it off if I want. On my MacBook Pro, I not only can't seem to turn off the startup chime, but I hear that sound coming out of the speakers even if my headphones are plugged in to the jack. I'm starting to get the impression that Apple wants me and everyone around me to hear that sound coming through the speakers, irrespective of my own preferences. Please tell me that this isn't so.

[DeltaMac]

Seems like you're having a lot of trouble! How often do you need to restart your Macbook? Many users that I know seldom turn them off, so the boot chime isn't a common issue. You could choose to not shut your MacBookPro off.

I'm not sure about the MBP - does the volume of the boot chime vary if you set the main system volume to different levels? I would expect not, if muting doesn't turn the boot chime off.

[Hippo Man]

Originally Posted by DeltaMac

Seems like you're having a lot of trouble! How often do you need to restart your Macbook? Many users that I know seldom turn them off, so the boot chime isn't a common issue. You could choose to not shut your MacBookPro off.

Well, thankfully, I don't turn it off very often. However, when I do, I sometimes am in a situation where I'd rather not hear any sounds when I turn it on again. Of course I could live with this "feature", as I could live with other idiosyncracies (many of which are changeable, by the way). And although this quirk certainly isn't going to motivate me to stop using my Mac, I'd still prefer to be able to control the existence of the bootup sound.

Originally Posted by DeltaMac

I'm not sure about the MBP - does the volume of the boot chime vary if you set the main system volume to different levels? I would expect not, if muting doesn't turn the boot chime off.

Your suspicion is correct. The main volume level doesn't seem to have any effect on the boot chime on my MBP.

[DeltaMac]

If you are out in 'public', then here's one tip....
press the power button as normal, and briefly hold both palms across the speaker grills on both sides of the keyboard. That will muffle that chime considerably.

[Hippo Man]

Originally Posted by DeltaMac

If you are out in 'public', then here's one tip....
press the power button as normal, and briefly hold both palms across the speaker grills on both sides of the keyboard. That will muffle that chime considerably.

Well, I'm not sure if you're being facetious and condescending. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, however, and assume that you're being serious and attempting to be helpful. Of course manually covering the speakers would sort-of work ... but I'm looking for a software solution, if such a thing exists for the MBP.

[DeltaMac]

Originally Posted by Hippo Man

Well, I'm not sure if you're being facetious and condescending. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, however, and assume that you're being serious and attempting to be helpful. Of course manually covering the speakers would sort-of work ... but I'm looking for a software solution, if such a thing exists for the MBP.

Not meant to be facetious and condescending, but I see why you might think that. I apologize, and I was simply providing another direction, and one that I really use. It doesn't 'sort-of work', it's effective, but it's also not a fix. I work in a service shop, and just cover the speakers at boot. It only takes a couple of moments. I've been working with Macs for 15 years, and there have been a few Macs that have a fixed-level boot chime. I guess this is one more.

As an extra added bonus, palms down on the speaker grills also dims the display, and the keyboard backlighting comes on. It's how I test that function.

[Hippo Man]

Originally Posted by DeltaMac

Not meant to be facetious and condescending, but I see why you might think that. I apologize, and I was simply providing another direction, and one that I really use. It doesn't 'sort-of work', it's effective, but it's also not a fix. I work in a service shop, and just cover the speakers at boot. It only takes a couple of moments. I've been working with Macs for 15 years, and there have been a few Macs that have a fixed-level boot chime. I guess this is one more.

As an extra added bonus, palms down on the speaker grills also dims the display, and the keyboard backlighting comes on. It's how I test that function.

I sincerely thank you for reassuring me that you weren't being condescending. No apology is necessary.

Well, I said "sort-of work", because a hands-on-the-speakers solution, however well it serves to mute the startup chime, isn't ideal for me. As I mentioned, I'm looking for a software solution.

But thanks for all your interest and all your suggestions. I really do appreciate it.

Anyway ... does anyone know if our suspicions are correct and that it's a design "feature" of the MacBook Pro that it doesn't permit the software-controlled muting of the login chime under any circumstances?

Thanks.