Startup Chime - From OS or Firmware?

Where does the Mac Startup Chime come from?

Is it from the Mac OS X or on the Open Firmware?

 

Probably Firmware because it starts soon as you hit the power button. At that time OSX is not loaded anything.

But if that chime were a person I would have hunted him down and killed him in his sleep by now.

 

LOL, I like the chime. I would rather have the chime than to hear yet another weird choice of sound from each new version of Windows.

 

I like the chime but hate it when I am in a quiet room. I usually mute the volume when I shut the computer down when know I'm going to be in a quiet area when I turn it back on again.

 

At least it wasn't like this guy's Powerbook...

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That was hillarious

 

Is there a way to mute the chime . . . forever?

 

Buy a PC....

 

Zadillo listed a bunch of utilities that lets you alter that chime. There are a bunch of them over at versiontracker that allow adjustment of the chime volume or gets rid of it altogether.

Just do a search for "chime" or "startupsound"

 

I much prefer the chime to the obnoxious Windows startup.

 

oh wow i would prefer no sound. what function does it serve?

 

eh? how does the most innocent of questions turn into a windows vs osx debate?

The default startup for Vista isn't anywhere near as bad as XP's. It's actually quite short and soft. The main advantage however, is that the startup sound of both XP and Vista is easily customizable to whatever you want it to be - or can be made silent, while there's no easy way to change the Mac's chime without 3rd party software.

It would be nice if Apple updated it at least - I remember hearing that chime way back in the Apple IIe days! (okay maybe not that far).

There's always the Asus VX2s Lamborghini for "unique" BIOS-customized startup chimes if you want...

 

There's a way to change the sound? I looked online and could only find ways to mute it.

 

there you go!
psssst does exactly that. It lets you deactivate that stupid noise!

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/System-Utilities/Psst.shtml

 

thank god for small mercies !

 

Hello all i am a 25 Year old computer tech in kansas and lets just say in my 7 years of being in business i have heard this question alot mainly because 99.9% of the custom systems i build use a Motherboard or a Mainboard that has a System Chime rather then the common in the PC World that ever Present Beep... Mac and Sony as well a FoxConn Offer A Optional Upgrade to the bios for the Motherboard Which Changes the Beep to a Simple Wave or Midi Sound file at no charge to my PC Customers i will customise this feature for them to sute there needs or expressive side as far as the question of OS or Firmware the start Chime is contoled by the system bios and is used as a Auditory cue to the user on the health of the Machine in the case of Pc made before the P4 or amd Athlon Class processors that would be the following
one Beep --- Check battery
two beeps--- all systems go starting OS
three beeps--- Check Video
four beeps---- is about the same in the pc world as it is in the mac world
your computer has crashed and now would be a good time to cry.
how ever mac as of the first Mac Os Machines II and SE30 chose to use and show off the audio video testing side to the system bios and use a chime with a icon the famious Happy Mac and the infomous Sad Mac or bomb Mac Icons in thease cases the system is always trying to tell you the user
"Hey i am fine i do not need to go to the doctor"
or "Hey i may have a realy bad cold please take me to the doctor"
in each case my custom built pc systems use a simular chime in the form of a Human voice
"Ready to go" or 3.2.1 And Liftoff of the Windows Logo"
"Please check my Monitor" or "Monitor Disconnected"
"Please Call TechSupport" or "Help Me..Cough I am sick"
thease sounds are a Sign that your PC or Mac is preforming as it should and Should never be tampered with as changing Settings at the level that thease chimes are at may Shorten the life of your Mac Or Pc.

 

Funny thread. I don't mind the chime one bit. A simple F# major triad -- lean, clean, confident. When I set up in the library, it says, "Another Mac in the house..."

 

Yea I mute mine most of the time. When youre in a big/small lecture, and you have to turn on your mac, or restart it, it can be really annoying. So mines off, and i don't really miss it

 

I hate it when I am in a quiet situation and I really do not think that this sound will be helpful. At this point I think that apple is stubborn for keeping it and not listening to the customer service.

 

For anyone interested in controlling the start-up sound separately from the main system audio control, including the ability to set a separate volume for the chime or mute altogether, go here and install. It's the best one, adds its separate control interface to the system preferences pane and the most stable I've tried.