Comments on: Quieting that startup sound http://macmoose.wordpress.com/2007/06/02/quieting-that-startup-sound/ From PC to Apple Mac, and back... and forth. Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:04:27 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: tiger http://macmoose.wordpress.com/2007/06/02/quieting-that-startup-sound/#comment-588 tiger Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:15:57 +0000 http://macmoose.wordpress.com/2007/06/02/quieting-that-startup-sound/#comment-588 if it's any consolation, that startup chime is not just a cute sound designed to delight you - it's actually the result of a battery of diagnostic tests the Mac runs on its various systems - RAM, motherboard, video circuitry, etc. - at startup. if everything checks out, you'll hear the familiar startup chord; if anything fails, you'll hear...something else. exactly what the failure sound will be depends on which model of Mac you have; some of the things i've heard are minor chords and arpeggios (way back on my old Mac II) and the even more unnerving sound of screeching tires followed by a horrendous crash. so just remember, if your Mac won't start up and you use any means of silencing the startup chord, you may be missing out on some audible feedback that could alert you to the nature of the problem. on more recent hardware it's also possible to mute the startup chord on a startup-by-startup basis by holding down the mute button on the keyboard until after the chord would normally have sounded. if it’s any consolation, that startup chime is not just a cute sound designed to delight you – it’s actually the result of a battery of diagnostic tests the Mac runs on its various systems – RAM, motherboard, video circuitry, etc. – at startup. if everything checks out, you’ll hear the familiar startup chord; if anything fails, you’ll hear…something else. exactly what the failure sound will be depends on which model of Mac you have; some of the things i’ve heard are minor chords and arpeggios (way back on my old Mac II) and the even more unnerving sound of screeching tires followed by a horrendous crash. so just remember, if your Mac won’t start up and you use any means of silencing the startup chord, you may be missing out on some audible feedback that could alert you to the nature of the problem.

on more recent hardware it’s also possible to mute the startup chord on a startup-by-startup basis by holding down the mute button on the keyboard until after the chord would normally have sounded.

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