[Gankdawg]

I have a set of powered speakers plugged in the headphone jack (I guess it's the headphone jack, it's on the back with the rest of the ports) and whenever I restart, the startup chime or bong comes thru the built in speakers instead of the ones that are plugged in. To top it off, the volume is very loud. What am I missing? Every other Mac I've owned shuts off the internal speaker(s) when something is plugged into the headphone jack.

[CheesePuff]

Same thing happens to me with the new Mac mini model. I have external speakers plugged in and on, but the startup chime is always through the Mac mini itself.

[fisherKing]

yeah, i noticed this on the new mini as well....annoying (to say the least!) i'd plugged a cable into the headphone jack thinking this would stop the chime... oh well (i hardly ever turn my mini off anyway).

still...wtf!

[Gankdawg]

I was hoping that I wouldn't have to turn off my iMac very much either but with Leopard, I have had to. Hopefully kinks will get worked out quickly.

[.Neo]

I'm pretty much certain Apple did it on purpose. Anyway, I can't say it bothers me, I like it when my iMac says "hello".

[Gankdawg]

Originally Posted by .Neo 

Anyway, I can't say it bothers me, I like it when my iMac says "hello".

But does it have to yell?

[.Neo]

It's not that loud IMO.

[cleary_jp]

If you lower the volume before you shutdown the computer, when you turn it back on the startup chime should be at a lower level. BTW, im talking about lowering the volume on the computer (ie using the volume keys on your keyboard or in system pref) not the external speakers!

[Gankdawg]

Originally Posted by cleary_jp 

If you lower the volume before you shutdown the computer, when you turn it back on the startup chime should be at a lower level. BTW, im talking about lowering the volume on the computer (ie using the volume keys on your keyboard or in system pref) not the external speakers!

Had already tried that, it didn't work.

[voodoo]

Originally Posted by Gankdawg 

I have a set of powered speakers plugged in the headphone jack (I guess it's the headphone jack, it's on the back with the rest of the ports) and whenever I restart, the startup chime or bong comes thru the built in speakers instead of the ones that are plugged in. To top it off, the volume is very loud. What am I missing? Every other Mac I've owned shuts off the internal speaker(s) when something is plugged into the headphone jack.

This behavior is also expressed on the 17" white iMac (previous generation).

V

[birdman]

Just thought I'd resurrect this thread in case anyone had found any solutions in the meantime. I just got a 24" iMac at work and a 15.4" MBP at home, so this is my first experience with Mactels and the seemingly undisablable startup chime. I never minded the chime until now, because it won't play through headphones or external speakers. At the office, I want it silenced, which is why I always leave my headphones plugged in. At home, I'd rather hear the chime through my good speakers than the watery built-in crap of the MBP (or if it's early in the morning, I'd like to be able to silence it altogether simply by turning my external speakers off if I happen to need a restart).

I tried Psst! with no luck, and StartupSound.prefPane has some scary reviews for Mactels so I'm skittish about trying it. I suppose I could just put a sticky note on my desk reminding me to mute the machine before shutting down.

Any word on why Apple changed this?

-birdman

[BoingoBongo]

The chime is a sign that the computer passed a startup test, and I don't know of any way to disable it.

The chime has never changed, so I just look at it as a little bit of Apple history, haha.

[seanc]

I think it has something to do with EFI or a change in sound hardware.

I've noticed that on my MacBook, the port seems to be a lot 'smarter', although I liked it being dumb. By this I mean, plug in a set of headphones and crank the volume up to the max, when you unplug them, the volume will revert to whatever it was before you plugged the headphones in when it goes back to using the internal speakers.

An unpleasant example is when you had a pair of speakers plugged in at home and the volume up to max, go to college and have it low playing through the internal speakers, then plug in some headphones and get your eardrums destroyed because the volume has changed to max again.

None of the iBooks ever did this, the G4 did like moving the sound balance around though. You can't win really.

[ibook_steve]

2 things:

1) Why are you restarting so often that you keep hearing the startup chime in the first place? Just sleep your MBP when you transport it.

2) Mute the volume on your computer before restarting or shutting down to shut off the startup chime on the next boot.

Steve