No notification sounds on macOS (Sonoma)

Question

Level 1

4 points

No notification sounds on macOS (Sonoma)

At a loss after trying to figure this out for weeks so finally asking for help.

My Mac Studio (MacOS Sonoma v14.4.1) notifications are working, but there's no sound. All other sound works... music, YouTube, etc... tested with multiple speakers (the onboard Mac Studio speakers, my Bose USB external speakers, headphones, AirPots, etc)... nothing. I can't tell what I've changed.

I'm signed into my iCloud account on my Mac Studio, iPhone & MacBook Pro... all their notifications work, so I don't think it's something being sync'd (like Focus mode).

It's not just one app... it's ALL notifications. They appear in the Notification Center, but there's no alert sound. I'm attaching an image of my Sound panel... but a bit more info:

Changing the "Play sound effects through" doesn't impact anything...
Changing the "Alert Sound" and hitting play doesn't do anything
Focus modes are all disabled... enabled/disabled though, there's no change

I'm at a point where I don't know what else to look at and asking for help. It's happened to me before, but I have no idea how I fixed it.

Mac Studio, macOS 14.4

Posted on May 8, 2024 2:17 PM

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Answer 1

May 19, 2024 7:49 AM in response to Swamplander

if what device you choose does not matter, you may be looking at a software conflict.

Test in Safe mode:

Safe Mode does a number of different things. On older Intel Macs, hold shift at startup, but have your userid and password at the ready.

A parade of unusual things happens.

• Your Mac loads just enough of the kernel to do a disk check. Then it proceeds to do a disk check. This can take an extra about five minutes.

• your userid and password are required, even if you normally auto-login. So have them handy.

• Your Mac adds ONLY a minimal set of Apple-Only extensions, Not including graphics acceleration extensions. Screen updates will therefore be wonky and slow, but it ultimately should be correct.

• Your Mac assumes defaults for as many settings as possible, including screen resolution. This is the key for re-setting the screen, but there is a little more to it: Resolution is likely to be lower and settings ordinary. Use this as a starting point to customize settings to your liking.

Any changes you make in Safe Mode will "stick" in regular mode after you restart.

• after restart in normal mode, your Mac will take slightly longer to start up [once] because it rebuilds some system caches.

"Works in Safe mode, fails in regular mode" implies "It's something you added".

How to use Safe Mode on your Mac

Use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

.

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Answer 2

Swamplander Author

Level 1

4 points

May 19, 2024 2:43 AM in response to a brody

Thanks for the response... one point of clarification - this is _ONLY_ affecting notification sounds regardless of the sound output device I've selected.

So, with the above setup, I can hear all other sounds (ie: Music playback, YouTube videos, etc) through the Bose output, but no notifications. It's like all notification sounds are disabled (texting, reminders, etc), but all other audio works through all output devices (including the one in the screenshot).

But most/all notifications are enabled. For example, here you can see notifications are enabled for Calendar. They appear, but with no audio sound even though it's configured.

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Answer 3

a brody

Level 10

83,245 points

May 12, 2024 12:01 PM in response to Swamplander

Right now, it is going through your Bose USB Audio. If that Bose connected device isn't set to play back audio over USB, then it won't be heard on the Bose device. If the Bose device's own volume settings is down, you won't hear it. If your Bose has a different frequency range than the currently selected output in Audio Midi Setup utility under applications, it won't play back either. It must match the frequency selected. For most devices, that frequently is 16 bit 44.1 kHz Stereo (44100 Hertz). Only 3 and higher channel audio devices can take higher level audio.

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Answer 4

May 19, 2024 7:01 AM in response to Swamplander

Unencumbered by deep knowledge about this, It seems that your device is either not ready or not capable of playing system sounds when they need to be played. For example, its Driver is not loaded when you want it to beep.

¿Is that possible?

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Answer 5

May 19, 2024 7:40 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Given that system sounds can be steered separately, why not just steer them to the built-in speaker and call it a day.

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Answer 6

Swamplander Author

Level 1

4 points

May 19, 2024 7:42 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Maybe this was missed but it doesn’t matter what device I select… even the onboard Mac Studio speakers.

And the one currently selected in my screenshots above WAS working previously.

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