How do I turn off startup sound?

Mac running OS X 10.9.4

Installed MuteCon but interface never appeared when app was launched 😕

However StartNinja installed, runs perfectly and kills startup sound.

Link for StartNinja:-

http://www.allvu.com/index.php/sndownloadpage.html

I can't believe Apple have not incorporated this functionality as an option in the System Preference Sound - seriously !!!!

Hey Apple?!

Wake up and give us the option to turn off the boot up sound. Thanks for your indifference to all the posts on this topic. For many years, I do my best to kill the sound on my Macbook after I watch or listen to anything, because God forbid I turn my computer off with out killing the sound. This morning I turned my computer on and BAM! That ridiculous piano sound at full blast woke up my wife who was still sleeping because we had watched a video clip the day before and neglected to turn off the sound afterwards.

We spend thousands on your products and apparently the response from Apple is "suck it up" we must have this sound for "trouble shooting". Ridiculous. Modify the sound to something less obnoxious and change the volume to a level that is audible. Barely audible that is not enough to send a sleeping cat 3 feet into the air. Apple needs to solve this. I'm not going to go to "terminal" and write unknown code into my computer or install third party apps. Fix it.

I really never answer these things but I felt like I should since the link at the bottom of my post helped me with this. For the record, I think it's ridiculous that there is no way to do it in regular settings because I can't have my laptop making noises in class. Anyways, I used the second method and I found the "terminal" by searching for it with the little magnifying glass in the top right corner of the page. (You'll know what I mean when you read the webpage I attached)

http://www.mactrast.com/2013/08/how-to-silence-your-macs-startup-chime/

Maybe not the solution you are looking for, but it is quick and cheap. Just plug in some headphones or external speakers. If you are using external speakers you can either turn them off or turn the volume down manually.

Thank you Sarahlynn. I may break down and give it a try.

My post is mostly a rant against poor/weak programming by Apple. The "children", as my wife calls them, who think cuteness is better than elegance. I'm sure there is some self satisfied Apple programmer who laughs every time one of us users complains about his triumph of annoyance. The same people (techies) who complain about government big brother/nanny state also program our computers to do what they think is best for us, regardless of our input and complaints.

The start up sound enables Apple to advertise itself freely without your permission. Its a branding tool that makes it possible for Apple to advertise the products presence anywhere, anytime for the entire life-span of the product. Sounds form some of our deepest memories along with smell, and companies spend allot of money making sure you remember them. Its a form of forced advertising after purchase.

I agree full heartedly with the irritating nature of this issue. I don't accept that the noise is there for 'trouble shooting' issues, because that would indicate that OS X is crap and the only OS out there that needs it (which is not true), and for the fact that it is not on iOS for the same purpose.

I feel it is lazy not to remove this legacy from the days when Mac OS did need it, (1990's) when you'd get the sad apple mac face. That is all, just old legacy crap.

In general Apple is much stronger on Hardware and Marketing than Software development. Look at the resources they could apply to Pages, Safari, Finder and MacOS and they don't improve much in 3-5 years of releases. A big change for their Software team is to change transparencies, fonts, flatness vs. 3D, but not to address functional requirements.

So, to finally answer the question, I have a new 27" 5K iMac (great hardware) on Yosemite (unexciting OS) and found this tool to work. Remember, that all these tools and the SystemAudioVolume command simply mute or lower the volume on shutdown, and that is retained for startup. So, remember that you are muted as you start to use your computer after startup.

Many of the 3rd party tools are not consistent across OS's and devices, but this one seems to work with the latest iMac and OS.

PSST:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/16780/psst

hth

Ruairelie's scripting method posted Apr 24, 2014 9:28 PM looked pretty straightforward to me,

but did not work on a MacBookPro Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013,

running Mavericks 10.9.5

Permissions on the /Library/Scripts/mute-* scripts are correct, and

$ sudo defaults read com.apple.loginwindow

returns:

{

LoginHook = "/Library/Scripts/mute-off.sh";

LogoutHook = "/Library/Scripts/mute-on.sh";

}

Oh well.

On the other hand the command

sudo nvram SystemAudioVolume=%80

(from another post in this thread)

did work on a MacBookPro Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013,

running Mavericks 10.9.5

Here's what it looks like:

Before:

$ sudo nvram -p | grep AudioVol

SystemAudioVolume ]

SystemAudioVolumeDB %ef

Ran command:

$ sudo nvram SystemAudioVolume=%80

after:

$ sudo nvram -p | grep AudioVol

SystemAudioVolume %80

SystemAudioVolumeDB %80

to re-enable the system chime:

sudo nvram -d SystemAudioVolume

%80 hex = 128 decimal, fwiw

more fun reading: $ man nvram

@

X423424X: How dare you? Where do you get the audacity to tell a user, a CUSTOMER, that what they want is wrong? It's this kind of "superior" attitude that makes me hate everything Apple produces. I guarantee my next computer* will be a PC. At least they know the old adage, "The customer is always right." Yet every time a Mac user asks how to do something, the response takes the form, "Why would you want to do THAT?" Arrogance!

*And my next computer may come sooner than the normal lifespan of a Mac, after I take this benighted device to the nearest pistol range and use the Apple logo for target practice!

This needs to be fixed by Apple. Holding down the mute key while starting up should always be a way to avoid the startup chime for all Macs. You might be in a hostile, life-or-death situation and wish to turn on your Mac without attracting unwanted attention, or simply do not wish to wake up your roommate.

Another thing to have on-hand, to mute the noise factor on startup,

is just a mini-plug that fits the headphone socket. If expected to be

in a life-or-death situation, keep the mini-plug stored in the computer

headphone port so it would switch the speakers off. Without a need

to have actual headphones attached. {And hope the in-port switch that

turns off the speakers, does not fail in what would be a mute position

without a plug in the socket at some later time.} A trade-off. I just mute

mine on shut-down; & seldom actually turn off my computers at home.

In any event... happy new year! 🙂

Running

sudo nvram SystemAudioVolume="%80"

used to work for me also on Yosemite until this morning, when for no visible reason, it stopped working. I know other people who also experience this. It's unbelievable that Apple – prizing itself for great user interfaces – still couldn't think of an obvious alternative (like flashing a light), making their laptops useless in quiet places. I find it so hard to believe someone could be this stupid.

Hi there Shaffer & Folks & Apple (if customer service reads this and cares):

Regarding Stopping the Start-up Blaring Noise:

The headphone/jack plugged in doesn't work nor does holding down the mute button - it's never worked on any mac that I've had.

Also, It's good and recommended to fully turn off any computer/cell phone on random occasions - plus it's greener for our world.

Do folks leave their car, microwave or TV turned on when not using?

Do you turn on your car & the horn gives a blast? (just to tell Everyone all is in working order) - - It's Ludicrous.

The excuse Apple gives for the start-up noise is ridiculous - no other machine does this.

That one code posted here does not work on Mavericks & Yosemite on any macs. ($ sudo nvram SystemAudioVolume=%80)

The loud blaring noise (it's hardly a pleasant 'chime') is location & sound problematic (work, labs, libraries, school, etc)

to just unpleasant - - - Not giving customers a choice = Apple being a deaf, self absorbed dictator.

I'm tired of people giving me dirty looks, barbed comments about the blaring noise - - it's unnecessary noise pollution.

Pardon the rant but as customers we need a choice and have been asking for years.

You can turn off the startup sound — at least on some Macs — by turning down the volume "slider" control located in the upper left of the OS X display ***AND*** doing the same in iTunes before you shut your computer down. When you start the computer again, it should be silent. The volume must be turned down both on the desktop ***AND*** in iTunes or the sound will persist.

This definitely works with a 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac running OS 10.6.8 and will probably work with other models as well. Nothing else I tried was successful, and I finally figured this out by accident. The startup chime can be extremely annoying, particularly when you want to work on a Mac after everyone in the house has gone to sleep or in environments where quiet is essential.

I hope this will be helpful, even though my reply is coming long after the initial post. :-)