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Following the installation of MacOS Catalina Security update 2021-001 I no longer hear the startup chime when powering on. On my Mac Mini I've ran diagnostics, reset the PRAM/NVRAM, checked the sound settings and issued the Terminal command 'sudo nvram StartupMute=%00'. None of these actions resolved the issue. Has anyone else experienced this problem?
Mac mini, macOS 10.15
Ivan, the following is the result of a 'nvram -p' on my Mac, I realize that we're on different hardware but can you please compare mine with yours and tell me what I'm missing. The command was issued right after doing a PRAM reset. I obtained my Mini in 2016 and have always had a startup chime through all OS versions without taking any action.
bluetoothInternalControllerInfo %89%82%ac%05%00%003%14%bcT6%d2%169
fmm-computer-name Jim%e2%80%99s Mac mini
SystemAudioVolumeDB %f6
bluetoothActiveControllerInfo %89%82%ac%05%00%00%00%003%14%bcT6%d2%169
SystemAudioVolume k
LocationServicesEnabled %01
BootCampProcessorPstates %0e%00
Ivan, the following is the result of a 'nvram -p' on my Mac, I realize that we're on different hardware but can you please compare mine with yours and tell me what I'm missing. The command was issued right after doing a PRAM reset. I obtained my Mini in 2016 and have always had a startup chime through all OS versions without taking any action.
bluetoothInternalControllerInfo %89%82%ac%05%00%003%14%bcT6%d2%169
fmm-computer-name Jim%e2%80%99s Mac mini
SystemAudioVolumeDB %f6
bluetoothActiveControllerInfo %89%82%ac%05%00%00%00%003%14%bcT6%d2%169
SystemAudioVolume k
LocationServicesEnabled %01
BootCampProcessorPstates %0e%00
Thanks for the details.
So it sounds like you should be getting the startup chime. Thanks for getting mine back.
I have no idea what they would be, but do you have any other nvram settings that relate to the startup chime, audio or sound?
To view them, in Terminal, enter "nvram -x -p" which will list all of the firmware variables, called <key>s.
You can then Find for "<key>" to see them, and Command-G to see the next, and the next….
To see the help file, the MANual page for the command nvram, enter "man nvram".
That will show you what you can do with the command.
To get out of the man page and back to the command line, tap "q", aka Quit.
Of course don't change any of the variables willy-nilly. Treat everything as view only.
As there is no GUI command to turn the Startup Chime on or off like with Big Sur, I'm not sure what else to check for.
ivan
Howdy,
Is your volume turned down or muted? You did say you checked the sound settings…. Hmmm.
For Me
I also had no Startup Chime on my MBPro with Catalina 10.15.7.
So following your Terminal command hint (also from How to Turn On the Startup Chime on Your New Mac)
First I verified the setting for StartupMute with the Terminal command "nvram StartupMute" and found it wasn't even defined.
Ivan-MBPro-16:~ ivan$ nvram StartupMute
nvram: Error getting variable - 'StartupMute': (iokit/common) data was not found
So I entered the command to define and set it.
Ivan-MBPro-16:~ ivan$ sudo nvram StartupMute=%00
And verified it was set
Ivan-MBPro-16:~ ivan$ nvram StartupMute
StartupMute %00
I now have the Startup Chime!
I turned the volume all the way down, no Startup Chime.
I turned the volume all the way up, I get the Startup Chime.
So the volume level affects the Startup Chime volume.
Unchecking [ ] Play user interface sound effects did not silence the Startup Chime.
(System Preferences > Sound > Sound Effects)
Turning down the Alert Volume also had no affect on the Startup Chime.
Are you using the built-in speaker for sound?
ivan
Hi Ivan, thanks for the reply. Please note that prior to Security Update 2021-001 I didn't have an issue with the startup chime. I have verified the StartupMute setting and found it to be the same as yours. The volume is not turned down nor is it muted. I am using the internal speaker and know that it's still operative as it chimed when I reset the PRAM. Regards..Jim
Thanks for the info, I'll see if I can discover any missing variables. Perhaps a bug was introduced for Catalina with the update and I've reported it to Apple as such. If there is a bug I doubt that they'll do anything about it and I intend on upgrading to Big Sur anyway.
So confusing, it appears that my issue may have been related to the install of Security Update 2021-001 last Tuesday. Upon a boot today and without any invention from me the security update reinstalled itself. My startup chime has returned and I no longer have a problem.
Thanks, It would be good to know what happened, I started the Security Update install before going to bed and when I checked in the morning nothing appeared amiss. The System Report indicated that the update had been installed but apparently unsuccessfully. After the second install the result from a 'nvram -p' was quite a bit different. Thanks for your help!
FYI, I just did the macOS Catalina Security Update 2021-001 10.15.7 update and still have the Startup Chime via Restart and Shutdown-Reboot.
Thanks, perhaps the issue is hardware related, I'm using a late 2014 Mac Mini. All I know is that I had the startup chime before installing the update and didn't afterwards.
Other than the Audio keys, which look okay, nothing there seems to apply to the startup chime.
Great, glad it's working.
Take care.
ivan
MacOS Catalina - How to turn the startup chime back on
