An elderly friend running a 2013 iMac on Catalina has asked me if it is possible to restore the boot up chime. I recall that some time ago you published a tutorial on that very subject but I have been unable to find it on Youtube. I’d be grateful if you could help.
John Smith
It seems a trivial matter but as he gets older little things like this seem to trouble him and I do what I can to help him.
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John Smith
Go to System Preferences, Sound, Sound Effects, and check Play Sound on Startup.
This was added as a preference in, I believe, Catalina, so it is easy to turn on and off. Also note that it should obey the system volume, so if the volume is all the way down when the machine is shut off, then you won't hear a startup sound when you boot up.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that you shouldn't really shut down very often too, which makes this a non-issue anyway. See: https://macmost.com/a-beginners-guide-to-whether-to-shut-down-or-sleep-your-mac.html
Gary, that was first thing I thought of, but the option of "Play sound on startup" does not appear in the Sound Preferences on the computer in question.
John: Perhaps this wasn't added until Big Sur. Can you update?
I have found that, yes, it was restored in Big Sur but unfortunately a 2013 iMac is too old to update. He has decided to just accept it and I have drawn his attention to your advice in the tutorial regarding not shutting down all the time. Thank you for taking the trouble to advise us.
Originally the chime notified the user that the Mac had passed its hardware test. Is that still true or is it just playing the sound?
Linda: It is just a sound. I don't think it has anything to do with hardware tests anymore, though obviously if something major were wrong, it could never get to the point where the sound is played.