osx - Why does my MacBook play the startup sound through the speakers rather than through the connected earbuds?
2014-07
Wolfram
I just installed Windows 8.1 Pro on my MacBook using Bootcamp. Before doing this, the startup sound that gets played whenever you turn on the MacBook would play through my earbuds if they were connected. However, after installing Windows 8.1 alongside OS X using Bootcamp, it always plays the sound through the laptop speakers.
I don't understand why this is happening.
It's a fairly trivial issue, sure. But if I'm in the library turning on my MacBook and happened to have left it at a high volume, I'd rather not have it make a loud, obnoxious noise.
Wes Sayeed
The startup chime always plays through the internal speakers, even on desktop models. This is a feature of the firmware and can't be helped. But you can mitigate it.
Macs remember the different volume levels for the internal speakers vs. the headphone jack, and it saves this information to the PRAM. So all you have to do is unplug your headphones (that's the important part), then mute the volume and reboot. You will notice that the startup chime no longer happens.
Once you've rebooted, you can plug your headphones back in. Any volume adjustments you make while the headphones are plugged in will not affect the volume of the internal speakers.
gurple
You can disable the hardware startup chime by changing the firmware variable SystemAudioVolume.
To disable the chime execute from the command line sudo nvram SystemAudioVolume="%80".
To return the chime to its default state execute sudo nvram -d SystemAudioVolume.
More information about the nvram command can be found in its manual pages (man nvram).
Bryson
The bottom of my Macbook becomes extremely hot when I use Boot Camp (Apple's built-in solution for running Windows on a Mac), especially when I play games. Sometimes my Macbook shuts itself down because it gets far too hot.
Why does this happen, and what can I do to cool it down or keep it from becoming too hot?
Brant Bobby
The heat is due to heavy CPU usage. Be sure the exhaust vents on the back aren't being blocked by anything -- if the MacBook is sitting on a blanket or your lap, airflow will be reduced and the fans won't be able to cool as well.
My two-year-old white MacBook has never actually shut down due to high heat, but I don't use Boot Camp on it. Perhaps Windows is trying to manage the fan speeds itself and doing a poor job of it? (I'm not sure if Windows even controls fan speeds or if the BIOS does it. Correct me if I'm wrong.)
Alexis Hirst
I would recommend downloading smcfancontrol and turning the fans on to max so that it doesnt get too hot.
When you reboot into windows it will remember your fan speed setting until you turn your machine off.
Auron
I think this is normal when the Macbook is executing heavy processes, like games. I wouldn't blame bootcamp.
If the Macbook continues to shut itself down, the internal fans could not be working properly. I think you should contact Apple technical support.
MJeffryes
Firstly, make sure you've installed Apple's drivers. I'm running Bootcamp on a MacBook Pro, and it gets pretty hot, to the extent that the CPU starts throttling down. This is with the fans running on maximum. The only solution I have is to alt-tab out of the game, which reduces the strain on the processor, and allows it to cool. This can be thought of as a feature which prevents you spending too long playing games without breaks!
James McMahon
My Macbook is now significantly less hot under windows after a graphics driver update. So I would look into making sure all your drivers are up to date, beyond even the standard Mac drivers that Ziggamorph mentioned.