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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen System
Sep 23, '08 07:30:05AM • Contributed by: xtechie
When you start up a Mac holding down the Option key, the boot volume menu appears on the screen -- this shows all bootable volumes on the screen, making it simple to boot from any volume in your Mac.

You can also, it turns out, set the default boot volume (the volume that will boot when you don't hold the Option key down) from this screen. To set the default start-up volume, press Control and click on an arrow under the volume of your choice. When Control is pressed, the upward arrow turns into a circular arrow, denoting the persistence of the choice.

Note that I have tested this on only the newest iMac and MacBook Pro.

[robg adds: This trick did not work on my November 2006 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo) MacBook Pro.]
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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen
Authored by: kirkmc on Sep 23, '08 08:22:13AM

This seems to work on my MacBook Air; though it has only one volume, the icon does change to a circular arrow.

Kirk

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Read my blog: Kirkville -- http://www.mcelhearn.com
Musings, Opinion and Miscellanea, on Macs, iPods and more



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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen
Authored by: rhowell on Sep 23, '08 09:34:16AM

The only way I can set the startup volume is by explicitly setting the system volume before shutdown. I cannot set a default boot volume.

For example, if I mute the system volume at shutdown I will not have any startup volume whatsoever and I don't wake my wife in the morning, whereas if I maximize the volume level my wife will surely awaken.



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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen
Authored by: diamondsw on Sep 23, '08 09:51:36AM

The title is a bit misleading, it refers to which disk volume is used for startup, not the audio volume of the system chime.

I was fooled at first as well.



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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen
Authored by: dreyfuss on Sep 23, '08 11:24:35AM

Although it's not all that clear, the topic here is about hard disks, or if partitioned, volumes, not about sound. ;-)



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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen
Authored by: DCJ001 on Sep 23, '08 12:28:25PM

If this hint is about the volume (disk) which boots by default, and not the audio volume at startup, wouldn't this normally be set using the "StartUp Disk" preference?



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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen
Authored by: barefootguru on Sep 23, '08 02:00:40PM

Yeah, that's why this is a hint--it's another, hidden, way of accomplishing the same thing.



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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen
Authored by: DCJ001 on Sep 23, '08 07:08:07PM

I was under the impression that Mac OS X Hints is for things that people would like to do with a Mac that they thought that, currently, cannot be done; not to show additional, more complicated ways of doing the things that can already be done.



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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen
Authored by: jiclark on Sep 23, '08 08:58:58PM
What a weird concept! There are many ways to do any given thing on a computer, precisely because we all have our different styles, whether they be learning styles or working styles. How could you argue that it's somehow bad to educate people about new ways to do things??

I can imagine a circumstance where it would be extremely convenient to be able to change the default boot drive, right from that little pre-startup screen. If we weren't supposed to post hints like this, we'd lose a lot of what I've gained from this site over the years...

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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen
Authored by: robg on Oct 07, '08 09:18:24AM

Mac OS X Hints runs tips about OS X and its apps that may not be obvious or documented -- regardless of whether there's a documented way to do the same thing or not.

-rob.



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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen
Authored by: kirkmc on Sep 24, '08 12:33:35AM

Disks and volumes are different things. A disk can contain several volumes.

---
Read my blog: Kirkville -- http://www.mcelhearn.com
Musings, Opinion and Miscellanea, on Macs, iPods and more



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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen
Authored by: tyip on Sep 23, '08 01:27:22PM

This doesn't work on my Mac Mini 2 Ghz core 2 duo, which has two bootable volumes - Tiger and Leopard.



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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen
Authored by: Apple Guy on Sep 23, '08 04:57:09PM

I think he means which partition to boot from.

Not the volume of the tone.

---
Have you jailbroken your iPod touch or iPhone yet? If not visit my site to find out how! http://www.imackid.net



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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen
Authored by: -dl- on Sep 25, '08 01:36:09PM
Click here to control the volume of your startup sound

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Set default startup volume from boot volume screen
Authored by: terranaut on Sep 25, '08 06:22:18PM

This works on my 1st Gen 2.16GHz Core Duo MacBook Pro.

What isn't mentioned, is that you have to select the volume using the cursor keys if it is not selected then CTRL-Click on the arrow underneath the now selected volume to set it as default.



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Hint also works on Early 2008 Mac Pro!
Authored by: ceetea3 on Oct 15, '11 10:51:55PM

Just wanted to let you know that this also works on a Mac Pro Early 2008!

I kept a boot version of Snow Leopard when I upgraded to Lion. When I applied the 10.7.2 update I started booting to the Snow Leopard boot volume when I had to restart. After not catching it several times I went in search of a way to change the default boot volume. This hint seems to have solved the problem!
Thanks!

---
LatteMan



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