Setting Boot Chime guide updated to OC 0.7.8

[perez987]

In OpenCore 0.7.8 there were major changes in UEFI -> Audio. This issue attempts to update the Setting Boot Chime guide to accommodate OpenCore 0.7.8 and later. Changes made:

• audio file is now MP3 instead of WAV
• UEFI -> Audio has changes in several keys
• audio-config.png image has also been updated.

Thanks for your great work.

====================================

Setting up Boot-chime with AudioDxe

So to start, we'll need a couple of things:

• Onboard audio output
  • USB DACs will not work
  • GPU audio out is a hit or miss
• AudioDxe in both EFI/OC/Drivers and UEFI -> Drivers
• Binary Resources
  • Add the Resources folder to EFI/OC, just like we did with the OpenCore GUI section
  • For those running out of space, OCEFIAudio_VoiceOver_Boot.mp3 is all that's required for the Boot-Chime
• Debug version of OpenCore with logging enabled
  • See OpenCore Debugging for more info
  • Note: after you're done setting up, you can revert to the RELEASE builds

Settings up NVRAM:

• NVRAM -> Add -> 7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82:
  • SystemAudioVolume | Data | 0x46
  • This is the boot-chime and screen reader volume, note it's in hexadecimal so would become 70 in decimal; 0x80 means muted

Optional

• NVRAM -> Add -> 7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82:
  • StartupMute | Data | 0x00
  • Mute startup chime sound in firmware audio support; 00 is unmuted, missing variable or any other value means muted

Setting up UEFI -> Audio:

• AudioCodec: (Number)

  • Codec address of Audio controller. This typically contains the first audio codec address on the builtin analog audio controller (HDEF). Failsafe value is 0.
  • To find yours:
  • Check IORegistryExplorer -> HDEF -> AppleHDAController -> IOHDACodecDevice and see the IOHDACodecAddress property (ex: 0x0)

  • Can also check via terminal (Note if multiple show up, use the vendor ID to find the right device):

    sh ioreg -rxn IOHDACodecDevice | grep VendorID // List all possible devices

    sh ioreg -rxn IOHDACodecDevice | grep IOHDACodecAddress // Grab the codec address

• Audio Device: (String)

  • Device path (PciRoot) of audio controller
  • Run gfxutil to find the path:
  • /path/to/gfxutil -f HDEF
  • ex: PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1f,0x3)

• AudioOutMask: (Number)

  • Play sound in UEFI to more than one channel (e.g. main speaker plus bass speaker). Failsafe value is -1 (output to all).
  • Output channels are internally numbered as bit 0 (value 1), bit 1 (value 2) and so on. A value of 1 refers to the first audio output (not necessarily main speaker). A value of -1 is used to play to all channels simultaneously.
  • When AudioSupport is enabled, AudioDevice must be either empty or a valid path and AudioOutMask must be non-zero
  • Easiest way to find the right one is to go through each one (from 0 to N - 1, where N is the number of outputs listed in your log); ex: 5 outputs would translate to 0-4 as possible values
  • You can find all the ones for your codec in the OpenCore debug logs:

  06:065 00:004 OCAU: Matching PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1F,0x3)/VenMsg(A9003FEB-D806-41DB-A491-5405FEEF46C3,00000000)...
  06:070 00:005 OCAU: 1/2 PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1F,0x3)/VenMsg(A9003FEB-D806-41DB-A491-5405FEEF46C3,00000000) (5 outputs) - Success

• AudioSupport: (Boolean)

  • Set this to True
  • Enabling this setting routes audio playback from builtin protocols to specified dedicated audio ports (AudioOutMask) of the specified codec (AudioCodec), located on the specified audio controller (AudioDevice)

• DisconnectHDA: (Boolean)

  • Set this to False

• MaximumGain: (Number)

  • Maximum gain to use for UEFI audio, specified in decibels (dB) with respect to amplifier reference level of 0 dB
  • Set this to -15

• MinimumAssistGain: (Number)

  • Minimum gain in decibels (dB) to use for picker audio assist. The screen reader will use this amplifier gain if the system amplifier gain read from the SystemAudioVolumeDB NVRAM variable is lower than this
  • Set this to -30

• MinimumAudibleGain: (Number)

  • Minimum gain in decibels (dB) at which to attempt to play any sound
  • Set this to -55

• PlayChime: (String)

  • Set this to Enabled
  • Supported values are:
  • Auto — Enables chime when StartupMute NVRAM variable is not present or set to 00
  • Enabled — Enables chime unconditionally
  • Disabled — Disables chime unconditionally

• ResetTrafficClass: (Boolean)

  • Set this to False

• SetupDelay: (Number)

  • By default, leave this at 0
  • Some codecs many need extra time for setup, we recommend setting to 500 milliseconds (0.5 seconds) if you have issues

Once done, you should get something like this:

Note about audio codec default sampling rate

There are codecs like Realtek ALC295 (HP models and others) whose default audio sampling rate is 48 kHz. In this case, even if 44.1 kHz is supported by the codec, audio chime fails and does not sound. The only way at the moment to fix this is to modify the OCEFIAudio_VoiceOver_Boot.mp3 sample rate with an audio editor to raise it from 44.1 kHz to 48 kHz. This has to be done by the end user as OpenCore does not have an automated mechanism for it.

Note for visually impaired:

• OpenCore hasn't forgotten about you! With the AudioDxe setup, you can enable both picker audio and FileVault VoiceOver with these 2 settings:
  • Misc -> Boot -> PickerAudioAssist -> True to enable picker audio
  • UEFI -> ProtocolOverrides -> AppleAudio -> True to enable FileVault voice over
• See Security and FileVault on how to setup the rest for proper FileVault support.

[dreamwhite]

Please note that some codecs may require 48KHz sampling rate. Adding a side note would be helpful for users like me who had to convert the audio files

[perez987]

Do you refer to codecs that require a specific sampling rate in the chime sound file (OCEFIAudio_VoiceOver_Boot.mp3) different to 44,1? Then, a side note about this?

For reference: #963 BootChime issue: PlayFile playback setup failure - Unsupported

[perez987]

@dreamwhite What audio codec do you have? ALC295 also?

[dreamwhite]

@dreamwhite What audio codec do you have?

Realtek ALC295 (ALC3254)

[perez987]

@dreamwhite Added note about audio codec sampling rate.

[perez987]

@dhinakg

Good night. The details Optional NVRAM entries is shown as is, not as a spoiler or drop down text, do you see it also or is only me?

::: details Optional NVRAM entries

NVRAM -> Add -> 7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82:
StartupMute | Data | 0x00
Mute startup chime sound in firmware audio support; 00 is unmuted, missing variable or any other value means muted
:::

Maybe in this way?

Optional NVRAM entries

NVRAM -> Add -> 7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82:
StartupMute | Data | 0x00
Mute startup chime sound in firmware audio support; 00 is unmuted, missing variable or any other value means muted

[dhinakg]

It will render properly on the site, it's not standard Markdown (or well, GitHub Flavored Markdown) so it'll just show bare on GitHub

[perez987]

@dhinakg Good afternoon. There is something I can do to help you to finish this issue? Probably not but, if I can help, tell me.

[dhinakg]

Hi, the main issue is that I am juggling a number of things on my plate right now, so the only way you could really help is by opening a PR, if you're willing to do that

[perez987]

If the PR is more comfortable to you, I can open it, of course. I guess you are busy, I'm sorry if it seems like I'm urging you, not at all, I really couldn't do it because I know the work you do for this community and for the many other things that each one of you will do outside of here.

[perez987]

@dhinakg Ok, PR opened. Setting Boot Chime updated to OpenCore 0.7.8 changes