How to end repetition of the words, volume level in Ventura

By Bruce Harrell, 5 November, 2023

Forum
macOS and Mac Apps

Greetings one and all, young or old, short or tall, large or small, he, she, it or they!

I'm running Ventura on a Mac Studio. Recently, VoiceOver has been frequently repeating the phrase, volume level. I can't figure out where or why it is happening. Rebooting doesn't change anything. Reducing my open apps to finder and one other app doesn't change the situation either.

Can anyone help?

Thank you!

Bruce

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Comments

By Brian on Sunday, November 26, 2023 - 17:16

Some questions for you as I know little about the Mac Studio.

1. Are there hardware volume keys anywhere on the computer; including but not limiting to the keyboard?
2. You say "recently". Have you installed any 3rd party software that has any affect in any way on sound/volume?
3. Is the volume actually changing or is VO just announcing the phrase "Volume Level"?

Thanks for your time...

By Bruce Harrell on Sunday, November 26, 2023 - 17:16

No hardware volume control on the Mac Studio itself. Yes to volume control keys on the Apple bluetooth keyboard.

No sound-related third party app upgrade preceding the volume level message, but I might uninstall the sound card app I use anyway just to see if that makes a difference. Good question.

No, volume does not change when the words volume level are spoken, although those words are spoken at slightly lower pitch, a pitch I don't use. Odd, that.

Thanks!

Bruce

P.S. Your two finger scrub remark and giving the edit box another one finger double tap seems to have restored the onscreen keyboard to visibility, thanks!

By Brian on Sunday, November 26, 2023 - 17:16

You may have to reset your SMC, assuming the Apple Silicone Macs still have that. SMC is System Management Controller, and it controls a bunch of stuff. For example, for the longest time, whenever I would try to access Recovery Mode on my own MBP, the first screen to popup would be a network screen where I had to choose my network before Ic could proceed. The issue with this is, VO does not work here.

So, long story short resetting the SMC fixed it. Now when I go to Recovery Mode, Recovery Mode options popup first and VO works here, of course.

Resetting the SMC, at least on Intel Macs is stupid easy; you just press Control + Option + Shift + Power button, from a powered off state. That's right, VO + Shift + Power. That's it. Should be the same on the new Mx Macs, but feel free to Google that. 😅

Another possibility, which you mentioned, is that your audio card could be on the fritz. You're on your own there, as I have not installed computer hardware in over a decade. 😳

One final thing, assuming you have Guest user or additional users on your Mac, try logging into one of those, and see if the issue still happens. Oddly enough, it could be something as simple as a startup item.

HTH.

By Bruce Harrell on Sunday, November 26, 2023 - 17:16

I'll give it a try. smile

By Tyler on Sunday, November 26, 2023 - 17:16

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

On Macs with Apple Silicon, the SMC is reset each time you restart the Mac, so if the announcement persists following a restart, the SMC can likely be ruled out as a cause of the issue. My guess is that the issue is coming either from your sound card, or a login item or background process that needs attension.