Any Mac users know why this should be?
Posted by: Kevin-W on 03 November 2010
Morning all...
Something very odd's happened to my Macbook. I'm no longer getting any sound from it. I don't get any response from the volume buttons on the keyboard. Nor can I adjust the sound via system preferences or the volume adjuster in the top menu bar.
Yet when I plus in a pair of phones the sound works fine.
The machine seems to think that it doesn't have any internal speakers...
Anyone know what this is, or more importantly, how I can fix it without carting the thing off to a Genius Bar?
Thanks all in advance...
K
Posted on: 03 November 2010 by Derek Wright
Have you checked the setting in the System Preferences area.
Select Apple
System Preferences
Sound (loudspeaker cone)
Check the settings especially the Mute tick box
Posted on: 03 November 2010 by Kevin-W
I have Derek. And what is really odd is that I've only have the choice of a "digital out" for sound and that has the message "there are no output controls for the selected device"... ???
Posted on: 03 November 2010 by Huwge
Have you had a look to see what you find under "about this mac," from the Apple icon in the Finder? Under Hardware, do you see anything for audio (built in)? Have you changed anything recently that might be linked to audio preferences?
Posted on: 03 November 2010 by Peter Dinh
Well, at least somebody here saw exactly the same problem as I did a couple of months back. I did not not remember how I fixed it, could be that I plugged in my ear phones, playing a DVD and trying to change the volume by pressing the up and down volume keys on the keyboard a couple of times (while the ear phones still plugged in).
I think it is definitely a Mac OS bug because my Macbook works fine afterwards.
Posted on: 03 November 2010 by BigH47
Is it possible the phones socket is faulty and after the headphones were removed it hasn't "switched" back to speakers?
Posted on: 03 November 2010 by Geoff P
This is probably useless advice since it comes from PC land but..
In Windows 7 if you actually 'Disable' a sound device in its properties menu it dissapears from the available devices list. You have to go into its' properties menu and enable it again for it to appear as a device for use. This is particularly easy to get into trouble with when switching from analog audio out at both the headphone socket and speakers, to digital audio out as SPDIF via the headphone socket only, speakers disabled.
Just a thought
Geoff
Posted on: 03 November 2010 by Svetty
And there was I thinking that all Macs were infallible, intuitive machines that were immune to the foes that befall common,2nd-rate PCs
Posted on: 03 November 2010 by nap-ster
Posted on: 03 November 2010 by kevinrt
An obvious one, but a restart often solves a lot of problems.
Kevin
Posted on: 03 November 2010 by Guido Fawkes
It may help to reset your PRAM and NVRAM
Shut down Mac.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the grey screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the Mac restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.
Not sure if it'll solve your problem, but I've found it solved other problems of a not dissimilar nature.
Posted on: 03 November 2010 by Peter Dinh
quote:
Originally posted by nap-ster:
As was mentioned earlier.
Output issue on Apple forums Seems like it's a common problem.
Yes, this is the issue. Just fiddle around with the ear-phone stick and the socket, plus playing around with the audio settings could solve the issue.
Posted on: 06 November 2010 by BigH47
quote:
It may help to reset your PRAM and NVRAM
What are these and do they need regular re-setting?
Not something to throw your toys out of, I guess?
Or a Shadows tune?
Any idea why Safari keeps "not responding" as shown by beach ball and Activity monitor.
It only ever seems to be Safari no other apps seem to stall.
Posted on: 06 November 2010 by Peter Dinh
quote:
Originally posted by BigH47:
quote:
It may help to reset your PRAM and NVRAM
What are these and do they need regular re-setting?
Not something to throw your toys out of, I guess?
Or a Shadows tune?
Any idea why Safari keeps "not responding" as shown by beach ball and Activity monitor.
It only ever seems to be Safari no other apps seem to stall.
I personally do not find this re-setting useful at all, but your mileage may vary especially if you have older Mac computers.
Try Chrome browser, you may like it. I do not like Safari because it is a terrible resource hog.
Posted on: 06 November 2010 by TomK
Buy a PC.
Posted on: 07 November 2010 by BigH47
Ha ha ha! Laugh ? I almost did.
Just activated Chrome, it seems to be little quicker jumping and loading tabs.
Setup/customising seemed fine too.
Posted on: 07 November 2010 by Peter Dinh
As you are now using Chrome, I would recommend installing some Chrome extensions, my favorite chrome extensions are - 1 ClickWeather for Chrome, AutoPagerize, AdBlock, Clip to Evernote, Yet Another Google Bookmarks, and Invisible Hand.
My other freeware favorites on Mac are HyperDock, Growl.
Posted on: 07 November 2010 by BigH47
OK Peter I've loaded a few things Adblock, Weather Evernote and a access to downloads button.
Couldn't see any use for Growl and couldn't get any sensible response from HyperDock, just kept asking the same things in setup. Maybe I'll look again after the GP.
Thanks for the info.
Posted on: 07 November 2010 by Peter Dinh
Growl is very useful, it runs in the background and notifies you when something happens such as email arrives, etc. It is the one of the most popular tools, the Growl website can give you some overview on how it is used.
HyperDock is already installed after you double-clicked the icon in the setup, you can quit it now and hover the mouse over the dock, you will see how it works.
Posted on: 07 November 2010 by BigH47
Something not right, nothing happens when mouse is over the dock.
I can't choose any options as the open access pane drops and I can't see and access the options behind. So all actions are greyed out.
Posted on: 07 November 2010 by Kevin-W
Thanks guys, all fixed! The pushing the headphone in and out about 20 times sorted out the problem.
It's obviously a common fault, on that Apple should address quickly.
Having been forced to use a Toshiba PC running Windoze Vista today, I don't think I'll ever buy a PC! Horrible!
Posted on: 07 November 2010 by Peter Dinh
quote:
Originally posted by BigH47:
Something not right, nothing happens when mouse is over the dock.
I can't choose any options as the open access pane drops and I can't see and access the options behind. So all actions are greyed out.
What OS is your Mac? HyperDock only works for 10.6+
When you open System Preferences, do you see "HyperDock"?
Posted on: 08 November 2010 by garyi
Hyperdock has great potential, however it does not play well with wacoms.
Posted on: 08 November 2010 by BigH47
My Mac is at 10.6.4.
Posted on: 08 November 2010 by Guido Fawkes
quote:
Originally posted by BigH47:
quote:
It may help to reset your PRAM and NVRAM
What are these and do they need regular re-setting?.
They don't need regularly resetting, but they contain the things it needs to know on start-up. I had a Mac that didn't recognise its own CD drive - doing the reset fixed it. Thought it worth a try.
Safari is better than IE, but not my favourite browser, but I don't know how to run my Amiga Web Browser on a Mac without using an emulator which I'm not such a fan of.
Posted on: 08 November 2010 by Guido Fawkes
quote:
Originally posted by BigH47:
My Mac is at 10.6.4.
Well la-di-da, mine is only 10.4.6 but it still works.
My mother still uses OS9
