13-inch MacBook Pro: Low audio volume under Boot Camp?

[dennya]

I just set up my new MacBook Pro 13-inch with Boot Camp. Initially I put Windows 7 RC on it, but I couldn't get the audio control function keys to work. Figuring Win 7 is probably quirky, I figured I'd drop back to Vista for now until 7 is officially supported. (Interesting how easy Apple makes it to annihilate a Boot Camp partition. :)

So now I have Windows Vista Ultimate SP2 running with no issues. All the Boot Camp drives and utilities seem to be working.

However, with all the sounds cranked to max in Windows, and using the F12 key, the volume is very quiet. Probably less than half of what I can get in OS X.

Anyone seen this issue? Any hints?

[Grothdmal]

Maybe the system volume is low?
If the function keys aren't hooked up to the system volume, no matter how high you crank it, if the system volume remains low the total volume will remain low.
(Think of the system volume as a cap, a maximum possible volume.)

[dennya]

Nope, I've maximized the volume everywhere I can think of... The Windows volume control (and checked the mixer to make sure system sound and individual apps are maximized), and using the F12 key to make sure the system volume reads fully maximized.

I actually saw low volume under Win 7 as well. That's how I discovered the inabiltiy to use the Fkeys under Win 7; I was trying to raise the volume and I discovered they didn't work. So I wiped it and installed Vista, where the F keys do raise/lower the volume as intended, but the max volume is really quiet.

[andrew101]

New 13" MBP
Windows 7 RC1 64 bit

I have audio, but as you describe, nothing will get it to go above about half the normal max volume. It's so low that it's annoying to watch TV.

I haven't had time to look more deeply, but Windows says my audio device is a Cirrus Logic CS4206A, while the OSX side says Intel HD Audio. My guess is that it's still a driver issue?

[agl82]

.

[dennya]

Thanks for the confirmation, folks.

The thing is, the half-volume audio is an issue in Vista as well, which is supposed to be supported by Boot Camp.

I can't go all the way back to XP as some of the resources on my office network require Vista to access properly.

Does it help to report this kind of thing to Apple support?

[mikethebigo]

Thanks for the confirmation, folks.

The thing is, the half-volume audio is an issue in Vista as well, which is supposed to be supported by Boot Camp.

I can't go all the way back to XP as some of the resources on my office network require Vista to access properly.

Does it help to report this kind of thing to Apple support?

I tried making a thread about this earlier and didn't get any replies. It's definitely a real issue, and many people seem to be downgrading to XP for gaming/anything that uses audio.

I tried reinstalling the latest realtek hd drivers to no avail. Never tried to find cirrus logic drivers though. Hopefully a fix will be figured out eventually - Windows 7 is free for me, it would suck to have to put down money for XP!

[tarasis]

Just experience this problem myself, 13" MBP using internal speakers.

Digging into the mixer it appears the that audio on the right speaker is too low.

If you go to the Speaker Properties -> Advanced and select Test you will hear the left speaker really loudly and the Right speaker quietly (like half the volume). This is despite the Levels -> Balance showing both L, R, C & sub at full.

[rkrskr]

Hi guys,

I'm also experiencing this issue. What's worse, however, is that the audio out port on my MBP 13 does not work in Vista. This renders the MBP 13 virtually useless for gaming. Also, a red light is emitted from the audio-out port.

[eeperman]

I am suffering the same problem with a 15 inch 2.8GHz MBP. Volume through the speakers in Windows XP is very low, but it is ear-splittingly loud through headphones. As a previous poster suggests this really affects the MBP's ability to play games.

Interestingly videos played through YouTube don't seem to be so quiet, only games. Maybe the issue only occurs when a game tries to make use of some hardware audio feature?

[tarasis]

Also, a red light is emitted from the audio-out port.

The red light is fine, that is simply the Digital (Optical) Audio Out.

[rkrskr]

The red light is fine, that is simply the Digital (Optical) Audio Out.

The problem with the red light is that it is on even when i plug in my 3.5 mm cable from my speakers into the port, rendering them useless. I upgraded to this MBP 13 from my unibody MB and I am quite disappointed.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to enable analog audio out on Vista?

[Oasispice]

i'm having issues with this too. I just bought this 13" MBP and boot camped Vista Enterprise. I upgraded from 13" MB and the audio worked fine with Vista Enterprise. I, too, am seeing the red light (optical) through the audio port. When i go back to OSX, everything is perfect, no red light, no low volume. I'm thinking it has got to be from the drivers included for Boot Camp that needs to be installed once Vista is in. Anyone open a ticket with Apple support yet?

EDIT: I should also add that the headphones does not work under Windows...

[DerDom]

I am not sure if this is what you mean with opening a ticket, but I am currently writing a feedback mail to Apple via apple.com/feedback/macosx

The people here at the apple-discussions (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2037093&start=0&tstart=0) all have the same problem.

[KeeeeenW]

same here and I don't think my internal mic is working either, the sound for the speaker is really low.


Windows 7 RC on MBP 990 2.26GHZ

[cool8man]

I'm having the audio problem too with my new macbook pro running Win 7 x64. Sounds like the audio is only coming out of the left speaker.

Also when I plug in analog speakers the audio mixer icon in Windows 7 says that I have plugged in headphones.

[cool8man]

When Apple updates bootcamp drivers do they usually do releases for individual devices or as a whole package of new updates?

How long should we expect to wait for them to provide a fix for this is what I'm asking? Weeks? Months? A year? And any chance of a 3rd party providing a driver update themselves?

[asean66]

just so you all know, win xp sp2 has the exact same problem where the low volume is driving me nuts... is pent an hour or two looking for softwares that can boost the volume, but found nothing....if anyone finds a solution to this, please share:D

[spiffyb]

I returned my Macbook today and sent this bug report to Apple:

The MacBook Pro 15" 2.53GHz(2009) internal speaker output is very low in Windows Vista (sp2,32bit) and Windows XP (sp3,32bit) when playing any audio source even with the latest Boot Camp 2.1 Cirrus Audio driver, firmware update (MBP53.00AC.B03 EFI 1.7) and all volume controls maxed.

[mrsun613]

I've found a solution for the problem I think. I'm running Vista SP2 on an Intel iMac. All I did was download the Realtek High Definition Audio Codecs from here:

http://www.realtek.com/downloads/downloadsCheck.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false#High Definition Audio Codecs

Then, I ran it to uninstall the codecs that came with the installation disk and restarted. Then, I reinstalled it again and restarted again. Now, my audio words fine :D

I've only tried it with my iMac, so I don't know if it will work for most of you guys with macbooks

[wdmeuk]

Also got low audio whilst running Windows XP Professional SP2 on my MacBook Pro 13" 2.26GHz :(

By the way - I looked at system info in Windows and it says I have 2.7GB RAM. I actually have 4GB. Is this a known issue to display the wrong RAM info?

[mikethebigo]

Also got low audio whilst running Windows XP Professional SP2 on my MacBook Pro 13" 2.26GHz :(

By the way - I looked at system info in Windows and it says I have 2.7GB RAM. I actually have 4GB. Is this a known issue to display the wrong RAM info?

You're probably running a 32 bit version of windows. 32 bit operating systems can only use 3 gigs of memory max.

When I'm at my computer again I'll retry installing the realtek drivers, but I tried that before and it didn't fix the issue. I'm running win 7 though, not vista.

[tarasis]

I've found a solution for the problem I think. I'm running Vista SP2 on an Intel iMac. All I did was download the Realtek High Definition Audio Codecs from here:

http://www.realtek.com/downloads/downloadsCheck.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false#High Definition Audio Codecs

Then, I ran it to uninstall the codecs that came with the installation disk and restarted. Then, I reinstalled it again and restarted again. Now, my audio words fine :D

I've only tried it with my iMac, so I don't know if it will work for most of you guys with macbooks

About to try this now, just waiting on some other updates to finish first before I reboot. Trying these drivers on Windows XP (though the HW list mentions Cirrus Logic HD codecs, not Realtek)

[eeperman]

Did it work tarasis?

[t3heford]

Installed the realtek drivers in xp and windows 7. They changed nothing, as I expected. I am extremely angry how Apple doesn't test their newest hardware with all bootcamp. I'm considering returning my computer until they get all these issues sorted out.

[tarasis]

Did it work tarasis?

Sorry kids got in the road and forgot. No didn't do squat, but to be expected as the new 13" MBP's use Cirrus Logic HW and they don't appear to provide public drivers. They basically point you to the HW manufacturer, which means till Apple release a new version of Bootcamp drivers we are stuff.

Incredibly surprised that Apple would ship Bootcamp drivers this borked, you'd have thought they might have checked.

[jakedunc]

so ridiculous, apple are just doing it slow and tedious to make people side with the osx... really frustrating, and if someone told me that they were playing this immature corporate game, i for one would not have paid the stupid price i did to get a macbook pro, thinking that i was the winner get both operating systems in one laptop...
GROW UP APPLE, YOU ALREADY OVER CHARGE YOUR CUSTOMERS ENOUGH, YOU'VE TAKEN HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FROM THE VERY PEOPLE WHO KEEP YOU AFLOAT, NOW GIVE US THE BOOT CAMP WE WERE PROMISED AND THAT WE KNOW YOU KNOW HOW TO FIX!!

p.s: post it up people if the dooshbags do fix the audio problems in the near future...

[ChristianZ]

Hi all,
I am running Windows 7 Build 7100 64bit and none of the descibed solutions did help so far. The Realtek drivers install but do not produce sound anyway.

Here is my solution to get a higher output on the MacBookPro 13" Unibody.

You have to use the Bootcamp Drivers for the Cirrus Logic device.
..\Boot Camp\Drivers\Cirrus\ unpack the CirrusAudioVista64.exe or 32bit version to a seperate folder.

inside the folder there is the file "cs420x.inf".
Inside this file there are amplifier capability overrides defined, like max. +0db Output...

You can edit these settings with a simple text editor, and finally reinstall the driver.

I will include my modified inf file for 64bit windows.
Please try to modifie the 32bit version on your own - I just copied existing lines from different places within the inf file - so I did not have to bother with the dword values in deep - but I think one can even better modifiy them with knowing what they mean !!

Have luck with that one.

Once again, if you modify the value, you have to uninstall previous devices within the device manager including deleting the older files in the system directories. Finally you have to point the driver installation to the exact point of the inf file.

Please change the ending of the file from .inf.txt back to .inf only

[Jimster32]

ChristianZ,

Does this fix the problem where the right speaker is operating at only half the volume of the left speaker?

How hard can it be to release drivers that work? This will be the last time I buy an Apple product so soon after it is released.

:mad:

[ChristianZ]

Yes, it should fix this problem.

As far as I can tell the inf file had only one line (right or left) with reduced gain. That might be the reason for this behaviour.

Hope it helps.

[tarasis]

Hi all,
I am running Windows 7 Build 7100 64bit and none of the descibed solutions did help so far. The Realtek drivers install but do not produce sound anyway.

Here is my solution to get a higher output on the MacBookPro 13" Unibody.

You have to use the Bootcamp Drivers for the Cirrus Logic device.
..\Boot Camp\Drivers\Cirrus\ unpack the CirrusAudioVista64.exe or 32bit version to a seperate folder.

inside the folder there is the file "cs420x.inf".
Inside this file there are amplifier capability overrides defined, like max. +0db Output...


Interestingly the XP version of the driver (clhdaud.inf) doesn't appear to have all the settings for the amp like vista does.

Yet to try copying them over from the Vista ini file but I wouldn't have hope as the Reg key setup is quite different.

[iNassar]

I tried making a thread about this earlier and didn't get any replies. It's definitely a real issue, and many people seem to be downgrading to XP for gaming/anything that uses audio.

I tried reinstalling the latest realtek hd drivers to no avail. Never tried to find cirrus logic drivers though. Hopefully a fix will be figured out eventually - Windows 7 is free for me, it would suck to have to put down money for XP!

Im using xp and i have EXACTLY the same issue

[marcobaldus]

Im using xp and i have EXACTLY the same issue
I'm using XP Home under Bootcamp and I have the same problem: very low audio in loudspeakers, but the audio volume in headphones is ok. No problem in MAc OS.
I have a new macbook pro 2,66 (6 days of life....) :confused:
I just phoned Apple CAre and after 10 minutes the girl said to me that I was the first with this kind of problem and told me to ask Microsoft!!!!!
This is my first experience with Apple but is starting quite badly...:cool:
Marco

[Jimster32]

Sorry to hear of your troubles marco. Apple are definitely responsible for supporting their Boot Camp drivers under Windows.

This is the last Apple product I will buy until Apple demonstrate some sort of commitment to provide decent drivers for Boot Camp. It seems to me they paid some kid $15 to write these drivers. Did it even occur to anybody at Apple to test Boot Camp on the new Macbook Pros?

Very unimpressed. :mad:

[marcobaldus]

I have also this problem: My RAM is 4 GB but only 2,7 GB is noticed. And the webcam gives an image that is only 160x120 pixels!!!

[tarasis]

The ram is a limatation of XP, I believe there is a hidden boot param to make it see more.

Webcam I have no idea, may be normal.

[Canadiana]

Oh wow you're a genius! this worked perfectly I can finallly play some music!

Good job! :D:D:apple:

Hi all,
I am running Windows 7 Build 7100 64bit and none of the descibed solutions did help so far. The Realtek drivers install but do not produce sound anyway.

Here is my solution to get a higher output on the MacBookPro 13" Unibody.

You have to use the Bootcamp Drivers for the Cirrus Logic device.
..\Boot Camp\Drivers\Cirrus\ unpack the CirrusAudioVista64.exe or 32bit version to a seperate folder.

inside the folder there is the file "cs420x.inf".
Inside this file there are amplifier capability overrides defined, like max. +0db Output...

You can edit these settings with a simple text editor, and finally reinstall the driver.

I will include my modified inf file for 64bit windows.
Please try to modifie the 32bit version on your own - I just copied existing lines from different places within the inf file - so I did not have to bother with the dword values in deep - but I think one can even better modifiy them with knowing what they mean !!

Have luck with that one.

Once again, if you modify the value, you have to uninstall previous devices within the device manager including deleting the older files in the system directories. Finally you have to point the driver installation to the exact point of the inf file.

Please change the ending of the file from .inf.txt back to .inf only

[symac]

Just experience this problem myself, 13" MBP using internal speakers.

Digging into the mixer it appears the that audio on the right speaker is too low.

If you go to the Speaker Properties -> Advanced and select Test you will hear the left speaker really loudly and the Right speaker quietly (like half the volume). This is despite the Levels -> Balance showing both L, R, C & sub at full.

Installed XP Pro SP2 on first gen uMBP 13" 4 GB.

Audio vol from left and right speakers appear same to me using Realtek Audio mixer to isolate the channels. I do note that the bass comes out of the right and high end out of the left speakers, giving the impression that the left speaker is maybe lower.

Youtube volume is ok, but can be low too on some videos, e.g. Black Eye Peas Boom Boom Pow.

But some audio sources can be normal volume too, e.g. NPR radio.

Mic and webcam works fine.

Systemin info says 4 GB memory, but task manager says 2.7 GB. Dunno if I can really use the full 4 GB.

I've also noticed that the screen and keybd brightness is not as high in XP versus OS X. Anyone else notice? (should just search MR forums)

Can't try the Windows 7 fix suggested by ChristianZ cuz I need XP for work!

If someone finds an XP fix, pls post!

[ivanosio]

Hi all,
I am running Windows 7 Build 7100 64bit and none of the descibed solutions did help so far. The Realtek drivers install but do not produce sound anyway.

Here is my solution to get a higher output on the MacBookPro 13" Unibody.

You have to use the Bootcamp Drivers for the Cirrus Logic device.
..\Boot Camp\Drivers\Cirrus\ unpack the CirrusAudioVista64.exe or 32bit version to a seperate folder.

inside the folder there is the file "cs420x.inf".

.........

I still have the problem... I tried to modify the cs420x.inf file but i don't know which lines to change and how to use that file to reinstall the driver...

In my MBP the system installs the audio drivers and when I play a song in Windows 7 it looks like if the sound works fine... but I can hear nothing...

Somebody has find other easier solution? Thanks a lot...
___________________
13" MBP 2.53GHz, 4GB, 250GB

[r4ndyj]

I will include my modified inf file for 64bit windows.
Please try to modifie the 32bit version on your own - I just copied existing lines from different places within the inf file - so I did not have to bother with the dword values in deep - but I think one can even better modifiy them with knowing what they mean !!

Have luck with that one.

Once again, if you modify the value, you have to uninstall previous devices within the device manager including deleting the older files in the system directories. Finally you have to point the driver installation to the exact point of the inf file.

Please change the ending of the file from .inf.txt back to .inf only

You say I need to delete the older files in the system dirs. What exact files are you referring to? I uninstall the sound device within device manager and install my new drivers via the .exe and reboot and no audio at all. It treats it like there's audio but there is nothing. I have modified the 32 bit version using the same exact values you have used in yours. Maybe this is because I'm running Vista and not 7.

Has anyone gotten it fixed on Vista? .....specifically 32 bit?

Otherwise I may just have to upgrade to the Win7 RTM.

[ivanosio]

... It treats it like there's audio but there is nothing.... Maybe this is because I'm running Vista and not 7.

Has anyone gotten it fixed on Vista? .....specifically 32 bit?

Otherwise I may just have to upgrade to the Win7 RTM.

Hi, it's the same with Windows 7. I have the same problem, but I don't know how to modify that file.

[r4ndyj]

Hi, it's the same with Windows 7. I have the same problem, but I don't know how to modify that file.

Are you using 64 bit or 32 bit? That guys is using 64 bit and solved the probelm so I'll just go that route if it's worked for two people thus far.

[t3heford]

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2037093&start=135&tstart=0

"Thanks to cmosquera for this fix.

This will fix the volume on the computer. If you also did the audio enhancement described above undo it.

1. Create a folder on the root of your c:\ drive, call it "CirrusDriverFix".

2. Install 7-Zip in your Vista or W7.

3. Put the Mac OSX Install DVD that came bundled with your Mid 2009 MBP in your DVD drive then right click on the BootCamp\Drivers\Cirrus\CirrusAudioVistaxx.exe (xx=32 for 32 bit and 64 for 64-bit) file and choose "7-Zip > Extract Files..." Enter c:\CirrusDriverFix to extract the files.

4. Once the files have been extracted go to the c:\CirrusDriverFix folder and delete the original cs420x.inf file and replace it with the one attached to http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=182216&d=1247310061 make sure the you rename it to cs420x.inf

5. Go into your device manager, right click on the Cirrus Logic under "Sound, video and game controllers" then choose Uninstall and make sure to check the box "Delete the driver software for this device."

6. Click on Start > type "cmd" then right click on the cmd.exe that shows up and click "Run as administrator".

7. type in CD "\CirrusDriverFix"

8. type in dpinst /F and then go through the install, it should "force" the install.

9. Enjoy your sound.

10. Thank ChristianZ and everyone else except Apple, Cirrus Logic, and Soft Reset "

"You may be experiencing the same problem I had. If so, this will help. In your device manager you say everything looks good, but check again, is "sound" device listed at all? When I performed the above steps my computer didn't see that I had speakers at all. In windows 7 when I clicked on the speaker in the lower left on the task bar Windows automatically tried to detect and fix problem. In doing so Windows installed a generic windows audio driver, which showed up in the device manager. I ran the command prompt again and reinstalled the new audio cirrus audio driver and everything worked perfectly."

[Ivan P]

Installed the realtek drivers in xp and windows 7. They changed nothing, as I expected. I am extremely angry how Apple doesn't test their newest hardware with all bootcamp. I'm considering returning my computer until they get all these issues sorted out.

Ummm...Windows 7 is currently a Release Candidate, once the actual release occurs in October then Apple will release an update to support it. They have no obligation to support Windows at all, but do it for the ease of use, and certainly have no obligation to support pre-release software like the current W7 build.

[t3heford]

Ummm...Windows 7 is currently a Release Candidate, once the actual release occurs in October then Apple will release an update to support it. They have no obligation to support Windows at all, but do it for the ease of use, and certainly have no obligation to support pre-release software like the current W7 build.
What are you talking about. For one, I explicitly said that there were problems under XP, which you know has been out for a decade, AS WELL AS windows 7, which uses the same driver architecture as Vista, which you know has been out for a couple of years. That's not the point though. The point is that Apple states that with their bootcamp software you can run windows natively on a mac. WHICH MEANS that, yes, they do have every obligation to support Windows. Apple isn't doing you a charity by supporting Windows, they're doing it as a feature of their computers --->> AS A WAY TO MAKE MONEY. Really, if you just came here to complain about a complaint I had then you should have just left.

[eyalfishler]

OK,

now before i post the link to the Fix and some details,
I have one request, I have been working on a project called
Jukata, www.jukata.com this is a project which allows you
to sync your music to the internet and than access it using
web player, i would REALLY appreciate if you guys register and sync some tracks, it would really help me.

now for the FIX,

This driver is a modification of clhdaud.sys version 1.0.0.13

* Enables the third (midrange) speaker in the MacBook Pro.
* Removes the -16dB volume limit on the speakers, and applies it to the headphone output instead.

Attached to the post the drivers


How to install,

Pre-Install - Extract the files to a folder your computer
for example c:\install\cirus

1) Do Properties on My Computer
2) Select hardware
3) Select Device Manager
4) Select "Sound Video and Other..."
5) Right cLick on "Cirus Logic HD..." and Properties
6) Select Driver
7) Select Update Driver
8) Select "install from a list or specified location" and Next
9) Select "Dont Search I will ...." and Next
10) Select "Have Disk"
11) Point to the path "c:\install\cirus" (or the path you extracted the files to)
12) Select the diver ending [macbook] allow it to overwrite if asked and reboot

YOU HAVE ACHIEVED HI VOLUME SOUND ON XP!!!!


and guys please dont forget to register to Jukata, it doesnt cost anything and it would really help me.

Thanks,

Eyal.

[t3heford]

Wow thanks

[Farplaner]

I just installed Windows 7 64bit last night and ran into this problem. Going to try it tonight and see if this will fix my problems! Thanks!

[henry128]

@eyalfishler:

It would be nice if you linked to the source of the modified driver. There is some technical context there for those interested.

http://www.stuffedcow.net/macbook_audio

[RedWings]

[QUOTE=t3heford;8223556]http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2037093&start=135&tstart=0

"Thanks to cmosquera for this fix.

This will fix the volume on the computer. If you also did the audio enhancement described above undo it.

1. Create a folder on the root of your c:\ drive, call it "CirrusDriverFix"........[QUOTE]

I did this fix and its working great. Thanks.

[henry128]

Due to popular demand, I have created a variant of the modified XP driver that also turns off the optical S/PDIF output. It's available in the same place as before.

http://www.stuffedcow.net/macbook_audio

[t3heford]

Thanks for that!
Is there anything you can do about vista/7 spdif, or the flaky microphone that doesn't work for third party programs in windows?

[eyalfishler]

@eyalfishler:

It would be nice if you linked to the source of the modified driver. There is some technical context there for those interested.

http://www.stuffedcow.net/macbook_audio

@Henry128 ,

I received the driver from a friend and wanted to share it as it fixes a big problem for us all, there was no rederence in the txt file that you are the one who created it.

anyhow great work!

Eyal.

[cmosq]

Using Henry's suggestions, I made edits to the INF file that limit the volume on the headphone jack because it is too loud and remove the limit on the speakers. I also wrapped it all up in a 7Zip installer package for both the 32bit and 64bit flavors of Vista and Windows 7. The only downside is that the red light is always on but this is probably because the functionality to turn it off when there is nothing plugged into the headphone jack is added on later by Apple and not a standard feature of these drivers, we'll have to wait for Apple to fix their driver. Thanks again to Henry and ChristianZ!

In order to use these, just install them! No need to edit the INF file! If you were using the previous INF edits, just install this on top, these are much better because the headphone jack has normal volume.

32 Bit (Untested but should work:
http://rapidshare.com/files/265858428/FixCirrusAudioVista32.exe

64 Bit (Tested and working on mine!):
http://rapidshare.com/files/265858429/FixCirrusAudioVista64.exe

Due to popular demand, I have created a variant of the modified XP driver that also turns off the optical S/PDIF output. It's available in the same place as before.

http://www.stuffedcow.net/macbook_audio

[Miglosh]

@henry128:

Thank you VERRRRY much for your fix, henry.

Apple is still unaware of this problem, but thanks to your fix, I can crank up the volume under WiXP SP3 almost loud enough to have a little dance party in my living room.

Great work!

Cheers,
Miglosh.

[esplitt]

So I've been following this thread for quite some time. I'm having issues with my macbook late 2008. Under bootcamp it has the RealTek driver installed and has the low volume output. I tried removing all instances of the Realtek driver. I installed the Cirrus driver as instructed, but got no sound.

Am I missing something? I can't find my original install disc for the macbook so I couldn't try any of the other drivers. All I found was what was available for download. Could this be my problem? Do I need to install the Cirrus driver from the original install disc first? Then modify the INF file???

Any help here would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[OatmealRocks]

I would like to add I installed the CirrusAudio driver in Vista and have low volume. Also I should note my headphone output does not work.

Anyone?

[r4ndyj]

I'm with these guys. I have MackBook 13" Unibody late 2008 with Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit Ultimate installed on it.

If I install the latest Realtek, I have audio but it's low. If I uninstall it completely and then install the supposed "fix", it says I have working audio, but I have no audio output whatsoever. I've tried rebooting, I've tried installing the Cirrus driver fix over top of the Realtek with the same result, no audio output. Also tried 32-bit drivers. I couldn't get it to work in Vista Ultimate 32-bit either. You name it, I've tried it. This is probably aimed more at XP users.

Any ideas other than everything listed in this thread because none of it has worked for my configuration listed above.

[t3heford]

This thread is for the 13 Macbook Pro, not the 13 Macbook. They use different audio chips so the fixes posted here won't work.

[tarasis]

Just wanted to add my voice of thanks for the driver fix. Its nice to have sound working properly in XP again.

Hopefully with Snow Leopard there are new (fixed) drivers for Bootcamp. Guess we'll find out Friday, though they might hold off till Win 7 is out I guess.

[esplitt]

This thread is for the 13 Macbook Pro, not the 13 Macbook. They use different audio chips so the fixes posted here won't work.

There are no threads under the macbook forum. This is the only one we could seem to get traction on on the subject. I know they have different chips, but I was hoping that someone here might have a fix for us.

I'll keep digging on the macbook forum, but no one there seems to be interested in the topic. Either that or they're not as smart as the MBP users. ;)

[tarasis]

Just installed the Bootcamp drivers on the Snow Leopard and it appears they are still shipping the broken XP driver :(

However you do now get HFS+ read support

[alexp2ad]

Using Henry's suggestions, I made edits to the INF file that limit the volume on the headphone jack because it is too loud and remove the limit on the speakers. I also wrapped it all up in a 7Zip installer package for both the 32bit and 64bit flavors of Vista and Windows 7. The only downside is that the red light is always on but this is probably because the functionality to turn it off when there is nothing plugged into the headphone jack is added on later by Apple and not a standard feature of these drivers, we'll have to wait for Apple to fix their driver. Thanks again to Henry and ChristianZ!

In order to use these, just install them! No need to edit the INF file! If you were using the previous INF edits, just install this on top, these are much better because the headphone jack has normal volume.

32 Bit (Untested but should work:
http://rapidshare.com/files/265858428/FixCirrusAudioVista32.exe

64 Bit (Tested and working on mine!):
http://rapidshare.com/files/265858429/FixCirrusAudioVista64.exe

Thanks for the easily installed fix. It's sad that:

a. The sound quality is still awful.
b. Apple haven't fixed this yet. Hopefully they will eventually...

[Gameunreal]

Just installed the new drivers that come with snow leopard and the sound it still the same low volume, with 3x more sound coming from the left speaker.. very dissapointed

[macfanboy]

and no microphone fix

[welshtedz]

Ok,
So im in the same boat.
I have my iMac and my MacBook Pro running BootCamp ( Windows 7 )
On my iMac everything runs smooth all the keys work. Sound is prefect.
On my MacBook Pro there's a different story.
Keys don't work, i had to download drivers to get Graphics card to work good.
The audio don't work at all!
Just nothing seems to be working!
But everything works on iMac, Help ?

[markmarcus]

Hello Everyone,

My name is Mark.

Like everyone else, I have the same problem with my MacBook Pro 13” with Boot Camp, Snow Leopard, and Windows 7 Final release.

As a low vision person, I use an audio screen reader to interact with Windows 7 so this sound problem is crucial to my use of the device.

I have not yet tried the fixes posted in this thread although I will most likely do so after testing the following theory I have about getting the system sound to function correctly.

When I could not get Windows 7 to work correctly via Boot Camp, I removed the Windows partition and installed VM Ware in Snow Leopard.

To my surprise, the sound card worked perfectly including use of the function keys to adjust the sound.

After getting Windows 7 tweaked just the way I like it, I decided to accept the recommendation to install the VM Ware Tools which is supposed to enhance the virtual machine experience. Well, after installing the VM Ware enhancements, I had no sound whatsoever. I was astonished and quite pissed off, to say the least.

Just before losing my ever-lovin’ mind, I went into the Windows 7 device manager and chose to roll back my sound driver. Thank goodness, this solved the problem.

As has been noted in this thread, Boot Camp uses a Cirrus Logic driver. However, upon rolling back my virtual machine, which removed the VM Ware sound driver, I discovered that the driver my virtual machine works with is one by creative Labs as listed below:

Creative AudioPCI (ES1371,ES1373) (WDM) >
Version: 5.2.3633.0
Date: 6-18-2002
Provider: Creative Technology Ltd.
Class: MEDIA
Setup Information: oem1.inf
Setup Section: ES1371.NTx86

So, I downloaded a driver extractor and saved the driver to a folder on my network.

My Theory is that if I install this driver in Windows 7 running under Boot Camp, the sound will be fine.

What I plan to do, and I would appreciate any feedback on this, is to once again install Windows 7 via Boot Camp and then use this creative driver.

Do you think this will work?

Mark

[ilkevinli]

Yes I do think it will work. I am going to try and find the driver and Ill try and install it myself. Thanks for the info.



Hello Everyone,

My name is Mark.

Like everyone else, I have the same problem with my MacBook Pro 13” with Boot Camp, Snow Leopard, and Windows 7 Final release.

As a low vision person, I use an audio screen reader to interact with Windows 7 so this sound problem is crucial to my use of the device.

I have not yet tried the fixes posted in this thread although I will most likely do so after testing the following theory I have about getting the system sound to function correctly.

When I could not get Windows 7 to work correctly via Boot Camp, I removed the Windows partition and installed VM Ware in Snow Leopard.

To my surprise, the sound card worked perfectly including use of the function keys to adjust the sound.

After getting Windows 7 tweaked just the way I like it, I decided to accept the recommendation to install the VM Ware Tools which is supposed to enhance the virtual machine experience. Well, after installing the VM Ware enhancements, I had no sound whatsoever. I was astonished and quite pissed off, to say the least.

Just before losing my ever-lovin’ mind, I went into the Windows 7 device manager and chose to roll back my sound driver. Thank goodness, this solved the problem.

As has been noted in this thread, Boot Camp uses a Cirrus Logic driver. However, upon rolling back my virtual machine, which removed the VM Ware sound driver, I discovered that the driver my virtual machine works with is one by creative Labs as listed below:

Creative AudioPCI (ES1371,ES1373) (WDM) >
Version: 5.2.3633.0
Date: 6-18-2002
Provider: Creative Technology Ltd.
Class: MEDIA
Setup Information: oem1.inf
Setup Section: ES1371.NTx86

So, I downloaded a driver extractor and saved the driver to a folder on my network.

My Theory is that if I install this driver in Windows 7 running under Boot Camp, the sound will be fine.

What I plan to do, and I would appreciate any feedback on this, is to once again install Windows 7 via Boot Camp and then use this creative driver.

Do you think this will work?

Mark

[henry128]

Creative AudioPCI (ES1371,ES1373) (WDM) >
Version: 5.2.3633.0
Date: 6-18-2002
Provider: Creative Technology Ltd.
Class: MEDIA
Setup Information: oem1.inf
Setup Section: ES1371.NTx86

My Theory is that if I install this driver in Windows 7 running under Boot Camp, the sound will be fine.



No, this will not work.

Virtual machines present an emulated set of hardware to the guest OS (in this case, pretending to be an ES1371) and then use the underlying OS (Mac OSX with the OSX Cirrus Logic driver) to interface with the real hardware. The guest OS (Windows) sees the set of emulated hardware devices of the "virtual machine", not the real hardware of the real machine. There are no volume issues in VMware because it uses the underlying OSX Cirrus Logic driver to control the audio chip.

Under VMware, Windows sees the virtual ES1371 device, so Windows uses a driver for ES1371. Under Boot Camp, Windows sees the real CS4206A device, so you'll need a Windows CS4206A driver.

[macfanboy]

No, this will not work.

Virtual machines present an emulated set of hardware to the guest OS (in this case, pretending to be an ES1371) and then use the underlying OS (Mac OSX with the OSX Cirrus Logic driver) to interface with the real hardware. The guest OS (Windows) sees the set of emulated hardware devices of the "virtual machine", not the real hardware of the real machine. There are no volume issues in VMware because it uses the underlying OSX Cirrus Logic driver to control the audio chip.

Under VMware, Windows sees the virtual ES1371 device, so Windows uses a driver for ES1371. Under Boot Camp, Windows sees the real CS4206A device, so you'll need a Windows CS4206A driver.

this guys right. emulated hardware drivers won't work with regular hard ware drivers

[mlaird]

Thank you very much, henry128 and cmosq! I now have usable volume under Windows 7 32 on my MBP 13". Nice work.

[cheej]

Hi everyone.

I'm a user from Singapore, and it's almost impossible for us here to download from Rapidshare since the whole country seems to share an external IP address. Is it possible for a good samaritan to upload the fixes to somewhere more convenient for the rest of the world to download?

Unfortunately, anything along the lines of Rapidshare (e.g. Megaupload) is pretty much out, so I'm not sure what other options there are.

Using Henry's suggestions, I made edits to the INF file that limit the volume on the headphone jack because it is too loud and remove the limit on the speakers. I also wrapped it all up in a 7Zip installer package for both the 32bit and 64bit flavors of Vista and Windows 7. The only downside is that the red light is always on but this is probably because the functionality to turn it off when there is nothing plugged into the headphone jack is added on later by Apple and not a standard feature of these drivers, we'll have to wait for Apple to fix their driver. Thanks again to Henry and ChristianZ!

In order to use these, just install them! No need to edit the INF file! If you were using the previous INF edits, just install this on top, these are much better because the headphone jack has normal volume.

32 Bit (Untested but should work:
http://rapidshare.com/files/265858428/FixCirrusAudioVista32.exe

64 Bit (Tested and working on mine!):
http://rapidshare.com/files/265858429/FixCirrusAudioVista64.exe

[mlaird]

cheej:

If you can find a service that works from your location, I'd be happy to u/l them for you. The files are only ~600KB each. Or alternatively, post a throw-away email address and I'll send them to you.

[cheej]

Mlaird, can you email them to reactive_2_e_xtreme@hotmail.com? Thanks in advance!

[killerham]

how can i switch between line-in and headphones with this driver?

[renalyne]

There is another way to boost sound in both Windows Vista & 7 by adjusting Speakers' properties

1. Click right at Speakers' icon at Windows' taskbar.
2. Select Playback Devices.
3. Select Speakers.
4. Click Properties -> Enhancements -> select "Loudness Equalization"
5. Click OK

I've done it in my Macbook Pro 13" 2009 with Windows 7.
It works for me hopefully, it'll work to you too. :)

[rgarjr]

There is another way to boost sound in both Windows Vista & 7 by adjusting Speakers' properties

1. Click right at Speakers' icon at Windows' taskbar.
2. Select Playback Devices.
3. Select Speakers.
4. Click Properties -> Enhancements -> select "Loudness Equalization"
5. Click OK

I've done it in my Macbook Pro 13" 2009 with Windows 7.
It works for me hopefully, it'll work to you too. :)

that actually made mine less louder here.

[mlaird]

Check your inbox, cheej.

[Deedle]

Thanks renalyne, that helped.

I just registered because I have the same low sound problem with my Macbook 13.3 Unibody. With that change I finally have my 64-bit Windows 7 RC at a usable level.

I just hope to see a bootcamp update for Windows 7 when it is officially released that fixes some of this. I agree; I bought this laptop with the understanding that Windows worked without problems. I would just install 64-bit Vista if I had the disc. Only got the 32.

[adida948]

I recently bought a Macbook Pro 15.4 " with Snow Leopard. Since my school is part of the MSDAA , I was able to get the free copy of Windows 7 Professional. Immediately after downloading it, I installed it. Everything went fine. So me minor bugs with the graphics driver but nothing that couldn't be handled. Anyway, once the installation was done i decided to go to pandora. com, free streaming website. IT was here that i first noted that the volume of my macbook was too low. I tried tons of things to make it louder but did not have any luck. Ultimately, I started looking in google and stumbled upon this page. After downloading the realtek driver from the manufacturer's website and having no luck, I was about to give up. BUt this fix does work and it is awesome. Now i can play video games with sound!(I usually don't have headphones when i play games.)

[Ron867]

well i got the low volume problem fixed by this http://www.stuffedcow.net/macbook_audio, dut did any one find a solution for the robotic sound from the mic on windows?

[mightyengineer]

I recently bought a Macbook Pro 15.4 " with Snow Leopard. Since my school is part of the MSDAA , I was able to get the free copy of Windows 7 Professional. Immediately after downloading it, I installed it. Everything went fine. So me minor bugs with the graphics driver but nothing that couldn't be handled. Anyway, once the installation was done i decided to go to pandora. com, free streaming website. IT was here that i first noted that the volume of my macbook was too low. I tried tons of things to make it louder but did not have any luck. Ultimately, I started looking in google and stumbled upon this page. After downloading the realtek driver from the manufacturer's website and having no luck, I was about to give up. BUt this fix does work and it is awesome. Now i can play video games with sound!(I usually don't have headphones when i play games.)

Hi Adida,

Could you please specify which way in this page you use to fix the problem? Thanks.

Or anyone could you please suggest which is the best way to fix my new Macbook Pro 15.4 " with Windows 7 installed (like adida948) Thank sooooo much.

Tom

[macfanboy]

well i got the low volume problem fixed by this http://www.stuffedcow.net/macbook_audio, dut did any one find a solution for the robotic sound from the mic on windows?

no, unfortunately.

all my games i play need mics D:

[Stridder44]

The red light is fine, that is simply the Digital (Optical) Audio Out.

Yeah, but it's not supposed to be lit up if nothing's plugged in.

[SpaceKitty]

Due to popular demand, I have created a variant of the modified XP driver that also turns off the optical S/PDIF output. It's available in the same place as before.

http://www.stuffedcow.net/macbook_audio

Thanks for this, it fixed my XP audio problem. Nice work! :)

[dissdnt]

Using Henry's suggestions, I made edits to the INF file that limit the volume on the headphone jack because it is too loud and remove the limit on the speakers. I also wrapped it all up in a 7Zip installer package for both the 32bit and 64bit flavors of Vista and Windows 7. The only downside is that the red light is always on but this is probably because the functionality to turn it off when there is nothing plugged into the headphone jack is added on later by Apple and not a standard feature of these drivers, we'll have to wait for Apple to fix their driver. Thanks again to Henry and ChristianZ!

In order to use these, just install them! No need to edit the INF file! If you were using the previous INF edits, just install this on top, these are much better because the headphone jack has normal volume.

32 Bit (Untested but should work:
http://rapidshare.com/files/265858428/FixCirrusAudioVista32.exe

64 Bit (Tested and working on mine!):
http://rapidshare.com/files/265858429/FixCirrusAudioVista64.exe

64bit version works great in win7 thanks!

[memo90061]

I'm having the same problem but I have an iMac. How can I fix this?

[f-junkie]

Also got low audio whilst running Windows XP Professional SP2 on my MacBook Pro 13" 2.26GHz :(

By the way - I looked at system info in Windows and it says I have 2.7GB RAM. I actually have 4GB. Is this a known issue to display the wrong RAM info?


http://www.stuffedcow.net/macbook_audio
manually install the drivers following the instructions. problem fixed!

[clientsiman]

Using Henry's suggestions, I made edits to the INF file that limit the volume on the headphone jack because it is too loud and remove the limit on the speakers. I also wrapped it all up in a 7Zip installer package for both the 32bit and 64bit flavors of Vista and Windows 7. The only downside is that the red light is always on but this is probably because the functionality to turn it off when there is nothing plugged into the headphone jack is added on later by Apple and not a standard feature of these drivers, we'll have to wait for Apple to fix their driver. Thanks again to Henry and ChristianZ!

In order to use these, just install them! No need to edit the INF file! If you were using the previous INF edits, just install this on top, these are much better because the headphone jack has normal volume.

32 Bit (Untested but should work:
http://rapidshare.com/files/265858428/FixCirrusAudioVista32.exe

64 Bit (Tested and working on mine!):
http://rapidshare.com/files/265858429/FixCirrusAudioVista64.exe

Thanks.Working fine on mine too :-). Windows 7 - macbook pro 13

[Rotator]

There is another way to boost sound in both Windows Vista & 7 by adjusting Speakers' properties

1. Click right at Speakers' icon at Windows' taskbar.
2. Select Playback Devices.
3. Select Speakers.
4. Click Properties -> Enhancements -> select "Loudness Equalization"
5. Click OK

I've done it in my Macbook Pro 13" 2009 with Windows 7.
It works for me hopefully, it'll work to you too. :)That's simply adjusting the EQ though. And it's probably gonna cause music to sound terrible as well.. :/

[jebus197]

Thanks for the easily installed fix. It's sad that:

a. The sound quality is still awful.

I can confirm this too. The modified drivers work for windows 7 32Bit, but the sound quality is awful.


I think it's safe to say that the bootcamp audio drivers on MBP 13" are well and truly borked.

Being somewhat new to Apple, the question this raises in my mind is, don't Apple bother testing their stuff before they release it? Why would they ship a product with borked drivers?

I'm using the latest bootcamp drivers from my Snow Leopadrd DVD.

Also I can report using the hacked drivers that the left speaker is much louder than the right and there is no centre speaker sound (does the 13" even have one though?).

Given Apple's past record in addressing these issues, it looks like we may have to wait a very long time for any kind of a fix.

[Mackan]

Being somewhat new to Apple, the question this raises in my mind is, don't Apple bother testing their stuff before they release it? Why would they ship a product with borked drivers?

Because Apple deliberately provide bad support and drivers for Windows. They will never make Windows give a good user experience on their hardware.

I think Apple's behaviour is terrible.

[macfap75]

I just registered on the forum to say thanks to ChristianZ for the fix. I have fully working audio with the same volume levels as Mac OS X. Still have the light from the headphone jack etc etc, but this is a great fix for the volume until new drivers are released. Thanks again.

Windows 7 (64bit Ultimate RTM 7600), 2.66GHz, 4GB ram, Macbook Pro (2009 version)

Hi all,
I am running Windows 7 Build 7100 64bit and none of the descibed solutions did help so far. The Realtek drivers install but do not produce sound anyway.

Here is my solution to get a higher output on the MacBookPro 13" Unibody.

You have to use the Bootcamp Drivers for the Cirrus Logic device.
..\Boot Camp\Drivers\Cirrus\ unpack the CirrusAudioVista64.exe or 32bit version to a seperate folder.

inside the folder there is the file "cs420x.inf".
Inside this file there are amplifier capability overrides defined, like max. +0db Output...

You can edit these settings with a simple text editor, and finally reinstall the driver.

I will include my modified inf file for 64bit windows.
Please try to modifie the 32bit version on your own - I just copied existing lines from different places within the inf file - so I did not have to bother with the dword values in deep - but I think one can even better modifiy them with knowing what they mean !!

Have luck with that one.

Once again, if you modify the value, you have to uninstall previous devices within the device manager including deleting the older files in the system directories. Finally you have to point the driver installation to the exact point of the inf file.

Please change the ending of the file from .inf.txt back to .inf only

[Stridder44]

I can confirm this too. The modified drivers work for windows 7 32Bit, but the sound quality is awful.

I always enable Virtual Surround and set the equalizer to Rock. Both of these can be done by right-clicking the speaker icon next to the clock--> select playback devices --> Speakers --> Properties --> Enhancements. It's not perfect, but it sounds WAY better than the default setup.

[simflight01]

Thanks for the easily installed fix. It's sad that:

a. The sound quality is still awful.
b. Apple haven't fixed this yet. Hopefully they will eventually...

:):) just I installed on my new macbook pro 13.3 boot camp and W7 and the sound was very poor, now I am happy because the volume increase at least 80%...excelent.....the mic doesn't work yet....:confused: will be waiting for apple give us a solution in short time, thanks again.

[scaz182]

Does that modified INF actually fix the issue or just suppress it, i.e. does it sort out the current confusion over the left, right and middle speaker or does it simply raise the volume of them all, if it’s the latter I’d be a little worried that a) the sound quality is going to be a bit rubbish and b) it could ruin the speakers?

Can't believe this has been going on since June, it’s actually mental!

I spoke to a mong from Applecare yesterday who after stating it isn’t a known issue took me through the monkey boy steps of...turning the computer on and off and reinstalling the drivers which clearly, was never going to bring any joy!

I thought Apple were all about customer service! It was shite, wish I hadn’t bought the extended warranty now...or a Macbook!

[Quad5Ny]

Has anyone looked into the 13" Macbook Unibody (NON-Pro's) speaker problems?
The non-pro Unibodys have realtek chipsets, so this fix wont work for them.

Dammit, so many stupid problem's with bootcamp.

Heres hoping someone knows something I don't. =P

[bmzero]

Using Henry's suggestions, I made edits to the INF file that limit the volume on the headphone jack because it is too loud and remove the limit on the speakers. I also wrapped it all up in a 7Zip installer package for both the 32bit and 64bit flavors of Vista and Windows 7. The only downside is that the red light is always on but this is probably because the functionality to turn it off when there is nothing plugged into the headphone jack is added on later by Apple and not a standard feature of these drivers, we'll have to wait for Apple to fix their driver. Thanks again to Henry and ChristianZ!

In order to use these, just install them! No need to edit the INF file! If you were using the previous INF edits, just install this on top, these are much better because the headphone jack has normal volume.

32 Bit (Untested but should work:
http://rapidshare.com/files/265858428/FixCirrusAudioVista32.exe

64 Bit (Tested and working on mine!):
http://rapidshare.com/files/265858429/FixCirrusAudioVista64.exe
This works on my new (~3 months old) 15" MacBook Pro, Win7 64-bit. Big thanks!