So I have had my MacBook for about 4 years and have had this issue, as well as the previous owner a good friend of mine, had it for about a year give or take.
I have tried for years to fix this dam Optical audio issue and recently got to thinking after I built myself a killer Hackintosh for work why couldn't this audio issue be solved using some Hackintosh Kext like the ones I used building my
Well guess what IT CAN!
Here is what I did:
Test theory first with an Ubuntu Live CD - - - AUDIO WORKS!
Download the current Voodoo HDA Kexts from Sourceforge -
http://sourceforge.net/projects/voodoohda/ which are for Intel HDA to begin with
v286 and ran the installer.
The I downloaded the Kext Utility (Google Search to find it) It will be in the download section of: tonymacx86.com
Just run the kext utility to repair permissions, clear caches etc.
Then restart.
After restart audio possibly will be a little low, or won't mute or won't lower, so you will need to enable the Voodoo HDA Audio fixes as needed here:
1. Open the Terminal and go to /System/Library/Extensions/VoodooHDA.kext/Contents directory.
2. Type the command: sudo nano -w Info.plist.
3. Press CONTROL-W (^W for search) and search for the string "VoodooHDAEnableHalfVolumeFix" (without the quotes). Change the value from false to true. Save the file. enable other fixes as needed.
5. Fix your permissions by running Kext Utility and clear your caches.
6. Reboot the system. Volume now at the right levels...
THATS IT!!
PUT THIS 8+ YEAR HEADACHE TO REST!!!
Apple couldn't do it or didn't want to and so many people on the Apple forums said you can't bypass the optical audio switch.... BS!
Send your love....
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