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No sound except the startup chime

C

CinemaslaveJoe

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 28, 2007
3
0
Hi everyone,

I've lost all sound on my G4 iBook running OS 10.4.9. I still get the start-up chime every time I reboot, but there's no sound at all inside OS X itself.

System Preferences says there are "No output devices found." System Profiler says I have "No built-in audio."

I have tried repairing disk permissions. I have tried creating another user account and signing in. I have tried zapping the PRAM, resetting the PMU, and trashing all my cache files for both the system and my personal login. I have tried booting with Command-S and running a file system check (fsck -yf), but am told that the system "appears ok." Nothing has helped... I continue to get the start-up sound on boot, but nothing inside OS X.

Oddly, if I hook my M-Audio podcast mixer, the system detects my audio as "M-Audio," and I get sound if I use the headphone jack on the M-Audio unit itself (i.e., I can listen to iTunes, watch a YouTube video, etc.). But as soon as I unplug the unit, System Preferences reverts back to "No output devices found," and my machine resumes its maddening silence.

Since I use this machine pretty much only for podcasting and video editing, it's pretty useless to me without sound. Can someone help me, before I completely freak out? I was up until about 2am last night trying to resolve this.

How can I get this machine to "remember" the fact that it has "Built-in audio?"

Thanks in advance,
Joe
 
Here's another article describing my exact same problem, only with a Powerbook instead of an iBook:

http://www.macfixitforums.com/showflat.php?Cat=...h=true#Post792532

I have tried all the same stuff this user has, and apparently she only got it fixed by doing an "Archive and Install", whatever that is. (There's a link describing the process at the above URL). However, I apparently need my OS X CDs to perform the procedure, and they are presently locked away deep inside a storage unit.

I have an old CD of OS 10.2 handy (I currently have 10.4.9 installed), but when I try to boot from Installation Disc One, the system never boots It hangs at the Apple spash screen... I let it sit for about an hour, and nothing ever happened.

My friend Renard asks:
> If you run Activity Monitor... is there a process
> listed called "coreaudiod" ?

Nope. And when I start Garageband, I get "CoreAudio: Selected device not found."


> Maybe deleting this pref will help (i dunno):
>/Users/yourshortname/Library/Preferences/com.apple.audio.AudioMIDISetup.plist

Tried that already as well... no joy.


> Have you run /Applications/Utilities/Audio MIDI
> Setup.app and looked at its settings?

Yep. It tells me no audio is installed, or "FastTrack USB" is installed if I am using my M-Audio podcast mixer. Built In Audio no longer appears as a choice. Grr.


> The 4 popups at the top should say "Built-in Audio".

Yes they should. Alas that they don't. As it stands, if I leave my mixer plugged in, set the default output to Fasttrack USB, and plug my headphones into the mixer rather than the iBook, I can get sound, but it means I have to take my mixer with me wherever I go. But at least I have a workaround, even if it's not terribly convenient.

Any other thoughts, anyone?

Thanks,
Joe
 
CinemaslaveJoe said:
I have tried all the same stuff this user has, and apparently she only got it fixed by doing an "Archive and Install", whatever that is.
Click to expand...

You will need the 10.4 CD to reinstall the OS to do that. Archive and install just means that it's reinstalling the Mac OS without wiping out your hard drive so that you don't lose your data.

You can try that since it worked for the other person.

Other than that I'm as stumped as you are. Sorry I'm not much help.
 
Yea. Don't be afraid to archive and install. It just replaces te OS.. doesn't erase data.
 
Has anyone figured out any more to this??

Joe, I am having the exact same problem. When you use the keyboard to change volume, do the levels change? Mine does not, stays at "full," however it is with a circle with a bar through it (underneath the typical volume speaker image) indicating there is no volume.

I am also left with waiting for my install discs to try this -- anyone else had luck? Joe, has yours started working yet?


Thanks for everyone's help!
 
no volume

bought my imac in january 2007 and same thing....no volume. same little circle with the line through it. techs up here in alaska said they'd never seen that. i'm calling apple in the am. i guess i'll take it back and have it fixed if i have to should be under warranty....i hope.

will
 
I am having the same problem! With my 15" Macbook Pro 2.33ghz core 2 duo stock. I cant really archive and install because I dont have an external hard drive.. and if I do do it will it wipe my Boot Camp partition?
 
reset the PRAM. it will fix it or at least it did for me. do a google on how to rest the PRAM it will tell you exactly how to do it.

regards,
w
 
TequilaBoobs said:
either put your earphones in your ears, or pull the earphones out.
Click to expand...

Helpful.

When this problem happened to my MBP, I noticed the optical sensor light in the headphones jack was on. I tried the quick in-out with my headphones, but what worked best was to insert a wooden toothpick (gently). No metal, so no worries.
 
Ok.. I just went through a 2 hour install and no luck still! I am going to have to take it to an Apple store.. I have tried everything!
 
did you reset the PRAM??


Resetting PRAM and NVRAM

Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.

this worked for me after everything else failed. mail me if you have questions

w
 
Was this issue resolved? I am having the same problem under Leopard, but it seems only when the external drive with my Time Maching backups on it is plugged in.
 
No Sound except start-up chime - Solved for my iMac

Dear All,

Just for your information; I tried the PRAM reset and a whole bunch of other stuff before trying the following which solved my sound, or lack thereof, issue:

Go to system preferences --> hardware --> sound --> select "output" --> in the "TYPE" frame, select "built-in output"

It solved the issue immediately; hope this helps. Cheers..Raj
 
any news on this yet?

My computer is having the same problem. It solved itself at one point without me doing anything, but it is doing it again. There are no output devices to select under "sound" in system preferences. It's like it forgot it has internal speakers. There is no light on the headphone jack and headphones don't work either.

I have tried everything mentioned on this site already. Any other options or reasons for this?

Thanks!
 
If you've gone through everything above... there's a good chance it's a hardware problem. The only way to remedy this is to replace hardware (likely logic board, which is not cost friendly), or add a USB solution.
 
I had to bookmark this site because it keeps happening!

So, this does seem to work:
"Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys."

I just have to do it twice a month or so. No idea why.
 
One more data point: Bought a new MacBook Pro 13", installed a new 500GB hard drive and used SuperDuper to copy over my disk image from my old 17" MBP. There was no problem with the original OS installed in the stock drive.
Had the same problem as listed above (no device in Sound settings, boot sound worked fine).
Reset PRAM/NVRAM had no effect, nor did booting into Safe Mode.

An Archive and Install from the included installer disks seems to have cleared it up.

Good luck!
 
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