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Internal Speaker Issue on MacBook Pro...

Nth works

Hi,

I've reset the SMC already and it did not work. My warraty is long past its due date. I guess I'll have to wear headphones for the rest of this computer's days. It seams that, although it appears very unlikely that the switch which activates the optical audio input cannot be desactivated via software, the problem on my computer seems to be on this switch. Well, at least I learned a lesson and will apply it on my new mac book pro.:(

Thanks anyway.
 
simple fix to the audio problem

Try this if you don't feel comfortable poking and prodding around the walls of your audio jack. Plug headphones into the headphone jack, leave them in and reboot your mac. This worked for my BlackBook.
 
Hey guys, just wanted to say thanks for all of the information here, but I have yet another interesting tip, which has surprisingly only been mentioned once before, and seemed to be overlooked.

First my story:
This happened to me first a couple of days ago. I've been on a weeklong trip in IL, and have been using a small set of external speakers, but strangely had this problem when I was trying to use my internal speakers just so i could go to sleep (didn't want to kill the batteries in the ext speakers). Anyways, since i'm familiar with the analog/digital capability of the headphone jack, I recognized the red glow as an optical digital output that seemed to be stuck on for some reason. I'm also not sure why, but I seemed to be under the impression that there was an optical sensor, rather than a mechanical sensor, in the headphone jack, and figured that if it detected matter inside the port but had no electrical connections it would assume it is a fiber optic cable and enable the digital output. I thought perhaps in the transport from TX to IL some dust or particles may have found their way into the headphone jack.

So, as one might guess, the next morning I picked my laptop up and gave it a strong puff of air into the jack in an attempt to eradicate whatever foreign material was in there, and it worked perfectly. As with the others, this isn't a permanent solution, and I've had to do it a couple of other times, but it doesn't require penetrating your delicate macbook, and for whatever reason it seems to work just as well. You may have to blow in there several times before you can get it, but it does usually work, and at the very least should make your red light flicker. I haven't tried using canned air but this may be even more effective. Just remember before heaving into your laptop to swallow as much saliva as possible and eliminate spitting or excess moisture of any kind (think of those stupid SNES and N64 cartridges that wouldn't boot until you blew the dust off of them).

Just felt like sharing. Thanks :)

-David
 
Red light flashes & starts again

Has anyone ever experienced that the red light does NOT turn off? Wiggling a headphone, fully inserted or in the middle, or a cotton bud, or matchstick all give the same result: the red light turns off for a moment, starts flashing, and is back on again. Problem is that this MacBook is no longer under warranty ...

Thanks!
 
Thanks everyone.

I too registered specially just to thank you guys.

Same problem, obviously. I have a jack to jack which I use to connect to speakers and the jack plugs need a wiggle because the cable is knackered. I had given them a semi rough wiggle this morning and that was when the problem occurred. I have no Apple care and my MBP is 13 months old. I always joked that it would start going wrong at this age.

I played a tune in itunes and then I used a small screwdriver and prodded the bottom left of the jack, down by the red light. There is a sort of pressure switch down there you can feel and just about see move when a little pressure is applied. After about a minute of wiggling and pressing the speakers burst into life.

Hope it lasts.

Good luck everyone.
 
Internal Speaker Issue

I have been having this problem for a few months now... Every once in a while a that blasted red laser would beam from my headphone jack and then I'd shake my macbook, blow in the headphone jack, tap the front and back of the laptop. Today I was having problems with it and I was curious if any one else seemed to have these problems... so I googled it and found this.
This time, I used tweezers and toggled one side of them in and out. Seemed to work for me!
Thanks for the other ideas as well!
-darc
 
Thanks heaps Giles117

Hi,
I saw your post about tickling inside the phone jack port on my 2007 macbook and it worked for me too! I have been struggling for way too long now trying to figure out why, after using my little earphones, I no longer had internal speaker sound. Anyway, cheers for the tip.

Sheree
Gold Coast
 
I have a ibook g3 with the same problem. I figured it was the headphone jack before finding this page but there is some good advice here. I put a safety pin into the port. there are 2 contacts that have to touch for the internal speakers to work and it seems they get stretched out. Mine stops working every so often and I have to break out the paper clip again. I think to completely fix this issue in some cases is to take it apart and bend the contacts or patch the wires somehow. maybe some one can take their computer apart and take detailed pictures:D
 
Similar speaker problem

I had the same problem. I just went into system preferences. Opened up the sound card and change the out put for the speaker from internal to external. Worked on my new MacPro with OS 10.5. Speaker output was redirected to the external speakers.
 
it's a mechanical problem!

As far as I can tell, there seems to be a mechanical switch that turns off the speakers when you plug in a jack. If the switch gets stuck, the computer thinks there must be a plug, but since there is no conductivity it must be optical.

The trick is to loosen the switch as this post figured quite a while ago. I am noting this because it took me a while to stumble upon the link.

Worked great for me. I should have known that WD40 was the answer as soon as I realized duct tape wasn't going to work.

Of course I used ProLink clean chain lube. WD40 is strictly for PCs.
 
Yay

Wow, ok so I had the exact, same problem described in the thread as well. Finding this forum in google really saved me! As some others said to do, I just plugged my headphones in and out of the jack a couple of times and then it started working again :)
 
red light and speakers not working

So my internal speakers stoped workin and had a circle with a line threw it and a red led in the jack.. :mad: So i looked around and every 1 said to take it in to get fixed.. but i got to thinkin and i remembered blowing into my seag and nintendo growing up.. So i did this and hell it worked good luck
 
Reboot worked

Also registered just to say thanks, and that the method that worked best for me, mentioned by one poster, was rebooting with the headphones plugged in. When I unplugged them the internal speakers were working again.

I did not have the red glowing light, but the computer couldn't find my internal speakers.

So glad since my warranty has expired and couldn't part with my mac for the three days it would need to be in the shop.
 
Yay!

Can't believe this thread's been growing since 2006. My macbook is over 2 years old and my sound stopped working too! The red light was glowing and everything. I tried the hairpin, nothing, but then I tried the thing of putting the external speaker jack in there and taking it out over and over, like ten times, and VOILA, totally worked. So grateful, and hope some future googler is helped by this. Good Luck
 
It worked, at least for now.

I plugged and unplugged my headphones several times, and low and behold that is all it needed. I did also wiggle a little bit when the pin was in the hole.
 
I also registered just for this too!

..but it's not to say Thank you!! Actually, Screw you!!

I had the same problem, earphone jack glowing red and internal speakers not working.. So google lead me here and I read a few posts, even started to get excited with the hopes of getting my MBP replaced by a new one..

but then.. you guys HAD to give working solutions, didn't you?!

Now it's totally working and my hopes of getting a new MBP is lost!!! Aaaasrgh!!!


.

j/k ty lol :p
 
Wow!

A few months ago this same thing happened to me, when unpluging muy headphones off my macbook, the red light went on and I wasnt able to listen any sound form my mac, I waited a few months and went to an apple store, where they told me that the only solution was to replace the logic board and this would cost about 800 usd, shocked I found this forum and tried all the posible solutions mentioned above: the clip, the plugin and unplugin, etc, etc, after severeal hours of trying the strangest thing happened, my audio worked!!!!!, but the red light was still on, I thing puting the clipp in was the solution, now the computer internal speakers are working correctly while the red light is still on hmmm.
I hope this could help someone someday, and wow.
thanks for the tips:apple:
 
sucks

Yeah a friend has a MacBook (blk) that the audio crapped out too. Is that red light a laser? I was looking straight into :eek:
The Apple Support line couldn't make heads or tails. They said it'll have to be inspected physically by the genius techs.
 
Thanks!!!!!!!!

Bingo! I tried everything for three days. And then, after going through all the posts till the last page and after having applied all your advices and after losing all my hopes I tried again more than 10 times to plug the headphone jack in and out in and out in and out....
Keep going, it must work!
Thank you for all of you.
 
Internal Speaker/Glowing Red Light Of Death

I have had this issue before and for the life of me could not remember what worked. So, once again I scoured the internet for a solution which led me to this forum. What I found the cause to be was leaving a mini-jack plugged into the headphone/line out while listening to external speakers/headphones and then shutting the computer down. The solution that worked for me was going to system preferences and checking mute (next to output volume) with the mini-jack still plugged into the headphone/line out. Next, just remove the mini-plug from the jack and you should be back in business! I would be curious to know if this was just a fluke for me or if it works for anyone else. I hated the idea of sticking some foreign object into one of my precious macs holes (sorry, that sounds kinda weird). Anyway, this method worked for me. Hope it works for you. Cheers!
 
I have partial sound...Help

Last night I was listening to itunes on my headphones. I accidentally yanked the cord out at 2am. I woke up and tried playing itunes again and no sound. No sound on the internal speakers and no sound on my headphones or the through the external speakers that they are usually connected to. So I tried the toothpick thing and nothing. Then I thought....let me put in a cd....nothing.
(I know this sounds idiodic to put in a cd, but I was trying everything). Then....I went to youtube and played a clip and I have sound working everywhere! So....what the the heck did I do to itunes itself for it not to produce sound? Clearly my headphone jack and internal speakers work. I was a little pissed that I poked around in there when I didn't need to.

Help....anyone have some insight to what's wrong with itunes?
 
I had this same problem. After searching, all I found was "wiggle the plug inside" and "stick a toothpick in it," and so on. None of these worked for me, and I eventually got an appointment at the Genius Bar. The guy told me it needed to be shipped out to be fixed, and that it would be 5-7 days.

That was Sunday. I got it back today! Aside from fixing that issue, they put a new battery in, and replaced the release mechanism/latch for the screen, and put on some new keys (or new keyboard) as my old one had a bad key or two. I only told them about the sound and the key on the keyboard. They decided the others weren't up to par and replaced them.

I have AppleCare for another 8 months or so, so it was all done at no charge, including the Priority Overnight return shipping.

People knock Apple sometimes, but as far as I'm concerned their customer service is amazing. Sure it was silly to have an issue with the headphone jack, but they took care of it and then some.

I'm once again a very happy Mac owner!
 
Good to hear that starcade, I have a similar issue with my MBP where the volume on the menu grays out when I remove the headphones, no "Apple Care center" here so I need to visit the reseller I bought from :(
 
I have had a very similar issue with my macbook pro. When I removed my input cable, the internal speakers produced no sound and a red light glowed from the input jack. After reading a few posts from this thread, I found that using a very thin wire to carefully feel around was most effective.

What I deducted was this: In the input jack, there is a small switch/toggle in the bottom left part of the jack near the red light. This switch is what cues the computer that the input jack is in use, and in turn flips on the red light. So if you can see the red light, that means that the switch has been caught in the position that performs exterior sound, and it has to be released manually.

Now whether you choose a screwdriver, toothpick, q-tip, etc., that is your perrogative. In this situation though, something must be used to dislodge the switch, and I recommend to use the smallest but still effective object you can find. I used a twisty-tie and removed the paper coating on one side, and then bent back the metal tip to eliminate a sharp edge that could damage anything.
 
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