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MacBook Pro optical out won't turn off
- Thread starter ldambergs
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Thank you VERY MUCH! After a system update myinternal audio device stopped working. Apple support didn't believe me, that it could have been their update. For a few years now i just had sound through an external speaker. I tried the toothpick method, tried software hacks (repairing permissions, reinstalling os, etc) but internal speakers the system didn't recognize - even though the startup chime always worked, so it wasn't a hardware problem, as many people suspected here, and on other forums..Anyway, my 7year old macbook is as new again 
Thanks again!
Thanks again!SOLVED as if it was a Hackintosh - Voodoo HDA bypasses Optical Audio "Switch"
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
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....
Friend me on www.facebook com/donald.davanzo
2008 MacBook 13in Plastic Body... Intel Core 2 Duo... so far out of warranty.. um... yeah. Anyway, still a good little workhorse of a laptop BUT... this issue hit me today when I was attempting to connect it to a projector for a presentation... thankfully I also was carrying my Intel i5 Surface from Microsoft which saved the day. Yes, Apple, Microsoft beat your @$$ today and made you look like poo.
Anyway, I tried everything. all the resets, toothpicks, q-tips, deleting files... nothing. My last resort was more out of frustration but - I JAMMED a torx screw driver in the socket and I think I busted the optical sensor. I did get the external speakers back and headphone use. Now since I do not ever use optical with this nor do I have any intention of doing so... think we are okay. I am also not about to plug an optical device into it to test if it does still work as I never knew it had optical to begin with and have no desire to ever see it again.
Anyway, I tried everything. all the resets, toothpicks, q-tips, deleting files... nothing. My last resort was more out of frustration but - I JAMMED a torx screw driver in the socket and I think I busted the optical sensor. I did get the external speakers back and headphone use. Now since I do not ever use optical with this nor do I have any intention of doing so... think we are okay. I am also not about to plug an optical device into it to test if it does still work as I never knew it had optical to begin with and have no desire to ever see it again.
SOLVED as if it was a Hackintosh - Voodoo HDA bypasses Optical Audio "Switch"
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
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....
Friend me on www.facebook com/donald.davanzo
May the Lord bless YOUR Soul!! Your solution worked..
For me nothing Worked (toothpick and any other thing so I found a little jack cable female and male and with it inside i can choose internal speakers (alt+click on sound) and it's working... 10 years and only this solution for me (EL CAPITAIN mb Pro 2011)
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I can only tell you to use EarPods with a mic on it, it's the solution i did and it works... i found something about changing the kexts from the original apple one to another without the switch taken in count but without success, a bit like a hackintosh , the usually don't have switches inside the audio port for optical cables... if anyone can find a solution i would be glad to help or try it on my mac !
SOLVED as if it was a Hackintosh - Voodoo HDA bypasses Optical Audio "Switch"
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
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....
Friend me on www.facebook com/donald.davanzo
Hello DonDavanzo, I face the digital audio problem myself, but was not able to install voodoohda on my Macbook Pro 13'' early 2015 (Mojave 10.14.3) as you described. Would you mind give me a hand with some mor instructions? – I'm willing to learn and have some technical knowlegde, but sadly no idea about kexts or kext hacking...
Hey I this same problem and I recently just got a razor blade and cut a resistor off and I finally have sound. The resistor is R6805. You can do it in 5 mins
Really?? That would be amazingly simple! Can anyone confirm this? @Stin17 Would you mind marking the said resistor on a picture of the logic board? https://bit.ly/2ImSQ8F
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are you sure you have that model? bc it looks like thats been removed from yours https://www.macrumors.com/2016/11/04/new-macbook-pro-models-lack-optical-audio-out/
[doublepost=1550533000][/doublepost]even lookin here i couldnt find it
[doublepost=1550533000][/doublepost]even lookin here i couldnt find it
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Yes, my MacBook Pro Retina 13" is early 2015, and seems to have model no. A1502. I was not able to identify R6805 either, but I'm really no expert in this kind of matter... Any more ideas?
TRY THIS SOLUTION!!! For those of you who, like me, could get none of the solutions to work for more than a short time, I found a solution that may help you as well. I have spent DAYS on this issue, and my headphones were barely even working much less my speakers, so I was at one point ready to throw my 27" iMac against the wall (just kidding - that was only a fleeting thought, I love my Mac but was getting frustrated) as NOTHING was working for DAYS, even when the red light would go off.
I did everything found online short of replacing hardware, including trying to unstick the Digital Out setting, researching, trying the q-tip method, blowing in the jack, using alcohol to clear out dust, jiggling the headphone plug into the jack a thousand times, adjusting the Midi settings, looking into Soundflower settings, trying to unstick the trigger with a toothpick, rebooting my computer (several times) using the exact timing in conjunction with headphone settings hoping it would reset, opening a sound file in GarageBand to make it reset, etc.
What I FINALLY found that works to purchase an external speaker and use bluetooth. I got a $20 Heyday speaker from Walmart and connected it to my iMac via bluetooth and now it works consistently! Here are the steps:
1. go into your Mac preferences and choose Bluetooth
2. turn on the speaker (it will need to be charged for a few hours first) and look for it to be found in the preferences pane bluetooth area
3. make sure it is showing as "connected"
4. go into your Sound settings in preferences and click on the bluetooth device
5. then make sure the sound icon in the top bar on your screen is showing that bluetooth is selected from the dropdown
You should start hearing the sound again. I think this is a pretty great solution because it totally bypasses all the issues with the headphone jack. No need to replace the jack or motherboard. I hope this helps some people.
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@Stin17 nailed it for the unibody A1286 model - I just tracked down R6805 on my 2012 Unibody with board number 820-3330-B.
In my schematics it's on a line labeled AUD_PORTB_DET_L; obviously this works differently for your model; though from Stin17's schematics on the A1502 there's clearly still SPDIF out capabilities. Comparing between the two, it looks like the closest equivalent circuit will be either AUD_CONN_TIPDET_1 or AUD_CONN_TIPDET_2; I'd guess TIPDET_1 is headphone detection and TIPDET_2 is SPDIF detection but I'm not positive on that since I don't have an A1502 model to check. Looks like removing either inductor L6607 or L6608 will disable the SPDIF detection by breaking the circuit to the audio codec; the other one will disable headphone detection. If you don't care about headphones (or if you have a USB soundcard; for a while, this was my solution to avoid accidentally triggering the SPDIF output again) you could try both and see what happens, or it looks like there are test points on the board that you could measure to see what's active when headphones are plugged in versus when SPDIF is triggered.
TL;DR: on A1286 models (Unibody pre-retina) removing R6805 is the perfect solution: Speakers and headphones work as expected; SPDIF is permanently disabled unless you put R6805 back. on A1502 models, removing either L6607 or L6608 should fix it.
I solved the Red Light digital optical output problem by installing the Voodoo HDA оn my Macbook Pro mid 2010 15 inch with Mac Os High Sierra as Dondavanzo said. And now I have a working speakers, perfect!
But I have a new problem - the internal microphone does not work in WhatsApp and Skype.
Can you tell me what I can do to bring the internal microphone back to life?
But I have a new problem - the internal microphone does not work in WhatsApp and Skype.
Can you tell me what I can do to bring the internal microphone back to life?