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No sound from internal or ext. speakers

K

krawfo

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 4, 2011
193
11
Imac 27" mid-2011 running Maverics 10.9.3* I'm not getting any sound from internal or ext. speakers.* I can hear the startup sound when booting up.
System Preferences->Sound only shows Digital Out for OUTPUT and Output Volume is maxed and can't be adjusted.* Mute is NOT checked.
I've done an SMC and PRAM reset with no change.* I've tried multiple times plugging and unplugging the external speaker cable jack.
Any suggestions would be most welcome.
 
You must replace "admin" with you actual username :

Code: 
sudo chown -R _coreaudiod:your_user_name /Library/Preferences/Audio

For example, if your user name is krawfo :

Code: 
sudo chown -R _coreaudiod:krawfo /Library/Preferences/Audio
 
sudo*chown*-R*_coreaudiod:ken /Library/Preferences/Audio resulted in

-bash: sudo*chown*-R*_coreaudiod:ken: command not found

My apologies. Somewhat Mac newbie and rarely uses Terminal. :)
 
Absolutely.
If you are typing the * multiple times, then that's why the command can't work.
Each * should be a space, exactly as the sample shows.

Code: 
sudo chown -R _coreaudiod:ken /Library/Preferences/Audio

Copy and paste the above line into your terminal.
The "sudo" part will ask for your password. Your password will NOT display any characters while you type it, which is completely normal. Just type your password, then press enter, and the command will run.
 
Hi DeltaMac, I wonder if deleting the 2 preferences files in HD/Library/Preferences/Audio, then restarting, could help ?

com.apple.audio.DeviceSettings.plist
com.apple.audio.SystemSettings.plist

What do you think ?
 
I couldn't tell you if deleting those particular files will help - but it certainly won't hurt anything to try.

Here's some steps that I would follow:
Open your System Preferences, then Sound, choose Outputs.
With nothing plugged in to Audio Out (or headphone jack), the output device available should be "Internal Speakers, built-in"
Then, with that pref pane still open, plug in headphones (or external speakers).
You should see the name change to Headphones.
Unplug, and it should change back to "Internal Speakers"

@krawfo: do you see that change in the Sound pref pane, simply by plugging and unplugging to the audio output?
Or, does something else happen (what?)
Or, no change at all, with anything plugged in, or all disconnected?

If that's what you see (no change), what exactly is showing in that list of devices for sound output?
 
That usually means a stuck switch in the output port.
And, that's often fixed by the same method the OP has already tried. I would suggest trying that a few more times.
I have a Toslink miniplug adapter that I would try, if the computer was here on my bench. (That adapter reaches all the way inside to the optical part of the input jack, and will certainly be the correct size and length)
If multiple attempts at resetting the internal switch fail, then the input jack likely is broken.
You won't get audio through the internal speakers until you either free up the switch inside the port, or failing that, replace the port (the Audio I/O cable)
(The audio I/O board and cable is "moderately" challenging to replace, less than 30 minutes, probably.)
If you want audio now, without fixing the port, then you'll need a USB or Thunderbolt interface that provides audio connection.
 
First, Bruno and DeltaMac - thanks so much for your help - much appreciated.

I sincerely thought this was a software problem until DeltaMac's mention of "audio I/O board and cable" reminded me that about a month ago I dropped an SSD into this machine. I haven't checked the speakers until recently. I distinctly remember re-connecting the right & left speaker cables to the logic board but am not familiar with the audio I/O board and cable. I'm not thrilled about tearing this machine apart again :mad: BTW, the SSD is great!
 
Ah, that makes sense!
You remember where the speaker connectors are located (about 2 inches left of the optical drive fan)
Because you hear the boot chime, which bypasses the input/output connectors (It will sound the boot chime on the internal speakers even if you have headphones plugged in), so I think those speaker connections likely are OK.
The audio cable for the I/O audio ports is the flat ribbon directly underneath the optical fan, near the bottom right front corner of the logic board.
All you need to do is take up the glass, and the LCD panel. The connector will be right in front without need to remove anything else. Maybe all you need to do is to reseat that audio cable connector.
 
IF that's all there is to it, I'll give it a try.

Thanks again for your most generous help. I really appreciate it.



DeltaMac said:
Ah, that makes sense!
You remember where the speaker connectors are located (about 2 inches left of the optical drive fan)
Because you hear the boot chime, which bypasses the input/output connectors (It will sound the boot chime on the internal speakers even if you have headphones plugged in), so I think those speaker connections likely are OK.
The audio cable for the I/O audio ports is the flat ribbon directly underneath the optical fan, near the bottom right front corner of the logic board.
All you need to do is take up the glass, and the LCD panel. The connector will be right in front without need to remove anything else. Maybe all you need to do is to reseat that audio cable connector.
Click to expand...
 
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