Sound intermittently disappears, preferences switches output

[sparkbuzz]

I recently upgraded to Mac Mavericks and from day one audio output disappears and returns at random intervals for short moments at a time.

Sometimes, I'm in meetings on Skype calls, and the audio would just disappear, and it's extremely annoying when listening to music.

My machine is a Late 2011 17" MacBook Pro. I always have my external Logitech speakers plugged into the audio socket. I normally run my machine in clamshell mode with an external HDMI Samsung monitor, however, it does not appear that the audio bug is caused by running in clamshell mode.

I made a bit of a discovery today, as I happened to have the System Preferences open on Sound. I noticed that when the audio disappears, the box labeled: Select a device for sound output switches randomly between

• Optical
• Built-In

...and then back to Headphone Port upon which the audio returns to normal.

I've been so desperate to solve this issue, that I even formatted my machine (which was long overdue) and reinstalled Mac Mavericks from scratch.

This didn't help at all, the problem still persists.

Does anyone have an idea what is causing this, and how to fix?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Try resetting the SMC. If that doesn't help, test with headphones or different speakers for a bit - maybe something goofy in your Logitech's that are causing the Mac to lose track of the fact that they're plugged in.

If after SMC reset you see the same issue with different headphones/speakers, then it's a hardware issue probably in the headphone jack. If you have AppleCare Protection Plan then you can have it serviced, but I think that jack's on the main logic board so if out of warranty, get one of these instead of having it repaired.

 

[allthingsapple]

I recently upgraded to Mac Mavericks and from day one audio output disappears and returns at random intervals for short moments at a time.

Sometimes, I'm in meetings on Skype calls, and the audio would just disappear, and it's extremely annoying when listening to music.

My machine is a Late 2011 17" MacBook Pro. I always have my external Logitech speakers plugged into the audio socket. I normally run my machine in clamshell mode with an external HDMI Samsung monitor, however, it does not appear that the audio bug is caused by running in clamshell mode.

I made a bit of a discovery today, as I happened to have the System Preferences open on Sound. I noticed that when the audio disappears, the box labeled: Select a device for sound output switches randomly between

• Optical
• Built-In

...and then back to Headphone Port upon which the audio returns to normal.

I've been so desperate to solve this issue, that I even formatted my machine (which was long overdue) and reinstalled Mac Mavericks from scratch.

This didn't help at all, the problem still persists.

Does anyone have an idea what is causing this, and how to fix?

As previously mentioned by another member. Do a SMC reset. It may also help to do a Pram reset too.

 

[sparkbuzz]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

I know it's not the Logitech speakers, the problem persists even with other microphone, I even tried a set of iPhone headphones.

PRAM reset didn't work, as that's the first thing I normally try when stuff goes horribly wrong. However, the SMC reset is new, and I'm trying it now. I haven't been on my machine long enough to see if the problem dissappeared completely, as the issue can lie dormant for a couple of hours at a time sometimes.

Will test thoroughly today and see what happens. Hoping for the best.