Sound only works for Pop-Up Ads & iTunes on my Old OS X Mac

[stacyr]

I have an old Mac OS X that I love. (Too old for me to get Evernote or Chrome, but still has everything else I need for work and recreation: Microsoft Office, Internet via Firefox, Skype, iTunes, iPhoto.)

While watching a YouTube video tonight, the sound went kaput. I checked out a few online forums and found no help. I restarted it (usually a magical thing), and that didn't help.

I don't think it's the sound card... Throughout all these experiments, the sound would work in weird limited scenarios:
1-When Skype chatting, I would still get the loud 'woosh' noises.
2-On Yahoo! Games, the sound worked on all of those annoying pop-up ads.
3-When playing a word game, the sound (indicating it's your turn) worked.
4-Sounds in my Mac's sound folder work.
5-iTunes works.

What is going on? Why is the sound so wonky? And PS: I can't run a diagnostic exam via CD-rom. That drive doesn't work.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for any help!!

 

[S.B.G]

I have an old Mac OS X that I love. (Too old for me to get Evernote or Chrome, but still has everything else I need for work and recreation: Microsoft Office, Internet via Firefox, Skype, iTunes, iPhoto.)

While watching a YouTube video tonight, the sound went kaput. I checked out a few online forums and found no help. I restarted it (usually a magical thing), and that didn't help.

I don't think it's the sound card... Throughout all these experiments, the sound would work in weird limited scenarios:
1-When Skype chatting, I would still get the loud 'woosh' noises.
2-On Yahoo! Games, the sound worked on all of those annoying pop-up ads.
3-When playing a word game, the sound (indicating it's your turn) worked.
4-Sounds in my Mac's sound folder work.
5-iTunes works.

What is going on? Why is the sound so wonky? And PS: I can't run a diagnostic exam via CD-rom. That drive doesn't work.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for any help!!

So, am I reading this right, all sounds work fine except on YouTube or other browser-based sounds?

If that is the case, try clearing the browser cache, resetting the browser to it's factory settings and ensuring you have all the latest Software Updates for OS X and the browser you're using if it isn't Safari.