White 24" iMac - no sound through speakers/headphone jack?

[stewartfan]

I was looking on eBay at iMacs (this one is a white 24" 2.16 C2D.), and I found one that read:

The sound circuitry works, as the machine makes the normal startup chime through the internal speakers. However, because the headphone jack is apparently damaged, the machine believes that there are headphones connected. This causes the OS to disable the internal speakers in favor of the non-existent headphones. The sound control panel does not allow switching to internal speakers. Someone with the time and talent to repair or replace the headphone jack on this machine could possibly resolve this issue, as the internal speakers do work, as does the sound circuitry, as evidenced by the startup chime mentioned previously.

What can be done?

 

[chscag]

My guess is that someone broke off a headphone plug and a piece of it remains in the jack. You can do a search on our forums to see how other folks resolved this. While the broken piece remains in the jack, it effectively mutes sound from going anywhere else.

If the piece can't be removed, Apple's repair strategy is to replace the entire mother board - which by the way, is a very expensive repair. My advice is to stay away from this particular iMac unless you can get it at a very low price and are willing to try and repair it yourself.

 

[EvenStranger]

Actually, that board might be a daughter card on the main logic board. If so, it's much less expensive. Most of the 24" models had a card that controlled sound and the outermost USB port. If it is, you can get it fixed for around $150. One other option is to purchase a Griffin iMic and route your audio out through USB instead. I believe those run about $35.

 

[chscag]

Good to know. I especially like the Griffin iMic as it even works with Windows.

 

[Meyvn]

I can attest that the iMic (the original, at least; I haven't used the newer one) is an excellent product. I originally purchased it for an iBook (yeah, I'm an old Mac user) that didn't have a microphone port, but now I use it by choice on my iMac, even though my headphone & mic jacks are fine, because of lower noise levels/increased sound quality. That would probably be the cheapest/most elegant solution, so long as you're comfortable using external speakers.

If you aren't comfortable using external speakers, I'd stay away. It's entirely possible that the obstruction/damage could be removed/repaired, but there's no guarantee of that without having a technician look at it; and since it's online, you can't do that. Replacing the logic board wouldn't be worth it on that machine unless you were getting it free.

 

[stewartfan]

I got a message from the seller saying that they got the audio working, and that they would try again to sell it. I don't think I'll go for it.