my mac does not sound any more...

hello all,

just signed for this forum and hope i can get some help:

my macbook with osx 10.5.8 does not sound any more, only via headphones. until yesterday all was fine, i sent him to sleep and on reactivating the output source has no output controls any more. headphones work perfectly.
any idea about the problem?
greetings from ibiza, hofer.

Restart your Mac.

Option + Click the volume control (top-right near the clock) and choose internal speakers

option click does not work

did what you said but no way, if i hold option and click on the speaker for the volume nothing happens...

Try launching GarageBand and see if the app will reload your audio kernel extensions. If not, check the headphone jack on the side and see if a red light is on inside. If so, the plug has defaulted to digital-out. Resetting the PRAM (power off, and immediately after powering on, hold down Command-Option-P-R keys until system chimes 3 or 4 times. Release and let it boot normally.) may resolve the issue. Worst case, the built in audio is bad and requires a system board replacement. Or an inexpensive set of speakers.

did what you said, pram resetted but did not work, red light still sometimes flashes... anyway, i use it mostly with external speakers but as i dj a lot abroad it is useful to listen in the hotel with the internal ones. will buy a pair of small ones to take with me.
thanx again for the great advise, greez from ibiza

"red light still flashes" tells me that you have managed to get some debris in the headphone jack (which doubles as an optical jack) that is making the computer think that you have attached optical speakers. A little compressed air or a VERY GENTLE toothpick cleaning should fix the issue.

Dunno 'bout MacBooks, but my Mac Pro has internal speakers or line out, which is your 'phones jack.

Change this options directly in System Preferences ->> Sound. Not the menubar control. That's just up & down. Choose Output section. Choose internal.

Tap the keyboard UP key to ensure the volume's up.

If no luck, your speakers or motherboard amp is broken

twitchymike@mac said:

Change this options directly in System Preferences ->> Sound. Not the menubar control. That's just up & down. Choose Output section. Choose internal.

Click to expand...

Option clicking the speaker changes the way that icon behaves. Instead of volume up and down you get a menu showing the same sound inputs and outputs which appear in the sound preference pane. When you use that keyboard shortcut the chug also happens in the Sound preference pane at the sanme time.