Can't figure out what's triggering coreaudiod issue

[ryssiebee]

Hi! I'm running Mojave 10.14.5 on a MacBook Pro, 2016, Model A1708, and I'm having a recurring audio issue that I can't figure out. For some reason, the audio will randomly stop working, and I can't identify the problem. This happens about every two days, but I'm not able to associate it with the use of any particular software.

The following solutions do fix it: 1) inputting sudo killall coreaudiod in Terminal and 2) simply restarting my computer. However, this is getting to be very annoying. I've tried reinstalling the OS, but that didn't work. I brought it to a Mac repair place, and they couldn't figure it out. Has anyone dealt with this problem before? Thanks in advance!

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums.

Appears you did some trouble shooting. The Mac repair place you refer to, was it an Apple store genius bar or an independent repair shop? The reason we ask is that most independent repair shops that are not specifically an Apple authorized repair service do not have the proper skills to diagnose problems such as yours.

What you might try: Make sure no other apps are starting up and running in the background. We would normally suggest running in Safe Mode but that turns off the sound so it would not provide you with any useful information. You might also try running your Activity Monitor in the background to see if anything is going on when the sound quits. Also look in your logs as that might give you a clue as to what's interfering with the sound.

 

[ryssiebee]

Thanks for your reply! I brought it to an independent repair shop.
Is there anything specific I should look for in the logs? I tried opening the logs and checking them a few minutes after this happened again, and I really didn't know how to interpret them.
Thank you!

 

[chscag]

If possible, you might want to take your MacBook Pro to an Apple genius bar (Apple Store) and have them diagnose it. There is no charge for that at an Apple store, however, independent repair services and even authorized Apple repair shops do charge for the service.

As for the logs, all I can suggest is to look for anything unusual that shows up when the sound quits. Problems with sound are rare occurrences especially with a machine that's only a few years old. As we advised before, make sure no other apps are running that might interfere with the sound. You might have something running from an old installation of an app that you no longer use. Things like this are hard to track down but good detective work and with the process of elimination, you should be able to resolve it.

I don't think it's hardware but it is possible.

 

[ferrarr]

Try creating a “new user” account on your MBP, to see if the issue exists on that user as well?

Also, have you tried just logging out and back in to see if the audio works again?

My Last thought would be either NVRAM or SMC resets?

Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support
How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

 

[Slydude]

Do the symptoms in this thread sound like what you are experiencing. If you download and run EtreCheck it may help you identify the source of the problem. It will show you things that are running and potential problems.