Serpento

Q: 27" Cinema Display Sound Issues

My apologies for posting about an issue that has already been covered but I think it is important to highlight what seems to be a pervasive issue with this otherwise awesome display.

Like others, mine worked b-e-a-utifully out of the box. A few days into it however, the sound stopped. I have tried the "unplugging for 15 seconds" trick and it is a temporary fix. I also tried, at the suggestion of Apple Supports, restarting the computer and holding down the command, option, "r" and "p" keys simultaneously until you hear two beeps. That is also a temporary fix.

I want to echo the advise to call Apple Support every time this happens to ensure this issue gets the attention it deserves.

Apart from this very annoying issue, this is one sweet display. I watched Avatar on it the first night just to test it out. I only intended to watch a few minutes but ended up watching the whole thing. Terrific! Of course that was when the sound worked.

Mac Pro Intel, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Oct 11, 2010 12:10 PM

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Q: 27" Cinema Display Sound Issues

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  • by allen.wilson,

    allen.wilson allen.wilson Dec 16, 2010 6:46 AM in response to sgginc
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 16, 2010 6:46 AM in response to sgginc
    Sadly, I installed the update, unplugged monitor and shutdown mac and reconnected. Audio was fine for about an hour, but started distortion effects again. The only difference was now it must reset itself and becomes clear again after a couple minutes..
    Love the monitor, but this is getting ridiculous. I think Jobs should check into the team/department responsible for this ever growing blunder.
  • by C Barclay,

    C Barclay C Barclay Dec 16, 2010 6:58 AM in response to allen.wilson
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 16, 2010 6:58 AM in response to allen.wilson
    I spoke to soon. I am suffering sound loss again. I also love the monitor but am very frustrated
  • by Camicus,

    Camicus Camicus Dec 16, 2010 8:31 AM in response to C Barclay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 16, 2010 8:31 AM in response to C Barclay
    I know that it says that it installs automatically, but not from the software update itself. You actually have to go to Applications/Utilities----> LED firmware update. Then click install. Interested to know if the people who have said it came back actually did this.
  • by C Barclay,

    C Barclay C Barclay Dec 16, 2010 9:07 AM in response to Camicus
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 16, 2010 9:07 AM in response to Camicus
    yes.
  • by dlo,

    dlo dlo Dec 16, 2010 10:01 AM in response to sgginc
    Level 2 (285 points)
    Dec 16, 2010 10:01 AM in response to sgginc
    Be sure you have the USB cable from the 27" display connected to your computer. If you don't it will tell you it doesn't need the update. If you had the USB disconnected you may need to connect it and then restart the computer before trying the update again.
  • by adwolf11,

    adwolf11 adwolf11 Dec 16, 2010 11:39 AM in response to Serpento
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 16, 2010 11:39 AM in response to Serpento
    I've had my 27" for a couple of weeks now, I haven't had any sound issues at all.

    I don't know if this is because mine is from a new lot (ie, they silently swapped in a new part), or for some other reason.

    If this is a problem with a USB driver, one thing you may try (and this is speculative) is reboot your mac in 64-bit kernel mode (AFAIK, no MBP or MB boots 64-bit by default.)

    I run exclusively in 64-bit mode, and as I mentioned, i've never run into the sound issue before.
    Just a thought...
  • by gcaprio,

    gcaprio gcaprio Dec 16, 2010 11:55 AM in response to adwolf11
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 16, 2010 11:55 AM in response to adwolf11
    Everyone,

    I have some scary news. I've been back and forth with Apple for almost two months with this issue. I sent back the first monitor I received after being told that Apple Engineering wanted to capture units. Then the same sound issue happened with the second one I got. After downloading the firmware release yesterday, I still get the issue, but it's not as bad. Yesterday, I finally talked to the engineering contact I've been conversing with. He told me that the firmware fix was meant to fix the keyboard response & power recycling issue and that's it.

    You read that right: The apple engineer I spoke to said he wasn't aware of any sound issues with the monitor. He'd take my info & log a bug, but didn't know if anything would come up it. The firmware release, he said, would close the issue.

    So much for a $1000 monitor. Now what?
  • by erikmh,

    erikmh erikmh Dec 16, 2010 11:58 AM in response to Serpento
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 16, 2010 11:58 AM in response to Serpento
    @adwolf11: Interesting thought, but I run in 64-bit mode and have hit the problem several times.

    @allen.wilson: I haven't seen any other reports of distortion, only of audio cutting out altogether; certainly that's all I've experienced. Perhaps your problem is unrelated....

    I applied the firmware update yesterday afternoon, and so far all is well here. I've usually gone several days between problems, though, so the jury's still out....
  • by adwolf11,

    adwolf11 adwolf11 Dec 16, 2010 12:00 PM in response to gcaprio
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 16, 2010 12:00 PM in response to gcaprio
    The update itself says
    "This Firmware Update addresses intermittent audio issues some users have experienced while using the 27-inch LED Cinema Display."

    maybe the engineer was misinformed?
  • by gcaprio,

    gcaprio gcaprio Dec 16, 2010 3:51 PM in response to adwolf11
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 16, 2010 3:51 PM in response to adwolf11
    @adwolf11:

    He mentioned that the sound issues fixed had to do with receiving NO sound from the monitor and having to power cycle. From what I read in this forum, I'm having the same 'garbled sound' issue others are having. He said that's the first he's heard of that sound issue.
  • by yfdt,

    yfdt yfdt Dec 16, 2010 4:02 PM in response to gcaprio
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 16, 2010 4:02 PM in response to gcaprio
    Unfortunately this firmware update does not seem to completely resolve the problem for me. After applying firmware update had distorted audio yesterday and again today. In both cases was restored by quick switch to built-in speakers and back in the sound preferences.

    When audio is distorted following messages appear in the log:

    12/16/10 3:07:06 PM com.apple.usbmuxd[24] MuxSendToClient send failed for 0x7-ee8eca8bec57aa5f03e41535a591980901d5e3d8@0x24120000:52506->0x100313e10-iTun es/com.apple.iTunes:37381: 32 - Broken pipe

    Looks like we need better solution from Apple.
  • by avidwriter,

    avidwriter avidwriter Dec 16, 2010 4:38 PM in response to yfdt
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 16, 2010 4:38 PM in response to yfdt
    what other usb stuff do you guys have plugged in that have the garbled sound? anything into the monitor itself?
  • by stevizzy,

    stevizzy stevizzy Dec 16, 2010 5:41 PM in response to avidwriter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 16, 2010 5:41 PM in response to avidwriter
    Nothing else plugged in for me. I don't usually listen to iTunes on my Cinema Display, mostly internet radio for now with few issues. I'll wait to get decent speakers until they figure this thing out.
  • by Bob Ferrara,

    Bob Ferrara Bob Ferrara Dec 17, 2010 2:52 PM in response to Serpento
    Level 1 (0 points)
    iTunes
    Dec 17, 2010 2:52 PM in response to Serpento
    Is the lack of recent activity an indication that the fix works??
  • by BuzzAldrin,

    BuzzAldrin BuzzAldrin Dec 17, 2010 3:48 PM in response to Bob Ferrara
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 17, 2010 3:48 PM in response to Bob Ferrara
    No problems here since the fix, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. The Apple Store swapped my original for another one, and it seemed to go out more often. So I'm cautiously optimistic. FYI, my problem was the no sound/lagging on-screen controls, not the distorted sound that others are reporting.
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