Bose Companion 5 Speakers and Leopard?

As I said in my earlier post today & other posts the past few days in this thread, right now, there is nothing that can be done except disconnect the speakers from power for a couple of minutes, then plug the speakers back in. I made Bose aware of the problem yesterday, & I have every intention of calling them back right after New Year's to see if they have made any progress on a fix. I most definitely will post in this thread, if & when I hear anything.

To add to another line of complexity to this thread, this is my experience:
-- On both my Intel-based MacBook Pro and iMac, Bose Companion speakers worked through the upgrade to Leopard with ONE EXCEPTION: Any form of streaming audio through Safari will NOT WORK with Bose Companion speakers (Rhapsody Online, Amazon Music Previews, etc). No matter what I do with the settings, I cannot get the Bose to work. Looking for any recommendations/driver updates.

I did install Leopard, I got it last week, and I was surprised that so far I haven't had any problem with my Bose Companion 5 speakers. Any issued I mentioned before in this thread has been corrected. I just even checked some music previous in Amazon and they played without any problem. I haven't used time machine yet, I will keep you posted if after the activation, it will interfere with my speakers.

Did you upgrade to Leopard? Did you use the "archive and install" or the "erase and install" upgrade method? The reason I ask is b/c there's anecdotal evidence to suggest "upgrade" installations experience bugs after the Leopard installation. Whereas, "Archive.." and Erase.." are bug free.

I use the Bose Companion 5 speakers and do not have any problems. I just checked with iTunes playing as I checked TM. It runs fine here. I did the "Erase.." variation for the Leopard upgrade.

Sorry I couldn't give you a cleaner answer.

I actually used TM and, while on it, the computer freeze and switched the default/system output sound to the computer speakers. I had to switch them back to the Bose system. Maybe deleting everything is the key, but can I do it even after having the Leopard installed, and how can I save all the info for itunes and other programs. I will hate to have to configure the whole computer again choose to erase the old system.

Before you go through the headache of a re-install, why don't you wait until I contact Bose next week to see if they have come up with a fix? I have every intention of checking in with them & if they have anything to offer for a fix, I will most definitely post it here.

I simply upgraded to Leopard,also. I REALLY, REALLY do not want to have to re-do my install with an archive/install, if it can be avoided.

Thank you. I'll wait because it is a headache to re-install and then reconfigure everything.

I too seem to be having this problem.

Both on my Mac Pro and my Sony Vaio. It has been getting increasingly worse.

Sometimes the sound would just die out and I could just pull out the usb and put it back in and then it would work.

Now nothing works. It plays sound for 2 seconds then stops.

** This issue is not limited to MAC/Leopard systems ** - I have this exact issue on a Dell PC running Vista Ultimate

I too have found that the only solution is to unplug the bose speakers for a min then replug them in - a real pain in the arse!

Everyone who has listed this issue - I urge you to please contact Bose and open a support case. Nothing will be done about this until Bose understands that this is a major issue - I opened a case on this just now, if I hear anything I will post back

OK, I submitted a formal support case to BOSE detailing the issue with the Companion 5 speakers and Leopard (in my case). As I mentioned in my first note, this issue is evident on my upgraded iMac and new MacBook Pro with Leopard already installed. So this is a real problem for those of us who love these speakers with streaming audio (e.g. Rhapsody). Thanks, Greg

I spoke with Bose this afternoon & they have no further updates on a possible resolution to this problem. Bose strongly suggested I contact Apple tech support which I have done. I have a possible solution to the problem which I have done on my G5 tonight, but I don't want to get anyone's hopes up just yet. I would like to wait until tomorrow afternoon to see if I still have speakers, when the G5 comes out of "sleep", I get home. I will update tomorrow about 3PM MST. Stay tuned.

Sorry for the delay in an update as I have spent a large part of my afternoon on the phone with Apple. The first thing I will say to all of you is to PLEASE, PLEASE call Apple Support (1-800-275-2273) to start your own tech support case. I have made more progress between last night & this afternoon working with Apple than anything Bose even offered which was nothing.

Now, for the update. Let me say to begin with, what may work on my system, mat not work for you. You have to make the decision for yourself as to how you wish to proceed, once I provide the information. The PRAM reset did not hold. My Bose speakers were still recognized when I took my G5 out of sleep after work this afternoon. I'm thinking, grest, it's fixed, but let's see what happens when the computer shuts down. After the shutdown, the speakers were missing in action, again, & the system had reset itself to the internal speakers. I called Apple, again, using my case number. After the initial Leopard tech support person reviewed several things that I had done last night, my call was escalated to a specialist. I reviewed everything that had been going on with the speakers, that I had contacted Bose with no help, & Bose referred me back to Apple.

After reviewing everything that had been done including the fact that my Leopard installation was a simple upgrade only, the specialist felt that an "archive & install" of Leopard was going to have to be the next step. This was actually very simple, with the installation just finishing up in the past 30 minutes. I'm now in the process of checking my G5 out. There are some concerns that I have to keep in mind per the tech specialist I spoke with this afternoon. He is concerned that since the PRAM reset, includes a reset of all USB ports, that my system may possibly have several "flaky" acting USB ports, but since the PRAM reset has been done, there is no way to check this by phone. His hope is that the "archive & install" will fix anything that may have gotten "mucked up" with just a simple upgrade. If not, my system will have to go into the Apple store to have the USB ports checked out, & if they find problems at that point, the logic board will have to be replaced. I am not freaking out about that possibility yet, as even if it comes to that my G5 is still under AppleCare & I'm covered. So far, the "archive/install" looks good. The Bose speakers were recognized when the system came back up. The next step will be to see what happens after a prolonged period in sleep mode, & what happens after a shutdown. I will check this again tomorrow afternoon & report back.

In the meantime, please call Apple & file your reports. They have been extremely helpful & I'm convinced that this is the way to go. Do not rely on Bose for a fix.

Next update, tomorrow afternoon.

This came out in MacFixIt yesterday - it may help ....



Problems playing audio through USB speakers, fixes

We've recently received a rash of reports indicating problems playing sound through USB-connected speakers -- especially after updating to Leopard. Some users experience an odd phenomenon where sounds refuse to play through USB speakers, but upon disconnecting the speakers, a queued up series of sounds plays through the internal speakers, as if the sounds were clogged in the USB channel then pushed in rapid succession through the internal speaker once USB speakers are taken out of the loop.

As described by MacFixIt reader Dave:

"When I boot, the sound works fine, including new message sounds for Mail. However, after a time, either due to sleep, use of other applications (Safari?), etc. the sound stops completely. I checked Sound in the system preferences, and all looks normal, but it acts like it has been muted - but isn't. Over time, in checking for a bad connector, I found that if I unplug the USB cable for the display (and other peripherals, including speakers), the internal speakers play a string of all the missing sounds that had been held back, or stored somehow; and then the external speakers start working again."

"I went to system preferences and changed the sound output from external to internal speakers - instead of unplugging the USB cable between the monitor and the laptop. It produced the same result, the internal speakers sequentially played a series of sounds sent messages, checked email, etc. So it acts as if the sound "data" is being blocked and held, and I'm beginning to think it is triggered by one of the things turned off during sleep; such as screensaver, disk shut down, display turned off, etc."

So in many cases, the solution may be to simply disconnect and reconnect USB speakers to regain sound throughput.

In other cases, the problem may be underpowered USB speakers. We've previously reported various other issues caused by a lack of adequate USB power, usually solved by disconnecting other power-drawing USB devices from the same bus or adding an externally powered USB hub.

One additional suggestion: you might try running USB Prober. It is located in /Developer/Applications/Utilities, provided you have installed the Xcode developer tools. (These are probably present on your Tiger installer DVD, if you have one, but the best way to obtain them, if you have a broadband Internet connection, is to go to http://developer.apple.com, join the Apple Developer Connection as a free online member, and log in to obtain the most recent Xcode tools installer as a 1GB download.) Apparently, just running USB Prober does some sort of USB reset that can "wake up" unresponsive USB ports.

Finally, outdated firmware or drivers may be precluding recognition for some devices. Try checking your device manufacturer's Web site for the latest downloads.

Thanks for the info, Miriam, especially if it is helpful to someone else with this issue. This doesn't describe what is going in my specific situation. The speakers are simply not recognized at all, the only speakers recognized are the internal speakers. As if right now, it's very likely that my archive/install of Leopard last night per Apple tech support specialist may have resolved the issue. The speakers were recognized after the system has been in "sleep" all day, & they were recognized after a total shutdown right now.

Thanks,
Deb