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MacBook Air no audio output device found ???????? *please help*

Dear all,

since yesterday my Mac Book Air can not find audio output device anymore, so no sound.

Its actually strange because i was running the Hardware Test (Boot + D and so on) but it does not show any failure or problem.

Could you please help me? Anybody has any idea?

Thank you
Carsten

MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.5), Macbook AIr

Posted on Oct 2, 2008 4:29 AM

Reply
411 replies

Oct 5, 2008 9:29 AM in response to Carsten.Roth

Do Apple people read the discussions here?

Well, since i really want to have my sound back (asap!), i have to go to Service Center. Unfortunately i bought my Mac Book Air in Thailand and i have been to the Service Center in Bangkok before (with my Mac Book Pro). They actually have no idea at all besides long time waiting. This whole story makes me crazy and if there is any chance to solve it by software debugging, please tell us nice Apple people!!!!

Carsten

Oct 6, 2008 8:52 AM in response to Carsten.Roth

I also have the same problem. Suddently the sound card stopped working. It was last saturday at 18:01.
It is possible to check the logs of the problem with the terminal window.

$ cd /Library/Logs/CrashReporter/
$ ls -la

You might see one file with name coreaudiod_%.crash where % is the date and time of the crash.
If you want you can try to read it or copy to your Documents folder.

To read the file:
$ more coreaudiod 2008-10-04-180103Mac-de-Joao.crash
There is not much useful information there, maybe for the programmers of Apple, but who cares...

Even trying to restart the coreaudio daemon again, there is no more crash logs but the audio is still not working.
I'm sure it is an hardware problem. I already contacted the service center nearby and I'll have to leave the laptop at least 3 days. 1 day for them to make the diagnostic + 2 days for them to receive the hardware audio board and replace it.

Joao
Portugal

Message was edited by: nomukaiki

Oct 8, 2008 4:22 AM in response to Carsten.Roth

My MBA is on it's way to a service center of Gravis (Apple reseller in Germany). Will take 2 weeks...

They're going to call me when they know what going on, I gave them the description from agabot (thanks!). They aren't sure if it's just the audio module or the logic board. Time will tell...

Message was edited by: PatQ

Oct 8, 2008 7:58 AM in response to Carsten.Roth

Same problem, guys. Happened just yesterday (October 7th).. I remember the computer freaked out and didn't shut off for a while even when I was holding the off button. After I turned it back on again there was a space between the airport and the bluetooth icons in the top menu bar. It took me a while to realize what was missing, but now I'm horribly disappointed! How come it all happened at once? Was the new iTunes update to blame? And no DIY solution? How sad... 😟.

Oct 10, 2008 8:51 AM in response to Ksenia S.

It cannot be hardware related because so many people are experiencing the same issues:
no sound, no flash video, no iTube videos, blue screens at wake up
at the same time!

Also I did a clean reinstall of the OS and for a while I had sound and videos, then it started again.
If it were a hardware issue it would still have not worked.

The only hardware link to this is maybe the fact that I connected the earphones some time before it happened again... but again why then a reinstall of the OS would clear it?

AdiM

Oct 10, 2008 12:04 PM in response to adim

In my circumstance it is hardware related, it is still in repair waiting for parts. I'll post when I find out.

btw, in my circumstance I had no sound output of any kind but no kernel panice, blue screen, or other "software" problems. The only exception is the youtube and itunes problem (where it wouldn't advance). I don't know whether that is a software problem alone or a hardware problem that shows symptons in software.

Oct 10, 2008 2:05 PM in response to adim

Your reinstall gave me a little hope that it might not be hardware so I just crossed my fingers and did the latest software update. Hope against hope -- it didn't work. Also, it does seem as if this is some kind of large-scale problem covering many computers, so maybe we'll hear something from Apple. Maybe even before the new MacBooks are announced.

Otherwise, I guess it will have to go in for repairs. It's really crippled without any sound.

Oct 11, 2008 7:10 AM in response to Carsten.Roth

I kinda think it has something to do with the new iTunes updates. Maybe our macbook airs just aren't strong enough to handle the new version. I remember doing a hefty number of updates the night before, one of them was iTunes from 8.0 to 8.1... It's just odd that it happened to so many of us all at once. I'm not really concerned with what the cause of the problem is at this point, I'm more eager to see a solution. I rely on my laptop heavily for school, and to have it gone even for a week is going to be hard (I'm a Journalist student for crying out loud.) If they don't release any kind of information about this whole thing I guess the repair it is. I'm waiting for another week or two... We have to stay strong, guys!!

Oct 11, 2008 10:05 AM in response to Ksenia S.

Yup, that's my feeling, exactly. I am trying to rearrange my life to be without my main machine, which is impossibly hard when you work with expensive Adobe Suite products. To move them is ****, and I use them all day, every day.

Also, there were no hints that it was going -- I just clicked on a podcast file and realized that it wasn't working, no icon, nada. I installed the newest iTunes after that, by the way. However, there has been a lot of fiddling with Tunes at their end lately, lots of updates, and a mysterious lack of response on this issue.

Here could be another clue: I have Apple TV and the remote always affects the Air as well as the big TV. Every click is read by FrontPage, and there's nothing I can do to stop it. It definitely turns the sound up and down. Basically it sends signals to the Air and the TV and they don't work together at all. Hard to explain, but it could be a clue.

The fact that it's happening to lots of people at the same time is very very interesting. Wonder how many of us there are?

Oct 11, 2008 2:09 PM in response to nbirnes

In my circumstance, it is hardware problem. I had no sound of any kind and when I ran the hardware diagnostic and there is audio hardware detected. The first thing they did was test to determine it was not software related, then replaced the logic board and are waiting on speaker assembly to replace, i'll let you know what i learn when i get it back.

The remote issue is unrelated to this, if you have a remote and you haven't restricted it to use on a device, it will work all devices (for example, it will run your apple tv and your macbook unless you program it not to). See related support guidance on pairing a remote.

MacBook Air no audio output device found ???????? *please help*

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