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

Took it to the apple store today. 280$ to fix the problem

I am experiencing this problem with audio and Flash as well. The problem started about three weeks ago and I'll loose the sound for a day or two before it comes back. When it's 'gone' I get the same 'No device found' under input and output in the System Preferences->Sound settings. I haven't taken my machine in yet (It still has 1 full year of warranty/Apple Care) because I don't want to loose it for a few days. However, it seems odd to me that so many of us are experiencing the same problem at relatively the same time....

Doesn't that seem odd? Are others convinced that this is the cable and the audio board? Or is this an intermittent software issue?

(I should point out that my audio board was replaced five months ago for a different problem and I have a Rev A. MB Air).

Thoughts? Advice? How long will I be without my Air if I take it in?

I had the same problem on my Macbook and tried the solution suggested:

i deleted the file as suggested (~Library/Preferences/com.apple.BezelServices.plist) and powered down, and restarted. Sound came back.

I have the same problem. No sound output device, only a few seconds of Flash video, no Garageband core audio, no sound at boot-up. I had tried everything here in the forum, except for taking the machine to Apple.

I tried this method of removing the preference file, and it is now working (I heard a boot-up chime for the first time in a long time). Everything is working fine.

Before you take your machine to a shop, try this solution first. This is a software issue, that can also be fixed by gutting your hardware. The latter approach will last only sometime, until the software bug can be isolated and rooted out.

Delete ~Library/Preferences/com.apple.BezelServices.plist

I have the same problem. No sound output device, only a few seconds of Flash video, no Garageband core audio, no sound at boot-up. I had tried everything here in the forum, except for taking the machine to Apple.

I tried this method of removing the preference file, and it is now working (I heard a boot-up chime for the first time in a long time). Everything is working fine.

Before you take your machine to a shop, try this solution first. This is a software issue, that can also be fixed by gutting your hardware. The latter approach will last only sometime, until the software bug can be isolated and rooted out.

Joe your a god-send! This worked perfectly, thank you!

Deleting that file didn't work for me.

My audio is gone few days ago, while i was using my MacBook Air RevA. I've searched a lot in forums and tried all the software tricks: resetting, deleting preferences files, repairing permissions, deleting cache.. etc etc. Still no audio and no output device listed.

Then I erased my hd and reinstalled a new osx snow leopard. Still no Sound... I thought was an hardware problem,,,
I did software update.. rebooted and... the sound worked!
I was happy and decided to try to check for others software update... 5 popped up. Installed, rebooted, no sound at all.. again.

I've spent a few hours reading logs from Console... I realized that one of the 5 last updates was "iTunes 9.0.2".. I remembered that the day the sound went off I installed the 9.0.2 update too.

I trashed my iTunes app and than emptied the recycle bin. An error occurred "can't delete iTunes because iTunes Helper is in use".
Rebooted, still no sound. I emptied the recycle bin with success.
Rebooted, sound works!!!

iTunes 9.0.2 was the bad guy for me.

I then double checked installing/removing iTunes again.

I hope this can help someone!

I am VERY sure my audio went out around my updates to Snow Leapord and iTunes, iTunes was on too. I never checked and troubleshot in such detail, will try and report back here. Thanks for giving us the idea!

Not only did I trash the preference file and reboot, I went into Utilities>Audio Midi Setup>Built-In Output and put it on external speakers, 44100.0 2ch-24bit. We'll see if it stays fixed. I remember have to jack around with that a long time ago during a Flash upgrade.

Removing the bezelservices.plist worked, but i would have to do it everyday or every other day.... now it doesn't work anymore.... back to not having the sound or the start up chime....

i tried to remove as many third party apps, but no help. i'll just wait until 10.6.3 comes out.

AUDIO PROBLEM SOLVED!

Plug in a USB headset (not a 3.5mm jack headset) and see if you can get audio through the headset (I could). When I unplugged the headset and rebooted all of my laptop's audio magically returned.

As to the hardware/software debate... since I haven't booted my MacBook Air into OSX in over a year (XP-Pro via Bootcamp) I don't think it's a software issue. Windows simply saw no audio device at all. Then after I had plugged in my USB headset it was able to find both my USB headset AND the default audio device.

I actually don't care whether it's hardware or software... just that it's working again!

I had this same problem. I tried various things which didn't work consistently. These included restarting, clearing audio cache, repairing disk permissions. If it's NOT the audio jack scenario (where the computer is fooled into thinking headphones are still plugged in) and you are definitely seeing no output device in Sound preferences, there's ultimately a common problem and that is the audio flex cable.

One important thing to note in troubleshooting is that just because one thing seems to work doesn't mean you found the fix or ruled out other possibilities. When I first repaired disk permissions and it seemed to work, it could have just been that the cable was partially seated and pressure on the palmrests reseated it (albeit loosely) again. So, in essence, repairing disk permissions actually didn't do anything at all.

When audio stopped entirely and repairing disk permissions a second time did not work, I started doing some research and the most common issue I came across on the net was the audio flex cable.

I've heard a lot of people went to various lengths including: Replacing the cable, replacing the speakers and cable, replacing the audio board, speakers and cable.

IMPORTANT: One thing caught my eye especially. One user re-seated the original cable and reported the issue fixed! Why is this important? Because consider this: Every time you replace a cable, you are essentially RE-SEATING a cable. It may not have been a defective cable to begin with.

So... *BEFORE YOU SPEND A DIME ON HARDWARE*... +*Try re-seating the original audio flex cable*+. My hunch was correct. This worked immediately for me. If the problem occurs again, re-seat it again. It takes less than five minutes, and will save you money. I suspect that the repeated failures are not because the cable actually goes defective (well, maybe it does in some cases) but because the original design of the cable and the connector seat on the speaker is flawed and causes the cable to repeatedly come loose.

Only if you have re-seated the cable securely and it does not IMMEDIATELY work, then you've likely got a bad cable or other piece of defective hardware. But I've read these boards and others up and down and I'm 90% certain that in most cases, the cable was never defective to begin with.

The problem with Apple Geniuses is they're not electrical engineers. As knowledgeable as they may be, the quickest path to resolution is to replace things and work by process of elimination. But as I recently proved to Time Warner Cable, it is important to isolate all possible causes and not just in one direction. It would seem that if an Airport Extreme Base Station stops pulling an IP from their cablemodem but a Netgear works fine that the AEBS is faulty, right? WRONG. On a hunch, I connected the AEBS to the Netgear, and proved conclusively the AEBS could pull an IP. The cablemodem for whatever reason decided to stop issuing an IP to the AEBS only. So, I got them to replace the cablemodem with a totally different make/model and it worked.

Sorry for the digression but I really wanted to illustrate the importance of troubleshooting the problem in both directions and really ruling out every possible cause before you go spending money.

I really hope that this helps put the issue to rest for once and for all, and saves others a few bucks.

Message was edited by: SnowDog74

I bought an audio cable from iFixit and followed the steps on their website. Not exactly easy but OK even for me who is not very technical. I took me about 45 minutes to remove the old cable and install the new one. At restart, the chime was back and the sound is working fine again. It cost me $30 plus postage.
I think this is the problem and the solution.

I have exactly the same problem. Unable to find anything helpful. This after the time capsule i also bought 24 months ago crapped out after 18 months -- again, appears to be a common problem. I am worrying that Apple is not what I thought they were.

ME TOO!