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User profile for user: Carsten.Roth
Carsten.Roth Author
User level: Level 1
33 points

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

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User profile for user: airbeau
airbeau
User level: Level 1
9 points

Posted on Oct 15, 2012 4:00 AM

Well the previous fix lasted all of 2 hours. Now I have the sound working again by resetting the PRAM. Here's how;

  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
  3. Turn on the computer.
  4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.
  5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
  6. Release the keys.

We'll see how long this fix lasts...

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User profile for user: airbeau
airbeau
User level: Level 1
9 points

Oct 15, 2012 4:00 AM in response to airbeau

Well the previous fix lasted all of 2 hours. Now I have the sound working again by resetting the PRAM. Here's how;

  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
  3. Turn on the computer.
  4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.
  5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
  6. Release the keys.

We'll see how long this fix lasts...

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User profile for user: Philip Bendall
Philip Bendall
User level: Level 1
0 points

Oct 4, 2008 4:17 PM in response to Carsten.Roth

From about 2 October my MacBook Air developed the same problems as described above: no sound output and (flash) video playback issues.

Pressing the volume buttons on the keyboard flashes up the level indicator on the screen but it does not change, and also a little "O" with a line through it appears underneath. The Sound Preference panel says "No Input Devices Found" and "No Output Devices Found", and the volume slider is grayed out, set a max, with a grayed Mute box ticked.

Flash video on various sites plays only for a second or two before stopping, although the file continues to load in.

The only software I've installed around the same time this problem first occurred was CoolIris. I have since removed it using its Remove option in one of the menus.

I have also had system crashes when trying to wake from sleep. The machine gives the blue screen and either locks up, or freshly reboots to the Login Screen (with previously logged in users now logged out, ie a restart).

I think, but am not 100% certain, that I updated iTunes after the problem first appeared.
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User profile for user: hherunter
hherunter
User level: Level 1
0 points

Oct 14, 2008 10:09 AM in response to Carsten.Roth

Hmm ... sorry, but in my opinion it cannot be a hardware-problem. with my mba sound also stopped around beginning of october, when I updated iTunes to version 8.0.1 or a little after. Same symptoms as many others here: No audio-icon on the screen, no input-device and no output device in the control-panel, iTunes playing not possible, also no Youtube or other flash-movies.
Then I tried a few things, first safe boot, then run the whole Onyx procedure (repair permissions, clean up all caches, boot cache, kernel cache, Quicktime components, audio components ...) and restart. And suddenly sound is back again - at least for some hours. I did that that twice already and it worked for some time. So i doubt it is a hardware-problem - if I am wrong with this - please tell me!
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User profile for user: jgreafor
jgreafor
User level: Level 1
5 points

Oct 4, 2008 2:25 PM in response to PatQ

I have a similar issue, (1) I have no sound from either my internal speaker or from headphones, (2) the volume control does not appear in the menu bar, (3) opening garage band brings up an error code "Core Audio: Selected Driver not found. (-10202)", (4) in iTunes I cannot play songs (the tiny speaker icon to the left of on the song shows volume but the timeline at top does not advance), (5) same youtube issue (appears to start but stops after a second or two), (6) some other video (for example ABC full episode player) will play but no audio.

I tried (1) cold boot, (2) zapping the nvram, (3) reinstalling quickplayer, no change. The other threads are for other hardware and refer to a headphone jack reset issue, but that seems to involve different hardware (there is no "red indicator light" on the mba).

This problem appeared out of nowwhere, it happened after (but not immediately after and apparently not associated with) installing itunes 8.0.1.

any help would be greatly appreciated...
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User profile for user: marcopolo
marcopolo
User level: Level 1
5 points

Jul 29, 2012 4:13 PM in response to Dinan101

Dinan101


This issue seems to plague the MacAir and no one seems to have the best answer. I was able to correct the problem on my daughter's MacAir by deleting the preference "bezel services". We previously replaced the audio cable and then the problem came back. Since deleting bezel services the issue has not returned for six months.


Here are all of the known steps to recover your audio. (copied from HighTechDad.com)

How to fix the “No Output Devices found” issue on your Mac:


Reboot – rebooting your computer is a tried and true method for “fixing” all sorts of problems (and it is not limited to just Macs, it works for PCs too!). Sometimes your computer simply gets confused.

Repair Permissions – this is a good thing to do regularly anyway, especially before and after you install new system software updates. Repairing permissions via the Disk Utility is something that is easy to do but can take a little bit of time.

Reinstall the latest OS X Software Update – this is a great fix for all sorts of issues as well. Go to the Apple site and download the latest Combo Update for your version of OS X. And be sure to Repair Permissions after installing the combo update.

Start in Safe Mode – try booting in “Safe Mode” by holding down the Shift key when starting up. Check to see if the audio is working after that. If it does work, there may be some other type of conflict going on and I would continue with the tips below.

Delete the BezelServices preferences file – this is a mysteriously magical file. It controls those on-screen images that you see when you change the volume, eject DVDs/CDs, change brightness, etc. But it also seems to be the source of all sorts of odd issues that you can never figure out, and tends to get corrupted. But the fix is easy and relatively safe. Go this preference file (location shown below) and just delete it and reboot. Location & filename:

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

Plug in a USB headset – sometimes your Mac simply gets confused and needs to be literally poked by another audio output device. If you have a USB headset or speaker, plug that in and see if you get audio output through that device. If you do, that’s great! Then try unplugging the USB device and see if your on-board audio output device starts working. (Give it a reboot as well just to be sure it “sticks”).

Plug in standard headphones – the funny thing is, the fastest and easiest fix is the one that actually worked for me. I just took some headphones from my iPhone and plugged it into the headphone jack and magically the on-board audio output started working (it might have worked had I tried the USB headset fix above – but I couldn’t find one). This was another case of the Mac just needing to be prodded by something to get it going. I DON’T recommend sticking anything else into that headphone jack though (grin!).

I would love to find out what solution worked for you or if none of them worked. I saw plenty of threads on the Apple Discussion forums around this issue and it seems to happen to any type of portable Mac. If it still doesn’t work, you can take it the Apple Store to get fixed. If you have a MacBook Air, you might want to check out iFixIt.com for an Audio Cable replacement and install which you can potentially do yourself (but only for those who know what they are doing please!).


Remember, if you just keep digging around, you will eventually find a solution.


HTD says: Let me know if this did or did not work for you. Best of luck.

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User profile for user: Hammas
Hammas
User level: Level 1
8 points

Sep 18, 2009 9:37 AM in response to Carsten.Roth

Had this problem as well. Changed the flex-cable 922-8380 and now it works again. Very useful thread here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1529839&start=15&tstart=0

Why is it archived? I understand that this thread is a duplicate but still, the photos are very helpful.

Also: This is a clear case of manufacture error. This low quality of components is not what I associate with Apple. My MBA is only 18 months old. Really crappy!
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User profile for user: Hammas
Hammas
User level: Level 1
8 points

Sep 26, 2009 1:43 AM in response to MBair++ipod touch

By that price it sounds like your computer was wreck when you handed it in. 970 $ is a new Macbook ffs.
On my MBA a flex cable was the thing that caused my sound to vanish. The flex-cable had broken in one folding. Check this link for images: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1529839&start=15&tstart=0. It's the cable marked 1 that broke.
I bought one for 27€ and changed it my self. Works like a charm now.

Doesn't your repair shop leave some sort of warranty on their work. In Sweden standard on these kind of jobs is 3 months.
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User profile for user: David8888
David8888
User level: Level 1
1 points

Oct 21, 2009 6:55 AM in response to David8888

Justin ARGH

Posts: 7
From: San Francisco
In reading Justin's fix and the link on how to do it, I see that the flex cable runs over the battery, is near the fan. How much you all wanna bet that after the Snow upgrade, with my MBA hot as a lit stove, that cable melted.

Anybody get a look at the old cable that they or the Genius guys switched out?


http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10266381&#10266381

Re: MacBook Air (Rev. A) Audio In and Out Broken
Posted: Sep 21, 2009 10:57 PM in response to: Justin ARGH


The issue was the MacBook Air Audio Flex Cable. I purchased a $19 plus shipping replacement from http://www.applecomponents.com/items/0000002566/922-8380_audio-board-flex-cable/ and installed it using the directions at: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-MacBook-Air-Audio-Cable/861/1.
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User profile for user: agabot
agabot
User level: Level 1
5 points

Oct 4, 2008 7:21 PM in response to Philip Bendall

It's a hardware problem. And it's becoming a widespread thing, from the looks of it.

It happened to me last June. I tried everything you guys did, to no avail. So I took it to the local Apple service center here in Manila and they did determine it was a hardware problem: the audio board and the flex cable were screwed.

So they replaced two things: Audio Board (Part No.922-8379), and Audio Board Flex Cable (Part No.922-8380). I got it back and it worked fine.

Here's the kicker - last month it happened AGAIN. Apropos of nothing (no installs, nothing new software-side), the sound quit working, just like the last time. What was new was that I got a kernel panic after I woke up the Air from sleep, and then when I restarted, no audio. Again.

(I don't know if this is significant, but the night before, I was oddly getting double-audio out watching something on VLC. The audio was echoing or repeating a second later. Thought nothing of it at first.)

Now it's borked again, and I have to bring it back to the shop. Not in a hurry, because audio isn't mission critical to how I use my Air, but it sure is a bummer.

I make do for the meantime with a USB iMic from Griffin, and earphones or external speakers if I need audio, but it's really bothersome to have use a dongle just to get audio.

Apple should really look into this. I have half a mind to write about it in my newspaper column and raise a stink. Hey, I think I will.
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User profile for user: Carsten.Roth
Carsten.Roth Author
User level: Level 1
33 points

Oct 5, 2008 1:09 AM in response to Carsten.Roth

Thanks Agabot, you really should publish that.

It all looks like a epidemic failure without any direct influence of user behaviour. When my audio screwed up, it was the same thing coming from sleep mode like thousand times before.

The main objective of this threat from my perspective is to find an effective countermeassure. Agabot says only through component change, so i do hope we will get some more feedback to confirm same/similar cases.

And by the way: Audio is a basic function and for me it is critical !
Thanks
Carsten
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User profile for user: nbirnes
nbirnes
User level: Level 1
0 points

Oct 5, 2008 9:14 AM in response to Carsten.Roth

I agree! I've been following this thread very closely, ever since yesterday morning when I lost my sound entirely. Suddenly, the icon is gone -- and I know I didn't cause this. I've since zapped the pram, restarted, restarted, restarted ... searched the other forums for a clue ... and now this is harsh news indeed.

Also, YouTube videos -- in addition to no sound -- are not running. Maybe that's a small clue that it's software instead of hardware? I am so hoping to see a fix from Apple via software updates before I have to take this in and leave it at the store.

It would be cheaper to get the dongle described. But how can it be a hardware issue if the dongle works? Clutching at straws, I know ... but more info would be great, at least for this misery-loving company.
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MacBook Air no audio output device found ???????? *please help*

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