Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

iMac Doesn't Detect Headphones

I have a ~year old 24" iMac (2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo) that I just suddenly started having a problem with. I use headphones pretty regularly and they are almost always plugged into the headphone jack. Recently, I lent my headphones to someone and, when I plugged them back in, the machine doesn't detect them. The audio works just fine coming out of the internal speakers, it's just that it always comes out of the internal speakers, no matter if the headphones are plugged in or not (the headphones also work fine when plugged in somewhere else). I took a look at the Sound Preferences panel and, sure enough, it doesn't detect the headphones as plugged in. Does anyone have any suggestions on troubleshooting?

I'm not sure it matters, but I did just recently upgraded to 10.5.6. The headphones worked after the upgrade, but it may be that this is the first time they were replugged in after the upgrade.

iMac 24" 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Jan 21, 2009 10:56 AM

17 replies

boarder9

Level 1

0 points

Jan 30, 2009 2:23 PM in response to Betelgeuse135

I had a similar problem except I have external speakers plugged into the headphone jack. The speakers stopped working after the power was turned off in my house (doing some remodeling). In conjunction, my backup drive also was not being recognized. I thought it might be a problem with the ports so I brought it into the apple store. And of course when they tested it, everything worked. They said that by unplugging everything and then waiting (in my case overnight) it reset itself. Have you tried unplugging everything and then waiting at least a half hour? My speakers didn't work at first, I kept plugging and unplugging them and finally they started working again. My TM backup is sporadic still. I think there is a glitch in the ports. Occasionally my keyboard stops working too.

Apr 11, 2009 4:37 PM in response to Betelgeuse135

Hi. Same problem here. When plugging in headphones system preferences' sound output selection displays them for second, then jumps back to "Internal Speakers". Also, I cannot setup anything else than internal speakers in Audio MIDI Setup. Thus, internal speakers are always on even if headphones are connected, no red light in the jack when headphones are not in.
Any idea? Lubing with WD40 didn't help either.
Thanks a lot...

iMac Doesn't Detect Headphones