iMac 27 5K 2017 - No Internal Speaker in Sound > Output

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iMac 27 5K 2017 - No Internal Speaker in Sound > Output

No Internal Speaker in Sound > Output

iMac 27 5K 2017. Have no sound on internal speaker, Sound > Output shows headphones, but there is no headphones plugged in (if I plug headphones they work), but when unplugging them audio source still shows headphones, checked the headphone jack nothing is stuck, tried to clean the headphone port - no changes. Spoke with Apple technical support - reseted the PRAM and NVRAM also SMC still no change, also recovery mode tried and recover from backups several weeks ago even tried OS reinstall - still no change.

Researching a little bit looks like:

“The background on the issue is that there’s a small sensor switch inside the headphone port. When you insert a headphone jack, the sensor understands what's what and changes the sound output setting to Headphones. If you insert a jack for digital audio output, the device changes to Digital Out. When you remove the jack completely, it should read Internal Speakers.”

Can somebody show the diagram which pin/pins in the headphone jack (visible are 6 pins) are responsible for the sensor for tripping correctly.

I think Apple should make a recall for the headphone jacked sensor, as looking in the Apple Communities discussions that problem seems to be over 8-10 year.

Also would be a great solution if Apple would allow us from Multi-Output device option, manually select what primary output should be used, regardless if headphones are plugged or not.

Thanks you, hopefully to get a feedback about the issue.

iMac 27" 5K, 10.15

Posted on Jan 4, 2020 11:38 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,970 points

Jan 5, 2020 7:45 AM in response to beast_m_a

The primary problem I see. is the computer is starved for RAM, it only has the original 8 GB of RAM which is considered the bare minimum to run Mac OS. I would add an additional 16GB of either Crucial.com or Macsales.com RAM. iMacs are sensitive to using quality RAM and both of these vendors supply high quality products, have fair pricing and excellent service. In short there is no reason to not use one of them.

I would also restart the computer in Safe Mode per: Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support
Reset the NVRAM per: How to reset NVRAM on your Mac
Reset the SMC (2-3 times back to back with all external peripherals disconnected) per: SMC Reset

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Answer 2

beast_m_a Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 5, 2020 12:17 PM in response to rkaufmann87

About RAM - I can turn off all the apps to free RAM, but it still will not isolate the audio headphone issue.

Results:

I would also restart the computer in Safe Mode per: Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support

In safe mode there is no audio input and output at all.

Reset the NVRAM per: How to reset NVRAM on your Mac

Did, no changes, still the same.

Reset the SMC (2-3 times back to back with all external peripherals disconnected) per: SMC Reset

Did over 5+ times, no changes, still the same.

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Answer 3

beast_m_a Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 6, 2020 10:31 PM in response to beast_m_a

OK, it solved, here is the deal.

Having some engineering background I was able to detect that it is not an internal issues or speaker issue, it has had something jacked into this port, as audio source was always said output "headphones" and when I plug/unplug the headphones into the iMac while having audio player playing music the track/song was not pausing that give me a good evidence that iMac still seeing/thinking that headphones are on - not sensing/detecting that they been unplugged.

Phase 1:

Looking very carefully into the headphone jack, I 100% do not have any dust stuck inside, after cleaning the port with some alcohol and simply run a jack in and out of the port a few times - that gave me 0% results.

Phase 2:

Spending hours/days of finding how to make correctly tripping the sensor I got to this 2 topics:

-Switching Audio Between Speakers and Headphones https://www.cuidevices.com/image/getimage/9165?typecode=m

-Detect When the Plug Is Inserted https://www.cuidevices.com/image/getimage/9166?typecode=m

That give me a good understanding what pins are responsible for switching and plug detection.

Using a very thin crochet hook I pulled back the pin under number 10 https://www.cuidevices.com/image/getimage/9171?typecode=m that instantly bring my audio source back to internal speaker.

Source: https://www.cuidevices.com/blog/understanding-audio-jack-switches-and-schematics

Conclusion: if you have old device that you rarely using headphone jack be are that it could get stuck and don't leave headphones plugged into the device over night.

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Answer 4

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,970 points

Jan 4, 2020 11:41 PM in response to beast_m_a

Please navigate to the Mac App Store or navigate to www.Etrecheck.com and download the free version of EtreCheck. Once you have you downloaded the app and installed it, please run the report and save it. This report will help us get a good idea what has been installed on your system and help us be able to diagnose what may be wrong.

When you have your report, you can attach it when you reply to this message and we can then review it and help you determine what is needed to get your system running well again.

For instructions on how to download your EtreCheck report and attach it to your reply to this message please click https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250000211

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Answer 5

beast_m_a Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 5, 2020 12:32 PM in response to den.thed

yeah, tried that with different 3.5mm plug, still the same, do you know how this micro switch inside of the headphone jack looks like?

Is apple use something like this https://i.stack.imgur.com/wEwur.png for circuit to be close or other combination of pins? That's what I am trying to figure out.

Thanks for the suggestion.

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Answer 6

den.thed

Level 9

77,578 points

Jan 5, 2020 12:54 PM in response to beast_m_a

Yea' most all 3.5mm headphone jack are the same.

One difference from the one in your drawing is that it is TRRS instead of TRS. (it has an extra segment for audio input)

https://www.cablechick.com.au/blog/understanding-trrs-and-audio-jacks/

The biggest problem with iMac's, are that the headphone jack is soldered onto the logic board and not mounted in the external case.

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Answer 7

beast_m_a Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 5, 2020 12:57 PM in response to den.thed

OK thanks, got this.

Based on my research headphone jack is connected with flex cable and is not soldered on logical board https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/RSoLgeH3lYvFRMdj.huge so looks like this could be a saver

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Answer 8

beast_m_a Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 5, 2020 12:03 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Etrecheck report

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Answer 9

den.thed

Level 9

77,578 points

Jan 5, 2020 12:26 PM in response to beast_m_a

Try inserting and removing a different 3.5mm audio plug a few times to see if that resets the micro switch inside of the headphone jack. If not then you will need to take that iMac in for service.

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