M1 Mac Mini Sound Devices Disappear

I have an even better fix now but it comes with a health warning because I don't know if it could have unintended consequences. You might need to reinstall certain audio software to get all your drivers back but then at least you'll know which one is causing the issue.

**** I would highly recommend that you do a Time Machine backup before you try this just in case of issues******

Go to Finder, Go, Go To Folder (this is necessary because the Library folder does not show up in Finder by default)

Type in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/ - don't forget the first slash.

Delete everything in that folder, this will probably remove all your audio drivers, in my case many of them were old and no longer necessary and I've reinstalled what I need.

This has been a permanent fix for me so far and holding thumbs.

Go to Apple > System Preferences > Energy Saver

check "Prevent computer from sleeping automatically...." and uncheck the remaining "boxes"

then restart the M1 and test to see if your sounds device return when waking the display from sleep mode.

Mac mini (M1, 2020) running 12.1 with the same issue. I notice now that this always happens after I use Airplay to send music to an Onkyo receiver. The audio devices go missing. I only notice this because I fire up Logic to make some music and then it tells me that it has no devices. Very frustating as these M1's x15 of are used in a music production studio. Thank you for the suggestion of sudo killall coreaudiod as this is much better than restarting and a much better solution than Apple supports suggestion as to reset every single M1 back to defaults and reinstall the OS 😔

Stats for nerds and developers concerned with this problem:

Model Name: Mac mini

  Model Identifier: Macmini9,1

  Chip: Apple M1

  Total Number of Cores: 8 (4 performance and 4 efficiency)

  Memory: 8 GB

  System Firmware Version: 7429.61.2

  OS Loader Version: 7429.61.2

Dell USB Entry Keyboard:

  Product ID: 0x2107

  Vendor ID: 0x413c  (Dell Inc.)

  Version: 1.15

  Speed: Up to 1.5 Mb/s

  Manufacturer: Dell

  Location ID: 0x00114300 / 10

  Current Available (mA): 500

  Current Required (mA): 100

  Extra Operating Current (mA): 0

Miscellaneous Device:

  Product ID: 0x0825

  Vendor ID: 0x046d  (Logitech Inc.)

  Version: 0.12

  Serial Number: 2CD6DD90

  Speed: Up to 480 Mb/s

  Location ID: 0x00114200 / 9

  Current Available (mA): 500

  Current Required (mA): 500

  Extra Operating Current (mA): 0

AKM320:

  Product ID: 0x3c01

  Vendor ID: 0x1acc

  Version: 0.13

  Serial Number: MIDIPLUS-D7-3C01-011DAC01

  Speed: Up to 12 Mb/s

  Manufacturer: MIDIPLUS

  Location ID: 0x00112000 / 6

  Current Available (mA): 500

  Current Required (mA): 40

  Extra Operating Current (mA): 0

USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter:

  Product ID: 0x1463

  Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)

  Version: 42.06

  Serial Number: DLC137301YMKD56AL

  Speed: Up to 12 Mb/s

  Manufacturer: Apple Inc

  Location ID: 0x00120000 / 11

  Current Available (mA): 500

  Current Required (mA): 100

  Extra Operating Current (mA): 0

Devices:

LG HDR 4K:

  Manufacturer: GSM

  Output Channels: 2

  Current SampleRate: 48000

  Transport: HDMI

  Output Source: Default

LG HDR 4K:

  Manufacturer: GSM

  Output Channels: 2

  Current SampleRate: 48000

  Transport: HDMI

  Output Source: Default

Unknown USB Audio Device:

  Default Input Device: Yes

  Input Channels: 1

  Manufacturer: Unknown Manufacturer

  Current SampleRate: 48000

  Transport: USB

  Input Source: Default

External Headphones:

  Default Output Device: Yes

  Default System Output Device: Yes

  Manufacturer: Apple Inc.

  Output Channels: 2

  Current SampleRate: 48000

  Transport: Built-in

  Output Source: External Headphones

Mac mini Speakers:

  Manufacturer: Apple Inc.

  Output Channels: 2

  Current SampleRate: 48000

  Transport: Built-in

  Output Source: Mac mini Speakers

update...I think I may have found out what the problem is. I noticed that every time I open my AirPods case and my Mac tries to pick them up and use them for audio on my Mac, I think it kills my audio sources. I tried to tell my Mac to "forget" my AirPods, but for some reason it erased them from my phone too!! But I didn't use them today on purpose to see if my audio devices would stay active, and they did. I have the 1st addition regular AirPods so I wonder if it's just an issue with those? It's really annoying though because I often talk on my phone while I'm working on my computer and I need to be able to use my AirPods. I'm gonna test this theory out again and update again.

I've had this on my MacBook Air M1 and it was driving me potty.

I just installed Monterey 12.01 and it seems to have fixed the problem.

Confirm same problem with M1 Macbook Pro. I cannot establish any repeatable cause but I have to restart from time to time. I got a new Macbook Pro and installed Monterey. The problem first started after I installed the Zoom client optimised for the M1 but this may be coincidence.

I’ve just tried this - the previous workaround restarting the audio demon was better than rebooting but I’m hoping that clearing out the HAL directory will fix things permanently.

Same here (Mac Pro M1) with this issue and no official answer from Apple? I contacted them like more than 10 times and no solution, they keep making me try things that don't fix the problem, spent so much time on it and I am not keen to keep spending my time trying to solve this, horrible support from Apple.

Same issue all of a sudden with no input sound devices on my M1 mini. Rebooted on an external SSD (Thunderbolt) and had the same thing with a completely different boot configuration. Updated Big Sur but no help. USB Audio Codec is a must for digital amateur radio which is what this mini is used for.

I have the M1 Mac mini and I have the same issue. They will disappear while computer is on and running. It is getting more frequent. I have an audio interface and DJ controller hooked up because I DJ online and it knocks both of them out. This is very concerning and needs to be fix asap!!!!

I don't have a solution but I do have a quick fix so that you don't have to restart every time.

Run Terminal

Type in: sudo killall coreaudiod

Enter your password.

After you've done this the audio devices will magically reappear.

I have a brand new MacBook Pro M1 Pro 14inch and I'm having the same issue. I just upgraded from a Mac Mini 2020 M1 which had the same issue. This is Bull *****!

I cannot move anything into the trash can that is the "Hal" folder so that's a bust of an option for me.

Same problem. Updated to Monterey but the problem has not been fixed