Serpento

Q: 27" Cinema Display Sound Issues

My apologies for posting about an issue that has already been covered but I think it is important to highlight what seems to be a pervasive issue with this otherwise awesome display.

Like others, mine worked b-e-a-utifully out of the box. A few days into it however, the sound stopped. I have tried the "unplugging for 15 seconds" trick and it is a temporary fix. I also tried, at the suggestion of Apple Supports, restarting the computer and holding down the command, option, "r" and "p" keys simultaneously until you hear two beeps. That is also a temporary fix.

I want to echo the advise to call Apple Support every time this happens to ensure this issue gets the attention it deserves.

Apart from this very annoying issue, this is one sweet display. I watched Avatar on it the first night just to test it out. I only intended to watch a few minutes but ended up watching the whole thing. Terrific! Of course that was when the sound worked.

Mac Pro Intel, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Oct 11, 2010 12:10 PM

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Q: 27" Cinema Display Sound Issues

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  • by Spammerboy,

    Spammerboy Spammerboy Nov 18, 2010 9:42 AM in response to C Barclay
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 18, 2010 9:42 AM in response to C Barclay
    Same problem here with the 27" display. Seems to happen everytime I restart my MacBook. When I power my MacBook off and then switch it back on, the issue is resolved.
  • by Jason Rapp,

    Jason Rapp Jason Rapp Nov 18, 2010 2:21 PM in response to Serpento
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 18, 2010 2:21 PM in response to Serpento
    Was having the same problem with sound. I went into sound preferences and turned the mute button on then off again and it just started working. We'll see how long it works for. This is after resetting the PRAM, but it was still not working till I hit the mute button on and off again. Odd
  • by outboost,

    outboost outboost Nov 18, 2010 9:01 PM in response to Serpento
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 18, 2010 9:01 PM in response to Serpento
    Having audio issues as well which didn't start until a few days of owning it. Pulling the power is the only way to fix it that I found but I am patiently waiting for a software fix for this ASAP.
  • by BrocktonDave,

    BrocktonDave BrocktonDave Nov 19, 2010 10:26 AM in response to Serpento
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 19, 2010 10:26 AM in response to Serpento
    I have had a 27" monitor for about a month, and my initial call to support they had me reset the power on the laptop. The problem has recurred, and I would do it again. Resetting the power is pretty inconvenient, because I have the computer in a stand in closed mode. Royal pain to take it out, unplug everything, reset the power, plug it all back in, put it back in the rack, etc... Every two or three days when this happens.

    I tried the unplug, wait 30 seconds, plug back in method and it worked so I think I'll do that until someone figures out how to fix it permanently.

    BTW, I don't think it has anything to do with sleep mode as I was using the computer, listening to iTunes, then closed iTunes and a few minutes later I noticed it didn't work.

    The whole delay in volume controls happens too.

    I can switch to the internal speakers, and it will work, but it won't come back if I switch to the monitor again.

    Thought I would add to the throng of people who appear to be having problems with their new monitors.
  • by yfdt,

    yfdt yfdt Nov 19, 2010 4:36 PM in response to Serpento
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 19, 2010 4:36 PM in response to Serpento
    Tried every "workaround" in this thread - problem always returns. Apple support turned into silent mode only replying to the second ask-for-update email every week with same "... apologize ... working ... no ETA ..." response.

    Know another workaround that will definitely work, but it is sad one

    [UltraSharp U2711 27" Monitor with PremierColor|http://slickdeals.net/?pno=42003&lno=2&afsrc=1]
    BTW it is now $742 with stackable codes JW77Q0NTPXR$0K and P?XSB2$8XSH3M3
  • by namurphy,

    namurphy namurphy Nov 20, 2010 7:45 AM in response to yfdt
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 20, 2010 7:45 AM in response to yfdt
    I also had this problem, and tried everything I found on this forum. Some fixes worked for a while (day or a few hours), but I ended up returning the display because it was a pain in the neck. When Apple fixes this, I may try the display again.

    Too bad because I really liked this monitor.
  • by Christopher Wall,

    Christopher Wall Christopher Wall Nov 20, 2010 7:54 AM in response to yfdt
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 20, 2010 7:54 AM in response to yfdt
    yfdt,
    I bought the U2711 after buying the Apple 27', if I had bought the Dell first - I would have bought another Dell and skipped the Apple!!! The only thing about the Apple is that it charges also. I do not seem to have as big an issue with the Apple as everyone else as I go to customer sites several hours a day and the laptop is unplugged and plugged back in 4 or 5 time a day...
  • by macagain2,

    macagain2 macagain2 Nov 20, 2010 10:39 AM in response to Christopher Wall
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 20, 2010 10:39 AM in response to Christopher Wall
    Yes, the Dell will absolutely fix the problem... it has no built in sound!!!

    Oh yeah, sorry, you can buy one of those incredibly pretty looking "sound bars"... BUT you can buy external speakers for the apple too!!!

    Arghh... okay sorry for this useless vent about another useless post. (but I feel better now...)

    Back to the topic... has anyone tried plugging into a switched power strip, and seeing if switching that on/off works (i.e. like unplugging/replugging)? If so, that might be enough of a workaround for me to just do that every night before shutting down for the night...

    thanks!

    seriously, not trying to offend anyone... pls. take with grain of salt...

    Message was edited by: macagain2
  • by erikmh,

    erikmh erikmh Nov 20, 2010 6:33 PM in response to Serpento
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 20, 2010 6:33 PM in response to Serpento
    Same problem here, with a 4-day-old display: USB sound cuts out, volume controls are sluggish. It also seems like other USB traffic (such as my Kinesis keyboard) is slowed down significantly.

    Definitely not related to sleep here: it's happened twice in less than an hour, without my MBP sleeping. Thank heavens for jeremypk's "just unplug & replug the monitor" workaround from Apple!

    I'm keeping the monitor for now (nearly 3 hours to the nearest Apple Store).

    Never did like USB....
  • by ShortArc,

    ShortArc ShortArc Nov 20, 2010 7:20 PM in response to erikmh
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 20, 2010 7:20 PM in response to erikmh
    Exchange my defective ACD for a new one today. Unfortunately after a few hours of use, the new display exhibited the same no sound issues. The folks at the Apple store told me they only had a few bad displays...just unlucky I guess. Now it is wait time for Apple to give us some resolution.....
  • by peter_c,

    peter_c peter_c Nov 20, 2010 8:09 PM in response to thehouston
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 20, 2010 8:09 PM in response to thehouston
    And another one. 15" MBP + 27" screen. Sound worked fine, then after 1.5 days it all stopped, sluggish volume adjustment etc.

    Just like everybody else.
  • by theBigD23,

    theBigD23 theBigD23 Nov 20, 2010 9:07 PM in response to ShortArc
    Level 1 (29 points)
    iOS Apps
    Nov 20, 2010 9:07 PM in response to ShortArc
    All of the displays are bad when using USB for audio. You also need to plug in USB to control brightness, so it's not good to leave it unplugged. I have a bad feeling, after how quickly the MBA issue was fixed and some other issues, that this is a major problem. I'm not getting emails back from support either, which is definitely not good.
  • by namurphy,

    namurphy namurphy Nov 21, 2010 8:24 AM in response to theBigD23
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 21, 2010 8:24 AM in response to theBigD23
    I agree that this may not be a simple fix, which is the reason I just decided to get my money back. As we all have experienced, most of the fixes are temporary. When I called support, I was immediately escalated to the next level. Support had a series of questions re: hibernation, sleep, and status of the MBP. I could not find any consistent pattern for when the audio quit and all audio controls became sluggish.

    Support was not too encouraging, except to say they are aware of the problem and are trying to find a fix. I was not comfortable with that, so I got my money back.

    I was told, however, that I could only return the monitor once. If I decided to exchange it for a new display, I would not be able to get my money back on the second display - even if it had the same audio problems. Since Apple seemed a little clueless about how to fix the problem, I felt I had no choice but to just return it.
  • by El Louis,

    El Louis El Louis Nov 21, 2010 12:48 PM in response to namurphy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 21, 2010 12:48 PM in response to namurphy
    I have the same problem.

    I tried what was suggested by Mitch 751.
    The problem came back after a week.

    I'll call the support.
  • by Mitch 751,

    Mitch 751 Mitch 751 Nov 21, 2010 11:39 PM in response to C Barclay
    Level 6 (11,544 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 21, 2010 11:39 PM in response to C Barclay
    It did come back this morning, but I did realize there is a "comp.apple.driver.appleUSBdisplays.plist", might as well delete it. Also rather than individual delete the plist files, I deleted the whole Audio file (in the preference".

    See if this can fix for long.
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