System Preferences / Sound / Preferences do not stay

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Level 1

7 points

System Preferences / Sound / Preferences do not stay

The option to use the external speakers does not stick. I need to reset it every time I boot. Very frustrating. Any help is appreciated. Thank YOU.
Happy New Year. Ross

Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 Quad Core Intel Xeon, Mac OS X (10.6.5), No Airport Card Internet hard wired

Posted on Jan 1, 2011 11:05 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

116,788 points

Jan 1, 2011 11:36 AM in response to RossMilstein

I would suggest deleting the preference list file that controls that, but I can't find it.

If you open both your Library/Preferences and the main /Library/Preferences and put them in List view sorted by date modified. Then, go into system prefs and change the output. You should see a preference file pop to the top. The com.apple.systempreferences.plist will be there, but it doesn't contain the sound settings. It just gets updated when you change preference panes.

There is a com.apple.systemsound.plist, but I didn't see the sound output in it.

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Answer 2

Jan 1, 2011 12:04 PM in response to RossMilstein

This fixed it on my Mac Pro.

Delete these three files:
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.soundpref.plist
/Library/Preferences/Audio/com.apple.audio.DeviceSettings.plist
/Library/Preferences/Audio/com.apple.audio.SystemSettings.plist

Reselect whatever sound device you want as your default in the Sound Preference Pane.

Restart the computer.

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Answer 3

RossMilstein Author

Level 1

7 points

Jan 1, 2011 9:12 PM in response to Malcolm Rayfield

Getting there thank you.
I was able to get rid of the two preference files in the audio folder.
The result is that the volume no longer needs to be reset after each boot, so I definitely thank you for that. I could not find
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.soundpref.plist
and my LINE OUT setting doesn't stick.
Could it be called something else or live somewhere else?
Best for a happy new year.
:Ross

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Answer 4

Dmon3xy

Level 1

0 points

Feb 21, 2011 3:35 AM in response to RossMilstein

I had the same problem with my sound sticks. Apple tech support resolved my issue by using Disc Utility (found in the Utilities folder). Click on First Aid then select the HD that runs your OS then click Repair Disk Permissions.

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