Thunderbolt Display losing sound

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Level 1

49 points

Thunderbolt Display losing sound

This problem has become more and more frequent and the only way to get the sound back (temporarily) is to do a reboot until it happens again! Happens while running in OS X Lion 10.7.3 on my MacBook Pro i7 (early 2011) wether using the TD with MBP in clamshell mode or extended desktop with TD as main display of course. Done all the usual things, such as check the sound output device is still set to 'Display Audio' within System Preferences > Audio and checked the Audio MIDI Setup utilities within Utilities and that seem in order showing the small speaker and mic Icon alongside the Display Audio as the active device.

This is one of 'several glitches' that I'm currently experiencing (with what is otherwise a very impressive high resolution Display) which is bugging me the most, having the most impacting effect.

Has or is any one else experiencing this? .. I was surprised that a search didn't match any exact problems.

Posted on Feb 27, 2012 1:18 PM

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Answer 1

DIESEL-X Author

Level 1

49 points

Mar 6, 2012 4:24 AM in response to DIESEL-X

Unfortunately this sound problem (one of several problems with the TB Display) hasn't gone away and from what I can make of it, the loss of sound 'mostly' always happens after the Thunderbolt Display has gone to sleep/standby and then it is powered on again by resuming the system (MacBook Pro). There are occasions when the TB display has no sound from boot, but mostly as above after resuming.

Therefore would it be possible to both uninstall and then re-install OS X Lion components and drivers as one would in i.e. windows, which can often cure some problems. I know how to do this in windows, but not aware of how to go about it in OS X Lion and re-installing the software and drivers for both the internal sound card unit and the TB Display might just cure the problem, rather than the often usual procedural quote from Apple of re-installing the entire system and starting from scratch.

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Answer 2

NJ333

Level 1

0 points

Mar 19, 2012 9:49 AM in response to DIESEL-X

I am having this problem too. As you have suggested, restarting computer fixes the problem temporarily. I am running Lion on my 2011 Air i5.

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Answer 3

Mar 20, 2012 7:25 PM in response to NJ333

So I too have this problem. What is weird, is that I have two Thunderbolt displays hooked up to this MBP, and that only of the monitors loses sound, and only loses it for a while, then in bit it returns.

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Answer 4

DIESEL-X Author

Level 1

49 points

May 4, 2012 8:00 AM in response to mrmessagewriter

Although physically turning mains power on & off is a temporary fix, I have foundt hat after doing a complete fresh instal of both Lion and then a fresh install of Bootcamp has seemed to make the problem go away for a while now. Of course the problem could return.

I don't know if it's a problem where the Thunderbolt Display losses some kind of integrity within it's driver's or logic after an initial period or if something is causing a conflist further down the line, who know's. I mention this because initially it appeared ok for a while after purchase and then later the problem started.

It's worth pointing out that this time I re-installed the OS X from scratch with Lion only where'as before I simply upgraded Snow Leopard to Lion. Not sure if this would have anything to do with it, but in my mind I chose to clean instal from Lion to avoid the two stage affair of installing then upgrading. Of course I'm not recommending that anyone reinstalsl the system from scratch using Lion from the start as this might not cure the problem for others.

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