Sound/volume shortcuts, balance.

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Level 1

31 points

Sound/volume shortcuts, balance.

not really a problem, more of a confusion. It started when i noticed that there was no sound coming out of one of the speakers, i thought the sound card had broken after testing some external speakers, before wondering if it was because of some setting of the 'balance'. after mooching around system preferences, i found the balance meter, and sure enough it was all the way to the left.

this has now happened on a number of occasions, yet i never change the setting! i was wondering whether there was a shortcut (command, option, left for example) or something which can change the balance without me directly altering it in system preferences.

Phil

iBook G4 12", Mac OS X (10.4.5), 1.33 GHz PowerPC G4 with 512 MB RAM

Posted on Feb 25, 2006 8:17 AM

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Answer 1

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Dr. Smoke

Level 9

56,586 points

Feb 25, 2006 8:34 AM in response to Phil Hale

Hi, Phil.

There was a bug like this under Jagaur. The problem would happen if you rapidly pressed the keyboard volume keys while the processor is heavily loaded. If was documented in "Mac OS X 10.2: Audio Balance Unexpectedly Drifts." I've not seen any reports like this under Tiger, but it's something you might want to check.

What external speakers are you using? In what audio apps do you first notice the problem?

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

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Answer 2

Phil Hale Author

Level 1

31 points

Feb 25, 2006 11:08 AM in response to Dr. Smoke

i conducted a highly scientific experiment....er....ahem....which meant command+a in the application folder, followed by pressing enter a load of times and changing the volume rapidly 😉. and sure enough, the balance changed ( i could tell by /system preferences / sound / output). that support article you mentioned is pretty useless on apples behalf, "change it back" seems to be the general idea.

don't know what to do really other than not change the volume when doing cpu intensive stuff (?). i use creature 2 speakers, and i first noticed the problem in iTunes.

Phil

EDIT: actually, is this anything to do with the well documented problem where the volume change keys are unresponsive? now thats a lot more annoying. any info?

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Answer 3

Dr. Smoke

Level 9

56,586 points

Feb 26, 2006 1:32 AM in response to Phil Hale

Hi, Phil.

Thanks for posting back. Interesting that there's still a potential bug here, as shown by your experiment.

1. Are you using the iBook's keyboard or either an external Apple keyboard or external third-party keyboard? If external keyboard, does the problem occur when using only the iBook's keyboard?

2. I'd suggest either pressing the Volume adjustment keys more slowly or using the Volume adjustment menu extra (icons on the right side of the menu bar), which can be enabled in System Preferences > Sound by selecting "Show volume in menu bar" at the bottom of the preference pane.

3. Can you reproduce the problem with the Creature 2 speakers detached? I know they're a JBL product — are they USB-based speakers or do they use a standard RCA mini-jack to connect?

4. You wrote:

"EDIT: actually, is this anything to do with the well documented problem where the volume change keys are unresponsive? now thats a lot more annoying. any info? "

Perhaps you can define the problem more precisely. For example, does nothing appear when they are pressed and they don't adjust volume, or do they simply not adjust volume?

For example:

4.1. There was a known issue that the Volume keys could be unresponsive if the keyboard is connected to a KVM switchbox. See "Mac OS X: Some Key Commands May Not Work with KVM Switchbox."

4.2. There have been a number of issues reported re: iSub volume adjustment with Tiger, but no solution at present.

4.3. May be an issue with some third-party keyboards if you're using one as I asked above in point 1. If you had to install vendor-provided software along with a third-party keyboard for customizing the keyboard, you might want to check the vendor's Web site for updates to that software.

4.4. If you're not seeing visual feedback (floating speaker symbol showing volume setting when pressing Volume keys), this could be due to corrupted Bezel Services preferences. Bezel Services is the function which handles things like the display of the large white "Eject" icon on the screen when you press the Eject key, or the large Volume and Mute icons that appear when you press these keys. To resolve this:
4.4.1 Trash file

com.apple.BezelServices.plist

in your Home > Library > Preferences folder.

4.4.. Empty the Trash.

4.4.3 Log out then log in — or restart your Mac.
4.5. If you're not hearing audio feedback when you press the Volume keys, select Play feedback when volume keys are pressed in the System Preferences > Sound > Sound Effects tab.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

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Answer 4

Phil Hale Author

Level 1

31 points

Feb 26, 2006 4:16 AM in response to Dr. Smoke

1) i am using the ibooks keyboard, and unfortunately do not have another keyboard to see if it is a problem with the iBooks keyboard

2) i did the same test again, and used the volume adjustment in the menu bar, and the balance was unaffected. this is a nice workaround, thanks, doesn't solve the problem though 😟

3. yeah, the problem occurs with the creature's attached or detached. they connect using the standard RCA mini-jack.

4) this ones hard to explain, the logo appears, but the volume doesn't change to begin with. if i was to hold down the volume up, for example, i would hear a fainter, 'duller' version of the 'click' noise (more than once, every 1 second approximately), but only very faintly, and the logo would show that the volume is increasing, but it moves up slower than expected, then there would be an explosion of clicks all at roughly the same time (lol) when the volume reaches the maximum, and thats when the volume is changed. does this make any sense??

thanks,

Phil

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Answer 5

Dr. Smoke

Level 9

56,586 points

Feb 27, 2006 6:12 PM in response to Phil Hale

4) Starting with a low volume setting, if I press-and-hold the Volume Up key, I get a click, then either nothing until I release the key or perhaps one intermediate click. The visual feedback displays normally. If I press the Volume Up key individually, I receive a click for each key press, combined with the expected visual feedback. Same for the Volume Down key.

I normally use the Volume keys by individual key press vs. press-and-hold.

I suspect these keys and their feedback may be more designed for use with individual key press gestures rather than a press-and-hold approach ala an analog volume control.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

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Answer 6

Phil Hale Author

Level 1

31 points

Feb 28, 2006 1:11 PM in response to Dr. Smoke

sorry, i must have worded that slightly incorrectly. Even pressing the keys individually results in the unresponsiveness. It's not just when the CPU is busy, it happens (what seems to be) randomly. It might be after a long time of not adjusting the volume, does it have to load the volume-changing-icon-thing into the memory?

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Answer 7

Dr. Smoke

Level 9

56,586 points

Feb 28, 2006 7:30 PM in response to Phil Hale

Well, all code that the processor executes is loaded in memory for execution.

When it is unresponsive, do you also see the spinning beach ball? If so, you might want to see my "Spinning Beach Ball Of Death (SBBOD)" FAQ, specifically the section entitled "SBBOD spins for 30-35 seconds. You may hear your hard drives spinning up."

Another thing to look into: immediately after the problem occurs, check Console for clues. The visual feedback is handled by Bezel Services.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

---
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:

I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

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Answer 8

Quick

Level 3

520 points

Mar 1, 2006 3:48 AM in response to Phil Hale

I am using 10.4.5 and have the same basic issue. Not all the way over to one side, but off center for sure. Has happened no matter what speakers I am listening to. A Monsoon MM700, a Klipsch Ultra 5.1 or a 2800 watt Adcom 7.1 with 8 big JBL T3's and 3 subs. Happened under Panther as well. It occurs fairly regularly to the point that it has become habit for me to open System Preferences and check Sound before I turn up the volume. Has not mattered if I am using the PowerBook's keyboard or my Apple Bluetooth wireless. Same outcome. Also, it does not change during use. I can press the volume buttons as fast as my fingers can press on either keyboard, balance remains the same. I mostly use the menu bar volume icon anyway. Seems like it happens only when I open iTunes, but I have not looked that close at it. I know this doesn't help, just wanted to let ya know you're not the only one. Just one of the quirks. I'll take Mac quirks over anything Windoze any day, every day. ooops, out came the bias! Have fun... Quick

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Answer 9

Phil Hale Author

Level 1

31 points

Mar 1, 2006 11:12 AM in response to Quick

Nice to know I'm not alone with this issue. although i agree that there are a lot less annoyances in mac than windows, the nature of the annoyances is often very different on macs.

another problem I'm having is that the red 'close' button in the top left of the window does not always work! as in, it doesn't always respond to a good-ol-clicking, i have to avert the attention to something else, usually finder, and then the close works. also, (this isn't really a bug but hey), i like using command + shift + a to open applications, but chances are I'm not in finder, otherwise i'd click on the applications tab 😉, so its quite annoying that i have to switch to finder before pressing the shortcut. i think there should be some 'locked' shortcuts which work no matter what application I'm using. i use the spaces either side of my dock to get finders 'attention' too much.

back to the topic though, no mine doesnt go all the way to one side or another, and the number of volume changes when the mac is unresponsive is not proportional to the amount of change. i adjusted the volume up by 1, and the balance changed by about half way towards the right!

this just got me thinking; with earphones in, i notice that turning the volume up makes a 'click' slightly biased to the right earphone, and volume down creates a left biased click. also, the balance is changed to the right when i turn the volume up, and to the left when i adjust the volume down. interesting, any ideas?

Phil

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Answer 10

Phil Hale Author

Level 1

31 points

Mar 14, 2006 3:37 PM in response to Phil Hale

its been a couple of weeks now, i guess no one knows the true answer! it would be great to get to the bottom of this...

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Answer 11

Phil Hale Author

Level 1

31 points

Mar 25, 2006 3:31 PM in response to Phil Hale

sigh, guess this is a thoroughly dead - thread.

thanks for helping guys, esp. Dr. Smoke

Phil

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Answer 12

glb

Level 2

310 points

Apr 17, 2006 12:37 PM in response to Phil Hale

Apple really needs to fix this. It's been doing this to me constantly in the past few days. I've had this problem for a while, but now it's starting to really bug me.

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Answer 13

Phil Hale Author

Level 1

31 points

Apr 18, 2006 10:59 AM in response to glb

i know, its starting to REALLY pi$$ me off as well, i'm considering ringing applecare but i'm not sure they'd really help, as its not a documented problem. surely its not just us two with this problem, do we think its hardware or software??

whats your setup...?

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Answer 14

DBJ

Level 1

30 points

Apr 30, 2006 4:32 PM in response to Phil Hale

I have the same problem, and I'm using only proprietary products, ie: my PowerBook G4 keyboard and internal speakers or iTunes headphones. Seems to be completely Apple's fault, no?

- DBJ

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Answer 15

Phil Hale Author

Level 1

31 points

May 1, 2006 11:49 AM in response to DBJ

same here, also worth mentioning it still happens when using the 'manual' volume icon in the menu bar to change the volume. i havnt got free applecare anymore, dont suppose you fancy ringing them up and seeing what they say do you? (or anyone for that matter)

Phil

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