Sound stuttering after Mountain Lion install

Dear community,


after having installed OSX Mountain Lion my sound startet stuttering whenever there is rapid movement on my screen.

This includes e.g. window movement, scrolling through image loaded websites or video playback (flash player, quicktime).

A restart didn't help. I'm using stereo output, not digital.


I have connected a second monitor but the problem persists after disconnecting it. Movement on the second monitor also causes the sound to stutter.

My GPU Diode temperature is at 85°C (there is some bug that keeps the GPU under load while a second monitor is connected AFAIK), but I guess it was the same under Snow Leopard.


In Snow Leopard the sound output was always perfect even under heavy load or heavy HDD I/O.


Any ideas?

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Jul 28, 2012 5:48 AM

Reply
1,223 replies

Aug 31, 2012 4:02 PM in response to tttxx

Hey!

I think most of us paid for Lion and are angry that Apple deleted it from the Appstore. thats true. Well…it's not!

Here is a little tutorial to fix the sound shuttering by reinstalling Lion:

  1. You'll need a Mac with Lion (or older versions like Snow Leopard) installed, because Apple does not allow to download an old version on a newer OS (I am lucky, I have a Macbook 2009 white unibody with Lion installed). But maybe you have friends with a Lion Mac or you have a Lion Mac at work....
  2. Open Mac Appstore
  3. Go to "Purchases"User uploaded file
  4. Scroll down to the date you installed Lion (Mid 2011?)User uploaded file
  5. Download it by hittling the "load-button".
  6. Make TimeMachine backup of iMac
  7. Copy the file on your iMac (Airdrop/whatever).
  8. Install Lion.
  9. Restore Data from TM Backup
  10. Enjoy your iMac without Audio Shuttering
  11. Wait until Apple releases a fix for ML

Aug 31, 2012 8:04 PM in response to FrederikY

Glad that others can reinstall Lion!

I was lucky enough that I saved a copy on DVD, and cloned my drive before the whole Mountain Lion disappointment!

Interesting though that I hear more people with MacBook Pros are having this problem then iMac users! I wonder if it is a combo of the 2GB ATI video and Core i7 on an iMac that is vulnerable!

Meanwhile I'll keep using Lion until I hear that the problem is gone completely! It's a shame really, in Mountain Lion my troubles with Time capsule not being found for backups after a restart went away! One problem was fixed but another one was created!

I've played many hours of Starcraft II since I downgraded to Lion and haven't had a single Audio or system Glitch over the regular speakers or my USB Amp!

Seriously Apple must fix this or in another 2 years or so I'll be switching back to a PC, I just hate to have to go back to a seperate Monitor and CPU again... sigh! as they say... Hate Mountain Lion## almost## wish it worked properly!

Sep 9, 2012 7:41 PM in response to pepper_chico

I emailed apple and got a ER rep from apple and over the first 4 weeks of ML's release went back and forth with tech support and engineers. Executive Relation rep that helped me was an absolute joke. I get they all can't be tech people, but at least get me with competent personnel. I have a 2011 top of the line iMac, which is still for sale today, and it's unreal. It's been powered down now for 2 months and buying Windows when I get the money will be about the only way I can fix this.


Faith is lost in apple with my household and work, and I gratefully read another thread about Image Retention on the retina MBP too and could duplicate it on the default grey apple wallpaper. Seperare subject and I won't derail this one. below is that discussion.


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4034848?answerId=19519164022#19519164022&ac_cid=tw123456#19519164


But all these issues from apple have me wondering what's going on. They have billions so lets just coast on our reputation? Tell customers it's performing as intended? Someone is seeding salt into the soil of apple's walled garden and we are unfortunately reaping the rewards.


So far reinstalling hasn't fixed this for users, a clean install hasn't fixed it, and 10.8.1 and possibly .2 aren't either. Granted and hopefully that changes. Only solution I've seen posted is a reverting back to 10.7.4. But that is a lot of time and work. Plus, I've noted 10.8 pulled the fans back on macs allowing them to run about 15C hotter than under lion, but with decreased performance. Coincidentally, I've gotten a lot of pixel failures on the two iMacs since July. Likely related to ML's increased heat. Hoping this hasn't damaged my hardwar.


Everyone in this thread has done a good job of sharing information and narrowing it down to a software issue.


The only culprit I can imagine this to be is firmware/kernel/driver related. And unfortunately this is out of our hands.

Sep 11, 2012 3:25 AM in response to dcollett.seattle

Hi, everyone.


Like many or most of you, I've tried everything.


I'm sick of this problem. Sicker of Apple not admitting the problem. And disgusted that it has affected so many people. There is still no fix in sight.


If you have already emailed Apple, great! Now please do it again and again and again and again.


It's the ONLY way this problem MIGHT be fixed. Obviously, Apple has done nothing to fix it so far.


If you HAVEN'T already emailed Apple about this serious problem, then you have only yourself to blame.


We all like to ***** on this board about how bad the problem is, but Apple doesn't officially read these discussions (and may not in fact read them at all!).


PLEASE send your comments about this problem over and over and over and over to Apple until they fix it.


Let's all cross our fingers that Apple fixes this in 10.8.2.


http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html


Again:


http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html


One more time:


http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Sep 11, 2012 7:05 AM in response to tttxx

Same problem, very annoying. Doesn't happen all the time, but just started doing some work in Photoshop and it's doing it. Have experienced the same problem whilst using Chrome, regular browsing.


Tried quitting apps, clearing prefs etc. Can't seem to find a fix, will try a reboot.


Hoping Apple are aware and can sort a fix.


ML 10.8.1 - iMac 27" i7 Mid 2011. 12GB RAM (8GB Third-party : checked, all clear with Rembr).

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Sound stuttering after Mountain Lion install

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