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Suddenly I have no sound - no internal speakers, no external speakers

Suddenly I have no sound - no internal or external speakers.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Aug 15, 2012 4:09 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Aug 15, 2012 5:01 PM

Is there a red light in the earphone hole? If there is take a toothpick and wiggle it around in there.

20 replies

Sep 3, 2012 12:03 PM in response to John Blue

Here's what worked for me. It's not a workaround, this acutally solved the problem and I haven't had speaker issues since.


  • Go to "Activity Monitor" (you can hold "Command" "Shift" and press "U" if you're on the desktop).
  • Locate "coreaudiod" under "All Processes"
  • Right click it and click on "Quit"


After several seconds, "coreaudiod" will restart on it's own and your speakers will return to normal.


I tested this by restarting to see if it was a fluke workaround. Then I turned it off and waited a day (I had things to do so the waiting a day was easy lol). Turned it on, it was fine. I put it on sleep mode, waited 10 mins. and took it off of sleep mode. It was fine. Everything went back to normal for me.


Let me know if this worked for you.

Sep 3, 2012 12:32 PM in response to ObiJuan2080

thanks for the reply. i have not tried your solution yet, because i have some questions:

1) are you sure that the coreaudiod will restart on its own after i quit it?

2) i have sound on the internal speakers, but what i do not have is a pull down menu on the bottom right of itunes to select either the computer or the airport express powered external speakers. that used to be there for the last two years, but has disappeared.

3) should i run itunes when i decided to try your solution?

4) i have an imac, not macbook

thanks

immo

Sep 3, 2012 12:56 PM in response to xtrimmo

"1) are you sure that the coreaudiod will restart on its own after i quit it?"


Yes. I guarantee that it will restart the service in several seconds. No full computer restart required.




"2) i have sound on the internal speakers, but what i do not have is a pull down menu on the bottom right of itunes to select either the computer or the airport express powered external speakers. that used to be there for the last two years, but has disappeared."


I can not say as I do not have external speakers. I can only hope that the solution will apply to your external. You're losing nothing by restarting the service.




"3) should i run itunes when i decided to try your solution?"


My iTunes didn't play at all when I had the problem. This solution fixed it for me. So yes, run iTunes. It's just another way of telling if it worked.




"4) i have an imac, not macbook"


I too have an iMac. 10.7.4 Lion to be exact.

Sep 9, 2012 3:59 PM in response to ObiJuan2080

thanks for your reply. i have been to the apple store in the meantime. i described the problem and they said that after one of the most recent software updates of itunes, the dialogue box from which to choose speakers ONLY appears if external speakers are available on the wifi network. i had not switched my computer from the internet wifi to the airport express wifi (too long to explain, why i have two separate networks, but i do), thus, the computer did not give me that option. so, again, operator's fault, but it fixed the problem.

thanks for your help and great suggestions.

immo

Sep 17, 2012 5:49 AM in response to ObiJuan2080

I also have this problem. In addition, nothing will even play in iTunes either on my computer or in the store (yes, I said play, nevermind if I can/could hear it - it doesn't even start....). Tried headphones, connected powered speaker - nothing.


In Sys Preferences there is nothing listed under output devices.

The menu bar volume icon has disappeared although there is still a space - as if it is there but invisible.


Did quit coreaudiod but no change in the problem. Also ran Hardware test - nothing.


I was on iTunes and several musicians sites last nite.


Today I need SKYPE for meetings.... oh dear.

Suddenly I have no sound - no internal speakers, no external speakers

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