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SOLUTION to the static audio issue

A while ago, I was having a problem where I could hear static whenever audio was played regardless if I used headphones or speakers.


The static sound is not a hardware issue. It comes from the internet browser Google Chrome. The issue is that the computer is using the integrated flash plug-in that comes with Chrome rather than using an actual Flash Player from the computer.


To fix this (if this is occuring in Chrome), this is what I have done:

1) Open Chrome and type "chrome://plugins/" without the quotation marks into the address bar

2) Disable the Adobe Flash Player

3) Download Adobe Flash Player for Google Chrome (Mac version)


This should fix the problem, as the Flash player is part of the computer and not of the browser.

I have contacted Applecare to tell them about this issue and solution with developers to see if there can be a fix for integrated Flash plug-ins.


I hope that this solves the problem for those having the static audio issue!

Cheers!

Posted on Sep 18, 2013 7:44 PM

Reply
34 replies

Sep 21, 2013 6:48 AM in response to gsinghal

Oh, I've posted a reply but found the solution for this very soon after that.


Following the instructions and you can download the flash player for Chronium provided by Adobe,

Version should be 11.8.800.168 while the built-in flash player plugin version is 11.8.800.170. It is

newer, sadly.


And then, go to "Chrome://plugins" tab. Click “Details” at the upper-right corner of the page.

Find “Shockwave Flash” listing for the integrated plug-in on the page and click the corresponding “Disable” button. To identify the integrated plug-in, see the table of plug-in filenames above.

Find the “Flash” (or “Shockwave Flash”) listing for the system plug-in on the page and click the corresponding “Enable” button. To identify the system plug-in, see the table of plug-in filenames above.


For me, the built-in version number and self-installed version number are listed above.


Good luck.

Oct 8, 2013 4:54 PM in response to joshxliao

I posted a similar issue yesterday - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5423620


I only came across your post after similar issues came up! At least now I know I'm not the only one. Seems to be a common issue


Now what's everyone's thoughts on installing flash. I'm quite hesitant to do this - also the main reason I use Chrome is that it handles flash vids quite well without installing anything on the mac or PC


Thoughts or concerns?


Anyway, hope Apple fixes this plug in issue

Oct 22, 2013 10:40 PM in response to joshxliao

I too have this issue. I think the Chrome plugin issue is a red herring. I hear the popping/scratching even when disabling flash or shutting down Chrome and playing music in iTunes, albeit more rarely. My semi-educated guess is that it is electromagnetic interference leaking into the audio path when the CPU is busy or switching power states or something like that. I hope there is a software solution, but I fear it is a hardware design flaw. Too bad, since it's a nice laptop.

SOLUTION to the static audio issue

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