speakers/ headphones toggle not working

At the top right corner there is a speaker icon. I use this daily to toggle between speakers and headset by holding option button and clicking on the speaker at the same time. However lately this will not change the sound output.


So I go into system preferences, click on sound..... sometimes I have to click it back and forth a few times before it will toggle between speakers and headphones.


Any suggestions would be great thanks.

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 2.8ghz 2x quad core Intel 32gbr ssd

Posted on Dec 14, 2015 6:39 PM

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3 replies

Dec 16, 2015 6:36 AM in response to M-323

Hi M-323,


Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities! I'm sorry to hear you are having these issues with your Mac. If you are having inconsistent results when trying to toggle your sound output, you may want to first try resetting the NVRAM and System Management Controller (SMC) on your machine, as outlined in the following articles:


How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support


You may also want to see if the behavior is more consistent in Audio MIDI Setup, which should also allow you to select your audio outputs:


Set up audio devices - Audio MIDI Setup Help


Regards

Dec 30, 2015 8:47 AM in response to M-323

Try a restart.


Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.


Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.


Isolating an issue by using another user account


If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

Safe Mode

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speakers/ headphones toggle not working

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