USB Speakers stop working after changing between Safari and iTunes

Question

Level 1

8 points

USB Speakers stop working after changing between Safari and iTunes

Since an update to iTunes and Safari in Sierra, my Bose USB Companion 5 Speakers stop working if I pause music to listen to something through Safari.

All regained only after a full shut down and boot from cold.

The computer concerned is mid-2010 17" MBP.

I upgraded to High Sierra and the problem still exists but can now be regained by doing just a restart. There are many others reporting the same problems in the Bose community. I have the same problem on two different computers with the second one being a 2013 15" MBP.

The problem only started to manifest itself after a security upgrade to Safari and iTunes late 2017. All worked fine until then.

The problem also exists if the computer goes to sleep. When you reactivate it, there's no sound so you have to restart to get the audio back.

It is frustrating as you have to restart and if you multiple windows open, you have to start all over. It even happens if there is nothing else open except Safari and iTunes. It even kills the internal speakers as well.

HELP...........

MacBook Pro, macOS High Sierra (10.13.3), null

Posted on Mar 17, 2018 6:21 PM

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Answer 1

dialabrain

Level 10

122,519 points

Mar 17, 2018 6:36 PM in response to Jabs1

Try resetting the SMC.

How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

There could be some incompatibility between the speakers firmware and the latest updates.

You can send Apple feedback about the problem.

Feedback - macOS - Apple

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Answer 2

Mar 25, 2018 2:41 AM in response to Jabs1

Hi, not sure if you have already found the method, but in case you haven't:

Here's how to reset your PRAM:

Shut down your machine. Yes, all the way down, not sleep or logging out.
Press the power button and then press command-option-p-r. ...
Hold those keys down until your Mac reboots again and you here the startup chime.
Let go of the keys and let your Mac reboot normally.

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Answer 3

Jabs1 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 17, 2018 7:33 PM in response to dialabrain

Sorry, tried all these things and still no joy.

Still stops working after changing between apps. Had iTunes music playing, paused it, then opened a youtube video, sound worked but not on the second video selected. Closed Safari, reopened iTunes and no sound. Restarted and iTunes worked again.

This is most frustrating from a operating system that 'USED To' work so well!

In previous versions of both iTunes and safari before the second last update, everything worked fine.

I'm not alone in this problem, just checkout the Bose community web forum.

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Answer 4

Jabs1 Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 17, 2018 8:03 PM in response to dialabrain

But then why do Bose say that they are compatible?

Something that was put into the latest two updates to iTunes and Safari that rendered them useless, the operating system didn't.

Well at least they work properly on a Windoze machine!

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Answer 5

Mar 25, 2018 10:14 PM in response to Jabs1

Hi, restart your Mac and when it starts hold down the P, R and Command and Option keys together until the system again restarts and the Apple chime is heard. I let it rechime 3 times and then release.

Once all this has happened, and the system opens up, try the SMC reset.

If all fails, reinstall the OS again.

Good luck

Sent from my iPhone

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Answer 6

Mar 23, 2018 9:28 PM in response to Jabs1

I had similar issues with my Mac Pro - have you tried reset PRAM and then SMC, which worked for my Bose Companion 5. No issues prior to Sierra and High Sierra.

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