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MBP 2018- YouTube/Video Streaming/Audio Playback and 'Hey Siri' Issues

Is this happening to you too?

  • Yes, both problems

    Votes: 4 36.4%

  • Yes, but only 'Hey Siri' problems

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Yes, but only the YouTube/Video Streaming Problems

    Votes: 3 27.3%

  • No, neither problem

    Votes: 4 36.4%
  • Total voters
    11
M

mattaj24

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 22, 2018
19
6
I've been experiencing some weird issues on my 2018 MBP (13" i5, 16gb ram, 512gb).

Issue #1: YouTube/Video Streaming/Audio Playback Issues
What's Happening:While streaming videos online (a good example would be YouTube) my audio will just cut out randomly here and there, occasionally bringing the entire video to a hault with buffering. Reloading the page doesn't solve anything and just leaves the video to buffer but never start, but I can play audio from other non-browser applications, like Spotify, just find.

Things I've done to attempt to solve it:
-Checked internet speeds (I have approx 83 down, 66 up... those speeds are relatively consistent throughout the day
-Switched networks (Tried two private networks and one public network)
-Multiple websites (YouTube, Vimeo, HBO Go (on HBO Go my video will randomly pause, my audio will rewind approximately 5 seconds, and then when the audio catches up to the video, it will continue playing as usual)
-Fully updated computer (10.13.6)
-Tried the Mojave Beta
-Tried 6 different browsers (Safari, Safari Technology Preview, Chrome, Canary, Opera, Firefox)
-Rebooting
-NVRAM resets
-SMC resets
-Ran diagnostics on boot (nothing found)
-Wipe hard drive start from new (not from backup)
-New user
-Nothing installed but default applications
-Gone to Genius Bar and talked to Apple Support (more on that in a bit)

Issue #2: 'Hey Siri' Doesn't Work Properly
What's Happening: When I activate 'Hey Siri' most of the time instead of Siri being activated the audio icons on the menu bar and touch bar get greyed out for a brief second before returning. Sometimes 'Hey Siri' works as usual. Sometimes both Siri gets activated and the audio icons get greyed out.

Things I've done to attempt to solve it:
-Turned off and on Siri
-Retrained 'Hey Siri' multiple times
-Fully updated computer (10.13.6)
-Tried the Mojave Beta
-Rebooting
-NVRAM resets
-SMC resets
-Ran diagnostics on boot (nothing found)
-Wipe hard drive start from new (not from backup)
-Start from backup
-New user
-Nothing installed but default applications
-Gone to Genius Bar and talked to Apple Support (more on that in a bit)

I have videos of both of these issues if anyone is curious.

When I went to the Genius Bar and talked to Apple Support they didn't seem to have any clue of what was going wrong. Some of the issues are hard to reproduce right on the scene at the Apple Store but they noted that the SMC (the T2 chip) seemed to be displaying odd behaviors (not exactly sure what that means). They sent me on my way after wiping my computer and not being able to reproduce the issue after 10 minutes. I was there for about 2 hours in total. They said if the issue persists then we definitely know it's a hardware issue and they will send it out for repair. I don't really want that after hearing similar reports online of people who got replacements and experienced the same issues.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chibamac
Hooshka

Hooshka

macrumors newbie
Oct 18, 2014
26
14
Berkeley, CA
mattaj24 said:
I've been experiencing some weird issues on my 2018 MBP (13" i5, 16gb ram, 512gb).


Issue #2: 'Hey Siri' Doesn't Work Properly
What's Happening: When I activate 'Hey Siri' most of the time instead of Siri being activated the audio icons on the menu bar and touch bar get greyed out for a brief second before returning. Sometimes 'Hey Siri' works as usual. Sometimes both Siri gets activated and the audio icons get greyed out.

Things I've done to attempt to solve it:
-Turned off and on Siri
-Retrained 'Hey Siri' multiple times
-Fully updated computer (10.13.6)
-Tried the Mojave Beta
-Rebooting
-NVRAM resets
-SMC resets
-Ran diagnostics on boot (nothing found)
-Wipe hard drive start from new (not from backup)
-Start from backup
-New user
-Nothing installed but default applications
-Gone to Genius Bar and talked to Apple Support (more on that in a bit)

I have videos of both of these issues if anyone is curious.

When I went to the Genius Bar and talked to Apple Support they didn't seem to have any clue of what was going wrong. Some of the issues are hard to reproduce right on the scene at the Apple Store but they noted that the SMC (the T2 chip) seemed to be displaying odd behaviors (not exactly sure what that means). They sent me on my way after wiping my computer and not being able to reproduce the issue after 10 minutes. I was there for about 2 hours in total. They said if the issue persists then we definitely know it's a hardware issue and they will send it out for repair. I don't really want that after hearing similar reports online of people who got replacements and experienced the same issues.
Click to expand...


I have this EXACT same issue. I tried everything you tried except talking to the genius bar. I also tried a clean install of high sierra via USB and a clean install of mojave beta 5 via USB. I submitted the issue via the mojave feedback app so hopefully it's a software issue and they will fix it before final mojave release.

If you hear anything else, please let me know.
 
M

mattaj24

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 22, 2018
19
6
Hey guys, I've seemed to find a temporary workaround for the YouTube/video audio issues- not to stop the problem from happening but to get you back up and running after it happens.

Please excuse me, I'm not extremely well versed in AppleScripts or Automator but this should get the job done.

Step 1: Open Automator
Step 2: Make a new application or service (whichever one is more convenient for you)
Step 2b: If you chose service, turn "Service receives" to "no input" at the top
Step 3: Add a "Run AppleScripts" action
Step 4: Delete all the information in that box and paste in the following:

Code: 
do shell script "sudo killall -KILL coreaudiod" with administrator privileges
do shell script "sudo killall -KILL mediaremoted" with administrator privileges
do shell script "sudo killall -KILL wirelessproxd" with administrator privileges
do shell script "sudo killall -KILL NowPlayingTouchUI" with administrator privileges

Step 5: Save your app or service as something memorable and open it whenever your problems occur

Every time you open it it'll ask for admin authentication (you can use Touch ID) and it might pop up with an error saying service not found. After it runs the screen will flash white. That's fine and normal.

The way I came up with this was just by looking at the console right after these audio problems occurred and these were the services that produced the most errors around the time. They might not all be causing the issue but this script will just reboot them, so you're doing no harm.
 
M

mattaj24

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 22, 2018
19
6
Today I updated to the 10.14 beta 6 (18A353d) and all the issues seem to be resolved as of now. Will update if anything changes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chibamac
M

mattaj24

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 22, 2018
19
6
I received a notification from Apple today via the feedback app in response to my bug report that the issue regarding video/audio playback is resolved in Mojave build 18A365a. I know it's not the best solution for everyone as it is beta software, but so far I have had no issues with the new build. Might be worth the upgrade if it is a serious issue- just remember to back up your stuff before you make the upgrade.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Te0SX and chibamac
chibamac

chibamac

macrumors 6502
Jan 10, 2009
331
100
I've been having these video playback problems. FWIW it's much worse streaming YouTube in Chrome than Safari. Glad to know there's a fix around the corner.
 
A

appleuser181

macrumors member
Aug 20, 2018
57
11
Canada
mattaj24 said:
I've been experiencing some weird issues on my 2018 MBP (13" i5, 16gb ram, 512gb).

Issue #1: YouTube/Video Streaming/Audio Playback Issues
What's Happening:While streaming videos online (a good example would be YouTube) my audio will just cut out randomly here and there, occasionally bringing the entire video to a hault with buffering. Reloading the page doesn't solve anything and just leaves the video to buffer but never start, but I can play audio from other non-browser applications, like Spotify, just find.

Things I've done to attempt to solve it:
-Checked internet speeds (I have approx 83 down, 66 up... those speeds are relatively consistent throughout the day
-Switched networks (Tried two private networks and one public network)
-Multiple websites (YouTube, Vimeo, HBO Go (on HBO Go my video will randomly pause, my audio will rewind approximately 5 seconds, and then when the audio catches up to the video, it will continue playing as usual)
-Fully updated computer (10.13.6)
-Tried the Mojave Beta
-Tried 6 different browsers (Safari, Safari Technology Preview, Chrome, Canary, Opera, Firefox)
-Rebooting
-NVRAM resets
-SMC resets
-Ran diagnostics on boot (nothing found)
-Wipe hard drive start from new (not from backup)
-New user
-Nothing installed but default applications
-Gone to Genius Bar and talked to Apple Support (more on that in a bit)

Issue #2: 'Hey Siri' Doesn't Work Properly
What's Happening: When I activate 'Hey Siri' most of the time instead of Siri being activated the audio icons on the menu bar and touch bar get greyed out for a brief second before returning. Sometimes 'Hey Siri' works as usual. Sometimes both Siri gets activated and the audio icons get greyed out.

Things I've done to attempt to solve it:
-Turned off and on Siri
-Retrained 'Hey Siri' multiple times
-Fully updated computer (10.13.6)
-Tried the Mojave Beta
-Rebooting
-NVRAM resets
-SMC resets
-Ran diagnostics on boot (nothing found)
-Wipe hard drive start from new (not from backup)
-Start from backup
-New user
-Nothing installed but default applications
-Gone to Genius Bar and talked to Apple Support (more on that in a bit)

I have videos of both of these issues if anyone is curious.

When I went to the Genius Bar and talked to Apple Support they didn't seem to have any clue of what was going wrong. Some of the issues are hard to reproduce right on the scene at the Apple Store but they noted that the SMC (the T2 chip) seemed to be displaying odd behaviors (not exactly sure what that means). They sent me on my way after wiping my computer and not being able to reproduce the issue after 10 minutes. I was there for about 2 hours in total. They said if the issue persists then we definitely know it's a hardware issue and they will send it out for repair. I don't really want that after hearing similar reports online of people who got replacements and experienced the same issues.
Click to expand...

I had the first issue (Issue #1: YouTube/Video Streaming/Audio Playback Issues) for a while with my MBP and once I disabled the "Hey Siri" feature, it never happened again. So I am guessing this is another issue related to the T2 Chip and hopefully they can patch it with a software update soon.
 
Adeel_

Adeel_

macrumors member
Aug 1, 2018
65
32
mattaj24 said:
I received a notification from Apple today via the feedback app in response to my bug report that the issue regarding video/audio playback is resolved in Mojave build 18A365a. I know it's not the best solution for everyone as it is beta software, but so far I have had no issues with the new build. Might be worth the upgrade if it is a serious issue- just remember to back up your stuff before you make the upgrade.
Click to expand...

Good to know. Keep us updated if you encounter this issue again.
 
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