Sound stops working. Why?

[poppe]

Hello,

I have only had a Mac now since November, and I am not sure if this is a problem because I don't know Mac's well or if this is a problem to add to the extensive list on my MBP.

The problem is the sound stops working. Not the sound for like if I was watching a movie or something. No more the Sound effects like the Trashcan emptying or a that ting when copying a file into the application folder.

So what gives? This has been happening a lot lately and I can't figure out what is going on... Does this happen to anyone else? The only way I've found for a solution is to restart. Which is a pretty big annoyance since just last night I restarted because the same problem was occurring.

 

[SilentPanda]

Go to your system preferences, click on "Sound" and then on the "Sound Effects" tab make sure "Play user interface sound effects" is checked. It seems like that is getting fudged somehow. Somebody will tell you about a plist file most likely but I don't get into that stuff.

 

[poppe]

Go to your system preferences, click on "Sound" and then on the "Sound Effects" tab make sure "Play user interface sound effects" is checked. It seems like that is getting fudged somehow. Somebody will tell you about a plist file most likely but I don't get into that stuff.

Hmm those are all clicked on...

Edit: I clicked them off and then back on, but still I have none...

 

[poppe]

Any other advice?

 

[mad jew]

Try opening and then closing Garageband to reset your Audi MIDI settings.

 

[poppe]

Try opening and then closing Garageband to reset your Audi MIDI settings.

I just restarted my computer and that fixed it. I'll try to do the Garageband thing next time. Should I just open it and close it or do anything more?

 

[mad jew]

Opening and closing it should suffice, although usually the Audio MIDI problem isn't solvable with a restart so maybe you've got a different problem. I'll be interested to hear how it goes.

 

[poppe]

Opening and closing it should suffice, although usually the Audio MIDI problem isn't solvable with a restart so maybe you've got a different problem. I'll be interested to hear how it goes.

Well I have about 20 other problems currently with my mac. So I think I'm going to take it in some time. However, they want me to do a clean install... (this face should be crying) before they'll have anything to do with me. Plus school is crazy now, but once that all settles I'll take it in then. I'll get back to this thread then.

 

[majorp]

this happens to me also. restart always fixes it. wierd.

 

[mad jew]

Before trying a reinstall, open a new user account and see if many of your problems disappear.

 

[poppe]

Before trying a reinstall, open a new user account and see if many of your problems disappear.

Just add a new account? Sorry new to macs. Won't it still have clear dock and all that?

 

[mad jew]

Good question. I don't use ClearDock but I use UNO and that carries over to new accounts. Nevertheless, a new user account will give you a fresh (default) set of preferences and settings. If the new account is better, then you can narrow the problem down to your original Home folder.

 

[poppe]

Good question. I don't use ClearDock but I use UNO and that carries over to new accounts. Nevertheless, a new user account will give you a fresh (default) set of preferences and settings. If the new account is better, then you can narrow the problem down to your original Home folder.

Alright cool. I have UNO on mine as well. Well I'm gonna try that out and then see what happens. The Apple genius wouldn't touch my computer once he saw clear dock on there so maybe this will help a little bit.

 

[poppe]

Good question. I don't use ClearDock but I use UNO and that carries over to new accounts. Nevertheless, a new user account will give you a fresh (default) set of preferences and settings. If the new account is better, then you can narrow the problem down to your original Home folder.

Alright cool. I have UNO on mine as well. Well I'm gonna try that out and then see what happens. The Apple genius wouldn't touch my computer once he saw clear dock on there so maybe this will help a little bit.

 

[mad jew]

Maybe start your troubleshooting by disabling your system hacks, one-by-one.

 

[sir42]

The same thing happens all of the time on my iBook. All of a sudden the sound will just stop working but the volume indicator shows that I should be getting full sound. Restarting is the only thing that works, but I'd love to know how to prevent this from happening.

 

[Gandalf!]

Fast User Switching?

I've also tried to figure this out. The closest I've come is that it seems to be related to Fast User Switching (being on). It has never happened to me when that isn't on. It's a problem I've noticed for over a year and no OS update has fixed it.

 

[joekix]

i'd like to know why this is happening too. it just happened to me this morning and it's kind of annoying. something always seems to be happening with my mac.

 

[poppe]

Just for an update i haven't tried anything yet but it has fixed itself... I actually keep running in to problems and most of the time they keep fixing themselves... It's a very weird situation.

The only thing that I have taken off of my computer at all is Shapeshifter, but the problems stopped a little while before that...

 

[mad jew]

I actually keep running in to problems and most of the time they keep fixing themselves... It's a very weird situation.

Could be the maintenance scripts then... Dunno, that's a bit of a wild guess.

 

[soundof]

was pinched wire

In my case (intel Mini), it was a pinched wire from the last time I opened the Mini. I was tired and didn't notice that the 2 black wires going to the power button got pinched when I put in the screw that goes in that corner of the case.

The sound would stop at random, and would only come back after restarting or a sleep/wake cycle. It started happening more and more often over the past couple of months, maybe once a week at first, until today where it didn't even stay on for 5 minutes.

After a drop of glue to repair the damage done to the insulation of 1 of the wires and a careful reassembly, all is well.

 

[srogers1]

Sound Croaks

this happens to me also. restart always fixes it. wierd.

Ditto - I have a MacBook Pro running 10.4.10 and it's been doing this for a while. After reboot, everything is fine, but after a day or two, system sounds quit working, such as emptying the trash. It also seems to break all the little "alert" notices that apps make, such as incoming chats.

It seemed to start when I added connect and disconnect sounds in iChat, but I've since taken those out, and the problem persists. I suspect it's some system service that's dying (associated with the "play interface sounds" selection in user preferences) but i haven't tried to hunt it down or figure out how to restart it. It's danged annoying.

If anyone comes up with a fix, please post. Thanks