# Macbook audio does not work



## Crosswind 9 (Mar 7, 2008)

I plugged in some old speakers into my macbook pro and unplugged them and a red light appeared and my internal speakers would not work. I have restarted my computer and i hear the booting up sound but the speakers dont work again. The red light isnt on now but the speakers arent working still. 

Please, what do i do?!


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## eric2006 (Mar 7, 2008)

I'm guessing the "red light" was your optical audio. Look in system preferences to make sure the built-in audio is selected as output.

If that doesn't fix it, check
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300832


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## Crosswind 9 (Mar 7, 2008)

actually i just read some other thread and it said to use a paper clip. You stretch it out and stick it in as far as it goes and slide it on through the left side. Worked like a charm.      http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=814884&tstart=0


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## CaribbeanOS-X (Mar 8, 2008)

Eric is correct there, the red light is the optical audio, but i've seen this before.  The plug from your old speakers triggered the optical sensor.  it stays on and the only thing you can use is headphones, i believe.   It's stems from a problem on the board, but there are a few discussions  and low tech solutions below.



> Here is a link to their forum http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3255575.
> I also got mine working with the toothpick. Inserted it gently a few time in the 6-7 oclock position. There is a very small sensor or ?? in the back of the port. Once you touch it lightly, all is back to normal. I hope that works for you.
> 
> http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3255575



You can always take it to the apple store as well... and don't forget to upgrade the APPLE CARE to 3 years.

Best,

CaribbeanOS-X


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## winnerdoozy (Apr 15, 2009)

My macbook stopped doing sound for some random reason, it played the start up thing but nothing else, changing the sound didnt make that clicky thing or anything. There was no red light, and i didnt see a black thing in my audio jack thing, and didnt want to stick a toothpick in there, and so i just went to my sound settings and saw that in "Sound Effects" it said "play alerts and effects through: 'selected sound output device' " i changed it to internal speakers and viola! it worked, i didnt have to screw around with the machine.


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## OstinKurniawan (Feb 24, 2011)

I had the same problem. I used a toothpick, fiddled around about and presto! it worked. I now have working internal speakers! thank god for this forum. Thanks!


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## dbglass46 (Mar 27, 2011)

being very protective and careful with my mac I was scared to shove a toothpick or paper clip or what have you.  I had the same problem with the light and all that gist.  I ended up fiddling with my head phone plug and pulling it in and out and my sound randomly kicked on.  hope that helps some of you guys


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## Egeste (Apr 7, 2011)

dbglass46 said:


> being very protective and careful with my mac I was scared to shove a toothpick or paper clip or what have you.  I had the same problem with the light and all that gist.  I ended up fiddling with my head phone plug and pulling it in and out and my sound randomly kicked on.  hope that helps some of you guys



This is the correct solution. Don't risk damaging your hardware with a paperclip or a toothpick. The audio port was made for an audio plug, and plugging in/removing a headphone jack once or more should be sufficient to fix this problem.

I speculate (and will do some testing to confirm) that there is some kind of button that is depressed when you insert a headphone jack, or possibly a boolean switch that is set in the operating system when the audio hardware detects resistance between the audio output leads. Somehow, this switch (be it boolean or physical) is not being reset when the headphone jack is removed, and the OS thinks it's supposed to output audio to the headphone jack (but realizes it can't since there's nothing plugged in) - and since it thinks it's supposed to do that, it doesn't attempt to output to the built in speakers - hence the OS just says "Well shit, I can't do anything with audio, disable it."


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## Tilburgs (Apr 9, 2011)

Still works!


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## dakine808 (Jun 13, 2011)

I also had that problem and i didn't want my computer getting a paper clip or toothpick jammed inside so started playing with my headphone jack plugging it in and out while watching a video to see if i could hear it come on and it did.


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## ThanksAlot (Jun 23, 2011)

Thanks friend when this happend i thought my mum would kill me but i just typed it in on google thanks alot

from ThanksAlot


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## kathyrat1 (Dec 13, 2011)

Thank you so much i had a panic attack because this is a new mac so i didnt want to report the bad news

katherine


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## RegularArtfulD (Mar 14, 2013)

dbglass46 said:


> being very protective and careful with my mac I was scared to shove a toothpick or paper clip or what have you.  I had the same problem with the light and all that gist.  I ended up fiddling with my head phone plug and pulling it in and out and my sound randomly kicked on.  hope that helps some of you guys



Genius! I did exactly just that and it worked! for a moment I thought I had messed up the audio hardware.


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