# iStick & iSub not working



## Matsaki (Aug 23, 2007)

I have some older Harman Kardon USB iSyb & iStick speakers that have not been working for a year or so.

Last night I decided to have a final look and search on the net. But I did not find to much. But as I understand the older Harman Kardon (not apple) USB is not working with the newer OS X.

I don't find a model no. on the speakers, but I'm looking for more info / help about this and if there is a fix?

The speakers don't even show up in the system sound prefs.


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## Satcomer (Aug 23, 2007)

Did you try to zap your Pram to see if that helps?


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## sgould (Aug 23, 2007)

My iSub and Soundsticks are from 2002.  They still work with my G4 Mac of similar age running the latest OSX 10.4.10

I did have trouble at one time and had to plug them into the USB connector at the rear of the computer itself.  And then re-choose them in the System Prefs.

Does the power supply still work?  If it does there's a blue light that glows in the iSub.


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## Matsaki (Aug 24, 2007)

I tried them in my other Mac as well and yes the light is working. So I don't know how to test them if it's maybe the speakers who are broken. But as I said I did read some where about some problem with Harman Kardon soundsticks and Mac.

Also I did read about an USB to analog adapter for the soundsticks, and I think that was because of the compability problem.


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## Matsaki (Aug 27, 2007)

Just found this 



> Bruce
> Just loaded Tiger on my home systems and sadly my old USB-baed Harmon Kardon SoundSticks (and Sub) do not appear to work. These speakers have had mixed support over the last few OS releases (OK in Panther, nothing in Jaguar). Guess it is time to hook up another set of speakers.



The new Harman Kardon Soundsticks ll don't use USB and are working fine, but I guess the older with USB is not working any more.

I plugged them in on a PC and windows found a new USB device, but I did not find the driver yet. As OS X don't even recognize the speakers.


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## sgould (Aug 27, 2007)

Did you use the same USB cable in the Mac and the PC?  Could it be a broken cable?


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## juanmiami (Dec 5, 2008)

I have the old soundsticks, with similar problem except that last I was ready to toss them. I had to move my computer and couldn't get them to work, but I decided to try one more time before putting them in the garbage, and to my surprise they worked. They continued to work until last week when I had to move my computer again so I had to disconnect everything. Now I reconnected and again not working...there is a problem with how they are connected, I just don't remember what I did before. Arghhh!


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## Nutstick (Dec 16, 2008)

I have old Soundsticks. I'm talking more than 10 years old. USB. I just connected them to my MacBook Pro (OSX 10.5.4) and they worked. I had to go into system prefs/sound and switch from internal speakers to the soundsticks.


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## juanmiami (Dec 17, 2008)

Ok, it's crazy. They just showed up in the System Preferences/Sound window. I selected and they are working again? They really sound good but it's really unreliable.


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## RandyVT (Mar 23, 2018)

I have first edition Harmon Kardon Sounds Sticks. I don't remember when I bought them. I currently have them working fine on an iMac 12,2 (mid-2011) running MacOS 10.12.6. I am using an OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock on this setup. However, the Sound Sticks' USB is plugged directly into the back of the iMac. A couple times, when rearranging the workroom setup, they seem to wink out. What has always returned them to service for me is the following:  1. unplug the USB cord from the back of the Mac.  2. unplug the power cord from the UPS (or other power source.)  3. plug the Sound Sticks back into power.  4. plug the USB cable back into the iMac. They then appear in System Preferences -> Sound -> Output as an available choice. Once, I think I did this twice before it registered. They are great speakers and I will always care for them.


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