Mac - Disabling Digital audio

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Igglethorpe
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Mac - Disabling Digital audio

Post by Igglethorpe »

I'm having issues disabling digital audio on my macbook. I never enabled it in the first place. My mac just one day decided to beam light out of my earphone speakers for no reason. With digital audio on, I can't hear anything out of the regular speakers. No help from Mac help on the laptop itself or anywhere online that I can see.

Any help appreciated.

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SammyJames
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Try Mac Help again...

Post by SammyJames »

...and enter the following search term:

Digital out

Just like that. See if there is anything there that is even remotely helpful. I just did this about 30 seconds ago, so I haven't had a chance to go through all of the possible tips there. But one of them might help you.

Let me know...

- Sammy

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Artemiy
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Re: Mac - Disabling Digital audio

Post by Artemiy »

You probably have a not well-formed mini jack connector that causes the output connector to switch to optical mode. Can you replace this cable?
Igglethorpe
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Re: Mac - Disabling Digital audio

Post by Igglethorpe »

Sammy, That was the first thing I did and nothing was helpful. There were no instructions on how to change from digital audio to internal speaker.

Art, there isn't any connector attached. That is the problem. It shouldn't be going to optical. It should be using the internal speaker.

I should note that 1 hour later my Mac decided that optical wasn't working after all and switched to internal speakers. Evidently, Apple likes to make decisions for you (which makes the operating system more seamless). This has a side effect of a lack of user configurability (in this case, you can not select between digital audio and internal speaker - it detects what is attached and runs with it). The problem is, if this process is broken, there is no manual override. I love my Mac, but I see this type of situation more often than I would like to.

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SammyJames
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Re: Mac - Disabling Digital audio

Post by SammyJames »

I suppose that the question that I SHOULD have asked instead was:

WHY in the world would anyone WANT to use the internal speakers...?!

:)

Sorry. Not being mean -- just trying to be funny. Anyway, I'm happy that the issue resolved itself.

- Sammy

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Igglethorpe
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Re: Mac - Disabling Digital audio

Post by Igglethorpe »

Sammy,

I know you were being funny, but sometimes I want to use the internal speakers when I want my laptop portable =P

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Artemiy
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Re: Mac - Disabling Digital audio

Post by Artemiy »

Igglethorpe,

BTW your Mac is on a warranty, why don't you use it? This may be minor, but things like this are fixed for free.
Igglethorpe
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Re: Mac - Disabling Digital audio

Post by Igglethorpe »

Art,

Because I didn't have to? It works normal again. My only question to the help desk would be "Why isn't there a manual override for audio selection?" I realize they just want to make it as seamless as possible by detecting what is attached (or not attached) to indicate which audio to use, but that seems a tad limiting. Great for UI simplicity, bad for the power user.

I may give them a call. Will see if it bugs me again.

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Artemiy
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Re: Mac - Disabling Digital audio

Post by Artemiy »

Well see, Macs can even fix themselves while you're asleep ;-)
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SammyJames
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Re: Mac - Disabling Digital audio

Post by SammyJames »

Yeah, I know what you mean. I have considered using the audio out (direct) from the computer as well, instead of carting my FW interface along. On the other hand, in my case, it isn't that big of a deal, because the interface is pretty tiny.

Anyway...

:)

- Sammy

P.S. Yes, Artemio. Macs CAN fix themselves while you sleep...

Or while THEY sleep.

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