OS X 10.4.7 Doesn’t Fix Audio Problem
So a few weeks ago, my MacBookPro suddenly stopped playing audio on any Flash video clip. At the time, I had just gotten the laptop, so I couldn’t really recall if it had ever worked or not.
The problem turned out to be a setting that had been changed in the Audio MIDI Setup panel, which lets you set up preferences for Audio I/O devices, as well as MIDI devices. The cause of the problem was several third-party applications (VLC and Audacity, in my case) that modified the Audio Output setting, increasing it from 44100.00 Hz to 96000.00 Hz.
After installing the 10.4.7 upgrade, this switcheroo still happens whenever I run Audacity or VLC. I can’t really tell if this is an OS issue, or something that the third party apps should be held accountable for. I also don’t ever recall this happening on my Powerbook G4, so maybe it is an issue with the new chipset on the MacBookPro. At any rate, I am going to keep investigating it further and see what I can dig up.
Anyone else having this problem or have a solution for it?
June 29th, 2006
Re: Flash audio issue… have you tried installing the new Flash Player 9? I wonder if that wouldn’t yield some different results… Are the apps causing the issues you’re having Universal? (I wonder if having to run them in “emulation” might be part of your problem…)
July 6th, 2006
Same prob with a newish 15-inch G4. But its intermittant - sometimes I get flash audio, mosttimes I don’t. The Audio Midi Setup trick doesn’t seem to fix it either.
But I also have a problem where flash video won’t play. It downloads, but I only get 2secs of silent video and it stops.
Which makes me think theres a slightly more generic problem here. I installed the new Flash 9 plug-in, but no improvement. Everything seems to work fine on my G4 imac, but I’ve not had the opportunity to test as completely.
I’m subscribing to this thread and I’ll let you know what I find.
d
July 9th, 2006
I ending up with a bit of a shotgun approach, but everything is good now. No problems all weekend.
A number of sources point to GarageBand as a solution. Simply launching GB apparantly fixes the problem - but not for me.
But DiskUtility found a heap of dodgey permissions on the flash player files, which I fixed. I also upgraded to 10.4.7.
Everything is good now. Sorry I wasn’t more forensic with my approach - you know how it is when you just want something fixed NOW.
good luck,
d
July 10th, 2006
[...] A few weeks ago I wrote about a problem I have been having on my new MacBookPro. Whenever I would open VLC or Audacity, the Audio Output Format would change from the normal 44100.0 Hz to 96000.0 Hz. This would cause audio in Flash files to not work, especially in Flash Video files. [...]
July 12th, 2006
[...] I never copy and paste entire posts, but this one is just too important to us Mac owners not to post here: A few weeks ago I wrote about a problem I have been having on my new MacBookPro. Whenever I would open VLC or Audacity, the Audio Output Format would change from the normal 44100.0 Hz to 96000.0 Hz. This would cause audio in Flash files to not work, especially in Flash Video files. [...]
August 7th, 2006
I had the same problem, Flash audio wouldn’t play in any browser on my 17″ PowerBookG4.
I tried setting the audio output bitrate back to 44100 using the MIDI tool, no luck. Repaired disk permissions and that fixed it.
August 17th, 2006
I have had the same problem. Also affects MS Media Player. Tried resetting to 44100 in Audio MIDI, no luck. Repaired disk permissions in Disk Utility with no luck. Went back to Audio MIDI after reparing disk permissions and again forced it back to 44100. Now flash has sound but still no sound on MS Media Player. Then tried launching Garage Band and now everything works again. Seems to be a matter of trying all the tricks listed here in every possible combination and hope they interact just right. This is all on a G4 Powerbook running 10.4.7. Thanks for the tips everyone.
September 24th, 2006
I’m working on seting up an iMac G5 (non-intel)
We need to use Horizon Wimba “Live Classroom”.
It has a setup Wizard. When I run it I can see it changing Format to 96000hz and the Input and output settings change back and forth from Input device to none. I Reinstalled 10.4.2 then 10.4.3 then 10.4.4 then 10.4.5 Wizard setup works right then when I installed 10.4.6 the problem starts again.
Installing 10.4.7 doesn’t make a difference.
October 23rd, 2006
i’m sorry, but i really need help
from about 5 months ago i downloaded “audacity version(1.2.4)” for editing audio files & recording … actually it was workin so well so far till from a couple of weeks.. whenever i record a guitar line or any track .. when it comes to recording the 2nd track i discover that the previous track was recorded again .. in other words every single track get recorded more than one time.. its repeated in every new track i make.. so it really reduces the sound’s quality.. & usually i record many guitar lines and i do so many harmony in my music .. i cant help it.. i looked it up in the preferences & found nothing..i downloaded it all over again with no use… i uninstalled it .. i downloaded other version(1.3.0)BETA ..
still it didnt work .. please .. anybody could help me in that ???
reply on: ally_goth_psycho_danger@hotmail.com
i’ll be absolutely incredibly grateful..
October 23rd, 2006
This sounds like an Audacity specific problem Ally. I would suggest posting your problem in the Audacity Forums at http://audacityteam.org/forum/
October 31st, 2006
This is not just a macbook pro issue, I’ve had this issue before on my imac powerpc g5.
If changing the audio setup back to 44100 /16 bit doesn’t fix it, then you are having a different issue.
This issue is because Flash doesn’t know how to deal with life if you set the Audio Output format to a higher quality that CD quality (44100 / 16bit) !
December 4th, 2006
Just launch garageband……
Problem fixed.
February 20th, 2007
opening garageband is the cure. I went through all of the other things as well, and this made it work. thanks to all of you!!!
February 26th, 2007
I’m also having audio issues with Flash 9 player on a Power PC Mac PowerBook G4 running OS 10.4.8. Only get static on playback. Have tried the various fixes suggested on the Adobe website and still the same hiss.
Intererested in any other suggestions.
June 2nd, 2007
I had the same problem after launching Audacity - Bugdom II = no sounds at all, Otto Mattic = only music, no sound effects. This is on my 17″ intel iMac. Launching Garageband fixed it! Thanks for posting this tip!!!