Headphone/External Speaker Jack stopped working

Thank you George - LOL I cant believe I didnt work that one out - Yes after an hour of trying to troubleshoot this issue, as soon as I plugged the Speakers back in the headphones option appeared in the Sound Settings and it was in fact muted.

This thread is a year old, but since it still comes up in a search I'll give my February 2012 advice:

Computer: iMac 27" Intel based all in one

Issue: Internal speakers work; headphone jack does not.

Seems to me, it is easy to bend the inside connectors, fry the jack itself or otherwise simply break it. You can click all the settings, preferences, and MIDI controls you want - it will not correct the problem. You're a Mac user, you know you have tried all the settings and are second guessing your own expertise. So here's the problem: your headphone audio jack is cooked. Get over it.

Solution #1 (expensive): take it to an Apple store.

Solution #2 (inexpensive): get a USB to stereo audio input off Ebay for $2.00, wait 3 weeks for it arrive from Hong Kong and use your headphones through it.

FIXED! I tried everything and was beginning to believe that the headphone jack was just broken. But, I'm thinking -- I hardly ever even USE it?!!? How??

So I rebooted, and tried all the above solutions and nothing.

Just for the !&&* of it, I just added a bluetooth speaker (DJKnight Magicbox II) -- As soon as the device was paired -- BAM the headphones showed up.

This just happened after an OS update, so it's NOT hardware or a worn out jack. This is definitely a bug. Adding a bluetooth speaker is just a work-around -- but it works and it's free.

Hope that helps.

Good luck!

Have you tried a pair of headphones or a different set of speakers in the headphone jack? If headphones work in the jack and you get the "Headphones" listing in the Sound panel, then the problem may be with your speakers or the speaker plug rather than the computer.

Another possibility -- could "Built-In Output" you're seeing be referring to the headphone jack? I think your computer has only one audio out, so it might not have separate listings for "Headphones" and "Line Out." If that's the case, maybe click on that listing to see what the setting of the output volume is. Maybe it's muted?

If the problem ends up being the headphone jack on the computer itself and you're leery of attempting a repair, an alternative might be to get a USB to Mini adapter like the iMic. But I'd highly recommend confirming that your speakers work with another machine first.

Having the same problem - the only output choice that appears is "Internal Speakers" - though hitting the ? button in the sound preferences box gets me this :

"Select a device for sound output

To listen through your computer’s built-in speakers, select Internal Speaker.

To listen through your display’s built-in speakers, select Display Audio.

To listen through speakers or headphones that are connected to the headphone jack, select Headphones.

To listen through external USB speakers, select your speakers from the list.

To listen through another audio interface, select it from the list."

BUT there is no other choice listed except "internal speakers"

I have definietly the same problem like Ken, everything seems to be ok, even the output jack doesn't seem to be damaged. It's probably a software problem. Does anybody have an idea how to fix this?

Andre

<I have tried plugging a variety of things into the headphone jack -- several sets of headphones and several types of speakers -- all with no effect. And all of them are confirmed to work on other systems (i.e. iPod out). It is definitely not muted. I get fine sound coming out of the internal speakers (even when something is plugged into the headphone/speaker jack in the back)

Ken, Jan 8 2010 @ 8:38 PM>