Chosen Solution
I have the 2006 Core 2 Duo version of the MacBook (A1181), and my problem is I’m not getting any sound from the internal left and right speakers. I get sound from the middle speaker, but not the left or the right one. I have opened it up, and it seems like all speakers are plugged in correctly. I don’t have the “red glow” problem (stuck on optical). What could be the problem?
We’d like to know first if the issue is software or hardware. Could you boot the MB from an external source and then try the sound system ?
Look at the audio out port and see if you see a red light shining in it. If so we need to turn it off. I will give instructions on how to do this if you need it.
I have the same Macbook with the same problem. Booted in windows all speakers work fine ! Booted with fresh original system-installs 10.4.3 thru 10.4.11 on a firewire-volume only the center-speaker works. I´ve tried fixing smc-firmware, but with a working firmware checkout it won´t install. This is the first post I´ve found on the subject.
Problem solved today ! .. after months of seeking a solution. I thought, I´d give it another try with installing systems onto an external volume attached to the mac. Lion - didn´t work - installation stalled about 6 times. Snow leopard - wouldn´t even boot from the installer DVD - tried about 5 times. As you can see, i just tried and tried again, without being able to get a newer system than 10.4.11 installed (i haven´t gotten to leopard yet..). But - here it comes : Speakers are back to normal ! And nothing has changed, really .. I didn´t have to mess with my running system or hardware. (Black Macbook 2,1 Core 2 Duo 2.0)
