Headphone jack only returns mono sound...

I recently tried to plug in some headphones into my powerbook, however I was only getting sound in my left ear. I tried other headphones to the same result. I know this had been working fine in the past and have no idea why it wouldn't be wourking now. Does anyone know of a setting that may be off or does this sound like a hardware problem with my laptop? Thanks for your time!
Devin Mahoney
PowerBook g4   Mac OS X (10.4.2)  

I had the same problem.
Go to "System Preferences," then select "Sound." Click on "Output," and see if the BALANCE has moved over to (Left) or (Right) all by itself. That's what mine had done.

Similar Messages

  • I have an iPod Video. (30GB 5th gen) The headphone jack only works if I push the headphone cable input to one side and hold it t here. If I leave it alone it either doesnt play at all or I hear a crackling sound. Any suggestions? Thanks.

    I have an iPod Video. (30GB 5th gen) The headphone jack only works if I push the headphone cable input to one side and hold it t here. If I leave it alone it either doesnt play at all or I hear a crackling sound. Any suggestions? Thanks.

    There are threads ongoing on similar topics. This is not a suitable topic for this forum.
    I will pass on any comments from the other threads and original post in this one, but I'm closing this topic and any further petitions like this as it will just result in "Creative-bashing" and unproducti've comments.
    Cat

  • 5g ipod nano 8GB no sound through ear buds or headphone jack only when docked.

    5g ipod nano 8GB no sound through ear buds or headphone jack only when docked. any suggestions? i don't want to replace any of the parts inside if at all possible.
    I have a 5th generation 8GB iPod nano. I bout it off of eBay in May of 2010 and it has worked great until now (Apr 2011). The 5th gen plays music through the headphone jack even when no ear buds are plugged in. I was using it one day and it just stopped. I tried resetting it manually and automatically and I tried reinstalling iTunes. Nothing has worked. Now it won't even play sound though the ear buds (or the aux hook up in my car), only when it is docked to my iHome. Does anyone have any suggestions? I dont want to replace the iPod or any parts inside if at all possible. ANY SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOMED! THANKS!

    Headphone jacks are only good for so many in and out usages.  Usually its the headphone jack itsefl that goes bad first but sometimes it is the internal part.  If you are lucky you can clean out the inside and get it to work.
    These devices are not made to last for someone who actually has those headphones around there neck and acually uses there listening devices through out the day plugging it in and out.  This is not in any way an Apple thing, it is a problem with many devices.  The male ends tend to get dirty hanging around then scratch the female end when used.  In fact, using higher end headphones you can really notice even the smallest particles of dust on the male end of plug when used, that is the small popping you might notice when the cord moves.
    Hopefully its a problem on the male side of things. 
    I would recommend a person that wants to use headphones alot to keep a small 2 inch extension plugged into there device that can be replaced when it goes bad inplace of wearing out the original plug.
    Again, this is not an Apple problem alone.

  • No Sound From Headphone Jack, Only Internal Speakers working in Macbook Pro A1278

    Hello, the internal speakers of Macbook Pro A1278 OSX 10.7.5 are working perfectly, but no sound from headphones or external speakers when plugged in. Headphones/speakers recognized when plugged in, shown by System Preferences/Sound, and since the sound stops from internal speakers when headphones/speakers are plugged in. No red light seen coming from headphone jack, as I read in other posts. The problem began after a cable was connected between computer and stereo system. Maybe overloaded the sound card and burned out a connection? Wondering if you think that the sound card needs to be replaced or is there another solution possible? Thank you.

    Hello JohnBoarkman,
    Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!
    I understand that you hear no sound from your accessory when you connect to your headphone jack. My first troubleshooting suggestion for this situation would be resetting the NVRAM on your Mac. Please use the instructions in the attached article to complete this process and let me know if the issue continues. 
    How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support
    Have a great day,
    Joe

  • My MacBook Air headphone jack only left channel works

    Builtin speakers are working fine on my MBA 2012, but when I plug any kind of headphone into the jack, only left channel works. If I tune output balance to right, then sound nothing.
    I found there are only four metal contacts in the jack, two on each side, then one for ground, the other one for left channel, none for right channel,  what about yours?

    At last, found it isn't a problem, actually any 3.5mm headphone of standard can work, just plug into the jack fully ( only one mm left ) .  enjoy ~~

  • Headphone jack only works for right half headphones

    I had connected my MacBook Pro to a set of speakers using the headphone jack. Ever since then when I use headphones the jack only outputs sound to the right side. There is no red light coming from the jack and I've also tried resetting the SMC but nothing has changed. Any ideas of what it could be?

    I had the same problem but fixed it....go to settings , then scroll down to General, then scroll down to Accessibility , then scroll  down to where it  says L______________R , you will see a circle and  blue line, drag  this circle as it controls sound for left and right,  it should sit in the middle of L and R , if it sits  all the way on L or R it affects the sound coming out of the L or R earphones ,

  • Can I disable broken headphone jack? and get sound to internal speakers?

    HP G72T-200 CTO Notebook PC WINDOWS 7
    My laptop has a broken headphone jack (piece of plastic fell out of it) and thinks there is something plugged into the jack and won't default to the internal speakers. I've rolled back, reloaded drivers, run audio sound fix it thing, etc. Headphones will work if you hold plug and jiggle to the side. Is there anyway to just disable the jack so I can hear sound through the internal speakers?

    Hey TR,
    21Jan...
    Can you stick a powered speaker on that jack and fix it so it doesn't wiggle much until you can get it fixed? 
    22 Jan...
    The only fixes I have found for this are for Linux. 
    One can risk a registry fix, though I've not found a sure way to do it.  The fix depends on knowing your sound card (I do not), and knowing the exact entry fix (I might, but I won't risk your system).
    My sage advice is to get it fixed and be done with it.
    It is my pleasure to assist.
    Say “Thanks!” by clicking the Kudos Star to show your appreciation for the help.
    Fixed?  Mark this Post “Accept as Solution” to help others find the answers.
    Note: You can find “Accept as Solution” only on threads started by you.
    Kind Regards,
    Dragon-Fur

  • Input won't work, Headphone jack's gone mono

    A little while back I was doing some home recording running direct into my Macbook.
    After doing a bass track I lost all direct input signal and ever since I can only hear the left side through the headphone jack.
    The bass player I was recording failed to mention we were running 4ohms out the back of his amp and I think it may have blown my input/output. The internal speakers still work so I think the sound card is fine.
    Any insight on this would be wonderfully help full.

    yip it sounds like you have fried a circuit..
    have u tried different head phones? the input/output should be different circuits so not sure y the output is going funny?
    you looked at the input/output settings on the macbook?? what about the "AUDIO MIDI SETUP"?? it may have an inbuilt cutoff that tripped??? well hopping it has for ur sake..
    good luck...

  • Headphone jack on S55 and sound in general is too low

    I cannot get the headphone jack on my brand new S55 to work properly.  Even on full blast it is, at best, 50% I just set up this laptop and really don't want to return it. Any suggestions? I have no computer saavy so will need explicit directions.

    Satellite S55t-B5273NR Specifications
    Satellite S55t-B5273NR Support Page
    Sorry, something was wrong with the link on my last post. Click on this link. Try the possible solution there.
    Let us know if it works. Good luck.
    Mike

  • Do i have a blown speaker internally? only getting mono sound..

    when i got home today i put on itunes and when to listen to a song with my headphones plugged in... only to find i'm only getting sound out of the left ear! initial reaction is that my headphones are broke, which i wouldnt have been too choked about. but i plugged it into external computer speakers and sound only comes out of the left speaker which means its definitley the computer.. i've done the whole test in preferences and i only get fuzz out of the right ear. is this a blown internal speaker or something? how should i fix it or get it fixed, there is no apple store around where i am. i'd appreciate some help as i am a musician and i bought the macbook to record with logic.. i can't really do it with only the left side
    thanks

    Well if the issue is apparent when you're using headphones, it's extremely unlikely that a failure of the internal speakers would be the cause.
    Check in System Preferences and make sure that the stereo balance slider is centered (seems obvious, but I've been caught out by this more than once.)
    -Rob

  • Headphone jack only plays out 1 headphone (Right side)

    Really need help, im a DJ and use this laptop for it!!
    My headphones only have sound coming from 1 side, ive tried reinstalling drivers etc and everything else ive read online. 
    I need this resolved ASAP so any help is appreciated.
    Thanks

    Hi @chadhogan121
    Welcome to the HP Support Community! I saw your post regarding the problems with sound only coming out on one side of the headphones. I will be happy to help you with that. Have you tried a different set of headphones to see if the same thing happens? This HP document No Sound from Speaker will show you how to use the built-in Windows troubleshooter. Give that a try.
    Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue.
    Click the “Kudos Thumbs Up" on the right to say “Thanks” for helping!
    Thank you,
    BHK6
    I work on behalf of HP

  • Headphone jack broken ?  no sound in one earphone, but they're fine

    My earphones are fine, but as i play music through them from my ipod i only get sound through one earphone
    i also get only one part of the song, either lead or background music
    any help/suggestions will be greatly appreciated, i'm really frustrated
    Message was edited by: Rickers

    it could be just a bad contact
    Consider setting up a mail-in repair for your iPod http://depot.info.apple.com/ipod/
    Or visit your local Apple Retail Store http://www.apple.com/retail/
    In case your iPod is no longer covered by the warranty and you want to find a second repairing company, you can try iPodResQ or ifixit at your own risk
    http://www.ipodresq.com/index.php
    http://www.ifixit.com/

  • Headphone jack only plays through Right

    I'm trying to listen to music and the left earbud is way weaker than my right. I tried different headphones and they are not the problem. I'm sure it's the Mac, but I don't know if there is an eas fix or if I need to send it in. What should I do?

    Have you made certain that the balance in System Preferences>Sound is set in the middle?
    Clinton

  • No sound, stuck on digital audio output, red LED only sometimes, headphone jack doesn't "grab" male end

    Borrowing my boyfriend's computer after my own Macbook died, he had given up on the audio on his Macbook Pro as a logic board issue but I think it might be fixable.
    System prefs for audio is stuck on digital output. The red LED from the headphone jack only shines sometimes (rarely, actually, but the digital output/no sound persists). No appearance of dust in the jack. What concerns me most is that the headphone male end doesn't "sit right" in the jack: rather than plugging in securely, it pops right back out.
    I have a hunch this is similar to that little switch problem a lot of people deal with in the headphone jack, but the fact that the headphones won't plug in seems different. I've tried pulling the jack in and out and wiggling--no sound change, but the LED turns off and on sometimes. Any other ideas? Thank you all.

    Possibly create a new user profile to test if it is a software issue. If it still has problems once tested on another profile it is most likely a hardware fault, and the only option is to take it to Apple. Honestly though it sounds more hardware related due to the power outage impacting it's performance instead of a program. Good luck buddy.

  • Mono sound only

    This is a really annoying problem: I only get mono sound with my headphone jack - the builtin laptop speakers are doing fine, though. I had this problem a few days ago, I asked for help in another forum but right after that (after a reboot) it worked again. After I used jack server for a while I noticed that there was mono sound only again, system-wide, and it couldn't be fixed with a reboot. I think I should mention that I had the same problem on ubuntu before (about 5 days ago; installed arch linux afterwards) too.
    (i don't know how to use code tags yet, sorry)
    [alexander@alexander-p6634 ~]$ LANG=C aplay -l
    **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
    card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: CX20585 Analog [CX20585 Analog]
      Subdevices: 0/1
      Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
    card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 1: CX20585 Digital [CX20585 Digital]
      Subdevices: 1/1
      Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
    card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
      Subdevices: 1/1
      Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
    [alexander@alexander-p6634 ~]$ dmesg | grep sound
    [    6.822506] input: HDA Intel PCH HDMI/DP,pcm=3 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input10
    [    6.822649] input: HDA Intel PCH Mic as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input11
    [    6.822787] input: HDA Intel PCH Headphone as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input12
    [alexander@alexander-p6634 ~]$ dmesg | grep snd_
    [    6.576589] snd_hda_intel 0000:00:1b.0: irq 47 for MSI/MSI-X
    [alexander@alexander-p6634 ~]$ lsmod | grep snd_
    snd_hda_codec_hdmi     29298  1
    snd_hda_codec_conexant    36191  1
    snd_hda_intel          35816  6
    snd_hda_codec         145920  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_hda_intel
    snd_hwdep               6364  1 snd_hda_codec
    snd_pcm                76860  4 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
    snd_page_alloc          7330  2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
    snd_timer              18687  1 snd_pcm
    snd                    58893  18 snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_pcm,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
    Maybe it will be gone when I'll do some reboots, there are often problems without any cause (that makes sense, at least; today my laptop died for 3 hours, i couldn't turn it on anymore, and when i took it to a repair service, when i explained it to the guy he tried pressing the power button and it just worked again)

    It went away for a while and came back right now, I don't know how to reproduce it, I don't know the cause. This is really bothersome.
    The built-in speakers work normally, by the way.

Maybe you are looking for