System sound when starting up, but no app sound

Question

I was using Audacity with the lame extension to chop a sound file to make a ringtone.
Now I can't get my sound to work.  I unistalled Audacity and ran the Lame remover but I still don't have sound.
Any suggestions?
I already repaired permissions a few times but that did not help.

Answer 1

Loss of sound after running Audacity
Applies mainly to Audacity 1.2.4 and earlier
An Apple issue whereby certain other applications lose sound after running Audacity has now been largely resolved in the current Audacity 1.2.5 (Intel), 1.2.6 (Power PC) and 1.3.x Beta releases.
If you have lost sound on your system after running Audacity, make sure you have the latest Audacity stable or Beta version , and drag the entire contents of any older version to to the trash.
Audacity 1.2.5/6:
Launch Audacity and follow these steps:
1.
Click Audacity > Preferences and on the Quality tab, set:
Default Sample Rate to 44 100 Hz
Default Sample Format to 16 bit
2.
On the Audio I/O tab of Preferences:
Set "Recording Channels" to mono or stereo
Check the box "Do not modify audio device settings (such as sample rate)".
3.
Set the Project Rate button bottom left of the Audacity screen to the 44 100 Hz.
4.
Close Audacity then click on the Mac Hard Disk and then on Applications > Utilities > Audio MIDI Setup.
5.
Click on the Audio Devices tab and on the left-hand (input) side, select your built-in audio device in the "Default Input" and "Properties For" dropdowns. On the right-hand (output) side, select your built-in audio device in the "Default Output" and "System Output" boxes.
6.
On both the input and output sides, change the "Format" dropdown boxes to have the same settings as Audacity (that is, 44 100 Hz/2ch-16 bit, or 44 100 Hz/1ch-16 bit). The "1ch" or "2ch" refers to mono or stereo respectively.
Note: If you are on OS X 10.1 or earlier, go to Apple Menu > System Preferences > Sound and perform the same changes as above.
Audacity 1.3.3 and later:
Generally speaking, the later PortAudio v19 I/O library used in Audacity 1.3.3 and later should not change system sound settings. Therefore Beta Audacity does not have a "Do not modify audio device settings..." box, and it is not necessary to launch it to restore system sound. Simply follow the instructions above for 1.2.5/6 to reset system sound in Audio MIDI Setup.
However, if you have previously run a 1.2.x version of Audacity on the machine, it is recommended to completely reset the 1.3.x Preferences before launching Audacity again. Do this by opening audacity.cfg in a text editor and removing all the content except the line "NewPrefsInitialized=1". See here for full instructions.
Note: There is one other known reason why sound cuts out on G5 machines after running Audacity. It is due to a faulty headphone (external output) jack, whereby a component internal to the jack becomes bent from use so that the computer still thinks the headphones are plugged in. Because the user may be plugging headphones into the back of the computer when using Audacity, the timing of the occurrence would make one think it was the software, but it is not. When this is the problem, the user will notice a red glow coming out of the headphone jack. Try plugging your headphones back in and then gently manipulate the headphones plug up/down and left/right so as to bend back the internal component to its correct position. When done, the red light will go off and sound will be restored.
Please visit the following link for more helpful information...
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Mac_Bugs