Why can’t you speak?!?!?! I stared at my computer. My 4 year old powerbook. A reason that I have refused to upgrade to a powerbook. But the sound, the sound had disappeared from the powerbook.
External speakers worked. As well as headphones. But the internal speakers, one of the many reasons I chose the powerbook over its PC equivalent did not work.
Was I to forever carry around an entity that depended on an external machine to speak?
But no, that wouldn’t be. And thus, I set upon a journey to fix it.
First I came across articles that said it was a hardware problem. But no, I could no longer bring it to Apple Store. WHAT IS THAT the guy at the genius bar would say and encourage me to buy a macbook or perhaps an apple care plan. Or perhaps they would notice my dents and usher me away because…apple care doesn’t cover owner-caused-damage.
I hate taking apart computers, especially of my own. It’s like how my mom even as a nurse who regularly worked in the recovery room…she didn’t want to even do the simple procedure of putting a needle in my arm for IV. It’s like hurting your own even though you believe you’re the only one who can care the most.
But second, it was a simple solution. The computer could not recognize when no jack was in. It thought there was something in there, telling itself not to use the internal speakers.
Declaring, ONWARD, cotton swab! Chris raced to the bathroom and grabbed a Q-tip.
Yelling, I said no! Don’t stuff the cotton in my computer. No, I calmed him down. I said, the guy used a toothpick with a bit of cotton dipped in alcohol.
Chris returned with the cotton ripped off the swab. It was lightly drenched in rubbing alcohol. My computer was still on and he turned it sideways as I watched in reluctance, telling my powerbook that it was ok. He put the swab in. Careful! I said.
And suddenly, he screamed. LOUDLY. As if electrocuted and he shook. I screamed in response in terror. Eyes wide open, terrified that I had caused horrific damage.
Thoughts began racing as he starting laughing. I furrowed my brows in utter UN-amusement. His expression said GOTCHA. But he pressed a few buttons on my computer and to my delight, the computer spoke.
It said, I am turning the volume up!
I had the same problem with my Macbook Pro just a couple weeks ago, although it would act up in a different way, switching between digital and analog output regardless if external speakers were plugged in or not. Solution: I used a can of compressed air and a q-tip to fix the button in the audio out port! I’m glad you managed to fix yours in a similar way.