Tech Question: Sound Not Working on Mac

[Quickpaw]

Hello,

I've been experiencing a rather irritating issue on my '13' Mac Book pro.

Occasionally, after removing or inserting headphones into my Mac the sound will simply shut off and become entirely mute. I am able to manipulate the volume on the computer, but I don't hear any sound from the device, not even the clicking noises as the volume goes up and down. After the issue occurs, I am unable to hear any sound from the in-built speakers or the headphones until after I restart the device.

Now, I know how to fix this problem (restarting the computer). However, the issue occurs so frequently that it's getting very irritating having to restart the computer several times a day. So, I'm looking for two things:

• A permanent fix, to stop this from occurring again.
• Or a way to get sound going on the computer without restarting.

Just to prematurely answer a few questions that might come up:

• I've looked up the issue online and people have experienced similar issues with sound on the device not working. However, they all state that when they manipulate the volume on the device they see the volume covered with that red circle with a slash through it (the "No" sign).
• I'm running OS 10.7.5
• My computer is up to date.
• The issue occurs randomly when I remove or insert headphones. It has happened with a variety of different headphones.
• The issue doesn't occur every time I remove or insert headphones, just sometimes.
• I have done a P and R reset on the device, the problem did not resolve.
• I have checked the system preferences "Sound" category when the issue occurs. Nothing appears to be amiss.

Thank you for any and all help you can give me.

[Mattgrayy]

When it happens, does the headphone jack have a red LED lit up in it? if so, you need to either keep inserting the headphones until it goes away... or... you can stick say... a hairclip in it or anything that will fit inside the audio output jack. This will register something being inseted and then removed and should work.

OR

you could have a look in system preferences incase for whatever reason the audio output has changed to headphone only and not built in speakers