A number of owners of Apple’s latest 13″ and 15″ unibody MacBook Pro notebooks have reported speaker failures when running Windows via Boot Camp according to an article on MacNN. The problems have affected many gamers who use Mac OS X for daily computing, then switch to Windows to play games. The problem appears to have begun with Boot Camp v2.1, which was launched in June. The recent Boot Camp 3.0 release, designed for Snow Leopard, does not seem to have helped resolve the issue.
Per testimonies on the Apple Discussion Forums, the latest 13″ and 15″ MacBook Pros exhibit the issue with Windows XP, Server 2008 x64, Vista x32 and x64, and Windows 7 RC x32 and x64. Users have complained of very low sound volumes from the built-in speakers, even at full volume, along with a red light emanating from the speaker jack. Several systems are also unable to recognize microphone input. Although the specific source of the problems remains unknown, user reports suggest the Cirrus Logic CS4206A sound driver could be the culprit.
Forum posters (starting on page 10 of the forum) have posted workarounds that outline a user-hacked replacement for the Cirrus drivers which requires command-line work in Windows to resolve the issue. Frustrations have run high in the forums and the 270+ posts have not yet received any comments or help from Apple representatives in the three months the issue has been commented on.
Failure to address the issue in Snow Leopard’s Boot Camp 3.0 revision has also caused negative sentiment from posters, some of whom describe themselves as first-time Mac buyers who bought the new notebooks expressly because of Boot Camp support for their Windows games.
If you’ve seen this bug on your end or discovered your own fix or workaround, please let us know.
3 replies on “Boot Camp Sound Bug Found for 13″ and 15″ Unibody MacBook Pro Notebooks”
I also have no sound from my MBP. I’ve tried all the suggestions on the boards but none have resolved the problem. Was at the Apple store today. The “Genuis” had never heard of the problem. After 15 mins I was told that its a software issue and Apple dosen’t offer Windows support. Come on Apple this is your problem with your horrible bootcamp drivers. Fix the problem. While your at it add adjustments to the trackpad it only works a little better than the my sound. This is a first time Apple for me. I think the Apple OS is great but if your buying a laptop and want to install windows thru bootcamp save youself the hassle. Buy a windows machine. If you still really want a MBP look on ebay. Mine should be listed soon. :*
Apple has been very unresponsive on this one. I opened a case today but this should have been fixed long ago. The latest generation macs have a cirrus logic driver. I called Cirrus Logic today and their official answer is they do not support drivers. They say the hardware is handed off to the computer manufacturer (apple) and they produce the driver.
Many people are moving fom Windows to the mac via the new macbook pro. If you plan on using Windows via bootcamp DO NOT MAKE THE MOVE UNTIL APPLE FIXES THIS!
Similar issue with my Mac Pro 2.66.
Sound comes out from the builtin speaker but not the audio out in the back to my stereo speaks. But if I plug those speakers into the front headphone jack that works with my speakers. I have no exclamation marks in device manager. I tried with XP and Windows 7. Tried installing the realtek audio driver myself to no avail.