No Internal Sound - Videos Freeze M1 Pro 14' - VFF001

[BluAffiliate]

Hi everyone

I have an issue on my M1 Macbook Pro 14. Sound does not work when using the speakers.

Videos won't even play (without sound) unless I have headphones or using monitor speakers.

I clean installed MacOS and also restored from back up. Didn't fix. I ran diagnostics and it appears:

VFF001 VFF002 VFF003

There may be an issue with the audio hardware.

Contact Apple or take your computer to an AASP or Apple Store to learn which service and support options are available.

Mac is not under warranty, I am in a foreign country, and I got a quote from a local repair shop that they said they have never seen this and they can try to replace my motherboard for 400 EUR to see if it may fix the issue. But no guarantees it will solve it.

I am looking to see if I can solve the issue without having to resort to this.

I've seen similar issues online and it appears to be different from the "red light" audio issue where MacOS thinks you have an optical device plugged into the headphone jack.

Any advice would be appreciated.

When a video/audio is open this is what I see:

When I test the audio in the Midi SetUp, it just crashes.

I'm on Ventura 13.2.

 

[DHagan4755]

Idea: (only if you have the capability to do this) turn the computer off, take the bottom case off & disconnect the battery. Put the bottom case back on without putting all the screws back, plugin your MagSafe cable, then power on the computer & see if it still does this without the battery connected. While you're there check to see if there's any corrosion which would indicate some form of liquid damage. You will need to take all of the necessary precautions to avoid ESD (electrostatic discharge) so if you're completely uncomfortable doing this, then don't.

 

[BluAffiliate]

Idea: (only if you have the capability to do this) turn the computer off, take the bottom case off & disconnect the battery. Put the bottom case back on without putting all the screws back, plugin your MagSafe cable, then power on the computer & see if it still does this without the battery connected. While you're there check to see if there's any corrosion which would indicate some form of liquid damage. You will need to take all of the necessary precautions to avoid ESD (electrostatic discharge) so if you're completely uncomfortable doing this, then don't.

I'm open to doing it... but is this a guaranteed fix or what is use case of doing this? To discover corrosion, in which area?

 

[genexx]

Another option for problem solving: Start in safe mode

If you have problems with your M1 Mac, which could otherwise be solved with a SMC or PRAM reset, you can also try a reboot in safe mode (Recovery Mode).

On Apple Silicon Macs you can trigger the safe mode as follows:

Shut down or power off the Mac
wait about 10 seconds
press and hold the power button
when the selection of startup options and volumes appears, release the button
now press the SHIFT key and the option "continue in safe mode" should appear, select it (then release the SHIFT key)
By booting in safe mode, various caches are cleared and the startup volume is checked by the Mac. Usually booting in this mode and booting again "normally" helps to solve problems on the Mac.

Translated with DeepL

 

[BluAffiliate]

Another option for problem solving: Start in safe mode

If you have problems with your M1 Mac, which could otherwise be solved with a SMC or PRAM reset, you can also try a reboot in safe mode (Recovery Mode).

On Apple Silicon Macs you can trigger the safe mode as follows:

Shut down or power off the Mac
wait about 10 seconds
press and hold the power button
when the selection of startup options and volumes appears, release the button
now press the SHIFT key and the option "continue in safe mode" should appear, select it (then release the SHIFT key)
By booting in safe mode, various caches are cleared and the startup volume is checked by the Mac. Usually booting in this mode and booting again "normally" helps to solve problems on the Mac.

Translated with DeepL

Unfortunately safe mode also has no sound.

 

[BrianBaughn]

If there is actually a hardware issue I don't thing anyone here can give instructions to fix it.

I wouldn't pay someone that much if there's no guarantee.

I've read of someone with this issue on an Intel Mac laptop taking it to an Apple Store where they used their special diagnostic tools on it, found no issues and when it restarted sound was working again through the speakers…to everyone's surprise. But that's just anecdotal evidence from an older Mac.

 

[okkibs]

The sound hardware is on the mainboard and replacing that entire board might fix it, but I can guarantee you that there is no way they can get a replacement part for 400 Euro. Official pricing is around 900 for a new part. And since memory and storage configuration also depend on the mainboard, if they install a cheaper version you might end up with less memory/storage than previously. And the part will likely have come from a broken Macbook anyways, they won't have access to original brand new replacements.

For 400 Euro they might fix the problem or they might make it worse and kill the Mac entirely. These modern Macs are not repair-friendly at all. I would only give them the Mac if they are specialized in M1 Mac repairs and have a good reputation. In the worst case you'd be out of a working Mac and those 400 Euro.

Your Mac doesn't detect a soundcard, the simplest fix would be to plug in a USB soundcard, this should fix all your problems. Since the hardware is clearly damaged in some way, the issues might get worse over time until the Mac won't boot anymore. No way to tell, other than having it taken apart by a knowledgeable repair shop as mentioned before.

I would get a cheap USB soundcard and use that, and the next time you are somewhere with official support you can bring it in, but as mentioned, you're looking at around 900 Euro for a logic board replacement. Might be better off bringing it to a repair shop like the Rossman group.

 

[DHagan4755]

I'm open to doing it... but is this a guaranteed fix or what is use case of doing this? To discover corrosion, in which area?

To discover corrosion anywhere. Removing battery power will eliminate some weird battery issue that might be causing the fault. I've seen weird things happen from battery issues. It's sounding like an issue with the logic board but this would be a good way of ruling that out. As mentioned above booting in safe mode is another quicker option.

Also booting the computer from a known good operating system on an external drive is another quicker option.

 

[BluAffiliate]

To discover corrosion anywhere. Removing battery power will eliminate some weird battery issue that might be causing the fault. I've seen weird things happen from battery issues. It's sounding like an issue with the logic board but this would be a good way of ruling that out. As mentioned above booting in safe mode is another quicker option.

Also booting the computer from a known good operating system on an external drive is another quicker option.

That was a good idea. I booted off an external drive.

Same sound issue. Setup actually crashed during Siri because I bet siri tried to play a sound effect.

ooof. Sounds like a hardware issue indeed.