Strange happenings

[Steve_J]

I have a MacCube running OSX10.3.9. Occasionally when I boot I have no audio(USB)  and the only way to get it back is to completely power down the system and restart later, sometimes much later. Just restarting or rebooting does not work. Likewise, a similar thing will happen with my external hard drive (FireWire) and I will have to go through the same power down procedure. A third strange thing that happens is during startup. Normally just turning power on will initiate the boot up process, occasionally it does not and I have to touch the power on spot on top of the Cube.

None of this is a big problem, just annoying. Any ideas?

[MamaMoose]

It is possible that there is a problem in the audio portion of the motherboard. The kind of phenomenum you describe occurs quite often in certain kinds of electronic circuits. The basic cause may be a faulty capacitor that does not discharge quickly enough.

This happens often with routers and modems where your internet connection fails to work and you cannot get mail or internet pages. The solution in this case is to turn off all power to your internet "system" including router, modem, Airport, etc. Then wait 30 t0 60 seconds and turn everything back on. Now, the internet connection is working.

While annoying, you probably do not want to have your system checked out by Apple Repair. This could cause more trouble then it is worth as they would probably replace the motherboard!! By the way, does the cube have an internal speaker? If so try using it.

MamaMoose

[kbeartx]

About the USB Audio:

I use a Griffin iMic w/ my MDD [don't NEED to, but it SOUNDS BETTER than the built-in audio], and every once in a while, it spontaneously stops working: no audio.

I've learned by trial and error that if I simply remove and replace the USB connector, it immediately begins to work again.