Broken Mac Mini audio? Try this.
Mac Mini, USB hard drives, and a speaker
After building my new computer desk, I began plugging everything back in, and when I plugged in a USB hard drive that was already powered up, the speakers went:
BRRRZAP!
…and the Mini’s audio went silent. Plugging the speakers in to my MacBook Pro confirmed they were working.
When I opened System Profiler, the Mini reported that it had no onboard audio devices.
At this point I was thinking, “Oh hellz no!”, since I bought this computer partially because it did have the analog/optical audio (suitable for Dolby Digital) and I have aspirations of making it part of my home theater setup at some point in the not-too-distant future.
The solution? I unplugged all USB devices and restarted the Mac Mini. I’m still wondering why attaching a USB hard drive caused the audio subsystem to fail, but I’m just glad it’s working now…
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