Red Light from Headphone Jack on MBP

[DarthOverlord]

Has anyone else notice a red light emitting from the headphone jack on the MBP when running XP. It does not go on in OS X. Any clues? It seems like the light emitted by optical inputs on stereo and video equipment.

[TheWiseFlea]

Yeah I noticed it as well. It was there with XOM XP and also with BootCamp XP. I read somewhere that Apple's sound output jack doubles as an optical jack. For some reason, this would seem to always be activated in windows. I'd imagine there's a way to disable it in control panel. Anyone know how?

[orbitalcomp]

Yes, the new Macs all have dual-purpose digital/analog audio out jacks. If you already installed the Drivers CD that is created during the Boot Camp setup, you should have working sound in Windows XP. Go into the Control Panel, and open SigmaTel Control Panel. Select the Advanced tab, and uncheck the "Enable Digital Output" box at the very bottom.

The light will now turn off, and you can use your audio jack with regular analog speakers or headphones. Just turn it back on whenever you want to use a digital sound source...

[TheWiseFlea]

Works! Thank you!!

[DarthOverlord]

Thanks for the info!!!!

The next project is to get the Mac Mini Intel from XOM to Boot Camp. Wish me luck.

[nextrance]

It's easy. Back up your internal to an external using SuperDuper. Reinstall Mac OS X, formatting using a single partition. Be sure to specify the GPT/GUID partition scheme when you format. Let OS X install, boot from the external, use SuperDuper to clone back to the internal. Reboot from the internal, install Boot Camp, and go.

That's what I did. Works like a charm..

[celluloid hero]

This gets rid of the light, but sound still plays out of the laptop's speakers. Anyone know how to fix THAT?

[settolo]

From Apple's FAQ:
While booted into Windows XP, I still hear sound coming from the built-in speaker even with headphones plugged in.

The Boot Camp Beta audio driver for Windows XP does not currently support rerouting sound.

[TJCacher]

Yes, the new Macs all have dual-purpose digital/analog audio out jacks. If you already installed the Drivers CD that is created during the Boot Camp setup, you should have working sound in Windows XP. Go into the Control Panel, and open SigmaTel Control Panel. Select the Advanced tab, and uncheck the "Enable Digital Output" box at the very bottom.

The light will now turn off, and you can use your audio jack with regular analog speakers or headphones. Just turn it back on whenever you want to use a digital sound source...

Just to reiterate what I posted on another thread, my MacBook Pro does *not* need to have the optical audio port light disabled in order to use the jack with an analog device. My analog headphones play just fine without disabling the optical light.

I suppose the light and optical circuitry does take some power when running on battery, however, so disabling it still makes sense if you're not planning to use an optical cable.

[diamondsw]

Just to reiterate what I posted on another thread, my MacBook Pro does *not* need to have the optical audio port light disabled in order to use the jack with an analog device. My analog headphones play just fine without disabling the optical light.

I suppose the light and optical circuitry does take some power when running on battery, however, so disabling it still makes sense if you're not planning to use an optical cable.

I just thought it looked creepy. :eek: