Mac OS X 10.3.4 (#9): Audio problems; File sharing with Mac OS 9.2 systems; Unable to launch iTunes; more

Audio problems Some users -- mostly those with G5s -- are reporting distorted, or altogether lost audio capabilities after the Mac OS X 10.3.4 update. Daniel Sass writes "After upgrading to 10.3.4, the audio on my G5 Dual stopped working.  The only thing that came from the speakers (internal and external) was an annoying loud buzz.

"When I reinstalled OS 10.3, no problem (the buzz disappeared).  Then when I upgraded back to 10.3.4, the buzz was back."

Doug Stringham writes "It's been a strange thing; ever since I've upgraded my dual 2Ghz G5 box to 10.3.4 my game audio now has cracks an pops. The audio sounds a tad more 'tinny' as though the DA/AD converter (software driver I expect) is somehow misreading the sample rate or such. I work in the film biz so I'm somewhat familiar with digital audio artifacts due to sample rate errors or decoding errors. I don't hear the problems with iTunes or some other audio applications, but it is painfully apparent when playing Raven Shield, Age of Mythology, Command and Conquer: Generals and Warcraft 3."

If you are experiencing a similar problem, please let us know.

File sharing with Mac OS 9.2 systems MacFixIt reader David Wong reports that he is unable to fileshare with Mac OS 9.2 systems after the Mac OS X 10.3.4 update:

"Recently upgraded my PowerMac G5 from 10.3.2 to 10.3.4. Since then, can not copy folders from Mac OS 9.2 G4 to the external firewire hard drive (Lacie 120 GB) which is attached to the G5 (10.3.4) (through a small local area network).

"Giving the message 'The item 'Icon' cannot be written, because you do not have enough access privileges. Do you want to continue?' 'Stop' or 'Continue.' If I click 'continue,' it will copy the folder but without the contents inside the folder. The same folder can be copied onto the G5 internal Hard Drive without any problem.

Loss of iBook internal microphone Several readers report that Mac OS X 10.3.4 causes loss of functionality for the internal microphone on some iBooks.

"After upgrading to OS X10.3.4 the inbuilt microphone on an iBook (Dual USB) is no longer recognized. System Preferences>Sound>Input pane reports "No input devices found". Booting from an external firewire drive with 10.3.2 shows the microphone is working. Occasionally setting the Startup Disk to 10.3.4 whilst booted to 10.3.2 restores the microphone in 10.3.4 but that only lasts till the next restart of the iBook. Some users on Apple Discussions are reporting the same problem of lost microphone. Resetting PRAM and repairing permissions did not fix the problem."

Unable to launch iTunes Some users are unable to launch iTunes 4.5 after installing Mac OS X 10.3.4.

MacFixIt reader John writes "After installing 10.3.4, I have not been able to start iTunes.  The icon bounces but the program will not start. "

Some users have been able to solve this problem by deleting three specific iTunes-related .plist files:

• com.apple.iTunes.plist and com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist in ~/Library/Preferences
• com.apple.iTunes.xxx.plist in ~/Library/Preferences/By Host.

Other users have been able to workaround the issue by creating a new user and launching iTunes from that account.

Network Browse fixed Michael Joseph reports that he and other users who were unable to use Network Browse in Mac OS X 10.3.3 have regained the functionality in Mac OS X 10.3.4: "For months I (and a few others) had been unable to Network Browse in Panther. Mac OS X 10.3.4 combo updater appears to have fixed this problem."

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