SL Browser not using system audio settings?

When I tried to start up Second Life this afternoon I got an alert that my 'bluetooth audio device' was not working properly, and consequently there'd be no sound coming from Second Life. The thing is, I do not, nor have I ever had, a bluetooth audio device. I do have bluetooth and I was using it earlier for data transfer but no audio device.

Now my Second Life experience is very, very quiet and it is frustrating me like crazy!

This is in both the regular browser and in First Look. I have a) deleted preferences and restarted, b) cleared cache and restarted, and c) deleted Second Life and reinstalled it.

All to no avail. It has its mind made up that it will only route audio to a nonexistant bluetooth device. I've even turned off bluetooth altogether! There is not now, nor has there ever been, a bluetooth audio device. >:-/

I've looked through the preferences, both in the browser, and directly via a text editor, and I can find no setting, anywhere, that selects where the audio goes. All my other audio works fine through the built-in speakers. System audio and application audio, everything is fine except Second Life.

System is: iMac Intel Core Duo, OS X 10.4.8 and SL has worked great here for 2 1/2 months.

Any ideas at all, as to how I can get Second Life audio to work again? I've verified in my system preferences that audio output should go to the internal speakers, and in audio midi setup. And as mentioned, all other programs work properly, and system sounds, all other sounds work. Just SL is borked.

Thanks!

-Atashi

Where is error being generated, from SL viewer or from OS X?

Have you tried examining Console output?

The error pop-up was an OS X popup which occured while SL was launching. It only occured once, after which I have had no audio output from SL regardless of deleting the prefs, clearing the cache, reinstalling SL, and regardless of whether I use the regular SL browser or FL. Subsequent launches of SL do not spawn the error message, but the SL audio is still completely gone.

And, again, everything else is working properly - I get system sounds and all other apps using the built-in speakers.

I know some apps have a preference where you can pick where to direct their audio output. I can find no such preference in SL, but it's as if SL has somehow decided to send its audio to nonexistant bluetooth speakers. OS X dutifully reported (via that one error) that there are no such speakers, and that's the end of that.

I know there must be something, somewhere, that has this stupid setting in it but I haven't been able to find it. I checked the console log but I couldn't find anything... I don't remember the exact time when it happened, and having rebooted and done so much other stuff, there is a lot of info in the logs.

-Atashi

[EDIT]: Ummmm.. Just came back to add this to the TOP of the message below:
You HAVE looked at the SL prefs panel and turned on AUDIO, right?
AND you don't have the little volume slider on the bottom of the SL window set all the way to the left do you???

LOL-just thought I 'd ask BEFORE I suggest what's below!

===================================
I assume you also don't hear environmental sounds in SL? (typing, wind, waves?)
and that the MIDI settings were correct?
and that you don't have any sound devices attached to your mac, (nor have odd drivers hanging around

So, If nobody else has any ideas...I'd use brute force:

1. Deleted SL (including the ~Library/Application Support/Secondlife folder?)
2. Delete all Quicktime and Bluetooth Prefs in Prefs folder and in the Application Support folder.
3. Download (from Apple.com) a new, complete Quicktime installer ( I think you can still do that. If not, use your startupdiscs)
4. Reinstall Quicktime
5. Run ONYX (or a similar utility) Delete all caches, run the optimizations, and the daily/weekly/monthly scripts, and reset the launch services database.
6. Reinstall Secondlife.
7. Cross your fingers.