iMac optical output not working.

[Mackey18]

Hi guys,

I'm trying to get my iMac working with my sound system. I have a toslink to toslink cable, with an adapter for the 3.5mm jack. The problem is, no sound is coming out! I can plug it into my MacBook and it'll work beautifully, but not so with my iMac (specs at bottom). I have no idea why it isn't working as the iMac is certianly detecting the digital output. I've checked the settings in Audio MIDI Setup betwen the two devices and they are the same, I've blown into the jack to make sure there's no dust inside, I've even tried running it through soundflower, but still to no avail. When I pull the cable out, the red light is shining through, but it must be said, not as strong as from the MB. Perhaps that is the problem. What do you guys think is the issue?

Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Mike

P.S. The cable is only 1.5m long.

Specs:
iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.1), (Late 2009) i7, 12GB RAM, 1TB HD
MacBook, Mac OS X (10.7.3), (Late 2008) 2.4 GHz 4GB RAM 500GB

 

[Mackey18]

Ok, small update, I woke up this morning and the thing is now half working. It cuts out and connects every couple of seconds. This has led me to believe that it is down to the quality of the wire. Perhaps if I buy a better quality line with the correct heads, therefore bypassing the adapter, it will work. What do you think?

Regards,
Mike