Guest Chief Rocka Posted April 26, 2005 Report Share Posted April 26, 2005 Ok, I've searched through the Dell Forums and have found a lot of laptop users having an issue regarding excessive laptop buzzing noise from their video card. My System Specs: Dell Inspiron 4100 Pentium III - M 1.2GHz 1GB RAM Geforce2 Go 200 32MB Video Card BIOS 3.11.01.38.F6 LaptopVideo2Go Driver 7.6.1.0 Windows XP SP2 I've troubleshot this issue and the noise is not coming from the power supply, harddrive, disc/cd/dvd drives, backlight, lcd inverter, speakers, etc. Based on my troubleshooting and from others, the buzzing noise/sound is coming from the videocard. The buzzing sound/noise is apparent within websites that have flash animation running such which is basically all of them! To test this out, I disabled the macromedia internet explorer addin flash.ocx and there is no buzzing sound/noise that I hear coming from the videocard. One fix mentioned was taking the USB root hub and turning off the Windows power management setting and unchecking "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power". This did not work for me. Another thing I tried is disabling the ACPI for my laptop and setting the laptop to Standard PC. This of course caused the laptop to use Advanced Power Management when I rebooted and load all the drivers for each of the devices for the laptop. Believe it or not, by going to APM the buzzing noise/sound is now eliminated. I have a theory about this buzzing sound.....the noise/sound is coming from the videocard....it is especially noticiable when viewing flash video internet web sites...the default power management settings within ACPI is causing the issue. I know this is quite a read, but I was wondering if others are having this buzzing issue and what others have done to remedy the situation without forcing Windows to use APM which causes lower battery life and limits Windows XP. Thanks for your thoughts! Chief Rocka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobilenvidia Posted April 26, 2005 Report Share Posted April 26, 2005 It sounds like an IRQ problem, since nearly all the IRQs are on the same IRQ (9 for my machine) You'll find that all the devices that arn't part of the Motherboard share the same IRQ. This sometimes causes problems, I used to get problems with my modem (dialup) connection if I changed resolution or even just went to the display properties. The modemwould just disconnect. I also many moons ago used to get buzzy noises when I moved the mouse. These problems are IRQ related, since they all usethe same one. Some of my problems went away after I updated the Chipset driver (can be found @ Intel) Make sure you have the latest sound drivers installed also, as this may have a fix for the buzzing. It won't be the video making the actual sound, it will be electrical (IRQ) noise from the video card coming through the speakers I hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®®® Posted April 26, 2005 Report Share Posted April 26, 2005 There used to be setting in the BIOS on desktop PCs that's called "SpreadSpectrum something". If it's existant in your DELL Laptop BIOS try to play around with it (enable/diable), as it is said to have an effect on the EMI (Electromagnetic Interference/"noise"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobilenvidia Posted April 26, 2005 Report Share Posted April 26, 2005 Speaking of which, try adding one of these to the [Mobile_Tweaks] section. HKR,, SpreadSpectrumFactoring, %REG_DWORD%, 185HKR,, SpreadSpectrumFactoring, %REG_DWORD%, 375 HKR,, SpreadSpectrumFactoring, %REG_DWORD%, 385 HKR,, SpreadSpectrumFactoring, %REG_DWORD%, 80 One of these might help, they are all known settings. You'll need to uninstall/install driver each time to make sure the settings take. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chief Rocka Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 Ok, I created four inf files for the various spreadspectrum settings and updated the video card driver for each. Unfortunately, all four times I updated I kept on getting the buzzing sound on the websites with flash animation. My Dell bios does not have the spreadspectrum option. Any other thoughts out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest deadfreeman Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Have you considered replacing the video in your laptop? I know most laptops have chips soldered onto the mobo, but my inspiron 2650 has a removeable video module. However, im limited to gf2 with 16MB max. (I have 8MB, but i have seen others with 32MB, however, $50 on ebay for gf2 32MB is obviously silly) the lappy is great for note taking in classes, i bought it for about 350, maxed out the ram and put in a 30gB hdd from another laptop. Anyway, i have the same buzzing problems you describe, and at first i thought it was the cpu fan, but when i noticed after running speedstep, the cpu fan stopped moving. this led me to belive it was something on the mobo towards the top right next to the cpu module (the video module) Im going to try some irq shuffling then try and further update my drivers (i already have the latest from dell) from some yet un-found 3rd party place like laptopvideotogo. maybe if i look at the intel site i can find a better chipset driver like a previous poster suggested. if that wont work, i found around 5 or 10 video modules on ebay for less than $20! what dumb luck! so i may grab one of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 i tried disabling sound and similar things i dont use to free up any irqs as i could, but to no avail. i dont just get the buzzing in flash sites, i have it while the browser moves from page to page or multitasking at all when using a browser or explorer. At least its not doing it when i open word and start typing. that would get ###### anoyying to me and disturb others in class. i have the 67.03 drivers installed, seems stable, except before i boot to the desktop, the screen goes green and very interlaced for a few seconds, then goes to desktop. other than that, everything looks great. i have the most recent intel chipset drivers for what dell says is my chipset, allthough cpu-z says a have a i845D chipset not the 845m/mp/z or whatever dell says. could be a different revision of the i2650, im not sure since my service tag was removed from the first owner i bought this laptop from on ebay. ######. still hasnt asnwerd my email for a ownership transfer. so much for begging dell support for giving it back for a new motherboard, that seems to work for people 50/50 in solving this problem according to the dell community boards. I have the most recent mobo bios from dell, but i think my video bios is still the original, the link provided on laptopvideo2go for my gf2go bios is a 404 on the dell site, i may have to do some digging later. im thinking a reformat/reinstall this time installing chipset and nvidia drivers first isin order. anyone have a gpu bios for a gf2go on an inspiron 2650? still searching, matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®®® Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 cpu-z says a have a i845D chipset not the 845m/mp/zthey are not mobile specific enough. Use Intel MB identifier instead http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?showtopic=7119 , which shows the true name (same as what DELL shows) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest deadfreeman Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 Ok, i think i fixed the problem the best i can without the obvious fix, a motherboard replacement of a later revision. The best way is a complete removeal of current drivers (reformat before if you want) and first install the latest chipset drivers (in my case intel 845mz/mp) and then i used the 71.84 drivers from this site, and a combination of speedswitch xp dropped the buzzing noise alot maybe about 85% of what it was. Also with my perticular laptop (i2650) the modded inf for 7184 cause some display artifacts and cause the buzzing to be louder for some reason. After i rolled back the inf, i still heard it as loud as i had before, so i repeated the whole process of reformatting and installing the drivers, it seemed like it was quiet again. i think the speedswitch does the most, the drivers alone wont quiet it enough. I can only here it when the laptop boots and hits a full load on the cpu which isnt often for the uses i plan on using it for. While i used to hear it alot more often while navigating explorer and IE, now its barely audible and occurs alot less often during these times. my video bios turned out to be upgraded when i upgraded tro the latest system bios. Im not sure i can get it any quieter without a motherboard change, but the price i paid for the laptop just doesent justify spending half of what i paid for it to replace the motherboard, and the seller probabaly not being able to verify what revision it is. It sucks, but hey, its a $350 laptop. I still think its better than buying a new $700 laptop with the exact same specs after i upgraded it from another laptop that i bought, which ill gut it for parts and resell for alsmot the same price i paid for it. anyone who finds a better solution, let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®®® Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 :) thanks for reporting back. We will recommend your post in case anyone pops up with another noise problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamika007z Posted July 6, 2005 Report Share Posted July 6, 2005 The buzzing noise is a hard one to get away from. My Dell Inspiron 8100 also had that problem, it was attributed to the poor quality of having the motherboard grounded to something stable. They eventually released a fix for the sound card, by offering better drivers (ESS sound card). So that fixed it, for the most part. Thanks for the report! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted July 17, 2005 Report Share Posted July 17, 2005 I may not be the video card. I believe my 8200 does/did the same thing, but the sound is (oddly enough) related to the CPU idle method. Do you have some form of CPU throttling enabled (like the intel drivers that Dell usually supplies)? If so, try disabling that. (in Linux, for example, I had to tell the idle process to poll instead of it's normal method, but I'm not aware of any way to do this in Windows :/) Using WinXP's CPU throttling seems to be fine, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted July 19, 2005 Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 If I get strange sounds from my laptop, I can just turn the fans off and it goes away (a bad solution when its hot I know, but it shows that is definitely the fans) sometimes the strange sound goes away if I turn the fans up or something, I have learned to just live with it, and have never bothered to oil the fans, which supposedly fixes it. (you have to do it every so often though) The fans on my laptop work just fine, even if they do make strange noises sometimes.... If you really are annoyed with the fans, use the I8200 Fangui's automatic fan control and change it so it has to get a little hotter for the fans to come on or something, and change their speed too, just don't turn the fans off for long periods of time when its hot unless you are cooking grilled cheese sandwitches on your laptop.... :) Like OCing, we take no responsibility if you break your laptop by turning the fans off. I'd rather have a strange sounding (but working) fan than an overheating laptop. I think I have had sound that was related to the CPU too before possibly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted July 24, 2005 Report Share Posted July 24, 2005 Oh! Also, are you using the Dell sound card driver drivers? If you are, the card will be listed as Crystal WDM or somesuch. These drivers, for lack of a better term, suck, and have been known to cause that issue. Using the XP drivers (causes the card to show up as Intel Integrated Audio) is much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamika007z Posted August 1, 2005 Report Share Posted August 1, 2005 Here's an interesting tidbit of information. I recently got a i8200 motherboard from a friend and it is a revision of A10. I popped it in and I really hear the buzzing sounds, quite irritating. I don't think I have ever heard it in my A05 revision motherboard. Anyone else have any ideas? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brandon Posted September 26, 2006 Report Share Posted September 26, 2006 I also have an 8200. it's been buzzing on and off for about a year. just within the past couple of days it has started buzzing a lot more frequently. previously, i would simply get a can of air and blast the fans and nearby parts to clear it of all the dust, and it fixed the problem for months. i just tried that and the problem is still there. i know it's the fan because if i tap the fan, and it slows down, even just a little, the buzzing goes away, until it speeds up again. anyways, thanks for all the pointers. i'll think about oiling those bad boys and see where that takes me as well. Here's an interesting tidbit of information. I recently got a i8200 motherboard from a friend and it is a revision of A10. I popped it in and I really hear the buzzing sounds, quite irritating. I don't think I have ever heard it in my A05 revision motherboard. Anyone else have any ideas?Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboSanta Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 I have a buzzing sound, but I think it's coming from my unsteady desk because whenever I put my hand on the desk it stops. It's extremely annoying when my laptop is just sitting there doing nothing, but I can't here it when I'm gaming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabrice Roux Posted October 3, 2006 Report Share Posted October 3, 2006 The main source of vibration are the moving parts in that order: HDD, CD and fans. The HDD can cause a lot of noise thru resonnance. You usually can tone down the noise by bending the laptop a little or use gromlets to change the stress on the laptop structure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®®® Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Tried to translate "gromlet" with LEO, but it failed. Is that a typo, a french specific thingy or just me beeing absent-minded :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabrice Roux Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Typo... looks like my pinky landed on the wrong letter... you should read grommet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Seems like a suitable fix for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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