M1330 crackling sound problem SOLVED...

If you have an M1330 you've probably noticed the crackling audio playback on the unit. At first I thought it was related to Speedstep or the 3D video, but apparently it's something much more sinister (read: obscure) than that.

Dell tech support had no answers when I talked with them about it yesterday.

However, after scouring Google, it seems that laptops with Sigmatel audio and wireless cards that support the 802.11a band exhibit this crackling or audio stutter.

The fix? Go into the wireless adapter hardware properties and disable 802.11a support and hit the apply button. The change is immediate and all of the audio problems disappear. If you turn 802.11a back on, the crackling comes back immediately.

 

Yep, seen this fix too. now what about us who only have b/g wireless cards?

 

can u give a better description on how to disable 802a?
thanks

 

To disable 802.11a:

1. Start / Ccontrol Panel / Device Manager
2. Expand "Network Adapters"
3. Right-click on your wireless adapter and select "Properties"
4. Go to the "Advanced" tab
5. Select "Disable Bands"
6. Pull down "Disable 802.11a"
7. Click "Apply"

Done!

These instructions are for the Dell mini wireless cards. Other cards may have different properties in the "Advanced" tab.

 

i disabled A, but I could not connect to my router, let alone find any connection

 

If your router uses the A band, then you cant disable it without losing your wireless. Most routers today are G though, and thats what mine runs off of. So I would find out what band/s your router supports, and make sure those are enabled.

 

Good info! +1 for the OP

 

I wonder if this has any relation with my audio problems on the Inspiron 1520?

 

The disable band option is not available for the 1390 Dell Wireless card. So for some maybe, but for mine nope

 

Thank God I found this thread!!! I was about to throw my XPS against the wall. I could not believe it was like that on a brand new computer. I even talked to customer service today and he could not figure it out. This is awesome, now the only problem I have is an uneven keyboard but dell is sending me out a new keyboard The sound was the biggest of my worries glad I got it fixed

 

Similarly, when Bluetooth was on the processor used to whine in some m1330s and the solution was to turn off the bluetooth.

Blame these kind of issues on poor shielding of EMIs and RFIs.

 

Does the sound you guys are talking about happen all the time, or just when doing other things?

My audio is fine if I am just playing audio or a DVD, or something like that.
It only starts the cracking, static sound when I am also browsing the internet.

Is this what you have experienced also. I am wondering if the fix that you guys are talking about with help with my problem. If it is that you always have cracking (regardless of what else you are doing), then it may be a different issue than what I have.

 

I selected G instead of disabling A. That's how it is on my 1330. It didn't work.

I downloaded the latest Dell Sigmatel driver and the cracking/stutter is still there! Is there a better driver I can download?

About to toss the 1330 into the ocean! Darn it.

 

i have the intel next gen card and i don't see the option to disable bands. i have this exact same problem and it's very frustrating.

 

Same problem here.

The Intel wireless drivers I have don't have "Disable Bands". New Sigmatel drivers also showed no improvement.

After lots of strenuous testing, it seems to happen when cpu throttling (speedstep) happens. Every time the cpu changes clock speed, i get snap, crackle, pop.

I've tried all the fixes suggested and have been on the phone to dell support but as per usual they weren't very helpful.

Anyway, a tech is coming out to try to fix this problem by reinstalling the OS.... USELESS......... I'll probe the tech and see if he has any more info and try to get this worked out because it's driving me nuts.

 

I'm not even using my wireless. I have it switched off with the switch on the side of the computer. Wireless shows up as disabled in Network Properties. I still get static bursts when I use headphones and browse the Internet using an ethernet cable.

 

I thought 'a' was a commercial band? Here in the UK you can only buy devices that are advertised to support 'b', 'b/g', or 'b/g/n'.

So you guys (in America I assume) can buy corporate band routers as well as domestic ones? Odd.

 

I have the Intel 4965 A/B/G/N card in my M133O, and I do not have any crackling. I do have constant low-level static, but it is quite tolerable.

Has anyone had this issue with Intel cards, or have they been reported with only Dell cards?

 

I've got the 4965 card as well and have crackling and stuttering. As I said above, tried all fixes and still no good.

 

I've had the exact same problem on my M1330 too, and am waiting on my third replacement system because of it. In addition to the crackling, I also get bad static if I move the WiFi Catcher switch at all. Turning off the wireless switch seemed to stop the crackle and popping but it's not an acceptable solution.

EDIT: I have the Dell 1505 wireless-N mini-pc card.

 

I have the 3945, and no crackling, no whine, and not even static.. The only static I have heard was with the supplied ep630s, but then they are pretty ****ty headphones.. None of my other speakers, including a set of cheap ALS 121i have any static.. guess I just got lucky

 

Oh, wow. I'm surprised your keeping at it. Let us know how it turns out. I'll probably do a replacement if I have to but if thats still no good then I'll just go for a refund.

 

Dell is definitely testing my patience! I really like the 1330 and have never had a quality issue with the last 7 Dell pc's (desktop and laptop) I've purchased over the years.

 

Hey guys, just thought I'd repost this from another thread if people are still looking here for a fix:

The wireless, video drivers, and speedstep fixes never worked for me, but one thing you can try is to right click on the sound icon in the system tray, select playback devices, double click the speakers/headphones icon, and go to the enhancements tab. Select "disable all enhancements."

I think it is some issue with Vista trying to do something fancy with the sound that the motherboard/drivers don't support. This fixed it for me. Good luck!

 

Saw the previous post and tried this fix...didn't work for me.

 

This was the first thing I tried too. Didn't work.

 

another crackling audio victim here.....
Mine seems fine unless I leave it on for a while downloading torrents. I re-boot and it is fine again.

I tried disabling 'a' wireless, as well as turning off audio enhancements with no success.

Turning off all wireless with the switch doesn't help either.

 

disabling wireless/wireless a/ audio enhancements does nothing for me either.

 

I've solved my problems!!! This is a real pain in the ass to fix (and I don't even know what changed) but it's well worth it.

After having tried everything under the sun, (disabling enhancements, turning off wireless, updating drivers, removing drivers, removing wireless, installing different drivers, etc..) I've managed to get rid of the sound crackle/pop/skip problem.

It was a last ditch effort before returning the unit to dell. I reinstalled the whole thing from scratch using slightly different methodology than recommended.

I installed Vista x64 SP1 (not dells oem) with the wired ethernet connected and let windows update download all the drivers rather than install the dell drivers. Once it finished, the only drivers left to install were the Sigmatel drivers (to replace the Microsoft HD Audio drivers) and the biometrics driver. Now is the time to install the Sigmatel drivers. When done, go into the playback devices and disable the enhancements for the speakers.

This is when you can test to see if it worked. If all went well, you should have a 99% functioning m1330 with NO crackling/poping/skipping sound. All thats left to install is the synaptics touchpad software (optional) and the protectorate suite biometrics software (also optional, you can just install the upek driver). You can also start updating some of the other drivers, but Windows update seemed to get most of the latest and best ones anyway.

OH btw I had the Intel 4965 wireless card.

Hope this can help some of you. GL guys.

 

can i use this for my m1530? I got a intel 4965AGN and dont know if this will work on me or screw things up.

 

From my own experimentation with the M1530,the stuttering issue is the fault of Windows Media Player POS,utilize winamp or other file player and no more stutter.

 

I have an XPS 1710 with Vista and Sigmatel with Intel 3495. Turning off a-mode and leaving just 802.11bg didn't fix the crackling problem.

Disabling all enhancements in the audio properties seems to help but does not completely rectify the problem.

 

I've also heard (there was a thread on this forum, I think) taping the audio wire helps; I guess that reduces interference from the wireless card. I've noticed that the crackling gets worse at high volumes, so when I'm showing a video or something to a bunch of people, I usually end up switching my wireless off. Having my motherboard (and therefore soundcard) replaced helped, maybe just because the connections or placement/insulation were better.

 

I have the same problem with my brand new M1330 that is running XP. I've tried everything so far and nothing has helped. It seems to mostly come out of the left side of the speakers.

 

I signed up to say that Disabling 802.11a on my Draft-N spec fixed 99% of my stuttering using Winamp. Now I'm happy. Thank you! I never would've thought of that

 

i had this problem, and disabling the wirreless a fixed it thanks.

 

Thanks, I have a dell vostro 1500 and the audio crackled out of the box. I will bookmark this post as it probably saved me untold time. I was thinking wha the heck could cause that. Thanks again deacon

 

Does the Belkin N use 802?

 

dw all cleared belkin is b/g

XD

 

ok my problem aint solved lol... I dont have that 802.a to disable.. what can I do?

 

Just got off the phone after 3 hours with Dell Tech support. Crackling sound in my xps m1330 is because the wireless n card is interfering with the audio board. We tried every driver, even switched card into a different slot. Then they acknowledged that this is an issue that they do not have a fix for.
My options. 1. return computer (It is brand new) 2. call Dell and trade my wireless n card for the slower b,g card. (apparently both the Intel and dell wireless n cards are having the issue). I have the Dell 1505 card. Is there anyone out there with the Intel wireless n card? I'd like to know for sure if it is causing the same issue. Of course switching off the all of the wireless fixes? the problem also.

 

I have the intel wireless N and don't get this issue.

 

Disabling wireless band a is helping quite a bit! Still getting some crackling, but much better.

1 - Go to Control Panel -> Device Manager
2 - Click on Networks Adapters
3 - Double click on the wireless card
4 - Go to the advanced tab.
5 - Select from the list "Disable Bands"
6 - Select the a band from the list on the right side.

dell xps 1330 with 1550 wireless n card.

 

I originally had the Dell 1505 N card and returned the unit because of the static. I had them change to the Intel N card in the replacement unit and STILL had the problem. I had the system replaced again and went back to the 1505 card and disabled N and the WiFi catcher and that pretty much solved the problem.

 

How did you disable the N? I'm not sure which property it is... BSS mode?

 

I've got the same problem. I don't believe that my computer can have audio this shoddy when it is supposed to be a pretty high end "media" laptop. What utter rot. Anyway, I don't seem to be able to disable the A band on my computer for some reason I see the instructions produced on this thread and am grateful for them, but when I get to the screen, I don't see the "disable bands" option...its just not there. The relevant system specs are as follows:

dell m1330
windows vista 32 bit
dell wireless 1395 minicard

please help this problem is driving me UP THE WALL!!!

 

I have it as well but after trying all the fixes, its still there. Realised its the power supply. Maybe its a different problem to all of your's. If I unplug it, it goes away.

 

Worked for my studio

 

I'm not gonna say it fixed it but it definitely sounds better.

I don't know what happened... it didn't do it before.

Anyways, mad props to the OP.

 

any help for me with the xps m1530 crackling sounds? it drives me crazy..what to do?