High Pitch (Whine) Noise Issue - Dell to fix by BIOS update

So, what fixes are actually available to us at the moment?

 

None. but i don't consider it a real isue, it's an industry issue, not a Dell issue. No one really seemed to have cracked the code on this one.

 

The most bizarre thing for me is if I select the Power Saver Power Plan in Vista, the CPU whine completely stops. Switch back to High Performance and it returns.

Is anyone else finding this or is it just on my Vostro 1500?

At the moment, I have the Bluetooth method of preventing Windows from switching it off to save power and its working well.

 

have you tried to set HDD as the first device in the boot order in BIOS?

 

Does anybody else is in here experience any freezing of Vista when using RMClock?

 

I take it you've replied to the wrong thread by accident as I can't see how that would help.

 

Yep, that's why I don't use it. It is completely unstable under Vista....

 

Let's just hope for some sort of change in the A07 Bios update!

 

RMCLOCK ( disabling popup and popdown ) works ok for me and also the bluetooth.Anybody knows why starting vista in safe mode stops the noise?
I was going to try vista ultimate or XP to see if the noise goes.ANybody has tried that? Dell t5600 1.83ghz

 

I just spoke with Dell for awhile regarding this...again. I have had quite a history with this and can say my sources are pretty much the guys picking away at the systems themselves.

With regards to RM clock, Ultimate and XP.....there has been comment on XP reducing it considerably but RM Clock eats at battery life and Ultimate sees no difference.

This is what is no known. It is the motherboard. The motherboards are installed through a main plant where several system manufacturers all have their systems built in Malaysia, mainly.

For example, one particular plant builds all the systems for Dell Apple, Lenovo, HP and Acer. This means the same motherboard goes into each.

The term OEM becomes very well known here.

Conversely, some manufacturers can request modifications to certain motherboards however, for the most part, they are identical.

This is probably the case for instance, for HP and Dell laptops...same motherboard, same squeal.

So in theory, the dell moto built just for you is and isnt entirely correct.

Edit... this problem by the way is like a (and I hate the term) cancer. It has been around for years and no set cure has been found yet. Its a process of luck that one system will have it whereas another will not.

If anyone has read my articles on Dell or here, you will noted that with my last Dell laptop, we had removed EVERY part and placed them in other systems to find that they all worked perfectly, including the motherboard. Put them back and back comes the 'ghost squeal'

 

I've noticed something yesterday with my m1210. I usually plug in my iphone to the laptop to charge it via usb. This morning i took the iphone off and the whining was pretty noticeable. I put it back in and I didn't hear it anymore. Only thing I can't remember is if the whine was going on after I took off the Iphone from the end of the cord or if I took the usb off of the laptop. I did notice that when the Iphone was plugged in, there was no whine. Weird

 

If Vista safe mode stops the noise to happen, I am sure that the same result can be achieved in normal mode.Not sure why it doesnt happen in safe mode.I have tried my laptop and a friend of mine, and noise is gone..Maybe is not totally hardware....

 

Could be the way the OS is managing power.

Def sounds reasonable to me....

 

Yes. I found out that RMClock causes it to freeze, usually within a few minutes but sometime after more time, when it is running on battery. On AC power, however, I have yet to have RMClock to cause a freeze.

 

Don't use RM-Clock,it does not work with vista.

 

You are misinformed. Go check out the forums:

http://forum.rightmark.org/?id=6

 

You might be right, might be the mobile power options in vista then.
It might run well on desktops, but most users here have problems?

 

Just had a look at the Dell Article ID: 295216 again regarding the high pitch noise.
http://support.euro.dell.com/suppor...7D5CD2E17F5125E0401E0A55176204&doclang=en&cs=

It seems like they have edited out this little sentence since I last read it back in August.

"The level of the noise is within the acoustic specifications of the notebook and well below other noises from components such as the system fan and the hard disk drive". (Found this from my email archive)

I was pretty pissed off at this statement. Although the volume of the whine noise is low but it is so freaking distinctive and annoying.

The fix as stated in the article didn't work for me, instead I use RM Clock like many of you with the following settings according to this thread.
http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/showthread.php?t=3516

I have been using it for ~ 3months and haven't noticed any affects to the battery life and the best thing is the whine noise is gone.

I use Vista Ultimate with RMClock v2.25 and the "run on startup" option doesn't seem to work with Vista. I have to use the Vista's own task scheduler to run RMClock on startup. The newer version of RMClock probably fixed it.

 

I just wrote to Dell's technical support regarding this issue,
he said the BIOS which will fix this should be released soon.
Hope it's for real, or I will return it or request for a replacement.

He mentioned in the mail that "the problem that your system is experiencing is caused by the power circuitry on the motherboard."
Does it mean the problem is the motherboard instead of CPU?
Then why Dell won't redesign it and recall the current model?

 

Aha, very very interesting. The MacBook Pro's had this for a while, and Apple also said it was a problem with the motherboard....its driving me nuts. Calling for a replacement tmr. Please keep us updated!

 

OK i just came across an intermittent whining noise (it's not constant) on the bottom right of my notebook. Is this the whining noise everyone's talking about? It only started happening the last 2 days and its getting annoying. Is that where the CPU is located?

 

Recently we’ve heard from Inspiron 1520 customers and Vostro 1500 customers who are hearing noise from the headphone jacks in the form of a pop, beep or other machine noise. We are currently looking into these reports and will provide an update when it’s available.

 

Noise from the headphone jacks? Specifically from 1520/1500 customers? This thread is about the CPU whine that has been affecting numerous models and manufacturers using the Intel Core Duo 2 processor for at least a year.

See this in-your-face youtube video detailing the noise -- http://youtube.com/watch?v=ErkhU2qK-fM

 

i thought it was the CPU fan at first, so I ran the fan test with dell diagnostics and didn't hear anything. did a search and noticed I wasn't the only person with this problem.

I really hope there will be a BIOS fix for this, doubtful consider how long this problem has been around. still I rather not have to run additional program in the background no matter how little resources RMClock uses.

 

Do you guys still hear the sound when you take out the battery?

 

You wont corner the exact cause of the CPU whine. There are two different whines, the CPU whine and the battery input whine when the adapter is plugged into the laptop and is between 80-100% charge.

The CPU whine goes way back and on some systems it stops for something and others it stops for another. the underlying cause it a voltage variation when a part is changed.

For example, I know of a system that had the LED replaced...sound gone, HD replaced...sound gone, battery replaced...sound gone, bluetooth auto sleep unchecked...sound gone etc.

It is the motherboard which is installed at the main factory, the same of which is in several brands of laptops to include apple, HP, Acer and Dell...

 

Really? I just spoke with someone from escalations and told him about the CPU whine and the noise from the headphone jack, but he said that he has never heard of this problem.

Anyway, the CPU noise comes and goes away for me... but the whining noise is usually present in the headphone jack.

 

Don't trust that anyone is actually here as a Dell representative. There are a few of course but, anyone can just make up a name to make it sound as if they are Dell representatives and throw it in there.

 

OK i just came across an intermittent whining noise (like white noise) on the bottom right of my notebook. Is this the whining noise everyone's talking about? It only started happening the last 2 days and its getting annoying. Is that where the CPU is located?

 

The official ones usually have their full name/position in their sig.

 

Yes...hey...I could be...hmmm... Flamenko@Intel. No, that wouldnt be good as i would be attacked on the CPU squeal.

 

Okay, I think have a battery input whine. Is there a way to get rid of that?

 

hello fellow laptop enthusiasts i had exactly the same problem with my dell inspiron 1520 and the sig says it all. i highly doubt that any of the whining noises shall be solved by a BIOS update but heres hoping, you could always send the laptop back right?. I know after spending that kind of money on anything I didn't want something so basic and neccesary to its daily use to be as annoying as it was, i just couldn't handle it.

i wish you all well and goodluck keep it posted

 

I might ask for a replacement soon. I was thinking about just refunding it and just going back t o my 700m and just upgrading the ram and just use it until it like dies.

 

ummm the nec has had the same issues...yahoo and see.

 

Any new news about when we can expect a VOSTRO BIOS update?

Still only A00 on dell.com, but I heard new systems are shipping with A01?

Is that true?

 

My new vostro 1500 shipped with BIOS A01 and had a high pitch noise. I called up Tech support and the BIOS was downgraded to A00 and the noise reduced, though NOT completely gone. So BIOS fix doesn't look promising as of now...

 

I ask again...

"OK i just came across an intermittent whining noise (it's not constant) on the bottom right of my notebook. Is this the whining noise everyone's talking about? It only started happening the last 2 days and its getting annoying. Is that where the CPU is located?"

 

You don't mention bottom FRONT or bottom BACK, but I believe the CPU is LEFT SIDE, back. On the bottom of your 1420, there should be an "L" shaped cover. Open it up, and there is your CPU!

 

This solution was working with vista, I had to install XP but the device manager doesnt give the power management option, any ideas? If I install the broadcom driver 2004 the option is there, but when I install the new driver with the software for bluetooth the option goes.ANy way to leave the old driver and get the software?

 

My current system, 1420 has the whine issue also. BIOS is A01. I've returned two 1405/640m's already. In all systems I believe, the system gradually worsens, as upon recieving each of the replacement systems, the whine was definitely not there, and after 2 weeks started to become very noticeable.

 

I am hoping someone can give me some advice. I am on my third replacement 1720 insiron core 2 T7300. First one the screen was messed up, second one had the high pitched sound (spent 6+ hrs with tech support troubleshooting)
Third one same noise. They said they will replace the motherboard and speakers or I can have a refund. Are these computers worth it or should I just try a different company? I am not very computer savy and just don't know what to do. Thanks

 

Its a decision you have to make. My M1210 went through 3 motherboards, 3 fans with heatsinks, 3 hard drives, 2 dvds, 2 batteries...and it wasn't until they replaced it with an M1330 that things improved for me.

 

Yes, this problem is really getting ridiculous. I use my laptop in the quiet library all the time and I cannot stand the head-bangingly annoying noise.

 

I think I will send my 1720 back. Received the last repacement on Monday, tried to set it up Tuesday, got an error message but then seemed to be able to complete sign in process. Just tried to connect to internet...can't then a window on the task bar said click to repair? Said unknown shutdown Bluescreen. UGH... I am so disapointed. I know computers can have problems but so many out of the box? I really am not a whiner just upset.

 

Sorry, I haven't been up to date with this thread, can anyone summarize any news on this issue? What's being done? (if any?)

 

I haven't heard of any BIOs update regarding the noise problem. I have been using RM CPU to get rid of the noise and recently I stopped using it and the noise is a lot less noticeable than a few months ago. At times I think I'm just hearing the noise in my head since it has embedded so deep into my brain.

 

I have a Dell Vostro 1500. Here's a small part of the chatsession with tech. support.

10/17/2007 03:28:11PM Me: "Ok. Is it also certain that there will be a BIOS or other driver update that will fix the problem?"
10/17/2007 03:33:13PM Agent : "They are still reviewing with Intel. Not a date."
10/17/2007 03:46:24PM Agent : "According to the research it is with the BIOS-processor activity."
10/17/2007 03:47:46PM Agent : "We can wait for the update. But then you would not have access for the exchange."
10/17/2007 03:49:02PM Me: "Ok, and seeing as how they are reviewing it with Intel there will eventually be an update, is this correct?"
10/17/2007 03:49:22PM Agent : "Yes it will."

 

After I disabled the option to allow the laptop to automatically turn off bluetooth to save power under device manager, the noise seems to have settled, not as often as before. This was a suggestion I read on another thread on this forum.

 

Yeah, that only works if you have a BT module, though.....