What IS this Damned Noise? (not the whine)

I'm not sure but i think it's my Hard Drive. my XPS M1330 makes brief clicking sounds then right after a loud BEEP. It happens from time to times but it has kinda become common now. Help! it's very annoying, It turns heads around in the library.
What the Hell man?

thanks

 

boot to the utilitie partition and let it check your system..it oing to take a while but it would find a problem if there is any..

 

im willin to do it but can tell me how? thanx

 

press F12 when you turn on the system (dell logo shows up) and then select diagnostic...it will start a quick check and then it goes to the main diagnostic page where you can select to test which part of system...

 

is the loud beep like this random 2-3 second beep that happens whenever it wants to? My computer does that once in a blue moon. Clicking sound I dunno about. I get a clicking sound when the hard drive parks, but the beeping sound isn't related to it. So far the beep hasn't happened in public so I've been lucky. Would be really embarrassing in a class, lol.

How often do you hear the clicks? Constantly, or once in a while, with no set interval. And does the beep always follow a click? Or are they both different?

 

Same here! I get this on my Inspiron 1420 really rarely as well, and so far only when I've been using it at home. I could be playing an FPS or just listening to music when suddenly this 2-3 tone loud beep comes out of the computer and really scares me. Anyone know why the sounds are coming?

 

I used to get a loud beep periodically on my Thinkpad. After searching, I found out that it would occur when the right combination of keys was pressed quickly. This would sometimes occur when typing.

The solution was to go to Device Manager, View Hidden Devices, expand Non-Plug and Play Drivers, double click Beep, and disable it. This was in Windows XP, but it's also there in Vista. You need to go to the Driver tab, click on Startup and disable it.

I don't know if this is causing your problem, but if you're brave you can give it a try. I haven't tried it with Vista since my M1530 hasn't done this. But it worked on my Thinkpad with XP.

 

Definitely caused by the hard drive. My older Compaq laptop came with a slow 4200 RPM hard drive, so I ordered a 7200 RPM hard drive from newegg and slapped it in there. It does the same clicking noise that you are describing. My 1530 also has a 7200 RPM hard drive and it is producing the clicking noise once in a while. The hard drive running in the Compaq has been working for the last 2 years without any issues, so I am not sure if it is a defect as much as just the movement of the hard drive mechanism.

 

I get some clicking sounds but no beep from the bottom left palm rest area of my m1330 . It is a constant clicking noise with a few seconds of delay inbetween but I can only hear it when I put my ear close up to it. Is this suppose to be normal?

 

It's your laptop signaling the government where you are! LOL

 

clicking sound is normal but I would call dell about the beep

 

Run to the hills!


About the beep, I'm probably wrong, but it might be windows stickykeys. Like when you press shift 5 times in a row.

 

This just happened about twice in the last 3 days on my M1530. Once I wasn't even using the laptop (it was on since I was transferring files) so that would rule out a combination of keys being pressed or sticky keys. The sound definately came from the hard drive since it was right under the left palmrest.

For comparison purposes, I ordered my laptop with the 160gb hard drive option, and the model is Toshiba MK1637GSX.

 

I can confirm that the beep is not the same as the one for sticky keys, or for the shortcut for switching languages.

Plus I disable sticky keys and the language switcher because they are both annoying. There's nothing worse than having your keyboard switch to French half way through typing something.

 

I too am having the little click and then loud beep. It has only happened twice so far and I've had this Inspiron 1721 since Oct. But, since this just started yesterday I'm concerned. It isn't the sticky keys...HELP!

 

I have the exact same HD!!!
Coincidence?

I've been having this "random short lodu beep" since HP switched my previous HD with this new one from Toshiba!
I've already talked with HP like 15 times and they don't have a clue about it!
Also sent an e-mail to Toshiba Storage to see if my HD had some kind of warning sound function!

Any news on this?

 

Another me too post here on my m1530 w/ 250gb hd. The beep is more like the PC speaker beep rather than through the audio speakers - if that makes sense.

 

It makes sense, it happens when my computer is muted.

 

Has anyone contacted Dell and seen what they say about it?

 

the slight ticking/clicking noise heard sometimes, esp when your computer boots up, is your dvd drive. Specificly, the lens moving up and down to sense and focus on a disc. If s disc is not there, it will attempt this multiple times and give up until the next refresh is called.

However dont confuse this with the strange ticking sound often heard when the laptop is in battery mode. yea its something different... its one of the components.. no idea what or why, you would think things run in low power mode when the battery is in use.

 

This sound we're talking about will happen even when the computer is plugged in, and definitely sounds like it's coming from the HD - under the left palmrest.

 

It might be that the M1330 is setting the hard drive into a power management state that it doesnt support. Try running Notebook Hardware Control (NHC) and set the hdd to "Max Performance" or 255, whatever that value is, and see if it instantly goes quiet. The only way to permenantly fix it is get another brand of HDD that supports that power state. I had a Vostro 1500 that was clicking like crazy until I did this.

 

I'm glad to see some of you trying to help us with this issue!
But please don't confuse "clicks" with "beeps"...
I mean, what happens in my laptop isn't a "click sound"! Clicking sounds are more than normal for laptop and even for desktop HDs!
It's a "very loud single beep" that happens randomly once in awhile and when I'm already in Windows!

 

i have experienced that too. happened completely random and unexpected. a loud beep (not HDD clicks).

 

pedro, sounds like a program you have running is issuing warnings via the pc speaker beep. You can actually disable this and see if it solves the annoyance (but still leaves the question why its beeping). Its been a while since I did this, but in device manager, sort by connection type and toggle the show hidden devices. Look for the "Beep" listing and disable it.

 

Thanks for the reply jeffmd!
I already tried that and the "beep" keeps coming!
I am really convinced that my Toshiba HDD is the one responsable for the "beep"!

 

I have an m1530 with the same problem. Posted on Dell comm forum too, and not seeing anything for a response. I think the HD actually emits the beep too.

 

Another hand raised. I have not bothered to call Dell because I'm fairly certain they'll be clueless. I'm running the very latest A07 firmware, and it's still doing it and has done it since the factory A04 firmware. 1520, Vista Home Premium, 2.2 Core2 Duo.

Mine has done it 4 or 5 times in the past 3 months. It very much sounds like it's a PC speaker sort of noise, and not something generated from a Windows system WAV file sort of noise. I think it almost sounds like a feedback loop you get from a microphone placed too close to its speaker. Kind of a crreee-eeEeeEEEEPPP!!! beeping noise, if that makes any sort of sense. Lasts about 1 second and there's some variance to the noise. It's not just one solid BEEP. It warbles a bit. It's loud enough that it definitely calls attention to itself. You would clearly hear it from across the room.

It does not seem to be related to any bit of software, nor key combinations. It's done it with only Vista loaded, and it's done it with my system full of various software. It's done it to me while I've had the system sound muted. It's usually been when I'm not actually doing anything with the laptop. I'll be typing an email, look up or answer the phone or something, and it's done it. No power save, screen saver, or hard drive powerdown seems to be occuring, at least in terms of the system settings and responses. It's done it also after the laptop's been sitting for 30-40 minutes too, maybe while literally doing nothing, maybe while transfering files across the network. Again, while plugged in, with no apparent system-state change.

My feeling is that it is actually the hard drive because I have heard it accompanied to what sounds like a hard drive head parking. A few weeks ago it did it while my hands were resting on the area near the touchpad, and there actually was a 'mechanical' feeling of something occuring when it happened. Not just a vibration.

I have heard a noise sort of like this in a PC with a failing hard drive. I have been tempted to buy & install a different hard drive to see if the noise goes away (and in case it actually does die). It's just so infrequent and seemingly not reproducable that I dont' know if it would help.

It is very annoying, and I too have been lucky that it's only happened in a 'private' setting. It would be very embarassing to be in a business meeting (or class, I'd imagine) and have this happen.

 

I opened a support ticket with Toshiba to see if they know what the beep the beep is. I'll let you know if I here anything (other than "beep").

 

Heres the email back from Toshiba:


Hello,

The Hard Drive may be Defective. Contact the Toshiba Rma Dept. at
510-651-6077 ext.1 for warranty service.


Toshiba Technical Support.


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 6:47 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: HDD FORM REQUEST


Name: x
Email: x
Category: HDD
Model: MK1637GSX
Phone:
Question: I am receiving an intermittent beep from this HD running in a
laptop with windows vista. I am certain that this noise is from the HD.
Is this a waring noise; or what does it indicate?

 

As a result of the above, I went ahead and opened a ticket with Dell. Does the on-site service include copying over all the files from the old drive? I could do it , but its a very busy time for me.

 

Interesting.

I don't know if I have a Toshiba HD or not. I've never opened up my 1520 to look. Will do so this evening. Would a 160GB SATA drive in a 1520 purchased 3 months automatically be a Toshiba drive?

If so, I will probably just order a new WD drive from NewEgg even though my 1520 is still under warranty because I do not have much faith in Toshiba HD's based on past experiences. This just reinforces that. I can not and will not tolerate even questionable hard drives.

 

Not sure on yours, but mine is the 160gig too. If you got it replaced you could always put in in an external enclosure to at least have something useable.

 

Thanks for sharing!

That is not good news!
For us laptop users, we have a really big problem!
Toshiba, or any HDD manufacturer, doesn't offer support for OEM products!
So, we're stuck with our laptops manufacturer to solve our issue!
The problem is, laptop manufacturers often don't know how to distinguish from a healthy HDD to a faulty HDD! And if they can't find what's wrong with the HDD, they certainly won't be replacing it!
So, we might aswell send our precious laptop for repair, wait a month or so, and then receive it back with no changes!
Either way, I'm gonna keep on forcing HP to ear my concerns until they give me a solution I'm confortable with!

mwmcginn: please let us know how your process evolved!

 

Which is actually exactly what I'm thinking of doing. Rather than hassling with Dell, I'd much rather just spend $150 for a new 250GB drive + external SATA enclosure. Put the 250GB in the 1520 and use the 'suspect' 160GB as an external backup drive.

For me, that's far more cost effective than being without my notebook for even one day.

 

I have this problem in High performance mode when plugged in and it makes the noise EVERY DAY. I have a Seagate 160gb HHD too.

 

Oh yeah, you dont need to pull it out to check it, just go to the drive, right click, properties, and it should be on the HW tab.

 

My dell desktop beeps in two cases

When it is lagging severely and I click to close something and it cant process it it just beeps at me

When i play fps games usually 3 keys causes a beep every time i press 3 at once (but i have ps/2 keyboard) could be keyboard overload

 

I have the samsung 250gb drive in my m1530 and sounds to me like it needs to go back. Both my m1530's did this... ergh! I've noticed the system does freeze for a moment when it happens - like when watching a video it stops for a split second when the drive makes that cracking noise.

 

Regarding the clicking harddrives: My original Seagate HDD as delivered from Dell made the clicking... about the rate and volume of a ticking clock.

I purchased a Western Digital HDD of the same specs (160gb, 5400rpm) and the clicking continued.

Today I tried the Notebook Hardware Control utility and selecting Max Performance solved the ticking issue.

Since it affected two HDD's, I assume it's something with Dell's power management system(?).

I'm tempted to throw the Seagate drive back into the laptop but I've put too much effort into getting this HDD running as I like it.

 

FWIW, I called Dell on it and they're sending someone out today to replace the drive. I tried disabling sleep in the PM, but didn't make the clicking go away.

 

Got the drive replaced yesterday and it's all better now. IIRC the old drive was a samsung and the new one is a fujitsu... but I might be wrong about that.

 

My wife 2 weeks old Vostro 1500 has the random "crreee-eeEeeEEEEPPP!!!" bip issue couple of times a day.

Doesn't seem to come from the HD but I might be mistaken.

 

Speakers? Try the mute.... but that sound wasn't what mine was doing. FWIW - my drive has been plugging away whisper quiet for a couple weeks now, no problems.

 

As mentioned by other posters it's not coming from the speakers but possibly from the hardrive or internal speakers, Zigby did a good description of the issue.

 

Anyone replaced their Toshiba drive and don't have the issue anymore?

 

So, I'm not the only one suspicious about the Toshiba drive...
HP replaced my previous drive with this one from Toshiba: MK1637GSX
Since then, I'm getting our well known "random short beep"...
After 6 months, and after 200 calls to HP Support, I'm still trying to solve this issue! I'm waiting on an answer from some guy that "calls the shots" on HP!
Next thing I'm gonna do is tell them I wan't the Toshiba drive replaced just because the beep started to happen exactly after the replacement!

 

Yes, the Toshiba drives seems to be the common factor for the beeping issue.
So I am thinking of replacing the 120GB Toshiba with a 160GB WD Scorpio.

 

When you replace it, please let us know if the beep stops...
If HP ever replaces mine, I'll let you know...

 

Dell is sending me a replacement HD, apparently a Samsung.

Will let you know if it resolves the issue.