Low and distorted sound on my CF-M34 Mk3

I have a CF-M34 Mk3 (CF-M34NE08FE / CF-M34NEFZZZ) and have problems with the built in speaker. The BIOS is updated to the latest V3.01L21 BIOS

The sound is very low/faint and is distorted.

I tried it with Windows 98SE, Windows XP sp1 and sp2 and plain MS-DOS.

Only in DOS the sound does not distort (but still sounds low/faint) (with old games like Kings Quest V / Leisure Suit Larry 6 / Doom 2 and the PC-speaker setting)

I also tried several difrent speakers (even some of other laptops that are just good working speakers)

I also tried the sound with my headphones, but this laptop still gives a crackling/distorted sound on the headphones aswell.

So i think its a driver or IRQ / Port problem.

I removed the Modemcard of this laptop and changed the bios settings for the 2 serial ports and the paralell port to OFF

Still bad / distorted sound.

Any hints ? Has anybody else also had this problem ?

Could it be solved by simply changing some IRQ or installing a driver that actually works for me ?

I used the following Drivers with no results:

Sigmatel driver 5.10.0.7144 (m34_3_sound_v5_10_00_7144)

Sound Driver V5.10.00.7192 Update

sound_48_5_d030277

 

Maybe a daaged audio ic, if you are brave enough you can try to find a spare and make a change... you'll need steady hand and very fine soldering iron.
Usually audio ICs are bigger (relatively) than other computer ICs.

But before doing this, try to find on the mobo the path of the signal going inside the audio IC and listen to it with a hearphone using some wires, i repeat BEFORE the ic, so you can see (or listen) if the signal is clean before the audio IC, if it is, you know where is the problem.

These computer are sufficentlu old, and the chips are not so small (relatively).

 

Try uninstalling the sound driver and make sure you download and install the correct one... Reboot and go into the BIOS.... Reset to default and reboot again allowing it to go into XP...

The sound driver you should just unpack and then go into Device Manager to install.

 

If it is not hardware related, because it is still working in dos mode, I would think u are right with the interupts. I would try this: Just change ur XP from ACPI to Standard-PC (Device-Manager), and the BIOS will take control back about the interupts.

 

If Onirakiss speaks... Listen to him!!! We all do!

 

I just tested a MS-DOS mp3 player that also has distorted sound.

all old sierra adventure games play the sound with the speaker option good.

How do i change the ACPI settings ?

 

Now, if u say there are also problems with an DOS application, I'm unsure about the interrupts. Anyway, it is easier to try this step, then to check the frequencies on the amplifier chip with an oscilloscope
Have a look here:
https://encrypted.google.com/search...rceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest

 

Ah yes, could u give me an recorded sample of an maybe well known music file played from ur laptop to analyze the sound?

 

After two weeks of a little break, here is my follow-up on my problem:

the sound still doesnt work well.

I also discovered, that when i am in the BIOS setup screen and i keep pushing F2, then the CF-m34 mk3 beeps. Okay, it beeps. So the speaker works. Thats oke.

A strange problem it is. I only bought it for 65 euros, so thats not too expensive. The battery holds 2 hours straight.

I might use it just for reading PDFs/E-books and for drawing some little doodle pictures with the touchscreen. Playing games without propper sound sucks with bad/distorted sound.

Anyhow, maybe some other folks know the answer, this topic was on page 3 today, so now its on top again.

If no solution comes, then i might try an USB soundcard that i then rewire inside and connect the output to the original headphone jack on the back. A bit of easy soldering might do that trick.

Still, i wonder what is wrong with this thing. My other 3 CF-M34s (300Mhz and 400Mhz have okay sound)

 

I tried an USB headset , and guess what ? With my USB headset I have sound (wave) and midi audio. Nice.

I still have sound going through the internal speaker AND using the audio out port (at the back of this laptop) when i am in the BIOS screen, and i get sound when i play a game of DOOM 2 when i use the PC-speaker option in the Doom 2 settings. (only the game sounds, NOT the midi sounds....).

Would it be possible to rewire the USB port to the inside, and use some kind of USB speaker that i then place inside the casing aswell, so that I have sound after all ?

Or would using the USB to amplify a speaker ask for a lot of power from the accu/battery ?

My current conclusions are:

- The sound chip seems to be kinda Okay
- The speaker and the audio out port (on the back) works (only in DOS and the BIOS menu)
- using a USB-headset also works with DOS (using PC speaker) and Windows XP/98 and ME.

- Speaker and audio port (back) DOESNT work using Windows XP/98 and ME.

- i am suspecting some odd damage on the internal wirings of the motherboard that connects the soundchip to the internal standard speaker.