The whistling computer?

airspirit · 08-28-2003, 08:20 PM

I have a computer making WHISTLING noises. It is my Athlon 700 box ... this is starting to really piss me off. I removed the speaker in case that was causing it, and there are no sound items in it except a sound blaster live card (with no speakers). It sounds almost like a UPS at other times. I can't figure out what is going on with this thing! Can you guys throw some ideas at me before I go mad?

hydrogen18 · 08-28-2003, 08:51 PM

if u removed the speaker causign it, why do u need our help

or maybe u just worded that wrong

im thinkign negative air pressure is the problem

Zhentar · 08-28-2003, 08:55 PM

whistling? that doesn't look like anything I've ever heard of before... could it be coil whine from the PSU maybe?

Since87 · 08-28-2003, 10:14 PM

Yep, I'd almost bet power supply, although conceivably fan or drive bearings.

Narrow it down, and if it's the supply, get rid of it very soon.

Boli · 08-28-2003, 10:37 PM

Stop all the fans and start them spinning one by one. (you'd better do the one on the CPU first, with no applications running to be safe).

You shoul be abale to narrow it down to what's causing the sound, because if it isn't a speaker then it's movement of air inside the computer.

I used to cut the grill of the back of my PSU fan as the obstructive grill caused noise.

~ Boli

bigben2k · 08-28-2003, 11:25 PM

Try this: go to the sound control, and disable the microphone...

Yo-DUH_87 · 08-29-2003, 12:03 AM

Are there any speakers soldered onto the motherboard, little piezo units perheps?

A few of my mobos have that, plus the option to use an external speaker.

airspirit · 08-29-2003, 09:44 AM

Okay, I found a solution, though this is absolutely bizarro. I had only one moving part left inside the case, and that was the PSU fan. I deconned that, and the whistling continued. I removed the sound card. I removed the RAM stick by stick. I disconnected the CD drive. Literally, there was nothing in the end except the motherboard, G400, PSU (without fan), one 256MB RAM stick, and the HDD. After examination there were no sound emitters on the motherboard. I was like "WTF???" I even ran an extension cord from the main breaker room in case it was wall power instability causing it.

After taking a freaking stethoscope (sp?) to the thing, I found the culprit: the HDD. The arm inside of it was grinding against one of the platters causing it to whistle.

What is amazing is that I was still getting data feed from that drive ... when I cracked the drive open, it looked like someone set some thermite off in there.

I popped in a new 80GB Maxtor 8MB 7200 and everything is running smooth and quiet now. I also replaced my poor, wrongly accused speaker to its rightful place of glory.

Thanks for all the ideas, though. This has been driving me nuts for the last week!

Kdmc60 · 08-17-2004, 04:07 PM

Hello I have a whisling motherboard as well.Its the little black round speaker and it keeps
whisling and won't stop when the computer goes into windows 98.
I have an IBM clone 256 pentitum 3 ,a CD burner and a second drive as well,2gig hard drive

I have had my share of headaches with this machine when I decided to change hard drives and and an IBM hard drive 80 gig fun started when the drive went bad in 6 months it was replaced but still in just a few months it got bad sectors.We reloaded windows 98 but didn't work right.So we took out the drive and put the old drive back in then the crazy thing
started to lock up,found the graphics card was bad replaced it but even before it was replaced the Machine when it went into Windows it started to WHISLE and will not stop.
Found the whisle came from a little speaker on the motherboard.Monitor says theres
a problem with power management. So some suggested it was a stuck key on the keyboard or the Bios Battery.Which I unpluged the keyboard,no difference.I don't believe the Battery is the Problem.Also set the Bios on power management back to factory specks no difference.But do think that something is wrong with the POWER SUPPLY
WHAT DO YOU FOLKS THINK? Or is something unpluged? I would like to fix this machine if
I can for my daughter if its even possible. Thank You for reading my ramblings and hope you can help me out here. kdmc60

08-28-2003, 08:20 PM	#1
airspirit Been /.'d... have you? Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Moscow, ID Posts: 1,986	The whistling computer? I have a computer making WHISTLING noises. It is my Athlon 700 box ... this is starting to really piss me off. I removed the speaker in case that was causing it, and there are no sound items in it except a sound blaster live card (with no speakers). It sounds almost like a UPS at other times. I can't figure out what is going on with this thing! Can you guys throw some ideas at me before I go mad? __________________ #!/bin/sh {who;} {last;} {pause;} {grep;} {touch;} {unzip;} mount /dev/girl -t {wet;} {fsck;} {fsck;} {fsck;} {fsck;} echo yes yes yes {yes;} umount {/dev/girl;zip;} rm -rf {wet.spot;} {sleep;} finger: permission denied

08-28-2003, 10:37 PM	#5
Boli Cooling Savant Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Blackburn / Dundee Posts: 451	Stop all the fans and start them spinning one by one. (you'd better do the one on the CPU first, with no applications running to be safe). You shoul be abale to narrow it down to what's causing the sound, because if it isn't a speaker then it's movement of air inside the computer. I used to cut the grill of the back of my PSU fan as the obstructive grill caused noise. ~ Boli __________________ 1800+ @ 2247 (214x10.5) - STABLE, 512MB PC3700 TwinX Cosair RAM, NF7-S v2.0, GeForce3 Ti200 Parallel BIM, 120.1 Thermochill, Eheim 1048, Maze 3, Maze4 GPU, "Z" chipset, 1/2" tubing, PC-70: 5x120mm & 9x80mm fans. Internet Server & second machine (folding 24/7): 512MB DDR RAM, XP2000+

08-28-2003, 11:25 PM	#6
bigben2k Responsible for 2% of all the posts here. Join Date: May 2002 Location: Texas, U.S.A. Posts: 8,302	Try this: go to the sound control, and disable the microphone... __________________ WBTA (Water Block Testing Alliance) Nordic Hardware WC 101

08-29-2003, 12:03 AM	#7
Yo-DUH_87 Cooling Savant Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Oregon, USA Posts: 230	Are there any speakers soldered onto the motherboard, little piezo units perheps? A few of my mobos have that, plus the option to use an external speaker. __________________ Signing out... Yo-DUH_87 If it works, fix it until it's broke! Then, after it's broke, add duct tape! Affordable webhosting!

08-29-2003, 09:44 AM	#8
airspirit Been /.'d... have you? Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Moscow, ID Posts: 1,986	Okay, I found a solution, though this is absolutely bizarro. I had only one moving part left inside the case, and that was the PSU fan. I deconned that, and the whistling continued. I removed the sound card. I removed the RAM stick by stick. I disconnected the CD drive. Literally, there was nothing in the end except the motherboard, G400, PSU (without fan), one 256MB RAM stick, and the HDD. After examination there were no sound emitters on the motherboard. I was like "WTF???" I even ran an extension cord from the main breaker room in case it was wall power instability causing it. After taking a freaking stethoscope (sp?) to the thing, I found the culprit: the HDD. The arm inside of it was grinding against one of the platters causing it to whistle. What is amazing is that I was still getting data feed from that drive ... when I cracked the drive open, it looked like someone set some thermite off in there. I popped in a new 80GB Maxtor 8MB 7200 and everything is running smooth and quiet now. I also replaced my poor, wrongly accused speaker to its rightful place of glory. Thanks for all the ideas, though. This has been driving me nuts for the last week! __________________ #!/bin/sh {who;} {last;} {pause;} {grep;} {touch;} {unzip;} mount /dev/girl -t {wet;} {fsck;} {fsck;} {fsck;} {fsck;} echo yes yes yes {yes;} umount {/dev/girl;zip;} rm -rf {wet.spot;} {sleep;} finger: permission denied

08-28-2003, 08:51 PM	#2
hydrogen18 Cooling Savant Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: USA Posts: 248	if u removed the speaker causign it, why do u need our help or maybe u just worded that wrong im thinkign negative air pressure is the problem

08-28-2003, 08:55 PM	#3
Zhentar Cooling Savant Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 225	whistling? that doesn't look like anything I've ever heard of before... could it be coil whine from the PSU maybe?

08-28-2003, 10:14 PM	#4
Since87 Pro/Guru - Uber Mod Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Indiana Posts: 834	Yep, I'd almost bet power supply, although conceivably fan or drive bearings. Narrow it down, and if it's the supply, get rid of it very soon.

08-17-2004, 04:07 PM	#9
Kdmc60 Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: San Jose,California Posts: 1	Hello I have a whisling motherboard as well.Its the little black round speaker and it keeps whisling and won't stop when the computer goes into windows 98. I have an IBM clone 256 pentitum 3 ,a CD burner and a second drive as well,2gig hard drive I have had my share of headaches with this machine when I decided to change hard drives and and an IBM hard drive 80 gig fun started when the drive went bad in 6 months it was replaced but still in just a few months it got bad sectors.We reloaded windows 98 but didn't work right.So we took out the drive and put the old drive back in then the crazy thing started to lock up,found the graphics card was bad replaced it but even before it was replaced the Machine when it went into Windows it started to WHISLE and will not stop. Found the whisle came from a little speaker on the motherboard.Monitor says theres a problem with power management. So some suggested it was a stuck key on the keyboard or the Bios Battery.Which I unpluged the keyboard,no difference.I don't believe the Battery is the Problem.Also set the Bios on power management back to factory specks no difference.But do think that something is wrong with the POWER SUPPLY WHAT DO YOU FOLKS THINK? Or is something unpluged? I would like to fix this machine if I can for my daughter if its even possible. Thank You for reading my ramblings and hope you can help me out here. kdmc60

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