Thinkpads Forum

I've tried to eliminate this but can't. Maybe someone can point me in the right direction.

First off, I usually switch hard drives on running machines in my house. I currently am using a T410 w/Nividia GPU and a T61 sxga+ w/Nividia GPU. I move the laptops and so want my most current software with me.

Anyway, I have switched about 3 times in the past few months my hard drives from both machines. Usually have no problems running my normal software. Just basic programs, nothing involved.

This time though, in bringing the hard drive from my T61 to my T410, I'm hearing an electronic "glitch" sound every 30-60 seconds from either my speakers or headphones. Sounds like an electronic interference sound. I've unplugged everything from my power strip, ran on battery only and it's still there. I use WMP but I do have VLC installed which, when used also produces this random sound.

I really don't want to reinstall the os, but I'm running out of options. I even deleted my audio drivers and reinstalled them to no avail.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Ron

It might be external RFI (radio frequency interference) originating from outside of your home.

Have you tried using your T410 in a different location away from the house to see if the noise still occurs?

If the problem/source of noise/interference is not internal to the machine, then I'd explore external causes. Either move the laptop out of the room or start removing any electronic objects near the system.

Thanks. I'll give it a try today but I even used an Ubuntu live cd and there was no "glitch" in the sound so I'm pretty sure it's on the hard drive somewhere. I'm probably going to just reinstall the os.

Should teach me a lesson not to switch hard drives more than once!

Ron

Before reinstalling the OS, you might try cleaning the electrical contacts associated with the HDD bay and on the HDD itself. Since you are swapping the HDD out more frequently than the average user, some corrosion or microscopic particulates may have affected the electrical contacts.

dorronto wrote:First off, I usually switch hard drives on running machines in my house.

I'm not surprised you have problems. A T410 doesn't have exactly the same hardware as a T61. Therefore, you shouldn't use the same drivers for both machines. But that is what you are doing, if you switch the HDD containing the operating system between machines.