Noisy 802.11b

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Lucky · #1 Post by **Lucky** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 1:26 am

I get a buzzing noise from the left hand corner of my T42 when I'm only on the battery. When power is plugged in, it's less noticeable but it's still there. Is this normal?

It's a 2373-3YU with a 2100 802.11b mini PCI adapter.

Also, the CDRW/DVD is really loud when it starts up. I hear a clicking noise like the hard drive but it's louder. Then it just whirls like a normal drive. It's definitely louder than the same drive on my thinkpad from work. Could it be faulty?

sugo · #2 Post by **sugo** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 3:04 am

For the CD/DVD drive, you should be able to set it to Quiet (lower the rotation speed) in BIOS or Thnkpad configuration software in Windows.

christopher_wolf · #3 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 2:38 pm

Try using Access Connections to toggle the power mode of the wireless card; that should get rid of the buzzing. HTH

margolin · #4 Post by **margolin** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 2:31 pm

I too seem to have a buzzing/static noise coming from the left side of my T43. It seems to come from the USB ports, although I'm not positive about that. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the wireless, because if I shut the wireless off the noise does not go away. It does go away when I plug in the AC adapter though. It's actually pretty annoying; partly because it's not steady, it starts and stops.

Any ideas?

raabjerg · #5 Post by **raabjerg** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 4:05 pm

The noise you're describing is a problem I've experienced on various centrino laptops, including thinkpads. For some people it is noticable, while for others it is barely audible.

It is not caused by the wi-fi card (had a Dell technician remove the wireless card during a repair of a D600 laptop, and the sound was still there).

For some people, the following helps:

In the device manager (control panel->system->hardware->device manager), look under "usb controllers". For each USB root hub, go to properties and power management, and uncheck the checkbox for allowing the computer to manage the power on that device.

The upside is that the noise will probably be much lower. The downside is that it could potentially degrade your battery life. Personally, I preferr a silent computer, sacrificing 15-20 minutes of battery.

Best regards,
raabjerg

Lucky · #6 Post by **Lucky** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 4:25 am

I tried your suggestion for usb power but didn't notice a difference. When I unplugged the dongle for my wireless mouse, the noise was significantly reduced to a level I can live with.

The CDRW/DVD is definitely louder than the one in my work thinkpad. I did a hot swap and the CDRW/DVD from my work thinkpad in my personal thinkpad is definitely quieter. I'll phone lenovo about that one.

Now, I've notice that my hard drive emits a high pitched winding noise. There's also a fainter intermitting ringing noise. Any ideas?

Finally, the fan is always on...even at 39C! I'm using NHC and brought down the temperatures. Before, it hit above 60C for 1.7. Now it only goes to 52C for 1.7. Anybody else have this problem? It's a T42.

I bought a thinkpad cuz I really liked my work one but the one I bought is kinda noisy...! errr

sugo · #7 Post by **sugo** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 8:32 am

Lucky wrote:Finally, the fan is always on...even at 39C!

That's a stick thread on a fan control utility. The fan on my T42 is now off 90% of the time.

hoya · #8 Post by **hoya** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:19 am

Lucky wrote: The CDRW/DVD is definitely louder than the one in my work thinkpad. I did a hot swap and the CDRW/DVD from my work thinkpad in my personal thinkpad is definitely quieter. I'll phone lenovo about that one.

Now, I've notice that my hard drive emits a high pitched winding noise. There's also a fainter intermitting ringing noise. Any ideas?

the M a t s u s h i t a (also called TEAC) CDRW/DVD drives are MUCH noisier than the HLDS drives. unfortunately it's luck of the draw as to which one you will get.

as for the noisy hard drive, if you're using a Hitachi drive you can enable the Acoustic Silencer which dramatically reduces noise. go to hitachigst.com and look under downloads / support for the bootably image.

Lucky · #9 Post by **Lucky** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 4:16 pm

[censored], I have the masushita cdrw/dvd and toshiba hd. I doubt lenovo will change the hd but will they change the cdrw/dvd?

hoya · #10 Post by **hoya** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 4:52 pm

Lucky wrote:[censored], I have the masushita cdrw/dvd and toshiba hd. I doubt lenovo will change the hd but will they change the cdrw/dvd?

yeah, the Toshiba hard drives are a bit loud. Fujitsu and Seagate are the quietest if you don't mind spending the $ to upgrade.

unfortunately, Lenovo won't replace your M a t s u s h i t a drive unless it's defective. even if they do replace it, you may get another M a t s u s h i t a!

all notebook manufacturers use parts from different suppliers - three different companies make the keyboards for the T series, while half a dozen companies make the screens and about 4 make the hard drives. they do that to decrease dependency on one particular company. What I like about IBM is that they are honest about these parts and you can usually go online to buy the parts you want. for instance, I just purchased an NMB keyboard made in Thailand for my T43 on eBay.

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