T40 making *Sizzle* *Sizzle* noise

[K. Eng]

I just got a lovely new kitchen table and I am using my ThinkPad on it. I noticed a disconcerting sizzling sound coming from near the USB ports that I hadn't heard before (it sounds similar to the crackling that is alledged to come from Mobility Radeon GPUs but louder).

Rebooted the system and now the sound is much reduced. Any idea what the heck could cause this?

[eriqesque]

Are you by chance on battery power?
If so, its the USB ports. They do this with the 855 Chipset.
You can stop this.
By turning off the power mangement feature in device manager.
But you will consume more battery

[K. Eng]

I am on battery power, and I am aware of the USB power management issue (I don't know if the old forums are still up and searchable, but I think I was the discoverer of that solution )

The USB noise was different - that was more of a high pitched electrical whine (think sci-fi movie laser noises), whereas this sound that I heard sounds like the crackling of static when one takes sweatshirts and blankets out of a drying machine.

The noises have stopped after I rebooted, so hopefully everything will be ok.

[eriqesque]

I am on battery power, and I am aware of the USB power management issue (I don't know if the old forums are still up and searchable, but I think I was the discoverer of that solution )

The USB noise was different - that was more of a high pitched electrical whine (think sci-fi movie laser noises), whereas this sound that I heard sounds like the crackling of static when one takes sweatshirts and blankets out of a drying machine.

The noises have stopped after I rebooted, so hopefully everything will be ok.

Ya know I thought you were the one who discovered the probelm.
But then I thought oh well maybe Iam having a very pre-senior,
senior moment.