high frequency fan noise on T60?

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danda821 · #1 Post by **danda821** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:00 am

Does anyone hear a high frequency noise when T60 fan is on in a quiet enviroment? It is similar as the one described here:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=334

fullauto · #2 Post by **fullauto** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:16 am

No. Mine is a 20075BU:

1.8 GHz Core-Duo
15" Flexview
x1300 ATI
60GB, 7200rpm HDD

danda821 · #3 Post by **danda821** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 11:51 am

My model 20074CU. It need to be in a quiet enviorment. Put you ear closer the fan vent you can hear it clearer.

hoya · #4 Post by **hoya** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 10:27 pm

does the noise alternate frequencies? My T43 does this - every 6 seconds or so it increases slightly, as if a gnat is flying into my ear. I believe it has to do with the temperature polling feature.

danda821 · #5 Post by **danda821** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 10:53 pm

hoya, yes. it is like what you described. Is it a common problem for T43/T42? Any way to solve this problem?

sugo · #6 Post by **sugo** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:41 am

I can't hear that kind of noise on my T42.

hoya · #7 Post by **hoya** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 6:59 am

danda821 wrote:hoya, yes. it is like what you described. Is it a common problem for T43/T42? Any way to solve this problem?

Yes, unfortunately this is a very common problem on the T43.

I read that some guys were able to get rid of this 'fan pulsating' problem in Linux, but I haven't see any good solution on Windows, other than the fan control utility here (which doesn't fix pulsating): http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=18399

the only known solution I can think of is to switch to a T42. I've owned several T42's and they were all silent, while EVERY T43 I've owned has had either a loud fan and/or the pulsating fan problem.

I'm hopeful that the T60 I have on order will remedy this issue, but I've read mixed reports on the fan noise from the T60. time will tell!

christopher_wolf · #8 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 1:14 pm

The only fan pulsing I ever got was when this T43 was new, it was resolved by toggling the scheme in the pwer manager; since then I haven't heard it. I usually stay around 38-40 degrees and when the fan comes on (ETA ~ 1 hour), it doesn't pulse.

I have heard a T41 and a T42 with this issue; not entirely suprised that it manifested itself on the T60, but that could mean just about anything. Perhaps they kept the same EC and control program from the T4X Series?

By the way, what does this high-pitched noise sound like? Is it really the fan or some electronic source next to the fan?

danda821 · #9 Post by **danda821** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 3:26 pm

It is like a high frequency electric current pulse sound every 5-6 seconds. This guy even record the sound of R50 here
[url]http://lophiomys.gmxhome.de/Thinkpad_R5 ... Noise.html

It has something to do with the fan update time as described here:
[url]http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... c&start=30

I congratulate the Thinkpad R5X community for their success in convincing IBM/Lenovo to incorporate the changes in the Embedded Controller Program to version 3.03. I especially thank lophiomys for his efforts, and for including a website to describe the problem that was on the R50. http://lophiomys.gmxhome.de/Thinkpad_R5 ... Noise.html

Apparently the steps taken to remove the pulsating noise was to change the frequency of fan updates from 5 seconds to 30 seconds. I realize that the BIOS updates that apply to the R50 apply to the T series up to T42, but unfortunately the T43 uses a different embedded controller program that is still at version 1.05 (2/16/2006) http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-53435

danda821 · #10 Post by **danda821** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 3:30 pm

From this we can see R50 and T4x (up to T42) do not have such kind of problem anymore.

Maybe we should push IBM/Lenovo change the BIOS/EC like guys in R50 forum.

stupormunky1 · #11 Post by **stupormunky1** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 12:49 am

I don't have the fan noise issue, but I have noticed that when I am operating on battery power and I move the trackpoint, I can hear a buzzing sound, presumeably from the electrical discharge. This is even when the box is on mute. Are there any fixes to this? Or at least someoneI can comiserate with?

I have a 20074eu

hoya · #12 Post by **hoya** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:11 am

stupormunky1 wrote:I don't have the fan noise issue, but I have noticed that when I am operating on battery power and I move the trackpoint, I can hear a buzzing sound, presumeably from the electrical discharge. This is even when the box is on mute. Are there any fixes to this? Or at least someoneI can comiserate with?

I have a 20074eu

I have the exact same problem and have posted in at least two threads on this subject.

for some reason, this strange noise is loudest when I am dragging the scroll bar up and down the screen. between that and the pulsating fan, it seems like a full orchestra inside this machine!

danda821 · #13 Post by **danda821** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 11:07 am

This problem is normal. I found it on T23, T42, T43, T60.

stupormunky1 wrote:I don't have the fan noise issue, but I have noticed that when I am operating on battery power and I move the trackpoint, I can hear a buzzing sound, presumeably from the electrical discharge. This is even when the box is on mute. Are there any fixes to this? Or at least someoneI can comiserate with?

I have a 20074eu

Troels · #14 Post by **Troels** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 11:37 am

Many centrino laptops do suffer from this buzzing noise. It does sound like vibration sounds in inductors, but am not sure. It would make sens when drawing more power, when the GPU, CPU has to do calculations when you scroll.
Might fix it: New high quality SMD or low profile inductors.

christopher_wolf · #15 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 1:48 pm

I can say this has been around alot longer than Centrino; case in point, my 300MHz Compaq 1900 Presario. At certain times, say after it has gotten through a big job, any motion will trigger a significantly louder buzzing noise. It almost sounds as if there are massive static discharges in there jumping from one plate to another or a small fire crackling. An old HP Omnibook I have does the same thing as well. Interestingly enough, my 701C "Butterfly" Thinkpad doesn't do anything like this.

Troels · #16 Post by **Troels** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:27 pm

That is very interesting... i thought it was eliminated to have something to do with the SpeedStep feature of P-Ms only. Thinking about it, i know someone with a 1Ghz PIII (i think) R31 which buzzes extremely much, at the point of sounding like sand has got into the harddrive

Did you find the cause and culprit of the problem, or what exactly that made it happen?

Amigaman · #17 Post by **Amigaman** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:05 am

I also noticed that crackling/static noise with mouse/scroll movement on my T43 today!

It only happens if I run on battery power, and at Max performance.

If I run at low performance, on battery power, it never occurs.

But interestingly - if I am on battery, and I switch to Max performance (which starts the crackling), and then I switch to low performance (usually does not cause crackling) - the crackling remains!! Albeit at a lower volume.. Strange stuff..

Also, I notice people here mention the pulsing in the T43, and the lack of progress in getting the "treatment/fix" for pulsing into the T43 EC, as was done with the T40/41/42.. They found a typo in the latest T43 EC firmware, which attemptd to implement that "treatment/fix".

Couldn't we all try to put pressure on Lenovo to fix that typo?

christopher_wolf · #18 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:50 pm

Amigaman wrote:I also noticed that crackling/static noise with mouse/scroll movement on my T43 today!

It only happens if I run on battery power, and at Max performance.

If I run at low performance, on battery power, it never occurs.

But interestingly - if I am on battery, and I switch to Max performance (which starts the crackling), and then I switch to low performance (usually does not cause crackling) - the crackling remains!! Albeit at a lower volume.. Strange stuff..

That's the solution with toggling the power management schemes. It's more of a power management issue with the chipset itself.

novaraz · #19 Post by **novaraz** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:31 pm

This scrolling crackling is the exact sympotum in my thread from a few days ago.

It is weird stuff; so far with my laptop, the only significant decrease in this noise is to disable hardware video acceleration.

I was listening to music today with headphones, and I heard this same crackling! Thinking it might be a clue, I muted the music (but the sound volume), and cranked the volume. The crackling was loud, but I also heard the background noise in the room! Seems I left the mic input cranked and something caught both the crackling and the background noise. Muting the mic killed both noises (through the headphones at least)

Strange though. Try it and see if its the same noise you describe. (mic on max, system volume on max, headphones plugged into headphone jack, nothing plugged into mic jack.)

christopher_wolf · #20 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 8:28 pm

Actually, that probably has to do with interference from the mic and sound circuits and not really the buzzing that comes from the hardware itself when, say, the mouse is moved to the corner of the top of the screen. Come to think of it, there should be little to absolutely no buzzing at all coming through the stereo jack...but whether you hear it depends on a number of factors like the sensitivity of the earbuds/headphones/speakers and their impedence.

novaraz · #21 Post by **novaraz** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 8:59 pm

The buzzing through the headphones is the same sound as scrolling mouse. As in, it only occurs when scrolling, resizing, etc. (Most notibly when using the middle trackpoint button to scroll.)

bin.dong · #22 Post by **bin.dong** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:44 am

After replace my T43p fan, the problem didn't resolved at all + the fan 100% running now, even the system stand by.

morpheiz · #23 Post by **morpheiz** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 2:12 pm

Is there a fix for this

brentpresley · #24 Post by **brentpresley** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 3:11 pm

For me, turning on my bluetooth unit when I'm on battery power completely eliminates the buzzing problem.

#25 Post by **K. Eng** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 6:00 pm

I've got an idea that you might want to try.

Go into the ThinkaPad BIOS and look for a USB speed setting. There are usually options like "Hi-Speed" and "Legacy Compatibility mode." If the setting is there, opt for "Hi-Speed," and see if this does anything.

high frequency fan noise on T60?

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