Horrible high pitched whine noise

[brickere]

I received my refurbished X100e yesterday and promptly installed an Intel X25 40GB SSD and 64-bit Win7 Ultimate ('cause that's what I had). Everything is great, but I have this *horrible* low-volume, high-pitched whine that is driving me crazy. It's so annoying that I'm seriously considering selling this thing on eBay, after not even one day.

It tends to only do it when I hover over images, icons, etc, and for that reason seems (to me) to be display related. But now that I say that, as it sits here beside me (I'm using another computer) I can hear it intermittently making the noise here and there.

Does anyone know what the issue is and have a fix?? I know I need to do a BIOS update, and I'm really hoping that fixes it, but I don't have a lot of faith that it will.

I'm also considering putting the 160GB HDD back in to see if it does it then, too. I noticed another thread in this forum with what sounds like the same issue, but I wanted to start another as I'm not running Linux (in the event that has anything to do with it).

Thanks for your help.

[rkawakami]

A high-pitched whine is generally emitted by some type of a transformer. In a laptop, that would be either the output transformer on the inverter board (if yours has the CCFL backlit display; i.e., non-LED) or an inductor on the motherboard. If you have a LED-backlit display, then I'd say that there's a strong chance that you have a noisy inductor. It might be possible to reduce the noise by changing some of the power management features; altering the power consumption of the CPU/GPU will affect the power supplies and thus the inductor load.

If your system does not have an LED display, then trying turning off the screen (typically Fn+F7) and/or reducing the brightness and see if that makes any difference. If it does, then perhaps a different inverter may help.

[brickere]

Thanks for the response, rkawakami. I do have an LED backlit screen, and unfortunately adjusting the power options makes no difference in the wretched noise.

[rkawakami]

Well then, if that's the case then you are probably dealing with a singing inductor on the motherboard. Possible solutions are (assuming you can identify the culprit):

- use hot glue to bind the coils on the inductor; could melt if the inductor gets too hot
- use an epoxy designed for such an application
- replace the inductor with another one and hope it doesn't have the same problem
- replace the motherboard and hope it doesn't have the same problem

Google: hot glue inductor noise

edit: Just re-read your original post. You could try updating the BIOS and see if that helps. The BIOS update notes for the X100e does not specifically mention anything about noise or power problems.

ref: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-74275

[yhp2009]

Hey everyone.
Just wondering if any of you guys were able to get the singing inductor to shut its pie hole. Mine has the same habit of making high pitched noises. As of now, I am able to greatly reduce the noise by using RMClock (Advanced CPU Settings). But I was hoping that there is a permanent fix for this.

I've managed to locate the general area from where the noise is emitted. But the area is covered under the body layers/chasis.
I've tried to open the x100e to apply some hot glue, but I'm not too savvy on these thinkpad chasis, and dont wanna end up with broken parts.

Anyone try it?

Cheers.

[The Solutor]

The X100 won't emit any other sound than the fan's one.

So your unit is simply not working as it should, is simply badly refurbished, so send it back for repairs.

[yhp2009]

I haven't tried contacting Lenovo services yet, but from what Ive read around the forums, the noisy inductor is not considered something that can be claimed on a warranty. I guess I can try. Just dont wanna have to give it up for too long since Im using it as my trusty daily roadwarrior.

I'll call and see what Lenovo can do for me.

[yhp2009]

I called Lenovo support last night and discovered something new about the noise problem. I thought I'd share it

BTW Lenovo support experience was just epic. This is my first Thinkpad and I wasnt expecting much... but wow Much respect

The support guy suggested that I bring down the microphone levels in my sound settings. Apparently the microphone can cause feedback noise along with the speakers. This has significantly reduced the whining/squealing background noise. Now I really have to try hard to hear the noise.

Another interesting finding was that when I open up the sound settings window from control panel and open up the microphone tab, the sound is completely gone. But when I come out of the microphone tab in the sound settings window, the noise returns.
Its seems that activating the microphone (by opening the microphone tab) somehow completely kills the feedback. So i tried disabling the microphone, but that actually makes the noise worst.

In any case, Lenovo will be sending me a return box so they can take a look at my x100e. So far the noise has died enough that I'm relatively satisfied. I'll decide after using it a bit more in silent environments like my school library.

Hope this was helpful to others who have similar issues.

[yhp2009]

UPDATE:
I made about 95% of the noise to disappear by allowing "Listen to this Device" option under the "Listen" tab in the microphone properties in sound settings. If you have similar noise, please try this to see if it works for you too.

Windows7:
Ctrl Panel -> Hardware&Sound -> Sound -> Go to "Recording" tab -> Microphone Properties -> "Listen" Tab -> Check the box "Listen to this Device"

I may not have to turn my comp into Lenovo after all.

CHeers

[encmeow]

OMG!!!! I know this thread is really old, but you have just put an end to almost 4 YEARS OF HIGH PITCHED MADNESS!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I can't even believe the noise is gone! This has been driving me insane since I bought my T61 in early 2008! I keep thinking I still hear it, but it's just in my head; I can't seem to come to terms with the silence! This is amazing!

[comododragon]

I had this horrible problem with the noise using Ubuntu. And if I opened the mic window on gnome, the noise would disappear as the same way on your problem. I found the definitive solution by uninstalling the proprietary ATI driver and using the stock one on linux. Compiz still works, and high-pitched noise free!

[Puttagee]

I haven't been active on this forum for some time, I stumbled onto this thread which solved my noise problem on my latest purchase, a X200s, and I just had to login and post a reply. Thank you very much for sharing your solution. Ever since my T61 purchase I've been plagued with this noise and nothing seemed to work, well until now.

Thanks again

[RiC David]

I have a Lenevo Thinkpad R500 and thankfully have just today vanquished the horrible "whine". Microphone settings did nothing for me but what did fix it was simply switching my power plan (in Control Settings > Power Options when in Classic View) to 'Power Saver', it was previously set to 'Maximum Performance'.

The noise would sound whenever I used 'DosBox' - a program that emulates MS DOS primarily for gaming purposes. It was maddening because I loved playing my old PC games but couldn't bear the noise; like many if not all of you here, I'm cursed with extremely sensitive hearing and it really does drive you insane as well as give you a headache.

ThinkWiki.org has an extensive entry titled 'Problem with high pitch noises' [sic] and it lists the situation as "When the CPU freq jumps up to 1Ghz or above, or when the laptop is in suspend mode". This may helps anyone who wishes to put together a more CPU frequency specific fix as changing the power saving settings is no doubt changing far more options than is necessary.

I'm just glad to be rid of it! Now if only my phone charger didn't do a similar thing when my phone isn't plugged in...


-RiC