Bizarre noise when moving scrollbar on August 2005 T43

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hoya · #1 Post by **hoya** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 4:37 pm

My new T43 was PERFECT (quiet fan!) until last night when I noticed this bizarre sound that appears to be originating just under the Fn key in the lower left corner of the keyboard. my last T43 had a similar (though not identical) problem but IBM was unable to fix it, so I just sold it on eBay thinking it was an anomaly.

now, I'm wondering if anyone else is hearing this sound on their T43's. basically, it sounds like a very faint ticking noise, but distinct from the sound coming from the heads moving on a hard disk drive. and this is the really strange thing: it shows up mainly when I'm dragging the scrollbar in an application!! When I use the cursor to move the scrollbar up or down, I can hear the ticking sound coming from the corner of the keyboard.

to make matter worse, the noise is intermittent, so I'm assuming there is some loose connection that might be causing this noise.

has anyone else heard this sound? you'll have to listen to the T43 in a quiet environment, but I can ASSURE you I am not imagining things. I've owned 11 ThinkPads since 1997 and this issue has only shown up on the last two T43's I've owned.

TimWang · #2 Post by **TimWang** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 8:34 pm

Yea, I followed you directions and I can hear a weird noise too. I can only hear it in a dead silent room and I think its cause by the screen cause it seems to be coming from that region. Weird...

TimWang · #3 Post by **TimWang** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 8:36 pm

I did some more experimenting and the noise only seems to occur when I'm undocked from my Port Replicator. Again, very weird...

Try connecting to an AC adaptor and see if you hear the noise.

hoya · #4 Post by **hoya** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 11:33 pm

hmm, it actually seems loudest when I'm running on battery power, but my results are inconsistent.

I'm tempted to remove the keyboard to see if I can figure out where the sound is coming from.

I re-checked my T42 2379DXU and it's totally quiet. very puzzling.

forum83 · #5 Post by **forum83** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 5:17 am

I also get the same noise, it only happens when running in batteries, and the noise only occurs when I move the mouse using the red thing or also the touch pad. I can only hear in a quite room. Also it just started doing this today. What has anyone found out?

forum83 · #6 Post by **forum83** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 5:17 am

t43p h2u

hoya · #7 Post by **hoya** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 8:28 am

here is the latest update on the bizarre noise problem: I brought my T43 to a local authorized repair center in Washington, DC, explaining the problem in detail.

When I picked up the machine on Friday, the technician said he took everything apart and put the components back together to ensure there were no loose connections. when I got the machine home, it started making the exact same noise, which didn't surprise me.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my first post but I actually had another T43 (2687DDU) that made the exact same noise. I sent that machine to EZ Serv but they were unable to fix it so I sold that machine on eBay thinking it was an anomaly.

now, I'm thinking of taking this T43 apart to determine the source of this sound. I'm fairly certain that it's not coming from the speaker.

TimWang or forum83 - have you tried removing the keyboard to determine the source of the sound?

TimWang · #8 Post by **TimWang** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 11:18 am

Yea, I removed the keyboard and tried to find out where the sound is coming from. From what I can tell, it seems to be coming for the top left corner of the machine. My best guess is that its coming the LCD connector (the place where LCD ribbon connects to the motherboard).

migo2137 · #9 Post by **migo2137** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 4:02 pm

Is this ticking noise like a buzz/whizz, a continuous electronic buzz? Or more like a clock tick?

My T22 and T40p made/make sounds like that, when scrolling, moving windows, maximizing, etc. It´s probably the video card, anyway.

/Michal

hoya · #10 Post by **hoya** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 10:23 pm

on my machine it's more of a clicking sound rather than a buzzing sound, but it definitely sounds like electrical feedback (not like a clock's ticking).

strangely enough, I heard a very similar noise on a 15" Powerbook while using the scroll wheel on a USB mouse.

I guess this is something we'll just have to live with.

DIGITALgimpus · #11 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Sat Oct 15, 2005 11:38 pm

This sounds like the problem the A31's had a few years ago... it was fixed with a BIOS update (see 1.03):

- (Fix) Eliminate high pitched noise (from power circuit) that may
occur with some applications using DirectX.

I'm not sure if it's the same sound... but I remember that high pitched noise. Never happened after that update. Perhaps the T's have the same issue, and IBM needs to patch the bios.

laz · #12 Post by **laz** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 1:13 am

I've heard this too (or at least I think it's the same thing) using my desktop computer - Asus A8X/Ath XP 2200+. It's never been big enough to bother me. I acutally just assumed it was a windows sound that was supposed to be there.

gforce · #13 Post by **gforce** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 2:02 am

I used to get the same "clicking" sound on my R50e. I thought that the sound emanated from somewhere near the CD drive.

#14 Post by **daeojkim** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 2:54 pm

If I remember correctly the source of this noise is from the video card.
I forgot where I read about it.
I am pretty sure that the culprit came down to the graphic card. I do not remember what the cure was if there was any.

hoya · #15 Post by **hoya** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 3:02 pm

daeojkim wrote:If I remember correctly the source of this noise is from the video card.
I forgot where I read about it.
I am pretty sure that the culprit came down to the graphic card. I do not remember what the cure was if there was any.

do you remember if the noise came from certain graphics cards? I've only encountered the problem on T43's with the ATI X300 (three so far out of 11). on the T43 I'm currently using, I can only hear the sound when the machine is on battery power, though it's still an intermittent issue.

wleng · #16 Post by **wleng** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 3:10 pm

DIGITALgimpus wrote:This sounds like the problem the A31's had a few years ago... it was fixed with a BIOS update (see 1.03):
- (Fix) Eliminate high pitched noise (from power circuit) that may
occur with some applications using DirectX.
I'm not sure if it's the same sound... but I remember that high pitched noise. Never happened after that update. Perhaps the T's have the same issue, and IBM needs to patch the bios.

If it is because of this, I hope IBM can give the patch too.......

hoya · #17 Post by **hoya** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 5:18 pm

beeblebrox at this thread seems to have a good explanation:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 319#104319

aray · #18 Post by **aray** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 1:19 am

my t43(2668-88U) had the fan never stopping problem. now the problem change to the issue of "strange pitch noise when dragging graphics" by itself. I received my t43 last Friday. thank you guys for the information you shared with others.

Here is my oberservation. I find the pitch noise occurs when the CPU is running at full load. When I set my CPU to "Maximum Performance" using NHC, the pitch noise is always there. When I set my CPU to "Dynamic Switching", the pitch noise only occur when the CPU load is increased. "dragging graphics" will trigger the CPU to its full load for a very short while. By full load, I mean the CPU running with highest speed (in my case, 133MHz*14 Multiplier=1.86GHz).

Further, I found the pitch noise is always there disregard of the CPU load. the picth noise is not load enough to hear when CPU has lowest work load.

GangBang · #19 Post by **GangBang** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 4:02 am

aray wrote:my t43(2668-88U) had the fan never stopping problem. now the problem change to the issue of "strange pitch noise when dragging graphics" by itself. I received my t43 last Friday. thank you guys for the information you shared with others.

Here is my oberservation. I find the pitch noise occurs when the CPU is running at full load. When I set my CPU to "Maximum Performance" using NHC, the pitch noise is always there. When I set my CPU to "Dynamic Switching", the pitch noise only occur when the CPU load is increased. "dragging graphics" will trigger the CPU to its full load for a very short while. By full load, I mean the CPU running with highest speed (in my case, 133MHz*14 Multiplier=1.86GHz).

Further, I found the pitch noise is always there disregard of the CPU load. the picth noise is not load enough to hear when CPU has lowest work load.

From what I can tell, high pitch noise comes from the capacitor under/around the mdc area. The pitch noise raises especially when you plug off the adaptor. It is quite normal for T, R, X series.

xfn · #20 Post by **xfn** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 7:56 pm

wleng wrote:
DIGITALgimpus wrote:This sounds like the problem the A31's had a few years ago... it was fixed with a BIOS update (see 1.03): I'm not sure if it's the same sound... but I remember that high pitched noise. Never happened after that update. Perhaps the T's have the same issue, and IBM needs to patch the bios.
If it is because of this, I hope IBM can give the patch too.......

Me too. COME ON, PATCH~

T43 2686M7U, ATI X300 graphic card, just bought in 12/2005. I was going to switch to 2687DUU but now it seems they have no difference in this low-level high-pitch noise issue.

CPU Fan is pretty quiet. GPU fan noise kicks in with a different tune only during internsive computing/gaming, such as running MS flight simulation on it. BTW, the ATI X300 achieved decent performance in this real time simulation game. Its "Powerplay" setup also has a 3-level shifter to balance the noise and speed.

I can ignore that "window action" noise, or work around it using IBM power management shcemes, such as setting CPU to "adaptive" and fan to "balance all parameters", which makes the little "window sound" totally go away.

BUT, the tough thing is that the intermittent/constant high-pitch electromagnetic noise in powered-by-battery mode. The worst of it is that the level and pitch may get close to those from an old desktop hard disk, once an USB mouse or drive is plugged in. No workaround or patch has been found for it by this time.

I called IBM tech support yesterday, while the representative seems not aware about the issue nor the solution.

My friend bought a T42 last year, and told me it is free from high pitch sound, even with a 60GB 7200RPM HD (from standard config. Why later standard T43 models get back to 5400RPM?). He didn't told me how his thinkpad sounds when powered by its battery. Another friend uses a Toshiba, which has the same "window sound".

How quiet is quiet?
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=18315[/url]

christopher_wolf · #21 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:15 pm

From what I have experienced, it goes away pretty quickly after awhile or I can toggle the Power Settings and that will force it to go away. By the way, MSFS isn't a real time "Simulator" it uses look-up tables that have the data for the aircraft at various points and then it interpolates or extrapolates as necessary and is thus an "emulator" providing an approximate flight model. A more rigorous usage of the CPU and GPU is obtained with PyMol, AutoCAD, X-Plane, and cranking up the settings in a modern FPS like Half-Life 2. Though, if everything is quiet, and I have the CPU at Max whilst rendering a Molecular Model or dimerization reaction, I can hear it coming from where the GPU is...Happens most often on Battery, but also on AC sometimes too. Changing some of the power settings always makes it go away.

davidspalding · #22 Post by **davidspalding** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 4:47 pm

I couldn't tell from this long thread, but have any of you tried this with sound muted? There IS a Windows sound or two that occur with navigation, select, and scrolling in IE, and the Office Sounds add-in provides even more little sounds. If you select the "No sounds" scheme in the Sounds and Audio Devices control panel, do you still hear that ticking sound?

canfraggle · #23 Post by **canfraggle** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 3:27 am

same problem on my T40 and T43. Was annoying but I got used to it

ysaletore · #24 Post by **ysaletore** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 1:07 pm

Mine makes the same strange noise. It occurs when I'm docked and on battery. It only happens when I scroll or move a window around. I'm not sure where it's coming from. I don't find it that annoying, as I guess I'm usually wearing headphones, or working in environments with some ambient noise, like traffic. I just want to make sure it isn't something that could cause permanent damage in the future. I thought it might be my X300, or maybe it's something in the monitor. I usually run my computer on High Performance, with Lenovo's new Power Manager. What setting causes the least noise?

guanfeng · #25 Post by **guanfeng** » Fri Aug 31, 2007 2:43 am

the buzzing noise is very annoying once you found it out, does anyone else has a R61i got the same noise problem?

Bizarre noise when moving scrollbar on August 2005 T43

Bizarre noise when moving scrollbar on August 2005 T43

Mine too

Same here with my new R61i

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