Intellistation M Pro Sound Issue

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papacorn · #1 Post by **papacorn** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:04 pm

Hi Guys,

I have a new Intellistation M Pro 9229. This unit has integrated sound. Anyway its brand new and when I plug speakers into the back lineout they sound distorted. If I plug the speakers into the front headphone jack they sound great. I called IBM support and they swapped the motherboard but its still doing it. The tech had no clue and said it was very strange. The sound works great through the front panel and it sounds good with the internal speaker too.

Its a dual core e6400 1 gig of ram win xp 64. Thanks in advance.

Jeff

#2 Post by **ryengineer** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:41 pm

Have you tried changing the speakers or the OS?

If you haven't done it then I advise you to please install the latest drivers from IBM as well:

Software and device drivers - IBM IntelliStation M Pro.

papacorn · #3 Post by **papacorn** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 4:59 pm

I have tried 3 sets of amplified speakers with the same results. They sound great on the headphone jack in the front and distorted in the rear.

The OS I'm using is Win XP 64 it is the OS that IBM shipped with the machine. You would think that they would test this kind of stuff since they shipped it with it. It is a factory load as far as the OS and drivers go. I can't see how it is a driver issue since the front speaker and the headphone hack work fine. Let me take a peek and see if there is a newer version.

Thanks.

papacorn · #4 Post by **papacorn** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 5:04 pm

I am running the only/current version of the driver. Any other thoughts?

Why would it work fine in the front headphone jack and not the rear lineout? It just doesn't make since.

adi_dd_audio_5.10.02.4300n <---sound version.

Should I change out the OS? To be honest its really stable and it runs everything I have.

#5 Post by **ryengineer** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 8:32 pm

Since the sound card is integrated and IBM changed the motherboard for you so I believe it's not the hardware issue.

papacorn wrote:Why would it work fine in the front headphone jack and not the rear lineout? It just doesn't make since.

Perhaps it's the difference in jacks. I am pretty sure you're doing everything to the very best of your effort but please do make sure the plugs are properly inserted inside the jacks and they're of right size that would support the lineout jacks on the back.

I was about to say to check the power supplies for the amplifier(s) but since things work well with front jacks so I think power is adequately being supplied.

You can try booting from any LiveCD of linux distro and diagnose from there if you still experience same problem. Please do backup your important data beforehand and keep Product Recovery disks handy prior to trying this approach.

In case nothing helps then last option would be to make IBM aware of your concern again if it's hindering in your work.

#6 Post by **bill bolton** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:41 pm

papacorn wrote:Why would it work fine in the front headphone jack and not the rear lineout?

Heaphone and "line" levels are quiet different. The "line-out" signal may be overloading the input of the speakers, especially if they were designed to plug into a headphone outlet.

Cheers,

Bill

papacorn · #7 Post by **papacorn** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 7:07 am

Thanks guys for all of your thoughts. The last time I called into the IBM support center they had no idea what could be causing the issue. I guess I can call back. I just wanted to get your thoughts and see if anyone else had ever experienced such a strange issue. In fact the IBM tech that came out told me to find a support forum and post the question.

Let me add these two sets of speakers worked just fine on my last computers line out too. My dad also has one of these and it does the exact same thing. I'll see what it does if I remove the amplifier from the speaker and make them non powered. The IBM tech played with the line out volume and could not fix it.

I'll also look at a downloading Linux distro too.

I want to thank everyone for your help here!:)

leoblob · #8 Post by **leoblob** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:47 pm

bill bolton wrote:Heaphone and "line" levels are quiet different. The "line-out" signal may be overloading the input of the speakers, especially if they were designed to plug into a headphone outlet.

IMO, this is the issue here.

papacorn · #9 Post by **papacorn** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:43 am

Still seems strange. Every other PC with a line out interface on the rear of the machine will take a set of amplified speakers. I have never plugged speakers into a headphone jack. The speakers I have (2 sets) different brands one of them is some JBL platinum series that ships with Compaq computers. I removed the power but no sound. I'm reopening the case with IBM again.

leoblob · #10 Post by **leoblob** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 12:03 pm

Are you absolutely positive you're using the "line out" on the back and not some other jack? I have an Intellistation Z Pro, and the front speaker and headphone jack work perfectly. When I plug amplified speakers into the back ("line out") it works perfectly.

But if I plug the amplified speakers into the other jacks on the back (for example the mic input) I definitely get sound out of my amplified speakers, but it is distorted.

papacorn · #11 Post by **papacorn** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 5:35 pm

There are only 2 1/8" ports on the back of the M Pro. If I unplug the speakers and put them in the other port there is no sound. They are color coded, I'm plugged into the green port which is the color of the cable end of the speaker. I plugged them into the blue port and nothing, except that the internal speaker starts working since it doesn't since that I'm plugged anywhere.

IBM is supposed to be calling me back.

leoblob · #12 Post by **leoblob** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 6:44 pm

OK, I just wanted to make sure... (I have 3 ports on mine)

That is a very strange problem indeed... I have no idea(s) at the moment... I'll keep thinking about it

papacorn · #13 Post by **papacorn** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 5:34 pm

Thanks.

IBM's local support team called. I explained to them and they said I will need to call back to the support center again.

Intellistation M Pro Sound Issue

Intellistation M Pro Sound Issue

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