Buzz making computer unusable (& me into a pretzel)

by cheriberry Jul 5, 2009 3:02PM PDT

Synopsis:

HP's already replaced HD, fan, motherboard, then fan again.
It was a buzz there most of the time. Now it's at a new disfuse lower volume pitch but as irritating as finger nails on a chalkboard (not same sound, same cringe.)

Oddly, stops when actively scrolling using touchpad OR arrow keys in IE7, but not in Word or through a folders file list.

Physically it's loudest between the HD & vents on the underside, where the fan seems to be (can't see fan.)

Anything to help me sort this out. Give HP something to look at....
Help! Thanks!!!

Details:
~ Floor model
~ Buzz there since buying but different pitch.
~ Originally louder fan went on every minute or so for a minute or so.
~ Since board replaced it's quieter but still on quite a bit. There is a still louder volume that's much less frequent.
~ Since 2nd fan replaced, it blows cold air & fan is on almost all the time.
~ 2nd problem, touchpad left mouse button developed dead spot after use. Supposedly they replace cover & on this trip, some internals, but it's still there.

~ HP Pavillion DV5265US.
~ Vista Home 32-bit, extended or whatever that's called.
~ No hardware added ever.

~ Repair sequence.
1 trip - replaced HD, keyboard (other problem), usb port.
2 trips - replaced pad cover, fan, mboard (now plug connector wiggles)
3 trips - replaced pad cover, fan, some pad insides

~ I'm a programmer by trade. I've opened & done some desktop building, & generally good with intricate things.

Discussion is locked

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After all that.

by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Jul 5, 2009 11:29PM PDT

Make that call and ask for a different model.

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Odd

by samkh Jul 6, 2009 12:51AM PDT

There seems to be no DV5265US in existence but there is a DV6265US.

Anyhow, if that is your model and after all the replacements you have done, it may be the buzzing is actually coming from the speaker. To prove that buzzing is related to speaker (and most likely due to some software program running in background mode), boot a DOS CD without audio driver and see what happens.

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Thank s - speaker?

by cheriberry Jul 6, 2009 1:14AM PDT

It's a dv6256 (did I say it had me distracted ?)

Where can I get a DOS or other OS CD to burn, so I can try out things? (I looked at one point but didn't find it quickly.)

----

I tried a fix on a cnet thread of turning off C4 in the bios. It makes it more tolerable & seems to reduce it -- but possibly because the fans on steadily masking it -- which is noisy itself.

I don't know how to reduce that. Though if it's blowing cold air, seems it could be on less?

Thanks!

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A programmer looking for DOS distro?

by samkh Jul 6, 2009 2:05AM PDT

Try FreeDOS , or even Linux.

'Fan always on when on AC' is usually a BIOS setting. I have found a constant running fan cools better and less distracting than having it kick on/off as needed.

Usually the CPU, and possibly hard drive, is doing too much background work thus generating heat when fans run faster, so it's up to you to eliminate unnecessary apps. Also consumer models (vs. business models) usually come overloaded with apps for entertainment, larger capacity drives (more platters = more heat regardless what the disk spec says) and lower-cost/less-energy-efficient peripherals and peripheral chips (not the core chipset), so the next time you shop for laptops, be picky whether you want it cheap (not implying that you are) or better performance per watt.

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Thanks - still diffuse buzz & fan on

by cheriberry Jul 6, 2009 2:17PM PDT

Thanks.

There is no bios fan setting. It's not always on - stops once in 15 mins for a sec. I find I'd like it off sometimes. It's blowing cold, but HD area is very hot. Must be better setting somewhere (...I know on a different model).

Turned off C4, & Sata in bios. With C4 off it's a diffuse I'm not even sure it's audible but giving me a headache, buzz or noise. Without Sata support it's better, but if I could get that fan off.

Cold air from a fan?

Could it not be installed correctly?

I'll keep in mind the buying thoughts. I don't have background stuff running, or I try not to. If it's in msconfig I've turned off everything.

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What about reducing CPU speed?

by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Jul 6, 2009 2:24PM PDT

On one laptop I set it to use 10% of the CPU clock rate (in the vista control panel) since it was just a data collection PC. No great speed loss but it does run cooler.

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CPU usage

by cheriberry Jul 6, 2009 2:29PM PDT

I once set this to 50%, & it helped the fan stay off, but it effected performance enough for me to notice... Maybe I should try some gradients though.

Buzz making computer unusable (& me into a pretzel)

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