UNSOLVED
XPS 13 Making High-Pitched Noises
I just purchased the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook and I hear a lot of high-pitched noises coming from the keyboard, i think from the right side, but hard to tell. It is really noticable in a quite room, and isn't a solid tone, it has a super short pause in it every second or so, but overall very consistant. It isn't the fan, and when I use Fn F2 to disable wireless/bluetooth it gets a little quiter, and seems a little more constant in the tone. It also isn't the lighted keyboard, it still does it with that off. It also does it when using A/C or battery.
So it might be a combination of the harddrive and wireless and bluetooth, or maybe some other circuits, but it is very annoying. I've seem some others post online about this as well, and am hoping Dell has a way to correct this somehow, but I don't have a lot of hope that a software or firmware update can fix this.
Are others hearing this too? I know some people are more sensitive to these types of noices, but if you put your ear to the keyboard in a quite room, you will hear it. I can hear it when I am sitting up typing at the keyboard, I just put my ear to the keyboard to better tell where it is coming from to describe it.
Any ideas Dell? Thanks
DELL-Terry B
6 Operator
•
3481 Posts
1638
0
Posted May 30th, 2012 14:00
I know you have mentioned that you still hear the noise on battery only but I am curious what adapter shipped with your notebook. Please reply back with the part number on the AC adapter.
TB
DELL-Terry B
6 Operator
•
3481 Posts
1638
0
Posted May 31st, 2012 15:00
A large part of the system is solid state so other than the fan I am not sure what could be causing the sound. Since the problem occurs with battery and ac adapter, the problem isn't likely caused by the AC adapter. Did you notice if the system was making the noise while running diagnostics, if you boot to safemode, do you notice the sound? To boot to safemode start the system while tapping F8 and choose safemode. Log into windows and check if the system continues to make noise.
Please shoot me a private message with your name and the service tag of the notebook. Just click on the link in my signature.
Thank You
TB
Oh, I did forget to mention that I am not the only one hearing these noises. I guess some of us are more prone to hear these types of noises than others.
reviews.dell.com/.../profile.htm
ukm.usablenet.com/.../20100205.aspx
Thanks again, hopefully Dell can resolve this in the next Ultrabook.
Hi Terry, I shot you a private message with the info you requested.
I did not get the opportunity to test it in safemode last night, but here is are all of the scenarios:
Each scenario the noises are a little different sounding and at different volumes. I assume that different componets each make the different sounds, and some are in use at certain times and others are not.
When PC is off, but the battery is charging
When PC is in sleep mode and the LED on the front is flashing (sound doesn't come from the LED, but from under the keyboard, on and off at the same rate the LED turns on and off.
When PC is in Rapid Start Hibernation mode
When I turn off wireless/bluetooth, I don't hear much of a difference
It is not the fan, I can hear when that comes on, sounds completely different
When the PC is on but idle
When running on battery and not AC
When running on AC and the battery isn't charging.
Pretty much all the time, just different volumes and tones. My guess is that is just they way the laptop was designed, and there just isn't enough insulation between the circuits and the keyboard.
Anyway, thanks for the help, however I plan to return the XPS 13. There are just too many little issues that add up, and I plan to see what the next Dell Ultrabook looks like. I really like the formfactor, size, weight, screen, and keyboard, but the flaky touchpad, all the electronic noise and hums and buzzes, and the fact that the Rapid Start doesn't work and drains the battery in hours, it is just too many little issues to justify keeping the ultrabook.
Flaky Touchpad - en.community.dell.com/.../20113010.aspx
Electonic Noises - en.community.dell.com/.../20113837.aspx
Noises During Sleep Mode - en.community.dell.com/.../19451086.aspx
Rapid Start Hibernation issues - en.community.dell.com/.../20113836.aspx
DELL-Terry B
6 Operator
•
3481 Posts
1638
0
Posted June 1st, 2012 13:00
I have responded to your private mesasge. I appreciate all of your updates.
TB
Thanks for the info, I'll bet that definately contributes to it. It is loudest when it is on, but it also makes noise when turned off and charging the battery, and when in sleep mode as the power LED blinks. So I'm sure it is the SSD, plus several other components all adding up. Hopefully Dell can either fix, or shield them better in future models.
DELL-Terry B
6 Operator
•
3481 Posts
1639
0
Posted May 29th, 2012 15:00
The system may make some noise. I can't really say if what you are hearing is the basic noise the system makes or something abnormal.
I suggest making sure that the BIOS is updated, A04 is the latest version and may be downloaded from the following link
www.dell.com/.../DriverFileFormats
You can also try running diagnostics just to make sure that no hardware is defective, just start the notebook while tapping F12 and choose diagnostics. Please reply back here with the results and up updating the BIOS to A04 helped at all.
TB