XPS 8500 chirping noise

Hi  Cynthia,

Chirping noise could be due to the components that have moving parts. It could be either due to the hard drive, optical drive or the fans in the tower. I suggest that you remove the side cover and leave the system running for few hours. Observe the functioning of the system but please do not touch any parts inside the tower. Reply to this message with information from your observation about the most likely origin of the chirping noise. This will help us determine the component(s) causing the chirping noise. Please follow the steps provided below that also contains pictures for removing the side cover.

1. Disconnect any telephone, network, or USB cables from the computer.
2. Disconnect the computer and all attached devices from their electrical outlets.
3. Locate the side cover.


4. Remove the thumb screw that secures the side cover to the chassis, use a screw driver if necessary.

5. Release the side cover by sliding it toward the rear of the computer.

6. Lift the side cover off the chassis.

7. Complete.

Keeping the cover open is not really useful for me - it's on the other side away from me and won't allow to hear any better.  I did try it for a while, but I worry my cat will poke his head int there and make things very unpleasant.

However, throughout the evening and day when I had it on, the PC made new noises.  A very quiet click when I wasn't touching anything, the bird-like chirp when I was working in Windows Explorer and browsing in Firefox.  An occasional single click (almost like a tap) happens as well.

The tiny white light next to and behind the media card reader blinks quickly almost all the time, even when I ma doing nothing and before the screensaver kicks in.

As it is not always the same exact sound I am a complete loss.  Thanks for any ideas.

I too am having this issue.  It started a couple weeks after using the computer.  It is a random beep/chirp that sounds like it is coming from the PC Speaker.  There is no consistency with what makes it happen.  I can be playing a game or the computer could just be sitting idling.  Can we please expand this issue?

Hi Cynthia,

Thank you for your reply and apologize for the delay in responding to your request.  The suspected parts for this issue are the system and CPU fans or the hard drive. I suggest that you clean the fans with a can of compressed air or using a soft brush to remove any dust that has accumulated on them. Please check if you can hear the chirping noise after cleaning the fans by observing the computer for some time by running certai programs that use heavy system resouce.

Please reply to this message with your findings.

Thanks for the reply.  Note I have not, yet cleaned the fans - which are brand new (it arrived Sept. 12), but I have opened the side while running and saw them both running very well (they look clean, but I'll follow your instructions tomorrow)  - and I can hear them running (quietly) - when I get the click / chirp it does not seem to interrupt the flow of the fans any and the noise sounds like it is closer to the front of the system.  When I had it open, I looked at the hard drive, if I tapped the end of it (beside the SATA cable lightly  - the chirp happened (sometimes, not every time) I tried tightening the cables again, but I can't reach the connection on the motherboard (where the sound is definitely NOT coming from, but if it's loose there- maybe something?.

The problem is it does not occur when I am doing processor intense things (maybe then too)  it happens most often when I am doing nothing (on the other side of the room) or when I am surfing the web - like right now when I am typing this.

It is not as long or as loud as it was, it is now a quick "chirp/beep" occasionally.  It does sound more like at the hard drive than anywhere else.

This sound (louder and longer and more often before) has been happening literally since I turned the system on, but at the beginning I was mistakenly blaming my old now unplugged system.

I have no idea what would be accessing the drive when I completely away from the PC.

I have added an old IDE drive to the system - it makes more noise than the new SATA drive (which is virtually silent except if it is making these beeps) when it reading/writing, but it has no clicks.  I have put the page file on the IDE drive to see if the noises at idle stop or change.

Thank you for your interest and assistance.

Hi Cynthia,

Thank you for your reply. I suggest that you to tighten the SATA and the power cable connected to the hard drive. You can also run a Diagnostics to check if the hard drive is working properly. Please follow the steps provided below to run the Diagnostics:

1. Restart the computer.
2. As the computer boots, press when the Dell Splash Screen appears.
3. When the Boot menu appears, highlight the Boot to Utility Partition option, or the Diagnostics option and then press to start the 32-bit Dell Diagnostics.

Note: In some cases PSA Diagnostics will run first. If you receive an error during PSA diagnostics and to continue the 32-bit Diagnostics, press N for No when it asks you to Continue Memory Tests.

4. Press the key to highlight ‘Express Test’ Press to continue to 32-bit Diagnostics.
5. Note down any error message displayed.

Please reply to this message with the error code.

Thanks again.  I ran the diagnostics and all passed the short tests.  Hard Drive 0-0-0 (2TB SATA), Hard Drive 0-0-1 (32GB SSD), Video Card, CPU fan and Rear fan - all passed the long tests.

Since the tests (the 2TB drive test ran overnight) things are different:

1.  The chirping is now *much* quieter, I can't hear unless I'm working on the computer, or sitting at my desk.  It now sounds more that a click/scraping noise than a chirp.  It still happens occasionally when I not using the system, but mostly when I am surfing the web, but not throughout.  [I says scraping, but I don't mean the sound of the hard drive platters when they are searching/writing - I have not heard that sound from this drive, but have heard it before (IDE drives) - this is just the best description I can come up with.].

2.  The fan(s) (I don't if its one or both) are now noticeable - not loud or annoying.  Just noticeable - before they were a whisper if they were heard at all.  If there is a fan inside the video card (its a large box) it could be that that I now hear.  This is constant, not occasional.

Obviously, I liked the quiet better, but perhaps this is more normal?

I haven't done anything else, just ran the tests and for a long time after I thought it was gone, but then I realized it was as stated above - much quieter.

Thanks again.

Cynthia

I spoke too soon. The chirping is back, just as loud but very few and far between.  I haven't been close enough to tell if the quiet click is still there, today.

Hi Cynthia,

Thank you for your reply and apologize for the delay in responding to your message.

The chirping sound may be from the hard drive and you said that you can hear it from the hard bays. To isolate the device, please remove the data and power to hard drive and start the computer. You would receive a message about no boot devices found. Let the system run without the hard drive connected for some time. If the chirping sound is not heard, then it is the hard drive that is causing it and needs replacement. After your observation, if the hard drive is the source of the chirping sound, then I request you to private message me your system service tag number and the name on the account. To private message accept my friend request; click on my user name and click start conversation

If this is thenoise:

A firmware will fix it....

knowledge.seagate.com/.../223651en

The above video is VERY similar to the noise I have.  Mine is sometime longer (more like a bird), but this is very close.  Is it possible for a firmware to fix this?  If I got a replacement drive, would it also require a firmware upgrade?  It frankly makes me nervous to upgrade the firmware on a brand new drive in a brand new system - if the problem occurred after a long period of use (and especially after warranty) I would have no issue.

I would appreciate your opinions on this.  Thank you.

Cynthia

Mine was longer as well.  I just updated the firmware and it sems to have fixed it.  My XPS is only a month old.  It is a known issue with the seagate drives that is why they released the firmware update.  Do you have the 2TB - ST2000DM001?

I have the 2TB, but won't know if it's that number until tonight.  Thank you.

Ok, according to my notes when I did the diagnostics it is a 2TB ST2000DM001-9YN164, Revision CC4G.  The Seagate site specifies that running the firmware update does not invalidate its warranty - I would confirmation from Dell that it doesn't damage my warranty before I try it.

If I decided not to do it - would the replacement from Dell be the same drive - with the new firmware / the same drive with the needs to be replaced firmware or a different drive?

Thank you.  Cynthia