Mystery 30 second event on XPS 8930

@ThomasIvan   I have an XPS 8930

What are your system components (CPU, graphics card, PSU, RAM)?

Thanks Vic,

Dell Cares is of the same opinion.

Regards 

Tom

CPU is Intel 9th Gen I7 9700 (8-core, 4.7 GHz)

RAM 16 Gb DDR4 2666 MHz

PSU not known, internal on 240 Volts here.

Graphics Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 6Gb GDDR6

all out of the box.

Thanks for your interest.

Tom

@ThomasIvan     I also have the sporadic brief mouse freeze symptom but that's another story.

That is the story in which I am interested.  You may have the Dell OEM 460 watt PSU.  nVidia recommends a minimum 500 watt PSU for the RTX 2060 graphics card.  We have seen other circumstances in this forum where the under-spec'd PSU has caused similar problems.  The beeping sound may be your PSU crying for help 

XPS 8930 Under rated PSU 

Within 'notifications and actions' I have switched notifications off for each of the apps notifications individually and none made any difference, the 30 second events stll happened.

I have switched sounds off within each of the apps which also made no difference and have switched notifications off completely to no effect. I have also unticked the 'allow notifications to play sounds' box. None of these stopped the 30 second event beeps.

Pursuing Dell630i's idea would there be any point in reverting to the Intel UHD graphics ( which I had used initially although I didn't think it would be available with a discrete graphics card fitted ) and disabling the Nvidia card as a test. Does that take the load of the Nvidia card off the PSU and is it a sensible and safe thing to do ? Is it simply a matter of disable/re-enable for a graphics card ?

Thank you and good night till the morrow
Tom

@ThomasIvan    would there be any point in reverting to the Intel UHD graphics ( which I had used initially although I didn't think it would be available with a discrete graphics card fitted ) and disabling the Nvidia card as a test.

I would remove the graphics card completely and test with UHD graphics. As you indicate, the UHD graphics should not be available with a discrete graphics card "properly" installed. If the graphics card is removed, it will reduce the load on the PSU. To revert back to discrete graphics card, simply re-install the graphics card, making sure it is fully seated in the slot and locked in place.

Look in Windows Event Viewer to see if anything is being logged right when you hear the beeps that might point you in the right direction.

Are you sure the monitor is connected to the add-in video card and not to onboard Intel Graphics?

Are the sounds coming from your speakers or directly out of the tower?

Are the beeps really for "Close program" or for "USB disconnect"?

If you boot in Safe Mode do you still hear the beeps?

Open Task Manager and click the Startup tab. Disable everything including Dell SupportAssist and Dell Update, excluding your antiviral app, things related to NVidia video or to audio (eg, Realtek or Waves Maxx). Then reboot normally and see if the beeps continue. See if that stops the mouse lags and maybe also the beeps...

I am wondering if the sound you are hearing is a result of the Windows sound scheme or generated by something else. In Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, click on Sound, select the Sounds tab in the Sound window, and under Sound Scheme change the Windows Default selection to No Sounds and then Apply the changes. I am not sure but hopefully, this change will turn off all sounds that come through the Windows operating system.

@ThomasIvan 

I also have the sporadic brief mouse freeze symptom but that's another story.

Perhaps this will apply:  https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8930-freezes-for-3-5-seconds/m-p/7502259/highlight/true#M46495

Yes, I could just remove the sound, but . . .

I would just undo what you did.

GK

Thanks for all the input. - In no particular order -

The sound is that currently set for 'close program' which I have changed to be sure. It does not sound if I set the sounds theme to 'no sounds' and is definitely produced by the speakers. 'Beep' was probably not the best description.

I have not been able to spot anything in event logs anmd the monitor is definitely plugged into the Nvidia card's Display Port.

I will try disabling the startups, there only four enabled at the moment - Cortana, HD Audio Background, RealTek HD Audio manager and Windows Security notifications.

I am more wary of removing the Nvidia card while under warranty but will revert to the UHD output at the next weekly shut down. The Nvidia card has DP and HDMI sockets and there is a single DVI socket in the slot below, is that an extension of the graphics card ?

I also noticed that HiDef Audio and the Nvidia RTX2060 share IRQ 16 - coincidence ?

Have I replied in the right place ?

@ThomasIvan   The Nvidia card has DP and HDMI sockets and there is a single DVI socket in the slot below, is that an extension of the graphics card ?

Yes.

I am more wary of removing the Nvidia card while under warranty but will revert to the UHD output at the next weekly shut down.

Removing the graphics card will not affect your warranty.

Did you try booting in Safe Mode? Start>Run>type in msconfig and click OK. Click the Boot tab, put check next to Safe Mode and then reboot. Does that stop the sounds?

Don't forget to uncheck Safe Mode before the next reboot...

@ThomasIvan wrote "The sound is that currently set for 'close program' which I have changed to be sure. It does not sound if I set the sounds theme to 'no sounds' and is definitely produced by the speakers." Getting no sound every 30 seconds when the sound scheme is set to 'no sound' tells me that whatever event triggers the sound it is processed through the Windows operating system. Also if the sound you are getting every 30 seconds changes to the new sound you have assigned to 'close program' then I have to conclude that it is because a program was closed. I am speculating here, but it seems to me that if a program is closed every 30 seconds then it is possible that somehow that program must be reopening after it is closed. Perhaps you can monitor the Processes tab in Task Manager to see if you see any processes being started. Also, if there is no sound assigned to 'open program' perhaps you can assign one.

Presently running on Intel UHD graphics just to re-assure myself that I can manage without the Nvidia card.
I disabled the startup items through Task Manager/ Startup as RoHe suggested. The 30 second sound continues.
I have an open program sound set but it is not heard apart from known program starts, certainly not at regular 30 second intervals. A rising blip for start and a pop for close. Nothing recognisable in Task Manager Processes.

Investigation continues one step at a time between distractions.