Popping, choppy audio playback on Inspiron B130 (1300), Win XP

Question

I'm having what seems to be a somewhat common problem with my 1-week old Inspiron B130 w/Centrino 1.8GHz + 1GB RAM: choppy playback of any audio, be it mp3, a CD, sound from a video clip, etc. The audio stutters every 3-4 seconds with a snapping, crackling, popping sound. This is on a clean install of Win XP SP2 using all the latest drivers from the Dell site. I'm certain that it's a software issue as 1. Dell diagnostics audio test came up fine and more importantly 2. the audio works BEAUTIFULLY when booted into Ubuntu Linux 6.06. Having done a bit of research here and via Google, I tried a number of suggestions offered: 1. Tested a variety of media players and formats with both headphones and speakers. 2. Checked IDE controller settings; they are in UDMA and not PIO mode as they should be. 3. Changed Power Settings to 'Always On'; improved playback quality considerably, but popping is still there, albeit a bit softer and slightly less frequent--every 7-8 seconds. 4. Reloaded audio drivers: no change. Uninstalled audio drivers, reinstalled System Software, Intel Mobile Chipset drivers, then reinstalled audio drivers: no change. Anyone here have this problem and were able to identify the cause and come up with an appropriate solution? I have a fairly basic configuration, CPU usage stays low throughout playback, available physical memory stays high. I'm at a complete loss for an explanation. Help, please. Thank you.

Cap1218 · Answer

I noticed that have I that same problem with my b130. Its skips on audio playback and also causes choppy video playback.

I have tried everything to try to fix the audio problem. I even switched processors from the stock celeon 360 to the pentium 735, nothing.

One thing which helped reduce the skipping with the audio is to change the audio properties.

Control panel>Sound/audio>speaker settings-audio advance settings, then switch "hardware acceleration" to the lowest setting and see if that helps.

max-b130 · Answer

I might have been a bit hasty wiping out my drive and reinstalling XP, since I don't recall having this problem with the original Dell software setup. I have the feeling that it has something to do with one of the Windows updates, since I remember playing some mp3s right after reinstalling XP and I don't remember this problem then either. At any rate, I plan on finding a fix for this and will post the solution when I arrive at one. If someone beats me to it, that's even better.

BiomechanoiD · Answer

Hi Folks, I've spent my all weekend trying to deal with the same problem as you described. Eventually I found the solution in my case and want to share it with you. 1st. Try to disable your CD/DVD drive in the Device Manager.   If it helps with sound then you must downgrade your CD/DVD drive BIOS. In my case it was TSL 462C combo with A07 firmware. I replace it with A02 and there is no problem with the sound anymore.   Kind regards, BiomechanoiD from Poland

Cap1218 · Answer

One of the main cause of this audio problem is "intel Ultra ATA storage controller 266f". The driver for this device causes the audio problem. The mobile intel chipset is a useless update. I tried to manually update the 266f from the intel chipset update only to discover that audio would skip everytime the ied for Hardrive would light up. I had to use intel chipset update from The dell resource cd to improve my audio problem from skipping every two seconds of playback.

I will keep tried to find a solution.

max-b130 · Answer

Thank you, BiomechanoiD! That did the trick for me. I downgraded to the previous version v.DE05 (A03), instead of A02 like you, and have not had any skipping or choppy playback whatsoever since. Here are full instructions for others facing aggravation from this problem. So, if you have an Inspiron B120, B130 or 1300, are experiencing choppy audio playback with Win XP SP2, then try the following:

1. Determine the firmware version and model of your drive by downloading the following: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R128287&SystemID=LATITUDE%20D620&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=8687&devlib=0&typecnt=1&vercnt=1&formatcnt=1&libid=32&fileid=170636
* Do not install the .bin file included; the program will display the revision number of the firmware. Confirm that it is DE07.

2. Download the previous firmware revision (DE05):
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R114334&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=150590

3. Unfortunately the older firmware version requires that you create a boot disk, however, you can use the firmware updater with the newer version just fine. Using the firmware updater downloaded in Step 1., open the .bin file for the DE05 (Step 2) firmware revision. Click on the button to upload the older firmware. It will prompt you with a warning; ignore and proceed. Reboot.

4. Test your audio. If all is well, that's great! If not, you may have a slightly different configuration than the two of us.

Good luck and please know what you're doing. :)

zslindsay · Answer

Hi there. I also just recently purchased an Inspiron B130 and I am having the same issues with my audio playback. Sounds as though every song I listen to, be it on CD or music stored on the computer, it sounds as though it is skipping. I contacted Dell Support about this since this seems to be a common case among other computers besides the B130. I got an e-mail this morning and they are apparently sending me a new DVD ROM. But, I am certain that this will not solve the probem I am having from what I have read above, but it may very well fix the problem.

If I get some time, I may do what is listed on this topic in order to fix the problem. I bought mine about a week ago. I have a CD/DVD combo burner. Not sure if this will make a difference at all. But, I have been trying to figure out what is wrong all weekend with my audio playback. Seems like I may have found an answer.

rvjcallanan · Answer

Thank you,   I thought your firmware downgrade solution was manna from heaven for me. While it appears to fix the problem, in actual fact it reduces the clipping/popping to what some might consider a statistical irrelevence. However, you will still hear it slightly about once every minute or two e.g. when listening to a long MP3 playlist   When I originally discovered this problem, I noticed it never happended as long as a CD was simply present in the drive. I have now upgraded CD/DVD drive firmware back to latest version (getting all the benefits and bug fixes that go with it).   I now always keep a 'dummy' CD in my drive and, even after hours of listening to MP3s, have never noticed this annoying glitch. My gut feeling is that this is a hardware design problem and has something to do with the fact that the CD drive enters a slightly different 'power state' when a CD is inserted.   This works but this whole saga says something about the sorry state of our industry re: basic design test and verification/ quality control.

jcbaltz · Answer

Help...i have tried this fix...but i must be doing something wrong...says it is the wrong file for my computer.   I have been trying to fix this since i bought the computer back in July of 06, even sent it back to Dell...unfortunately i never thought of looking at a forum like this....   Any help is much appreciated!   jcb

rvjcallanan · Answer

Before you do anything drastic, verify the DVD/CD player model and current firmware version using previous instructions on this thread. Then check if problem dissappears when you leave a CD in your drive (even a blank CD will do), you can also disable CD driver to eliminate the problem.   By the way, this may sound contradictory but remember that the popping happens during ANY sound playback even non-CD, e.g. when playing hard-disk based MP3s on Media Player etc.   I guess it is a hardware problem where the popping is being generated by the CD-ROM drive which is making it's way through to the hardware mixer circuit (even when CD is muted), or perhaps CD-ROM drive is generating spikes on the power rails internally which are getting picked up by the sensitive analog input circuitry. Apparently by leaving a CD in the drive (even a blank), the drive enters a different 'power state' and the popping disappears.   I would leave the firmware alone as the latest version probably has important bug fixes unrelated to this issue and anyway downgrading it does not eliminate the problem, only reduces the frequency of popping to almost un-noticable unless you've noticed it before ;-).   Leaving a CD in drive is not such a big deal.

jcbaltz · Answer

Thanx for the quick response I will give the cd in the drive a try...sounds odd but if it works I don't care.   Sad that dell is not more aware of the problem, I should have tried this forum prior to calling them.   later   jcb

jcbaltz · Answer

I am done!  Just got off the phone...they are replacing the computer...i told him if they send the same thing and it does it also...I will not be a happy camper.   Sad to think that every Inspiron1300 has this problem, but I can almost bet that they do....they say they are not sending me a refurbished one..but a new one...we will see.   It only took about 1 hour on the phone this time.   uuuugh time wasted!   jcb

Platy3 · Answer

I had a similar problem with an Inspiron 1300 i.e. crackly sound, breaking up etc. I read all the suggestions above and tried them all where appropriate. Yes, they did make a difference and the quality of the sound output improved a fair bit but there still remained some background crackles and odd noises not associated with the music being played. This was most noticeable when watching a DVD. Eventually I decided to replace the DVDRW player. Tried three different models in all. Only one, a  Sony DVDRW - Model DW-Q58A, produced audio without the crackling etc and played DVD's and the sound was fine. So my suggestion is to try a different model DVDRW it seemed to have worked for me [at least for now !!].

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