weird hard drive/sound issue

[bn589]

I have a IS7 mobo and 2 samsung SATA drives.

When i transfer data between the drives, i can hear strange sounds coming from my speakers. Once the file transfers, the sound goes away. I tried unplugging my speakers from the onboarad sound and the sound goes away.

Any idea what could be causing this interferance?


seems kinda weird. If this keeps up, ima put my sb live back in.

Danny

 

[Snugglebear]

There's a lot of EMF going on inside your average computer. A couple of mine have to have the case on at all times when running otherwise they override the signal on a 900MHz cordless phone parked a dozen feet away. There's also a decent possibility that there's some low quality power somewhere in there. The PSU is just part of the equation, if the board has cruddy, possibly overheated/overtaxed VRs or caps you can get bad power to board components. A drain on the PSU would result in slightly lower voltage and/or amps available to the board's power system, things get a little unstable, and next thing you know you've got interference, instability, etc.

Just understand that as prices go down, so does component quality, and that results in less shielding and more leakage. Abit boards have a reputation for strange EMF leakage and singing caps, as well (all Abit here). Some people will literally yank all the caps and VRs and replace them with higher quality components to get rid of symptoms like this.

 

[stevewm]

Open up the mixer applet in Windows, mute any unused inputs such as Mic, Aux, Line In, etc...


Usually one of these is what is picking up the interference.

 

[Ice Czar]

transfering to Computer Audio

as a note (though I doubt it has anything to do with this)
most SATA cables are unsheilded
see the Data Storage FAQ > SATA Cautions
its unlikely they are broadcasting any signal any great length
as the voltage is quite low
they are far more prone to recieve EMF than broadcast it

consider that EMFields obey the Inverse Square Law
there is a very slim possibility, depending on the routing that they are effecting a component
but theyd need to be right up against it,
same for the HDDs, but they are spinning all the time, and are relatively well shielded,
so the "just when transfering" part would seem to rule them out

I think Snugglebear's and stevewm's explainations far more likely

 

[leukotriene]

Abit boards have a reputation for strange EMF leakage and singing caps, as well (all Abit here).

^^ Yes. Every Abit board I've owned has had sub-optimal onboard audio. Excellent overclocking, usually excellent stability, but crap onboard audio.

Try to mute your unused inputs and move your SATA cables away from the back of the motherboard if possible as suggested.

If that doesnt work, put your SB Live! back in and run the Audigy drivers or the KX project drivers (limited EAX).

 

[bn589]

notes: My sata cables pretty far away from the sound chips on the board. I also opened the mixer and muted everything i was not using (good call btw). i transferred a large file and still the noise...

I swapped SATA cables. the company i work for does support for winchester systems and they had a few extra red thick sata cables around. Tried them and still the weird sound.

I'll prolly just throw the xgamer sblive back in. it's an oldie, but prolly better than the onboard.


I'll let ya know if that clears it up.

Danny