Acer Predator G9-593 buzzing noise coming from speakers under full load (With Video)

Nambuhs

My laptop was delivered to Acer today. For those who have sent theirs to the TX facility, did they contact you at some point to discuss the issue or did they just fix it and send it back? What kind of turn around time did you guys have? Anxious to get it back- using the old backup machine is... ugg.

@Greere - definitely check the actual warranty status as @touchnovahas suggested. For some reason, I thought mine was only a year too, I was incorrect. Also, it seems this is an issue that pops up between 10 and 11 months. So unless you've been ignoring it for a year already or you lucked out and it worked fine for over a year- I bet you are still under warranty. :-)

Phoenix1966

Phoenix1966 said:

As lithics mentioned, we're both in the US, so ours went to Texas. From door-to-door, I sent mine out via FedEx (with a paid shipping label from Acer. If shipping is covered under your warranty, make sure you mention it to support. They do not seem to and people are being sent the standard shipping instructions with the onus of shipping & insurance on the customer. It happened to lithics and this person as well.) on February 13th in the afternoon and received mine back on March 6th. Beyond speaking to the initial, first level support person, I never heard from Acer, just got the automated responses when the laptop was received, when work began and when shipped. The motherboard was in stock, so they had the laptop repaired in three business days.

When it came back, they had not wiped the drives or reset Windows. There was a note explaining what work had been done (new motherboard and BIOS update to 1.13). Since I had backed everything up and forgot to deactivate a few program licenses (and was expecting to have to start from scratch), I reset Windows (I had been having a Windows update issue for a few months) and reloaded everything. Under the same CPU/GPU loads as before, the laptop does not make any unexpected noises.

TL;DR Took three weeks to repair from door to door in the US. Replaced motherboard, updated BIOS. They did not wipe drives or reset Windows. No crackling noise post repair.

Nambuhs: I'm just going to quote myself.

touchnova

Nambuhs - I was contacted by a support rep in Texas because the motherboard was not initially in stock, so they were inquiring if I wanted a new replacement laptop because the process had exceeded the time they allow for repairs to take place.  The part ended up coming in quickly so they just replaced and returned my original device, which I actually preferred, but as far as I know that's the only reason they contacted me.  Others who have gone through the process have indicated that their device was repaired and returned without contact from the Texas facility.  In terms of timeline, the facilities have a maximum 10-day policy, so repairs have to take place within that window.  Mine took slightly longer because the motherboard was out of stock, but others have experienced a much faster turnaround.  Hope that helps!

Nambuhs

@Phoenix1966 - whoops, somehow I missed this the first time through the thread, my bad. Thanks for re-posting it for me!
@touchnova - thanks for the info, definitely helpful!

Phoenix1966

@Nambuhs - No worries. I'm just lazy and we all get stressed out when our machines are gone. There are a lot of comments to wade through here.

Greere

Touchnova - thanks a lot for your response. I’ve bought my predator 1year and 6 months ago, and after checking theyr website for warranty, is written that predator notebooks have a 1 year warranty, which seemed odd to me. I will contact acer service today to find out more, also in mu country the consumer law states that any electronic device it has a minimum of 2 years warranty, so i will clear it out with acer authorized service. I will keep you posted and hopefully the issue will be fixed.

touchnova

Greere - I hope you contacted Acer to find out about your warranty status.  The warranty booklet that came with my Predator laptop said that coverage was 1 year, but the device is actually covered for 2 years.  They have a generic version of the warranty manual that they ship with all products which ends up misleading owners of Predator devices.  I'm not sure what your home country is, but I'm assuming that the warranty would be the same regardless of location because it is manufacturer's warranty.  One thing to note as well...the Predator 2-year warranty also covers shipping and insurance to/from the repair center, but you have to request a shipping label from the support representative you speak with.  Sadly, this is also something that the generic warranty manual says is not covered, despite it being so for Predator devices.  Keep us posted on what you find out.

Red-Sand

If speaker issues arise it's always a good bet to install Acer's Realtek driver from their website.
https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers
If that doesn't fix the issue then contact with Acer should be made to determine repair options as well as authorized service centers in your area.

I'd like to add that you should move it or the driver (Realtek) after installing Acer's driver as sometimes Windows like to update it almost immediately.
(Good ol' Windows)

Rares95

Red-Sand said:

If speaker issues arise it's always a good bet to install Acer's Realtek driver from their website.
https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers
If that doesn't fix the issue then contact with Acer should be made to determine repair options as well as authorized service centers in your area.

Are you even following the thread? Lol

Red-Sand

Rares95 said:

Red-Sand said:

If speaker issues arise it's always a good bet to install Acer's Realtek driver from their website.
https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers
If that doesn't fix the issue then contact with Acer should be made to determine repair options as well as authorized service centers in your area.

Are you even following the thread? Lol

I read the title 😁
I'm on mobile and didnt scroll through all the comments (100+).

I will shut my mouth and read them thoroughly 😎

Rares95

Red-Sand said:

Rares95 said:

Red-Sand said:

If speaker issues arise it's always a good bet to install Acer's Realtek driver from their website.
https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers
If that doesn't fix the issue then contact with Acer should be made to determine repair options as well as authorized service centers in your area.

Are you even following the thread? Lol

I read the title 😁
I'm on mobile and didnt scroll through all the comments (100+).

I will shut my mouth and read them thoroughly 😎

Trust me, we tried every fix we could do without sending it in and having the MB replaced. No dice

Red-Sand

Rares95 said:

Red-Sand said:

Rares95 said:

Red-Sand said:

If speaker issues arise it's always a good bet to install Acer's Realtek driver from their website.
https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers
If that doesn't fix the issue then contact with Acer should be made to determine repair options as well as authorized service centers in your area.

Are you even following the thread? Lol

I read the title 😁
I'm on mobile and didnt scroll through all the comments (100+).

I will shut my mouth and read them thoroughly 😎

Trust me, we tried every fix we could do without sending it in and having the MB replaced. No dice

Yeah I see that, that's a bummer.
At least some sort of solution was found.

Greere

Hi all. I contacted Acer service and indeed the warranty is 2 years. I’ve packed it and send it via courier which they arrange it for free pickup. Now i’m waiting, this week hopefully, to receive a confirmation from their service with the problem. The guy from the service also asked me if read some forums regarding my problem, and i told  from what i read here that the mainboard seems to be the problem. I will post here when i’ll receive some more info from the service. Thank you guys for the advices.

Red-Sand

Greere said:l

Hi all. I contacted Acer service and indeed the warranty is 2 years. I’ve packed it and send it via courier which they arrange it for free pickup. Now i’m waiting, this week hopefully, to receive a confirmation from their service with the problem. The guy from the service also asked me if read some forums regarding my problem, and i told  from what i read here that the mainboard seems to be the problem. I will post here when i’ll receive some more info from the service. Thank you guys for the advices.

Good to hear!
Hope everything works out well. 👌

touchnova

Greere - Very glad to hear you've begun the process and that it was covered by warranty.  I would expect the process to take roughly about 3 weeks, including shipping to, repair and shipping from.  Keep us posted on the results.

Nambuhs

Well, guys- I got mine back today... "Mainboard fix. Updated BIOS." was what the paper said. I was excited, until I powered it on and discovered I have NO sound from the front speakers at all now. I suspect it might just be a loose connection, came loose in transit maybe? Any ideas how I can open this up and check that connector? Hate to send it back if it's something I can more quickly fix myself.

touchnova

Nambuhs - Very sorry to hear about the sound issue, hope you can get it resolved.  Here's the video I referenced when I pulled the case off of mine.  Note that the hardest part is around the exhaust "grill" on the back of the laptop...it requires a bit of force, but not too much of course.  This second part of this video is about replacing thermal paste, so that will not apply to your needs, but the teardown is thorough.  There are a LOT of screws, 3 different lengths if I remember correctly....I drew a little diagram to make sure I got them all back in the right spot.  The guy in the video manages to remove the case without removing the screws from their "housing", but I was unable to do this.  Good luck, let us know if you can get it resolved.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrMB8z40yuU

Nambuhs

Thanks for the video. It doesn't look super complicated, and if it wasn't under warranty I'd have pulled it apart by now. But I decided this morning its highly possible it would turn out not to just be a loose connection and I'd have to send it back anyway. So I'd just be wasting time. Plus the likelihood I would lose a screw (or 8, I have 3 cats) was probably not worth it.
With the speakers not working at all, there is no way to know if the initial issue was resolved properly or not either. At this point, they messed this up and they should make it right. I have contacted Acer, they are sending me a shipping label and have promised the repair will be prioritized once it is received since it wasn't right the first time. I have my doubts about "prioritizing" it, but it was 2 weeks from door to door last time so I expect it should be roughly the same. I need it fully functional before I go on vacation 8/13, so this is literally their last chance to get it working properly before that. 

Red-Sand

Nambuhs said:

Thanks for the video. It doesn't look super complicated, and if it wasn't under warranty I'd have pulled it apart by now. But I decided this morning its highly possible it would turn out not to just be a loose connection and I'd have to send it back anyway. So I'd just be wasting time. Plus the likelihood I would lose a screw (or 8, I have 3 cats) was probably not worth it.
With the speakers not working at all, there is no way to know if the initial issue was resolved properly or not either. At this point, they messed this up and they should make it right. I have contacted Acer, they are sending me a shipping label and have promised the repair will be prioritized once it is received since it wasn't right the first time. I have my doubts about "prioritizing" it, but it was 2 weeks from door to door last time so I expect it should be roughly the same. I need it fully functional before I go on vacation 8/13, so this is literally their last chance to get it working properly before that. 

This is a good choice.

Just a little FYI, in the USA (that's where your located I'm guessing) then performing repairs on your system doesnt void warranty unless you damage it yourself in the process. I understand your statement about losing screws (something I'm quite guilty of) and I commend your desicion to have a professional take care of it as that's what they are there for.
Acer customer service is very good so again, good choice.

I'd be interested in hearing what the ticket states resolved the issue as well as someone else who might find this thread with a similar issue in the future.

Please keep us updated. 👍

touchnova

Nambuhs - Probably a good choice.  The additional time delay sucks, but never a bad idea to get those who introduced an error to fix it.  Keep us posted when you get it back.