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

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Answers

  • Nambuhs
    Nambuhs Member Posts: 12

    Tinkerer

    edited July 2018
    Thanks for the support. :) I'll definitely provide an update once it has been fixed and returned, again.
  • Phoenix1966
    Phoenix1966 Member Posts: 71 Devotee WiFi Icon
    Nambuhs A good decision if you can afford the time delay. When they repaired mine, it came back with a glitch that I cannot replicate on command. When shutting down (and on occasion when starting up), one out of ten times the screen becomes white with a large amount of thin, colored, vertical lines. I will probably send this in for that before the warranty expires, but cannot afford to not have a machine for work at the moment. Needles to say, I did not have this issue before the repair. It did it immediately upon first booting up after I got it back, so I can sympathize with the frustration of a "repair" that broke something along the way.
  • Nambuhs
    Nambuhs Member Posts: 12

    Tinkerer

    @Phoenix1966 Yeah, I was really disappointed when I turned it on and the "predator scream" on startup sounded very very wrong. I'll admit, when I figured out the front speakers were dead, I got a bit... upset.  :# I'm sorry you are having post-repair issues as well. It's the absolute worst when you can't replicate a problem reliably.
    I can technically afford the time right now, I have a functional backup machine I have been using, but it's several years old at this point and not nearly as capable. I will definitely need my laptop back in working order before vacation. So crossing my fingers someone just made a simple error and nothing else goes wrong. Hope you get a break and find time to send yours back too. Good luck!
  • Greere
    Greere Member Posts: 4 New User
    Hi all.
    I got back my predator from service today, they changed my motherboard and all is working fine so far. Total time with pick up and return was 11 days which was sooner then expected. Nothing much on service letter just the SN of new motherboard and an advice from them to make a clean instalation of win 10. Now i’m curios if the new MB is same as the old one and in 18 months the problem will arise again. Does  somebody know if the MB are different as the originals or not ? Thanks all for the responses on this forum, they were very usefull to me. 
  • touchnova
    touchnova Member Posts: 61 Devotee WiFi Icon
    Greere - Glad to hear your laptop is back and seems to be in order.  Regarding the replacement motherboard, I've actually wondered the same thing - new board or one that will just have issues again down the road.  Have never seen a definitive answer to this so am also curious if anyone knows for sure.
  • vorob
    vorob Member Posts: 149 Skilled Fixer WiFi Icon
    edited July 2018
    Can you make long story shorter then 7 pages, what's the reason for this buzz sound? https://youtu.be/IU9brl7vql4
    What exactly is making this sound?

  • touchnova
    touchnova Member Posts: 61 Devotee WiFi Icon
    A faulty motherboard.
  • vorob
    vorob Member Posts: 149 Skilled Fixer WiFi Icon
    But it happens extremely rarely and everything works perfectly...
  • Rares95
    Rares95 Member Posts: 120 Skilled Fixer WiFi Icon
    vorob said:
    But it happens extremely rarely and everything works perfectly...
    Just read the pages already and stop re-hashing things we know.

    Why does it happpen?
    Not sure, but motherboard needs replacement. That's all we know.
  • Nambuhs
    Nambuhs Member Posts: 12

    Tinkerer

    edited July 2018
    Well folks, I got mine back from it's second round trip to Texas... and it's actually fixed this time, at least after a couple hours of gaming it would seem to be. The first time it came back, you may recall, it was returned with speakers that were completely dead so there was no way to tell if the original issue was fixed. The paperwork was also dubious, it said "motherboard fix." Well, THIS time, it says motherboard replaced and all seems to be in order. Speakers work great and no more buzz. No idea what in the world was done to it the first time around, but at least it's fixed now. Temps are down too, which I attribute the the replacement of the original chewing gum thermal paste. So bonus there.
    One oddity, the really obnoxious "predator scream" it made on boot up is no longer present. Anyone else experience this? I'm pretty sure I don't care, just wondered if anyone else noticed this or had this happen.
  • touchnova
    touchnova Member Posts: 61 Devotee WiFi Icon
    edited July 2018
    Glad to hear Nambuhs, knowing you had to do it all twice was painful just to hear about, so I'm hoping you're in the clear now.  Regarding the boot issue you mentioned, mine performs exactly as it did pre-repair, though others have relayed concerns about this...flashing streaks across their screen (?? - I'll let them clarify).  But my only thought would be that it has to do with the BIOS version, but I can't speak to that with any certainty.  Maybe we should all compare BIOS versions just to see if there are any commonalities in experience between versions?  In my system info I show the following:

       BIOS Version/Date: Insyde V1.12, 7/13/2017
       SMBIOS Version: 3.0

    *Edit - Clarification needed...at boot, does the Predator logo still display, and only the sound is deactivated?  The sound portion of this is something I have turned off in my boot settings, so if the logo still displays but the sound is not audible, definitely check to see if it is disabled in boot settings. Copied below are the instructions from Acer:
    1. Press and hold the Power button for 10 seconds or until the system completely shuts off.
    2. Power on the system and press the F2 key as soon as the Predator logo screen appears .
    3. Press the right arrow key to highlight the Main menu.
    4. Use the down arrow to highlight the option for POST Animation & Sound and press Enter.
    5. Select Disabled and press Enter.
    6. Press F10 and select Yes to save the changes and exit the BIOS.




  • Nambuhs
    Nambuhs Member Posts: 12

    Tinkerer

    Constant use for close to 6 hours and not a peep. So I’m very hopeful. Thanks for the support, it was definitely frustrating, but I suppose it has ended well enough. :)
    Yes, the logo displays, but the sound is missing. I’ll see if I can get into the bios and take a look tomorrow morning. 
  • vorob
    vorob Member Posts: 149 Skilled Fixer WiFi Icon
    I'm still bothered by what causing this issue. I've even opened two threads on different forums:
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/strange-buzz-sound-from-speaker-under-random-load-detective-story.821607/
    https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/92u6z2/strange_buzz_sound_from_speaker_under_random_load/

    Also, I've started digging step by step. First, I found that laptop is buzzing in bios in 100% of cases: https://youtu.be/qj9smkfpjFI
    So it's not a software issue. 

    Then I've updated bios to .14 version. No luck. 

    Then I've taken dvdrom, hdd, ssd from the computer, just to check. Buzz was still there.

    Then I've unplugged battery and looks like that without the battery I'm not getting any buzz sound.



    I can hardly explain this...
  • touchnova
    touchnova Member Posts: 61 Devotee WiFi Icon
    There's nothing to explain - it's a faulty motherboard.  I don't mean to be rude - but you arrived to this thread in a state of being unwilling to read the information we've gathered over months and months.  Now you're in a state of taking your laptop apart to seemingly disprove what we already know.  It's not software, it's not the dvd, hdd, or ssd....it's the motherboard.  Electrical discharge and/or coil whine (yes, there are actually two different noises) is feeding back into the system.  The origin of this discharge/whine is the motherboard.  Send it in, get it replaced, move on.  Good luck!

  • Nambuhs
    Nambuhs Member Posts: 12

    Tinkerer

    touchnova said:
    Maybe we should all compare BIOS versions just to see if there are any commonalities in experience between versions?  In my system info I show the following:

       BIOS Version/Date: Insyde V1.12, 7/13/2017
       SMBIOS Version: 3.0
    I checked my BIOS, I'm also on v1.12 and you were correct, the tech must have turned off the POST sounds. It was disabled. I left it that way. The other member of my household was not as amused by it as I was... Thanks for the directions so I could at least confirm it was working normally.
    After using it over the weekend pretty heavily, I am happy with the results at this point. Wish it had been right the first time, but /shrug at least its fine now.
  • touchnova
    touchnova Member Posts: 61 Devotee WiFi Icon
    edited July 2018
    Nambuhs - Awesome news, glad to know that things are looking up for you.  Also good to know that it was the BIOS setting for the boot sound...I once fired mine up in an airport and the way everyone looked at me, I knew it was time to disable it! lol  Let us know of your experience down the road if anything changes - the question still remains as to whether or not these motherboard replacements were actually an updated version so that the issue will not simply show it's head again after 10-11 months of usage. Ahoy!
  • vorob
    vorob Member Posts: 149 Skilled Fixer WiFi Icon
    edited July 2018
    touchnova said:
    There's nothing to explain - it's a faulty motherboard.  I don't mean to be rude - but you arrived to this thread in a state of being unwilling to read the information we've gathered over months and months.  Now you're in a state of taking your laptop apart to seemingly disprove what we already know.  It's not software, it's not the dvd, hdd, or ssd....it's the motherboard.  Electrical discharge and/or coil whine (yes, there are actually two different noises) is feeding back into the system.  The origin of this discharge/whine is the motherboard.  Send it in, get it replaced, move on.  Good luck!

    From what I see, we only have 1 year for predators in Russia, so I guess I'm out of luck. I will try anyway, but...

    Also, since this buzz started appearing only after 11 months, we are not safe that new mb will be out of this issue. After time :(
  • Nambuhs
    Nambuhs Member Posts: 12

    Tinkerer

    @vorob Definitely give them a call anyway, from what we have seen here, most people think they only have 1 year (Acer standard I guess), but they actually do have 2 years on the Predator line.
    As to the new MB lasting longer than 10/11 months, looks like the first confirmed MB replacement was touchnova's in February. So we should know more by say Dec/Jan?
  • Theraphosidae
    Theraphosidae Member Posts: 3 New User
    Dears,

    I have laptop Predator 17, G5-793
    Thank for this topic, i found some solutions what i will try this evening.
    I have the same story with buzzing, what helped me, i have completely formatted the disk where my windows 10 was installed, and re-installed the windows, for now. BUT, during big load i still hear sometimes some buzzess, but very rarely.

    But i still have 2 questions if i will fail and meet this problem again, i'm living in Germany:

    - My laptop has been bought in March 2016, so i'm out of warranty, has someone paid for the change of motherboard, what was the price?
    - Does additional cooling will help if this problem arises?
  • Rares95
    Rares95 Member Posts: 120 Skilled Fixer WiFi Icon
    Dears,

    I have laptop Predator 17, G5-793
    Thank for this topic, i found some solutions what i will try this evening.
    I have the same story with buzzing, what helped me, i have completely formatted the disk where my windows 10 was installed, and re-installed the windows, for now. BUT, during big load i still hear sometimes some buzzess, but very rarely.

    But i still have 2 questions if i will fail and meet this problem again, i'm living in Germany:

    - My laptop has been bought in March 2016, so i'm out of warranty, has someone paid for the change of motherboard, what was the price?
    - Does additional cooling will help if this problem arises?
    Cooling DOES help, if you run your fans at full speed it might make it go away.

    The thing is - it gets worse with time, after 6 months since I first heard it it got to a point where even on Idle ~40*C would start buzzing. Also transferring files would trigger this.

    You could send Acer an email asking for a quote on the repair.

    Cheap 'workarounds' are:
    Cover your speakers, stuff the chamber with something that prevents the speakers from actually vibrating, unplug speakers.

    Though the cause is still unknown, I wouldn't consider this a permanent fix
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