Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!ucbvax!agate!saturn!ucscb.UCSC.EDU!spcecdt From: spcecdt@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Space Cadet) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Computer Whine Message-ID: <4915@saturn.ucsc.edu> Date: 23 Sep 88 02:46:45 GMT References: <45900151@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> <6319@xanth.cs.odu.edu> Sender: usenet@saturn.ucsc.edu Reply-To: spcecdt@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Space Cadet) Organization: FCIPs (Frivolous CPU Intensive Programs) Ltd. Lines: 26 }In article <45900151@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu writes: } }I just moved my PS/2 model 80 from my very noisy lab to my nice }quiet office. I now notice a very odd thing: When idling at the DOS }prompt the system box makes a loud, high pitched whine. When it }is actually running a program this ceases. The only explanation }I can come up with is that it is drawing lower power from the }power supply when idling, and that the supply is a switching one, }and hence going to a lower frequency. Then when the power requirement }goes up, so does the frequency, above the audible range. I this }correct? Why would the MSDOS idle loop draw less power? } }Doug McDonald It may also be your speaker. My fan and hard drive made enough noise that I recently made long cables for my monitor, keyboard, speaker, printer, and reboot switch and put my CPU in my closet. I really like the relative quite I have now, but I immediately discovered that the speaker produces sound even when it is "off". The loudness and tone vary according to what the machine is doing, but it isn't related to any i/o (drive, com port, monitor, etc.) I assume the sound is leaking from one of the busses and perhaps has something to do with patterns of memory or card access. John DuBois spcecdt@ucscb.ucsc.edu ...!ucbvax!ucscc!ucscb!spcecdt