Desktop Issues: Laptop Error

[RoboticRickJames747]

Hello,

I am recently new to Ubuntu, but I was told by my dearing friend of mine to come here to request aid. Recently I have bought a brand new Dell Pavalion laptop online, but I have encountered some problems with it right from the start.

There are 3 issues: 1.) There is a high pitch screeching noise (sounds like "WHREEEEEEEEE") that is coming from underneath the keyboard. The noise is consistent until I turn off the laptop. 2.) When I try to play music (to block out the screeching), I hear a continous "POP POP burrr POP POP" coming from underneath the keyboard, followed by a heavy grinding sound. This occurs on all sounds, as well. Finally, 3.) Sometimes the screen turns different shades of purple and blue, but then goes back to a normal color tone (which is green... or at least I think this is normal).

I have searched several other help forums to find an answer to what is going on, but my friend finally told me to come here. Due to the fact that there are several intelligent/tech savy people here, I am certain that you will all be able to help me. Now I'm no dummy, haha, but when it comes to computers, I seem to be out of my league. Besides figuring out what the issues are, I was wondering if I could manually fix this, and if so.. how and what tools do I need to do this project? I was also wondering if this could lead to warenty issues (meaning I wont get my money back), b/c oddly... I didnt have a warrenty in my box. The cable to the battery charger is fine, so I'm unsure of this is a barrety-related issue, but all your responses to this topic would be appreciated greatly.

Help me, Ubuntu, you're my only hope!

[Smart Viking]

Hi.

The best thing you could do right now is to contact the people behind the store you got you computer, and tell them that you have had problems with it since you got it. Maybe they will repair it for you, or you will get a new one, but do NOT open the computer and try to fix it unless you know what you are doing because you wont get warranty if you do.

[VeeDubb]

Exactly what Smart Viking said.

The second you open up the casing of your laptop, the entire warranty is void, and you'll be paying out of pocket if it's not a simple fix, and this frankly sounds like multiple major hardware failures.

The loud constant noise sounds like a hard drive with a bad controller, and the display stuff sounds like an issue with the GPU.

Even if "by the start" you mean just since you installed Ubuntu, I would guess that it was coincidental that it all started with Ubuntu, because that is FAR more likely than Ubuntu actually causing that level of hardware problems.

[Peter09]

Just a sanity check. Have you turned of the speakers (muted) to see if the noise you hear is coming from the speakers or something else.

[RoboticRickJames747]

Hello,

I have been trying to contact them for days, and I havent recieved any reply. I emailed them, waiting on hold for about 3.5 hours before getting hung up on, and if I recieved a reply from them on their forums, it was either computer gibberish (which I think they were refering about "coding" or something) or they said I broke it. All I did was open up the box, plug it into my outlet, and the chaos ensued from it. If I can't get a reply from them to replace it, the warrenty would then be considered useless, correct? Does anyone have any idea what maybe the cause of this noise? A previous poster said "hardrive", I think... is that easily replaceable in a laptop? I wouldn't mind bringing it to a computer repair shop or whatever, but wouldn't the cost of fixing it be expensive? I like to learn, so this could be a great learning experience (repairing wise), so if it is possible to manually fix it, I wouldn't mind diving into it!

I did try to mute it, but when I muted it, the noise (screeching) became more prominent. Almost to a deafening level. Due to the factor that I was afraid to alarm the neighbors, or have the police wailing on my front door... I decided to unmute it.

[RoboticRickJames747]

I failed to mention this in my reply, I originally had Windows Vista Operating System on the laptop. After reviewing over this site and such, I asked my dearing friend if he thinks that running Ubuntu on it instead might fix or dull the problem. He agreed, refromatt (i think thats the term, he was talking fast for me at the time, so I couldnt understand all he was saying) it, ran Ubuntu on it, and the problems still arose like previous.

I must say, I love the Ubuntu layout, just the deafening screeching and heavy grinding takes a good amount of enjoyment out of it though. :/

[RoboticRickJames747]

Help please, I have been calling the company all day and I have recieved no responses yet. Any suggestions?

[RoboticRickJames747]

Hello,

After doing some inventive thinking, I may have solved an issue. When I tilt my laptop at a angle of 45 Degrees, the screeching noise drops drastically, BUT it makes the grinding noise more stronger. The screen still fades from color to color.

I hope that I am not flooding this thread, but I would really appreciate some input or opinions, because this is very frustrating to me , but I appreciate the time and effort some of you put in to help me already. I really like the appearance of my new computer, and I am thrilled on all levels to start my Ubuntu experience, just I am without bounds to the rage I am with-holding from that I wish to imply onto my new laptop... but I don't want to make matters worse.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, thank you.

[Peter09]

My guess is the you have either a Fan with a failed bearing or a fan with something stuck against it.

There really is not many moving parts in a laptop and I would have thought a disk which is making that much noise would not be working properly.

[VeeDubb]

Any way you slice it, this is pretty clearly a hardware issue pure and simple.

You either need the patience to sit on hold for hours at a time to get through to their tech support and make them understand the issue; or you need to be willing to completely void your warrantly, surrender any chance of the manufacturer paying to fix thi or any other issue, buy replacements for whatever parts are failing, and have the knowledge of how to dismantle a laptop without causing damage.

Unfortunately, every laptop is different, so you're unlikely to find somebody who has torn down your particular laptop here, and few people would be willing to share that sort of thing on an open forum due to the possibility of somebody following the directions who shouldn't.

So, be patient and wade through the support line, or buy some screw drivers and dive in.




Oh, and a fan could be causing all of it. If the fan is failing, it could cause things to overheat, and that 'could' cause the GPU to do bad things. Also, if that's the case, continuing to use it will lead to permanent electronic damage that can't be repaired.