HELP! BAD static problems when HDD gets used!

[trilobyte123]

man I'm having some major audio problems heh. When I play mp3, anytime a program loads (disk access) the damn mp3 gets a scratchy sound. Almost sounds like paper being ripped as the mp3 plays.

It does it in almost every software player I tried.

Using a SBLIVE
on a athlon 1gig@1.4 and 256 RAM

I've never had this problem before, but for some reason, it's just crepped up

Oh and it's not just mp3s, its all audio. I've tried it on headphones, and i gets the same thing. It seems to happen ONLY when the HDD gets accessed....hmm...
also it's happening on ALL different types of players. Even Media Player. It plays well, but once that harddrive starts seeking, static pops up. Heck, you can even hear the static be in synch with the harddrive light

help

[DJ Egg]

TSGH -> Useful Links

Look under the "RE: Skipping / freezing / clicking & popping during playback" section. There's plenty of troubleshooting tips 'n fixes to try out there, though if I knew which one was relevant to your case, I'd be a certified psychic genius.

Good luck! I wish I could help you more.

btw, what's your OS . . . Win2k by any chance?
First thing to do would be to reinstall your soundcard drivers (preferably the latest available versions) and reinstall DirectX.

[Budgie]

I agree with DJEgg, but it would be useful to know what kind of mainboard you have installed. If your mainboard does not utilize an Intel-chipset (very likely since you have an AMD processor), make sure you install the LATEST busmaster-drivers for your mainboard, as well as enable DMA-mode for your harddrive. That might help a lot.

To enable the DMA-mode of your harddrive, open up the system control -> device manager. Then click on "drives", and select "generic IDE disk type 0#" (the "#" replaces the number of your harddisk, usually 1 or 2). In the window that should have come up, check the "DMA" mark and reboot.

How to install the proper busmaster-drivers for your mainboard, consult your documentation and surf http://www.windrivers.com . Non-Intel mainboards require a busmaster-driver to be installed to work properly at full performance. I hope DJEgg agrees .


Peace.

[Budgie]

I agree with DJEgg, but it would be useful to know what kind of mainboard you have installed. If your mainboard does not utilize an Intel-chipset (very likely since you have an AMD processor), make sure you install the LATEST busmaster-drivers for your mainboard, as well as enable DMA-mode for your harddrive. That might help a lot.

To enable the DMA-mode of your harddrive, open up the system control -> device manager. Then click on "drives", and select "generic IDE disk type 0#" (the "#" replaces the number of your harddisk, usually 1 or 2). In the window that should have come up, check the "DMA" mark and reboot.

How to install the proper busmaster-drivers for your mainboard, consult your documentation and surf http://www.windrivers.com . Non-Intel mainboards require a busmaster-driver to be installed to work properly at full performance.

By the way, does the static occur when you run your CPU @ 1 Ghz like it's supposed to be. I see that you overclocked it over 400 Mhz, which I personally think is too much to run stable without errors. Reduce the CPU's speed back to normal, and see if your problem disappears. I hope DJEgg agrees .


Peace.

[Budgie]

Ack, sorry for the double-post . The stupid forum software does not seem to let me delete my first post. Damn I am looking forward to the software upgrade


Peace.

[DJ Egg]

Originally posted by Budgie
By the way, does the static occur when you run your CPU @ 1 Ghz like it's supposed to be. I see that you overclocked it over 400 Mhz, which I personally think is too much to run stable without errors. Reduce the CPU's speed back to normal, and see if your problem disappears. I hope DJEgg agrees

Yes, I agree whole-heartedly
Well spotted Budgie!
Why the need to overclock? Surely 1GHz is enough speed for anyone?
Overclocking it is definitely gonna do more harm than good.

btw, Budgie
Do you want me to delete your 1st accidental doublepost?
Just say the word and your wish is my command.

[trilobyte123]

DMA is on
running win2k
Board: Epox 8kta3 with it's onboard audio off

Also, I screwed up in my last post. The scratching was happening with the CPU at default. However, when I DO overclock my computer it helps a bit, but only if i jack up winamp settings to very high.

I tried reinstalling sound drivers, even tried reverting to old ones. Nothing I'm growing pissed I'm going to read that FAQ u posted and see if i can see anything.

[Budgie]

Owie, that's weird ... ... Maybe the onboard-audio is involved, but I am not certainly sure. A friend of mine had a computer with onboard-audio, and when he decided to buy a SB Live! soundcard, he experienced scratches, popping-sounds and other artifacts. His computer ran Windows 98 SE, though. Anyways, a good start would be to read DJ Egg's genious FAQ .

I also think that the reason of your problem is your Windows 2000 setup. Many people reported static, pops and bad sound in general with Winamp under Win 2k. Try updating to SP-2, which can be found at Bill's Vault (http://www.microsoft.com). Search the forum for more info about static with Winamp under Windows 2000, DJ Egg might be helpful finding the stuff .


Peace and good luck.