'babel17' wrote:
| You have given me much food for thought. It never occurred to me that
| the "System Fan" referred to in the BIOS setup referred to the fan on
| the motherboard and that fan only.
|
| So I have just reopened the case and found the following:
|
| (1) a fan in a large housing in the front of the computer (blades not
| visible due to fan housing). This fan is connected to what I imagine is
| what you just referred to as a "heat sink", a fairly large one. It's
| noise is low pitch and appears to be the one that is becoming
| intermittently loud. Localization of sounds is not an easy task for a
| guy such as myself who is no longer a youngster, even if I weren't
| crouched down on the floor trying to get to the level of the computer
| case
|
| (2) there is a tiny fan over a set of circuits which may be the
| motherboard fan. It appears, again if I am localizing correctly, to be
| giving off a higher pitch sound than the problem noise. But it is also
| hard to differentiate this from item #4 which is right next to it.
|
| (3) there is a tiny heat sink without a visible fan on another set of
| circuits.
|
| (4) the case fan - see above item #2.
|
| So if the noise is from fan #1, then this is NOT the system fan and
| would not be affected by a change in BIOS.
|
| I am beginning to think my original idea was correct and this
| intermittent fan noise comes from the large encased fan adjacent to the
| DVD player that Gateway replaced when it broke. Convincing Gateway of
| this however, is a different story. It appears that I will have to drop
| the machine off at their dealer and be without it for a few days while
| they localize the problem to their satisfaction and replace or reseat
| the fan.
|
| On the other matter, I have now decided, as you have, that while
| <ENABLED> = "ON", <ENABLE> without the "D" means "I am off, would you
| like to turn me on?". Very confusing. They should just say "ON" &
| "OFF".
|
| I will be away from the computer for a while & will read carefully any
| replies tomorrow.
_____
I see what may perhaps be misconceptions.
Below are some clairfications that may not be necessary, but first, a
technical trick and life trick from long experience.
To locate a sound. Obtain a large screwdriver. Place the metal tip on the
frame of the fan. Place the handle against your ear. This will enable you
to localize noise. This trick works for detecting the source of almost any
sound.
If you are going to be going inside your computer, place it on TOP of your
work table or desk. No one is designed to work on electronic equipment
while prone. Even before entering my sixties I avoided that (not that the
prone position was a problem, it was all the getting up and down B^)
#1. Your description in #1 doesen't exactly give me a picture of exactly
what purpose the fan has. In the system you describe, any fan connected to
a heatink is the CPU fan, NOT the system fan. A system fan is one that is
NOT mounted on the mother board and that is NOT inside the power supply. A
system fan (in a loose sense) is one that circulates air through or within
the system case and that may or may not be connected to the motherboard and
that may or may not be controlled by the motherboard. A CPU heatsink is
likely (for recent computers) is likely at least 3 inches by 3 inches by 3
inches (including fan). A system fan (in the general meaning of the term)
will NOT be attached to a heatsink (Gateway may use the term differently. A
CPU heatsink may be attached to a plastic shroud that controls air flow. A
system fan may be attached to a plastic shroud that controls air flow.
Systems from a manufacturer like Gateway sometimes have pecular fan
arrangements designed with low cost in mind rather than performance. This
makes it somewhat difficult for someone like me to picture the actual
arrangement, even with your description.
#2. There really isn't a fan commonly called a 'motherboard fan'. What you
describe MAY be a fan attached to a small heatsink on part of the system
chipset (the two integrated circuits that control drives and knit the system
together). In that case, it MAY be the fan that Gateway MAY describe as the
system fan. I just don't know.
#3. The tiny heatsink without a fan is DEFINITELY on one half of the
chipset. At this point, I would need to know more about the Gateway FX530XM
computer - if it is very new and very good, it may be that the fan in #2 is
on one half of the chipset and the heatsink in #3 is on the other half of
the chipset.
#4. A broken fan does not make noise intermittently - it will make the same
noise nearly constantly (probably from imbalance.)
From the further description of the objectional noise I believe there is a
chance that either
A. the particular fan is defective
OR
B. the fan option setting in the BIOS should be changed, perhaps to
motherboard control - this should result in the fan running more slowly (and
more quietly) when the system is not in heavy use (and the Gateway
technician changed the setting when the DVD drive was replaced - for reasons
unkown.)
The upside of buying a turnkey system from a manufacturer like Gateway (or
Dell, or HP, or ...) is that it IS turnkey - you need know NOTHING about the
inside of your computer. But for this paridigm to work, you must hold
Gateway COMPLETELY responsible for the proper operation of your system. You
paid for this service up front, and you should demand proper operation.
Proper operation of the inside of your system is the responsibilty of the
manufacture, NOT the purchaser (other than providing a relatively dust free
environment and isolation from voltage surges and spikes.)
At this point I'd suggest you take the system in to Gateway and get a proper
explanation of the problem, and insist that it be fixed to your
satisfaction. Going back again and again until you are satisfied.
The proper time to begin to learn how your system operates is WHEN IT IS
OPERATION PROPERLY. Then you have a baseline for making diagnostics when
problems occur.
Phil Weldon
| Phil:
|
| You have given me much food for thought. It never occurred to me that
| the "System Fan" referred to in the BIOS setup referred to the fan on
| the motherboard and that fan only.
|
| So I have just reopened the case and found the following:
|
| (1) a fan in a large housing in the front of the computer (blades not
| visible due to fan housing). This fan is connected to what I imagine is
| what you just referred to as a "heat sink", a fairly large one. It's
| noise is low pitch and appears to be the one that is becoming
| intermittently loud. Localization of sounds is not an easy task for a
| guy such as myself who is no longer a youngster, even if I weren't
| crouched down on the floor trying to get to the level of the computer
| case
|
| (2) there is a tiny fan over a set of circuits which may be the
| motherboard fan. It appears, again if I am localizing correctly, to be
| giving off a higher pitch sound than the problem noise. But it is also
| hard to differentiate this from item #4 which is right next to it.
|
| (3) there is a tiny heat sink without a visible fan on another set of
| circuits.
|
| (4) the case fan - see above item #2.
|
| So if the noise is from fan #1, then this is NOT the system fan and
| would not be affected by a change in BIOS.
|
| I am beginning to think my original idea was correct and this
| intermittent fan noise comes from the large encased fan adjacent to the
| DVD player that Gateway replaced when it broke. Convincing Gateway of
| this however, is a different story. It appears that I will have to drop
| the machine off at their dealer and be without it for a few days while
| they localize the problem to their satisfaction and replace or reseat
| the fan.
|
| On the other matter, I have now decided, as you have, that while
| <ENABLED> = "ON", <ENABLE> without the "D" means "I am off, would you
| like to turn me on?". Very confusing. They should just say "ON" &
| "OFF".
|
| I will be away from the computer for a while & will read carefully any
| replies tomorrow.
|
| Thank you very much for your interest.
|
| Babel.
|
| --
| Kindly remove "notme" to reply.
