Buzzing when I move the mouse

Sic Puppy · Mar 27, 2008, 05:29 PM

Hi all,
I'm getting a strange buzz/hum whenever I move my mouse across the desktop. I've had the case open and its coming from either the GFX card or in that area on the MB (P5K SE). I've checked he mounting screws and muted things on the volume control ie: Mic, Aux etc but to no avail.

Any ideas,

Cheers
Iain

[hobo]eclipse · Mar 27, 2008, 05:34 PM

is your mouse USB? maybe try a different plug?

Sic Puppy · Mar 27, 2008, 05:38 PM

Yeah it is, did try swapping but there was no difference. I have also tried removing all USB devices except the mouse and K/B in case they were drawing too much power, but nothing.

P.S. I'm starting to think this is no sound issue, so possibly in the wrong forum here.

[hobo]eclipse · Mar 27, 2008, 07:28 PM

maybe try a different keyboard, could have a stuck key.

i had a keyboard with a broken delete button, would boot and go right to the bios, threw me for a loop for a min before i figured it out.

though it happens when u move the mouse so i dont know

Tipstaff · Mar 27, 2008, 07:37 PM

My educated guess: the power supply, or the motherboard. That squealing noise is probably coming from one of the capacitors on the board or the PSU. Do you have another power supply that you can try?

Question: Do you also hear that squealing noise whenever you access data on your hard drive? What I mean is, do you hear this same noise any time you do anything that pulls power from the PSU, like using the optical drive, hard drive, 3D gaming?

Zelig · Mar 27, 2008, 09:25 PM

Random guesssing time...

Do you get the sound if you turn off your monitor when you move the mouse?

Sic Puppy · Mar 29, 2008, 04:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tipstaff

My educated guess: the power supply, or the motherboard. That squealing noise is probably coming from one of the capacitors on the board or the PSU. Do you have another power supply that you can try?

Question: Do you also hear that squealing noise whenever you access data on your hard drive? What I mean is, do you hear this same noise any time you do anything that pulls power from the PSU, like using the optical drive, hard drive, 3D gaming?

I can certainly hear it when the HDD is being used, can't really hear much during 3D gaming. So whould that mean the PSU is duff?

spartus4 · Mar 29, 2008, 05:40 AM

Try a different mouse and keyboard. If you have a usb mouse and have a PS/2 adapter, try connecting it to the PS/2 port on you motherboard (if you have one for the mouse).

I have a Logitech MX Revolution and was getting noise in the speakers when I moved the mouse.

Tipstaff · Mar 29, 2008, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sic Puppy

I can certainly hear it when the HDD is being used, can't really hear much during 3D gaming. So whould that mean the PSU is duff?

It's a very good indication, yes. However, everything runs through the board as well as the PSU (mouse is connected to the board which is drawing power from the PSU, but the hard drive is also connected both to the board and the PSU simultaneously). So, to be sure you might want to try isolating the PSU as much as possible in order to verify it's the cause. One way to do this is to remove the PSU from the case, place it beside the case still connected to the system, and boot the system up. That makes it easier to isolate where the sound is coming from since it's not in the case along with everything else.

Sic Puppy · Apr 4, 2008, 06:02 PM

Ok the noise seems to be coming from the area marked in the photo:

Any ideas?

Thanks Again

Tipstaff · Apr 5, 2008, 03:25 AM

Interesting how the noise is coming from the exact area that the USB ports are mounted to on the board. As you can see there are 4 capacitors right behind the USB block on the board, 3 Mosfets, and there is a black square that is actually a cover under which is a coil. All those are power related, and any one of those could make that noise if they are not functioning properly.

BTW, every time you did a test on your mouse you had the keyboard plugged in too, but have you tried testing it with just the mouse plugged in? Also, have you tried using a different keyboard and/or mouse, or using them with a USB to PS2 adapter? If you haven't it might be a good idea, because you need to rule out those devices. If you have tried this, or do try it, and this still happens, then this leads me to think the board is the issue.

I need to point something out here as tough to say with 100% certainty that a component is bad. Here's why: Due to the way the components work there is always a chance that there is a slight flaw in it's construction. However, having flaws doesn't mean it isn't working fine, but rather that it is going to generate a quirk.

On the other hand, it can be a bad thing in so much that it can point to the fact that the components are bad, damaged, or are not working as they should be due to something else in the system (such as a defective keyboard/mouse/PSU).

In any case, it's still good to completely rule certain components out, so I need to reiterate a few things. 1) First thing I would try is a different keyboard/mouse (PS2 and USB) to be sure they aren't causing any feedback. 2) I would then try a new PSU to make sure that it wasn't causing the board to generate feedback. As you can see this would leave the motherboard, and at this point it leaves you with 2 choices: live with the noise hoping it's just quirk, or call Asus and RMA the board for repair just in case the board is actually defective.

On top of what I've suggested trying, if you have a computer shop near you that you can take your system to, it might be worth doing so, and have them try a new power supply, keyboard, or mouse. Most will do so at no cost as the chance you will buy something is there for them if one of those components are defective (although it's best to call ahead to verify that they will help you, for free, before hand). If you have a friend, or another computer that you can borrow these components from to test yours with, even better.

Sic Puppy · Apr 5, 2008, 05:35 AM

I will try all of these that you have suggested Tipstaff and will report back with any findings. Many thanks for your help so far, it's greatly appreciated.

Iain

Tipstaff · Apr 5, 2008, 06:19 AM

Not a prob, Iain.

jiiteepee · Apr 5, 2008, 12:24 PM

Have you tried by
- setting the mouse sampling rate (can be differently named setting on XP -> Vista ... maybe motion tracking /visibility/etc.) and
- decreasing the hardware acceleration (graphics)?

Also, checking if
- the mouse (or USB controller) is shareing IRQ/Resources w/ audio/graphics adapter and
- if you get rid of the issue by using ASIO or WDM/KS drivers (you can try this fast some audio player as like the NI TRAKTOR BeatPort SYNC by setting it to use ASIO output

If you don't have asio capable sound card there, asio4all driver can be used then. ASIO4ALL - Universal ASIO Driver
When you're on ASIO WDM/KS (Kernel Streaming) mode, you can mute the Wave port showing on Playback control panel (start run... sndvol32.exe (9x - XP, dunno the Vista version).

jiitee

Sic Puppy · Apr 6, 2008, 06:34 PM

Ok. I've found if I reduce the amount of reports the mouse (Logitech G5) sends per second in the logitech software, the buzzing is reduced (not totally, but noticably quieter. The HDD has no change and still causes the area to buzz. Don't know if that makes much difference to the diagnosis. Will be running further tests when I get home from work.

Sic Puppy · Apr 23, 2008, 06:19 PM

It definatly seems to be aproblem with the capacitors. Ran some tests and it seems to be when the CPU is under load. Rather annoying.

[hobo]eclipse · Apr 23, 2008, 06:37 PM

RMA time?

Sic Puppy · Apr 24, 2008, 03:10 AM

Looks like it. Pain in the arse. Should really change brand as well as not happy. Only problem is New Zealand seems to limit the choice to Asus or Gigabyte

Tipstaff · Apr 25, 2008, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sic Puppy

Looks like it. Pain in the arse. Should really change brand as well as not happy. Only problem is New Zealand seems to limit the choice to Asus or Gigabyte

Ouch. Thing with both of those companies is that they have boards they put a lot into, ones that run great, but then they have their "cheaper" boards for the masses. Plus both run their companies pretty much the same way overall too. Sometimes it's hard to tell them apart.

BTW, did you give my suggestion about trying a different power supply a try? It could still be an issue. See, something you need to consider is how your motherboard got messed up in the first place, and the first culprit that would have caused this is power, either that coming into your computer, or that your power supply is what damaged the board. Either way, whether you decide to RMA the board, or buy a new one, consider replacing your power supply right along with it.

Sic Puppy · May 16, 2008, 07:02 PM

Not much progress this side as I've been too busy at work. But the reseller will be happy for me to return it and they will test it for me which is pretty cool.
I have managed to accuratly find the culpret of the "buzzing" to here:

webarchitect · May 16, 2008, 07:57 PM

So it's making sounds, but does it work..I mean does the cursor show up on your desktop? I had a similar problem before..but its software related...Yours is more on the hardware right?

Try using another mouse, or uninstall your mouse driver, and reinstall.

---Have you ever thought that maybe the mouse just needed some cheese?

Sic Puppy · Jun 2, 2008, 05:48 PM

Just a quick update to let you know it's all been fixed. I RMAed the MB and was sent a new one, this time a SE/EPU which is missing the noisey transistor that was on the SE.

Cheers for all your help

Tipstaff · Jun 2, 2008, 11:48 PM

Glad you got things sorted out.

As a precaution you might want to consider changing your PSU. Damage like that is usually caused by bad power, either from a bad PSU, or from power spikes that hit the PSU, and in turn the board. I'd hate for you to have to go through this all over again if it's what caused the board to get damaged like that.

Speaking of which, if you have a lot of power outages, spikes, or brownouts in your area then you might also want to consider getting a battery backup as it would help to protect your system by maintaining a stable level of power, as well as protect you to a certain degree against power spikes.