Hmm,This is weird, and difficult to solve!!

[jbrown]

Well...this is and odd one.

My Powerbook 1.25 is making strange noises at me. These sound like a strange cross between a banshees wail and a lightsabre opening ( sorry this is the best I can do!!!! ). It lasts about 1 second, and is reasonably subtle.

In my opinion it sounds like a software sound ( as in a task completed etc. ) - BUT THERE IS NO CONTINUITY OF OPENED SOFTWARE THAT I CAN LINK IT TO. I think that I've had his sound with just the finder open.

This has been going on for about a year, but very sporadically.Sometime nothing for weeks at a time, sometimes, like this morning, five or six of these sounds in a row.

I'm pretty good with computers ( but no expert ) - and no, its not one of the system sounds. I don't have any unusual software - just the reg. Graphics packages etc. Could it be malware?

Is this a background proccess I'm unaware of, such as indexing? I don't think it was there under Panther.

Tis a mystery - and bugging me - please help!!!

 

[iMeowbot]

What exactly would a subtle banshee wail sound like?

The sound the Finder makes when a file is moved or copied might sound a bit light sabre-ish, but maybe not so much banshee. Or something.

 

[jbrown]

Not file moving / copying sound - I know what they soundlike

Imagine a lightsabre opening, then an errie wind from a horror film, then throw in a bit of a far away banshee. Got that Now put them in a sound mixer and blend - then push the " Far away in the distance " filter button.
Bingo

Very difficult to describe.

 

[Merf]

Mute the sound for a while see if you still hear it. Then you can tell if its actually from the speakers or somewhere from the actual machine.

Merf

 

[carpe diem]

Try getting an airblower and blowing through the fans.

 

[steelfist]

seems like the air-vents and air circulation has the exact adjustments to whistle and make other sounds. i remember my bathroom toilet would wail and whistle everytime when i drain it. it's very very loud and annoying. then i did something to it (i forgot) just a little difference there is no whistling and a sound 10 DB softer which is a normal sound.

so relating that to your powerbook, your fans might be a bit "different" and hit the sweet spot so it can wail and scream.

but first of all, check if it's really your speakers or your fans/HD/stuff.

 

[Palad1]

would you happen to be running adium?

the contact logged in/out sound matches your banshee/lightsaber description quite well...

good hunting

 

[~Shard~]

would you happen to be running adium?

the contact logged in/out sound matches your banshee/lightsaber description quite well...

good hunting

Good call - I'd recommend checking this out as well, and as others have said, turning the speakers off for starters. Then you can determine if it's a physical hardware issue or not.

 

[jbrown]

certain that it is coming from the speakers - and no to adium.

 

[trainguy77]

Is this a background proccess I'm unaware of, such as indexing? I don't think it was there under Panther.

Well did you do a clean install after Panther? If so i don't think it would be malware.

 

[Heb1228]

Can you use a program like Wiretap tp try and capture this sound so we can hear it? I don't know if it would help but I'd like to hear this thing!

Look in Activity Monitor and see what is running, then try quitting the stuff listed under my processes thats not necessary.

 

[trainguy77]

How often does it occur?

 

[Toreador93]

That description sounds like something I've encountered with my old Dell 8100 laptop.

I always thought it was a charging or discharging of a capacitor, fan motors, or something in my harddrive (which was screwy for the longest time).

You could also liken it to the noise you here when you turn a CRT tv/monitor on or off. Not the same, but similar.

 

[iMeowbot]

Imagine a lightsabre opening, then an errie wind from a horror film, then throw in a bit of a far away banshee. Got that Now put them in a sound mixer and blend - then push the " Far away in the distance " filter button.
Bingo

Okay, so then we're talking about this?? I haven't a clue what would do that!

 

[jbrown]

Okay, so then we're talking about this?? I haven't a clue what would do that!

Nice one - now try that so the sounds are all at once and last no more than a second.

I would never be fast enough to captuure it with WIRETAP