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Penryn MBP LCD Brightness Whine?

C

cmm26red

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 29, 2008
132
0
I originally purchased a SR MBP a couple weeks ago and come to find out, the LCD was bad and Apple declared it DOA. I went to the Apple store and swapped it out for a new 2.4GHz Penryn MBP. I am running Vista via bootcamp and am noticing a high pitched whine coming from the top left hand side of the keyboard, near the LCD. Puzzled as to the cause, I started playing with some controls to see if anything made a difference and noticed that when I dim the LCD to the min, it almost goes away. When I turn off the LCD it does in fact go away and when I increase it to maximum brightness it also vanishes. The noise seems to be the loudest when the LCD brightness is set in the middle. This problem only occurs in Vista, not OSX. I thoroughly toyed with the brightness in OSX and listed carefully, but like I said, not noise is present.

Does anybody know what is causing this? Is it normal? Should I be concerned and call Apple, or just ride it out? It does bother me a bit considering I use Vista for Office 2007 tasks. However, since the problem only occurs in Vista and not OSX, it this indicative of a software issue, or do you guys think it is hardware related?

Any help would be great,
cmm26red
 
Yep, I had this problem. The sound actually comes from the screen itself. Replacing the screen solves the problem.
 
I have the same issue. Exactly as you described- only happens in XP and not in OSX. Not sure why it would be caused when the brightness is in the majority of the middle range, but who knows. Not sure why it would be a hardware issue, if it's not happening in OS X. It hasn't bothered me enough yet to consider an exchange...besides, It'd be hard to test another unit in the store before I left.

The real test would be whether or not it happens in parallels or vmware. Maybe the windows nvidia driver is making the display do weird things.
 
Well that's strange. In my case the sound was coming from the lower-right of the screen though. Cover the keyboard area completely with a sound absorbing material and make sure you can still hear the buzz from the screen.

That's how I verified it was the screen itself making the noise, and after Apple replaced only the screen, the noise was gone.
 
Yup, I'm in XP right now and it does the same thing, but in the bottom right. the LCD whines everywhere but at the max brightness and no brightness. Weird...I can't really hear it unless I put my ear next to the screen but it sure is there. A


Anyone know what's up?
 
shirazik said:
Yup, I'm in XP right now and it does the same thing, but in the bottom right. the LCD whines everywhere but at the max brightness and no brightness. Weird...I can't really hear it unless I put my ear next to the screen but it sure is there. A


Anyone know what's up?
Click to expand...

I am on OSX right now and there is no noise. I am hesitant to say is a hardware issue since the noise is not present accross the board. I am leaning towards an issue with the nvidia drivers for the 8600 in bootcamp. I do not believe the sound is coming from the panel itself. To me, it appears to be coming from the are underneath the "esc" key. I googled this and got some hits on MBP whining noise, but the hits listed problems in OSX. I will post this over on the Apple support threads and get back to you with any updates. I guess I can live with it in the hopes that it can be corrected with a future software upgrade.

cm26red

p.s. Can you guys please post what version of the MBP you have (i.e. 4,1 3,1 etc...)
 
i have the 2.4ghz SR MBP...does that help?

It is the model before the one they just released last week.
 
This is what I found on the Apple support page.

====================================================
MacBook Pro with noise under the keyboard
Last Modified on: February 26, 2007
Article: 303365

If your MacBook Pro (15-inch) emits a high-pitched buzzing sound, please contact AppleCare for service.

Keywords: kmbp ktech
======================================================

Doesn't seem to affect the 17-inch MBP.
 
In the above post, I referenced by brand new 4.1. 1 Week old penryn 15.4 base model.
 
i notice the noise only in windows not in osx...

but if you set the screen to full bright in windows it goes away, seems to only be there in windows and when at non full bright.

well i only use windows when plugged in for programing, so it really isnt an issue for me to leave it on full bright... and then again it is one of those high pitch sounds that not everyone's ears can hear.
 
GDI this sucks.

I have EXACTLY the same problem, Penryn macbook pro 17 inch. When in vista 32 bit, if the brightness is not at MAX, there is a whine which gets stronger around the middle brightness levels. I'm pretty sure this is going to be unacceptable and I'm going to have to get the screen replaced. I was happy at first as well, no bad pixels...

Is this a software problem related to screen refresh or something? It does not occur in OSX as indicated above.

I work as a developer and I was banking on vista and OSX both working on this 3500 dollar computer. This is intensely annoying. It's like having to be administered a constant stream of minute electric shocks as a penalty for using vista on these machines. The sound almost causes a headache, horrible.

Also as listed, my mother > 55 years of age, cannot hear this problem as you can lose the upper end of your hearing range with age.

Still pretty happy with the machine, but quite irritated this could mean it's in the mail for anohter few weeks getting this problem fixed. I just got it :/
 
Can't, it was customized and ordered from the website. I'm going to call support tomorrow, but its my first call ever to their support line. I hope I don't have to waste a lot of time with outsourced "tier1" idiot-filter phone reps before I can get some answers.

This has to be fixable with software, the problem is exclusive to windows. I bet it's a driver problem related to screen refresh or something.
 
I have the exact same problem. Whenever I boot up XP using Bootcamp, the whine starts -- and it is unbearable. It sounds when the processor is idle. It whines when the background is full black or white. The whine disappears at the highest brightness and the lowest, but in the middle, it is the loudest. The sound seems to be emanating at the bottom of the screen and the upper portion of the keyboard -- at the hinge.

Can anyone out there that DOES NOT have this problem with XP on bootcamp chime in? Or is this a universal problem?

Also, as far as apple.com stating that if you have the "high-pitch buzzing," can we really characterize this as a buzzing? It sounds much more like a whine to me. Though maybe "whine" is just a higher frequency buzz - not sure.
 
liquidsense said:
I have the exact same problem. Whenever I boot up XP using Bootcamp, the whine starts -- and it is unbearable. It sounds when the processor is idle. It whines when the background is full black or white. The whine disappears at the highest brightness and the lowest, but in the middle, it is the loudest. The sound seems to be emanating at the bottom of the screen and the upper portion of the keyboard -- at the hinge.

Can anyone out there that DOES NOT have this problem with XP on bootcamp chime in? Or is this a universal problem?

Also, as far as apple.com stating that if you have the "high-pitch buzzing," can we really characterize this as a buzzing? It sounds much more like a whine to me. Though maybe "whine" is just a higher frequency buzz - not sure.
Click to expand...

I have not noticed this in boot camp at all, I have XP pro and using the default drivers, but I used to play in a metal band so I'm not sure I hear all frequency's either, Is it really noticeable or do you need to stick you ear on the keyboard, and if so why are you doing that?
 
This sounds like software to me. There is no hardware explanation I can think of that would cause the screen to whine in Windows but not OSX. If it is software, then replacing the screen obviously will not help. Has anyone tried using different drivers for the 8600? I think there's a web site with good drivers out there - maybe laptopvideo2go?
 
katejones said:
I have not noticed this in boot camp at all, I have XP pro and using the default drivers, but I used to play in a metal band so I'm not sure I hear all frequency's either, Is it really noticeable or do you need to stick you ear on the keyboard, and if so why are you doing that?
Click to expand...

The whine is certainly louder as I move my head closer to the keyboard - no question. But it is absolutely noticeable from regular seated position. And it is somewhat directional (I have a similar problem with my plasma tv). Nevertheless, the sound is more noticeable now that I know that it is there. But all things considered, I only put my head closer to the computer in the first place because I heard the whine from where I was sitting.

What really freaks me out about this is that there were two people that had their screens replaced (and a third doing so now), that reported that the problem had been fixed. But how in the world could it be problematic on Windows but not OSX? I've tried to do all kinds of funky stuff with windows, colors, brightness, etc on OSX, but have not been able to replicated any whine. This baffles me.
 
liquidsense said:
The whine is certainly louder as I move my head closer to the keyboard - no question. But it is absolutely noticeable from regular seated position. And it is somewhat directional (I have a similar problem with my plasma tv). Nevertheless, the sound is more noticeable now that I know that it is there. But all things considered, I only put my head closer to the computer in the first place because I heard the whine from where I was sitting.

What really freaks me out about this is that there were two people that had their screens replaced (and a third doing so now), that reported that the problem had been fixed. But how in the world could it be problematic on Windows but not OSX? I've tried to do all kinds of funky stuff with windows, colors, brightness, etc on OSX, but have not been able to replicated any whine. This baffles me.
Click to expand...

No then mine definitely does make any noticeable whine, does it do it in virtual machine like fusion or parallels? have you tried different display drivers? I'd just ring apple for a start and see what they say.
 
What's up guys,

I am glad to see this thread is still going, just for the simple fact that we are trying to find a solution. Like I originally stated, and several other members have, I am inclined to believe this is a software issue with the bootcamp drivers gpu drivers. After experiencing several misfortunes with beta drivers on my 8800gts (desktop), I am reluctant to try any on my new mac. I prefer to pull drivers straight from the nvidia site and according to nvidia.com, we are running the latest code. I have not called Apple because I strongly feel this is a driver issue and will be resolved with time. The "buzzing" that users are referring to is a known problem some experienced with older model MBPs, namely CD versions, and it was not isolated to just Windows via bootcamp. Now that I am becoming more fluent in OSX, I fide myself spending less and less time in Vista. Nevertheless, it is still annoying and am hoping it will be fixed sooner rather than later. When I use Vista, I just turn the brightness down to the min and the whine is barely noticeable. I am interested to hear what Apple has to say for those of you who have or are going to call them. I also encourage you to do a search regarding the "buzzing" and see how it is infact different from the issue we are experiencing.

cmm26red

I will keep you guys up to speed if I find out anything
 
I am going to contact apple support about this today, they were closed for easter Friday yesterday.

For anyone who doesn't understand this problem because of the terminology, it's not a "buzz" or a "whine", its a high pitch really. Think about what you hear when your ear is "ringing", that weird thing that happens rarely and no one knows why :). This sound, is that sound, only constant.

The human hearing range is about 20-20,000 Hz, and this pitch is right at the upper echelon of the hearing range such that some with slightly reduced hearing cannot hear it. I would arbitrarily estimate the high pitch sound to be somewhere between 18k-20k Hz.

Believe it or not i wrote a pascal program once when I was really young to cause a PC speaker to emit sounds in this range for the purpose of annoying my friends at nearby computers. Talk about poetic justice :/

Lastly, I do also agree that it is a software issue, and I think we should push for a fix. In the meantime there is a crappy workaround, leave the screen at full bright, but edit the screen brightness levels in the nvidia driver software from the control panel. It doesn't work amazingly well but at least you can somewhat dodge this intensely annoying problem until a fix is made.
 
From my experience, this has occurred ever since the 2nd gen MBP and probably before. During the windows splash screen you hear the speakers "click" and a high pitched hissing sound almost. For me personally its not much of an issue when i've got my speakers turned up with Crysis or COD4 going. Thats all i use my windows side for anyway. :eek:
 
It appears so yes.

We really need some information about how to proceed here. Personally I think a software update WILL fix this problem, and a screen replacement WILL NOT fix this problem. Can anyone confirm anything about this?
 
Maybe this is Apple's way of sending a message to Windows users, "it's an annoying experience, switch to Leopard"
 
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