Soundcard beeping all the time!

I have an Acer Aspire 7720G laptop and my integrated soundcard just started emitting alarm-like sound. The card itself is Realtek ALC268. The sound can be heard as soon as UEFI finishes loading.

Form what I've heard, such sounds are commonly related to CPU overheating, but all temperatures are fine. Any ideas what could be the cause and how to fix it?

I'm currently planning to remove the audio front panel as I'm hoping that it will stop the beeping and allow me to use an external sound card.

EDIT: I also noticed that the front panel won't switch from electrical to optical mode. It used to do this when a non-conductive 3.5 mm plug is inserted even before OS loads. I may be facing a hardware failure here.

UPDATE: The audio board isn't the cause. I removed it and the beeps (which now sound more like ticks) are still audible. I also noticed that the problem may be software related. After I disabled the sound card in Windows and rebooted, the sound stopped after Windows started loading.

I'll try with BIOS reflashing next.

AndrejaKo

Posted 2011-05-12T14:43:03.073

Reputation: 16 459

Which sound exactly? Don't they all have a code that's related to a certain hardware failure? – slhck – 2011-05-12T15:45:40.217

@slhck There's a short beep from left and right speaker and then there's a short beep from the „subwoofer”. The service manual does not mention beep codes. – AndrejaKo – 2011-05-12T18:49:52.713

Any change when unplugging the keyboard? – Mike Simpson – 2011-05-12T22:46:58.503

Answers

It's a long shot, but you might try flashing the BIOS. If there is a problem in the way the system is addressing the sound system this could fix it.

Unfortunately, it sounds like this is a hardware problem. You should contact Acer support for assistance with this. If it's still under warranty, you might be able to get a free repair. If not, they will probably charge you to fix it.

I would be prepared to deem this laptop defective and having to live with the problem.

Hope this helps

Doltknuckle

Posted 2011-05-12T14:43:03.073

Reputation: 5 813

Looks like I fried my motherboard. :( – AndrejaKo – 2011-05-13T10:14:57.393

Check in your BIOS for a setting that controls the alarm upper temperature limit. Also, check any CPU overclock values.

Tog

Posted 2011-05-12T14:43:03.073

Reputation: 4 747

The BIOD is extremely basic and there aren't options for any of that. The cpu temperature was around 31C before I shut the computer down. The fan is working fine and there were only small amounts of dust on the heatsinks, so I don't think that the overheating is the problem. Also the soundcard can't play anything and mictophone isn't recording anything. – AndrejaKo – 2011-05-12T15:01:57.857