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Whenever I open a file that contains NUL characters in Notepad++ my monitor starts to emit high pitched, squealing kind of noise. It doesn't always do that. There is certain criteria to be fulfilled. It largely depends on how many they are, and also if they take up a single line, or several lines.
Consequently it also depends on having word wrapping enabled or disabled.
- If I have a long line with NUL characters but word wrapping is disabled then I won't hear anything.
- If I enable word wrapping so that the entire program window is filled with them, and ultimately my entire monitor when the program window is maximized, then I will be able to hear it clearly.
If I restore the program window and make it smaller, then I will only hear it a little bit. So I can actually control the amplitude by clicking the lower right corner of the program window and dragging it in X or Y direction. It's kind of cool actually! LOL! :) It's a fun side effect, like playing with a synthesizer. But I don't really want it, it gets boring after a while.
So this would NOT produce the noise...
And then this WOULD produce the noise...
Both of these screenshots were taken with the program window maximized.
It's not only limited to NUL, I get the same result with other control characters like STX and EOT. It's only when I open the file inside Notepad++ that the problem is seen. Well your regular Notepad that comes with Windows cannot display control characters, so that's pointless to even try.
So the following conditions apply.
- There are several control characters in the file (NUL, STX, EOT, etc).
- There is more than one line (or one long line wrapped to fill the window).
- Program window is maximized (ideally, in order to hear it better).
Any ideas? Why is this a problem? Anyone had the same or a similar experience, i.e. hearing high pitched noise from the monitor in one program but not in others?
Some hardware specs...
- Graphics card: XFX Radeon HD6850 DD OC
- Monitor: 2x NEC EA231 WMi
- Interface: DVI
Samir
Posted 2014-02-24T20:39:42.207
Reputation: 17 919
Sammy - Check it out man: http://superuser.com/questions/1125281/why-does-my-computer-make-a-screeching-noise-when-notepad-is-open-with-nul-cha did you ever find a solution? If so, you should add an answer on this post.
– Pimp Juice IT – 2016-09-17T02:12:37.200if you take a screen shot of that Notepad++ window with all the NULLs, close NP++, then view the save screenshot, does the squeal still happen? – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-02-24T20:45:58.080
Yes it does. So it's my monitor then? – Samir – 2014-02-24T20:50:37.753
Most likely (inverter perhaps?). Try the same monitor on another computer, try another monitor on this computer, try a different video cable, try rerouting your existing video cable away from other cables. – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-02-24T20:52:58.547
I will try that. However, I have two of these monitors on the same computer and I have the same problem on both. So chances are that it's just a problem with this model. Displays are not exactly made to display control characters. I don't have any issue with displaying a full screen with regular text. – Samir – 2014-02-24T21:02:56.443
FWIW, I have posted some specs on the hardware. Is this something that would be covered by the warranty? – Samir – 2014-02-24T21:04:28.043
1Weird for sure, but keep in mind that the monitor doesn't know (or care) that it's displaying control characters, it's all just pixels as far as it's concerned. :) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-02-24T21:04:48.513