Creaking noise from x230. Don't know what it is

Hi all. My 3month old x230 recently developed a creaking noise. It appears about every 10 minutes, and it does not affect performance, but it gets annoying and I am concerned about what is actually happening.

At first, I thought it might be the hard drive, but since I'm using a SSD, that can't be the case. Does anyone know what it might be?

 

Does anyone have an idea of what it could be? While it does not affect performance, it definitely is noticeable, and I am quite worried that it might be a hardware fault.

 

We need more information. There's lots of possibilities.

 

The fan would be my first guess/point of interest.

 

Hi. Thanks for trying to help me, but I really don't know how to describe it. Any suggestions to help me describe the sound would be helpful.

Basically, it is a two click sound. Its like Der-Dip, and that's it. I think it comes from inside the computer, since I can feel the vibrations when it happens if I happen to be typing. Given I have a SSD, I don't know what moving parts could be causing that.

Comes on like every 5 minutes or so.

 

Another way I would describe it is that it is similar to the sound you get when you eject a laptop disc drive. (der-dip).

I think I have determined that it is coming from the left side. I was holding my laptop, and when the sound came, I felt the vibration on the left, but not the right.

 

I updated my bios, but it is still making my sound. It is definitely hardware related.

 

Does no one really have an idea? I figure that my system, like all x230s, are still in warranty, so it might be fixable without charge.

 

I would suggest calling support to see what they've got to say about it.

 

I was going to suggest the ODD but it looks like the X230 has no optical drive so that really only leaves the fan as one of the few moving parts I can think of. That would be my number one suspect in your case.

 

Hi. I called support on Sunday, and the lady suggested that I run the diagnostic and then call again if it did not get better.

Both diagnostics (the memory and the hard drive) passed, and there were no problems with that.

Now, I think it will be better if I send it in for repair just to see if anything gets better. I still think the fan is the problem. I should also try them to fix the overtight hinge as well.

I have some questions before I send it in for repair:
1. I need my computer for school, so I don't know if it will arrive back in time. The lady said that they will send me packaging to send it next day, and then it would take 6 days to get back to me. Since I'll be leaving for school on the 20th, I figure it will be a good idea for me to have the return address as my school's address. Does anyone else agree? But my school's mail center takes forever to process mail at the beginning of the semester, and it might mean additonal delays after the tracking says delivered. I think for the best peace of mind, it will be better for me to send it to my home address, but I don't even know if it will get back here on time.

2. My laptop is in pretty pristine condition, except for some wear and tear on the keyboard, the clicking problem from the fan, a squeeking hinge, and a damaged part on the screen that is pretty minor (but gets annoying). The latter two were there when I received it, so nothing I can do about that. But of course, I don't want the computer to get anymore damaged. I've heard that bad things can happen, as technicians are very careless, and do not care about equipment that is not theirs. As I need it for school, I can't take any more downtime.

3. I've decided that I won't send the battery, but I'm not so sure about the HD. Since it is a Samsung 830, I don't think it has a ribbon which I can remove. In fact, it may be impossible to remove. Ideally, I would keep it so that I would have my data even if the computer was lost, but am I worrying too much? Perhaps I can just keep it in the computer the whole time.

I'll call Tues. morning to schedule the repair. I hope some people can answer my questions before I send it it.

 

the only two things on the left side are the expresscard slot and the fan....it would have to be the fan, but the sound you describe is very unusual for a fan. I'd be curious about your temps.

They may need the drive so they can run some tests and determine the noise. Pull the drive and run the computer without it (it will sit at the bios boot screen saying "no operating system found"


Just let it run for a while and see if the sound reappears.

 

They should let you keep your ssd with you when you send it in, just ask them (we do it all the time when we send customer laptops in). My guess is that it's the fan, you really don't have any other moving parts in the computer.
As far as return time goes, how far away do you live from school? Maybe have them send it to a fedex facility near by so you can pick it up on your own and bypass the school mail system.

 

i guess I know what it is. I hear some weird noise when there is a high disk activity. Probably coming from some circuitry on the motherboard.

(I have tested this both with Samsung 840 Pro and Intel 320 SSDs and I can hear the noise with both. When I attach those drives to my ASUS laptop I don't hear anything. So the culprit is the motherboard of x230.)

--