Speaker crackle when browsing UNC paths?

[pete]

This has been mitigated for the moment by unplugging the built-in speaker, but....

 

• HP ProDesk 440 G9 uSFF (external PSU)
• Previously running Windows 10 22H2
• Reimaged to Windows 11 24H2. 
• Drivers updated to current stable using HP Image Assistant.
• Installed with a HP VESA mount on a atanding desk with linear actuators (same behaviour whether the desk is powered or not)

 

Attempting to browse a UNC path or add a printer, causes the built-in speaker to crackle and pop.  If you stop browsing, the crackling stops and doesn't begin again until you start again.

 

Muting the audio in Windows does nothing.

 

Didn't happen in Windows 10 (it's noticable when it happens).

 

No changes to onboard speakers in BIOS (enabled vs disabled).

 

No obvious damage to speaker, motherboard, USB ports, internal or external cabling.

 

Any ideas?

 

cheers

 

Pete

[psydii]

Hardware is weird. 

Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers, follow-up - The Old New Thing

 

I heard they actually removed some of the safety code referenced in the article recently, and looking around the web it seems that reported audio problems/quirks in Windows 11  jumped  about the same time. Maybe they also cut out some legacy code that was responsible for mitigating electrical interference between network traffic and audio hardware.
that said I can't seem to find any references to the removal of the code Raymond is talking about, and whether it does line up with the uptick in Windows 11 audio problems might just be me retro-fitting what I can see to make a good story.

 

What if you built it with Windows 10 and the drivers you had installed last year? If no crackle, try an in place update to windows 11 without doing any HP recomended driver updates and test again.  Maybe also try with an older Windows 11 release, or the latest drivers from Windows Update (rather than those from an HP driver pack or auto-update system).

Another thing you might try is an alternative patch lead - maybe a brand new high quality CAT6A and route it slightly differently.

However, I suspect the correct solution is to move away from file shares and use OneDrive/SharePoint instead. 

[Gongalong]

Sounds like network traffic causing interference with the audio chip. It doesn't do it when browsing the internet, or something else network-y? Patch cable mentioned above, but is it cabled or wireless? If the latter, definitely try a cable, if available.

[pete]

Sorry, yeah - It's a wired desktop.  In-wall cabling is all 6a and properly certified.

 

In my limited testing (I'd gone to the office for something unrelated), web browsing was unaffected.  Didn't check UNC paths via a command prompt.

 

We do have another of the same desktop mounted the same way that's also been upgraded to Win 11, so I'll check that one too.

 

Haven't tested headphones either.

[Gongalong]

Is wi-fi an option for testing? Not that it will help if it's something generally up with the network chipset.

Definitely an odd one! Let us know what you find.

[Hoyt]

We had something similar with the HP EliteOne 840 23.8 inch G9 and Windows 10.  I had built an image for an initial shipment of the units that worked fine.  When we got a second shipment of the same model but different CPU a few teachers were reporting hiccuping audio during media playback.  It was random and only affected a few units.  As a test I to a Windows flash drive and reinstalled Windows from scratch after completely wiping the drive.  I let the teacher test it for a week and she said the problem never cropped up again.

 

I wound up creating a fresh image on a machine from the second shipment and it seems to have fixed all the affected units according to the other techs.  I realize this isn't specific to Windows 11, but maybe you could try the same approach.  Do a manual from scratch installation of Windows 11 on a machine with the problem and see if helps.  If it does you might could cook up a fresh image to try out.

[GeneMoody-Action1]

Network cables are extremely complex signals at high frequency (Stick a toner next to a data cable at its termination where noisiest)

Sound like induction to me, it is specifically engineered around and or shielded in most systems, but things inside get rearranged and moved, and HW also degrades sometimes to produce extraneous out of spec signaling.

With even a home built inductive pickup coil, you can listen to a network cable and easily hear if it is passing over a ballast transformer or ran parallel to power. 60Hz vs 250Mhz in Cat6, VERY distinctly different sound.

I would also be interested to see if the same system did it live booted into linux, as it is unlikely, but technically possible this could be a byproduct of signal interference in the software at a driver level as well. Since it did no do it in ten but doe sin eleven, its worth the test.