Just built my new PC, having a few problems

[Parm]

Not as bad as it sounds mind you, all the hardware came together perfectly, everything installed just fine and it's probably been the easiest build I've ever done! It's not without a few little niggles though...

1. I went for a 500GB Samsung Spinpoint hard drive as I'd read everywhere that they are deliciously quiet. Not so much with mine! I find it makes a racket when it's being accessed. Have I installed it right? I've built an HTPC using an Antec NSK2400 case, it has rubber grommets on the hard drive screws...could I have tightened those too tight or something? The rest of the PC is brilliantly silent, can hardly tell it's on. Can most definately hear the hard drive grinding away though.

2. Device Manager shows one outstanding item that needs a driver: "SM Bus Controller". What is it and where might I find the drivers for it? I've checked windows update but it finds nothing for tha.

3. Not getting any HDMI sound. I'm not sure if I should be mind you? I've got a Gigabyte Radeon HD 2600Pro connected via a DVI --> HDMI cable to a Samsung 32" HD LCD. I get the image, but I don't seem to get any sound. The Sound option in Control Panel shows "Digital Output Device (HDMI), 2- High Definition Audio Device, Working". It's certainly not working though. I do have 5.1 speakers connected too and they work fine (although a little crackly?), but it'd be nice to use the TV speakers when need be.

4. Windows Media Centre. This is my first media-based build so I'm new to this aspect but I've got a BlackGold Dual Tuner installed, that installed fine. When I load Media Centre, I go to the TV setup wizard thing and it starts off fine, asks for my post code, downloads program guide and such but then when it gets to the Scanning for Services stage, it finds nothing and I can't continue. To test, I took the aerial out of the PC and connected it to the TV and that does find all the digital channels. What am I doing wrong here?

5. Though the PC is very quiet (apart from hard drive), I want to make sure the fans are doing a good enough job of cooling. Is there a way I can monitor temperatures from within Windows as opposed to via Bios? If there was a Vista Sidebar Gadget that shows temperatures, that'd be even better!

I'm running Vista Home Premium 64bit and my complete spec can be found here.

Any help on the above niggles would be greatly appreciated!

[staffsMike]

I think coretemp now works in vista 64bit but everest does for sure.

You may have just got a bit of a lemon with the hard drive..certainly with antec's design you only want the screw tightened very lightly but that only stops the vibrations..if it's a loud hard drive you will hear it anyway. If you can be bothered to, i'd return that and get a Western digital 500GB AAKS ..that is a truely silent hard drive, i've had 3 of them now and I've been amazed with them.

My mate saw my silent build for the first time the other day and was amazed that you couldn't hear it at all

[Parm]

Thanks for the info staffsMike, I had a look at coretemp and the site didn't sound too sure about Vista64. Not to worry though, you set me down the right path and with a little help from Google I came across SpeedFan and that doesn't the trick. CPU Temperature currently at 42C, I think that's quite good!

I think my hard drive may just be a lemon unfortunately, when accessing stuff it really does make a loudish grinding noise. Maybe it is vibration though, I'm gonna try loosening the screws on the rubber grommets to see if that helps at all.

I've fixed issue #2 too, the SM Bus Controller was something to do with the motherboard and the auto install feature on the Gigabyte website found and installed the required drivers.

[Parm]

I've loosed the grommets a little but it's still noisey. Oddly enough, when I life the front of the case a little bit off the desk, it really helps! I think the vibration going through the case is transmitting onto the wooden desk and making the noise sound a whole lot deeper. Grrr.

[amjedm]

Have you enabled AAM on the HD?

Secondly, to get rid of vibration on the cheap you will have to suspend the HD. Alternatively, get a Scythe HD enclosure but you will need to have this resting on foam as the it transfers vibration as well - I believe you will still need to enable AAM though.

[Parm]

Have you enabled AAM on the HD?

Secondly, to get rid of vibration on the cheap you will have to suspend the HD. Alternatively, get a Scythe HD enclosure but you will need to have this resting on foam as the it transfers vibration as well - I believe you will still need to enable AAM though.

Thank you very much for the tip amjedm! I've had a Google on AAM and it looks to be just what I need. It appears to be possible on the Samsung Spinpoint drive that I have, but the only way I can find to turn AAM on is by using the Samsung Utility software from their website. Unfortunately for me, that needs putting onto a floppy to be used as a boot disk. I don't have a floppy drive on this PC...whoops! Is there any other way I might be able to turn on AAM?

I'm looking into suspending the HD too, sounds mighty interesting!

[amjedm]

Hiren's Boot CD has various utilities including the Samsung and IBM one for changing AAM settings. Do a Google for that.

With regards the suspending, excellent thread here with loads of pics

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums...ic.php?t=19147

[s_kinton]

3. Not getting any HDMI sound. I'm not sure if I should be mind you? I've got a Gigabyte Radeon HD 2600Pro connected via a DVI --> HDMI cable to a Samsung 32" HD LCD. I get the image, but I don't seem to get any sound. The Sound option in Control Panel shows "Digital Output Device (HDMI), 2- High Definition Audio Device, Working". It's certainly not working though. I do have 5.1 speakers connected too and they work fine (although a little crackly?), but it'd be nice to use the TV speakers when need be.

4. Windows Media Centre. This is my first media-based build so I'm new to this aspect but I've got a BlackGold Dual Tuner installed, that installed fine. When I load Media Centre, I go to the TV setup wizard thing and it starts off fine, asks for my post code, downloads program guide and such but then when it gets to the Scanning for Services stage, it finds nothing and I can't continue. To test, I took the aerial out of the PC and connected it to the TV and that does find all the digital channels. What am I doing wrong here?
Any help on the above niggles would be greatly appreciated!

You will not get any sound going from DVI->HDMI. HDMI is capable of carrying sound, but DVI is video only, so you are only sending video down the cable. You'll need a seperate lead to carry the audio.

As for you issue with the BlackGold Dual tuner cards. I was under the impression that, that card didnt work under Vista. If you take a look around the green button forums, you'll find alot of info on these cards and vista.

[Parm]

amjedm, thanks for the info on that CD! I booted using that and set my hard disk to Quiet AAM mode, it's slightly better but I think the vibration is still causing the noise. I'm gonna have to get some elastic-y materials and look into suspending it! That link has lots of info, thanks.

s_kinton, I just checked the Gigabyte website and you're right, for my graphics card it says "HDMI and 5.1 surround audio(by optional adapter)". I'm guessing I don't have that optional adapter, whatever it is, doh.

The BlackGold Dual tuner should work with Vista, the Vista 64bit drivers are available from the BlackGold website. I'll try the green button forums on that one, thanks.


In the meantime, I'm now having another major problem. My audio stutters, every once in a while it'll just start stuttering for a few seconds. I didn't notice it at first but once I put some music on, it was clearly apparant. Furthermore, it's not just the audio. Once I'd noticed that was stuttering I also noticed that at the same time the mouse starts to stutter too and the PC slows, it only happens for a second or two. I've no idea what's causing that one, I've installed the latest RealTek drivers for my audio but it hasn't helped. Any ideas?

[Parm]

PROGRESS!!!

I spoke to BlackGold on the phone today, the guy there suggested that I try the Tuner with only 2GB of RAM installed in my PC. So, I took 2 of my 4GBs out, booted up and hey presto, with 2GB of RAM the Tuner works fine. I don't want to lose a whole 2GB of RAM for the sake of the Tuner working though! He said he'd look into it and e-mail me.

As for the sound stuttering slow downs, I've found out what that is too! It's my Netgear WN121T Wireless Adapter that's causing it. When I unplug that, my audio sounds fine and the PC has no slow downs. With it plugged in, it starts again. So that's another dilemma! I don't have a telephone socket in here so the router is downstairs and I connect wirelessly via the adapter. Now I just need to find a way to get that USB adapter to work without causing the slowdowns.

Phew, it's been a long day of trials and testing but I'm starting to feel like I'm making a bit of progress!

[Parm]

Another update.

I've spoken to BlackGold again and they've confirmed that they've managed to replicate the problem with the Tuner Card. It simply doesn't work if you have 4GBs of Ram installed. He said that they'd try to fix the problem a.s.a.p. and issue new drivers. Said he'll try and update me on a timeframe in the next day or two, if it's going to take too long, I'll be able to return it. Bit of a bummer but I'm very impressed that a) they acknowledge the problem and b) they're trying to fix it. More than I can say for most manufacturers, which leads me onto Netgear...

The stuttering caused by the Netgear WN121T wireless USB adapter is simply driving me potty. So much so, I even made a thread based solely on that over here. I'm completely at a loss on that matter, don't think there's anything I can do other than wait for driver updates. From Netgear, that could be a mighty long wait.

[s_kinton]

That Blackgold and 4Gb issue, sure sounds like a strange one. Not heard of that before. Sounds like they're dealing with it very well though.

If you do return the Blackgold, then I'd recommend the Hauppauge Nova-T 500.

[Parm]

Thanks for the recommendation s_kinton, I'll keep that in mind. Just going to see how long BlackGold estimate the 'update' will be. If it's within weeks, I think I'll hold out. If not, it's gonna have to go back and I'll get the Hauppage you've recommended.

[peterb]

Full marks to Black Gold for their support! Nice to hear of a mfr that is so responsive.

You may need to go for an internal card wireless solution. USB should be able to handle the dat, but clearly isn't. Might be worth seeing if there are newer drivers available, or try it with a different USB dongle.

[Parm]

I contacted BlackGold support again the other day to ask if there'd been any updates on the issues with the Tuner on systems with Vista x64 and 4GBs of Ram. I had a reply today and to my pleasant surprise, it reads:

Dear Sir

Please accept our apology for the delayed response to your support enquiry.

The following URL provides access to our latest drivers which should address your report issue:
http://blackgold.fileburst.com/downl....26_Signed.zip

Please be advised that you will have to restart your PC either after the driver install.

Regards,

Product Support

I have to hold my hands up and say, that's superb service. I only reported the problem with the 4GBs of Ram about a month ago and for them to have new drivers ready in relatively quick time is great. I've tried the new drivers and can confirm they work like a charm. I'm using all 4GBs of Ram and my Tuner doesn't lock up at all.

Thank you BlackGold.

*edit* I've just checked the BlackGold site and these newest drivers aren't on their site. Other users having problems may want to try them but please be aware that they didn't come with any release notes or anything. They fix the Ram issue on Vista x64 but I'm not sure what else.

[tigerboyce]

I've loosed the grommets a little but it's still noisey. Oddly enough, when I life the front of the case a little bit off the desk, it really helps! I think the vibration going through the case is transmitting onto the wooden desk and making the noise sound a whole lot deeper. Grrr.

stick a bundled up rubber band under each case foot

worked for me