VGN-TX3HP Distorted Audio

[eddiedaviesnet]

I bought a vgn-tx3hp laptop about a year ago. All of a sudden I started hearing sound distortion and clackling sound when I play any audio sound or any sound. This is worst when I am playing music or using audio while at the same time downloading, surfing the net or working with any file it gets more distorted and crackling sound. It gets a bit better when I use only audio file without doing anything else on the pc. Please help

[Blencogo]

Hi,

I don't know the answer because it could be lots of things.

Does it happen when you play from a CD or is it when you play from the hard disc - or both?

It is worth checking that DMA (Direct Memory Access) is enabled on both drives. This allows data from the drive to be used without going through the processor: -

Start -> Right-Click My Computer -> Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager

Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
Double-click on Primary IDE Channel -> Advanced Settings.
Make sure ALL devices have "DMA if Available" selected and check that the Current Transfer Mode is "Ultra DMA Mode 4/5/6".
If any device is set to PIO mode then this is your problem.
Go Back and highlight Primary IDE Channel and right-click on it.
Select Uninstall and OK. You must uninstall - disabling is not enough.
Reboot your Vaio to reload the drivers and reset DMA.

If you have a secondary IDE Channel in Device Manager - do the same for that.

[eddiedaviesnet]

Thank you very much for your advice. I followed it step by step and now all my audio works fine. No more sound distortion or clackling sound

[orhoffmann]

I have the same problem,
I own a Vaio VGN-FE41E and I also am experiencing distorted sounds, this is getting worse while downloading etc.
I uninstalled the IDE ATA controllers, and while restarting I finally heard the undistorted vista starting melody after a month.
but then It installed the drivers again and it is same old irritating distortion...

what I have in the device manager:
under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers

ATA channel 0 - Ultra DMA mode 5, but no resources
ATA channel 0 - Ultra DMA mode 2, with resources
ATA channel 1 - nothing written under devices, so no DMA whatsoever, no resources
2 INTEL, 1 Ultra ATA storage controllers, and 1 Serial ATA storage controller

hope I have given you enough information, and you can help me figure this one out.
all the best, thanks in advance