Realtek audio ac'97 issues, ack!

[Darrvid]

I just got an acer aspire 3003, and the left speaker emits a random popping noise. Today its been constant. I've tried updating the drivers, and reverting the drivers back to a version which seemed to fix similar problems for other aspire owners. I've tried using the k-lite coded pack. The popping happens even if the speakers are muted. It disrupts the audio, making playback over the speakers unlistenable. Acers website has been of no use to me, and I'm quite certain all the other drivers are up to date.

So, a few questions. First, I had my laptop scheduled for a service pickup but cancelled it because the popping appeared to have gone away. Well, it didn't, but whats the chance they can actually fix an issue like this? Would I be better off attempting to exchange it as a defective product to tigerdirect.com? Finally, anyone out there have some suggestions?

Thanks!

Edit: It appears that headphones dont emit any popping, and that disabling the device in device manager does not stop the clicking. Could this possibly be a bad speaker, and not a driver issue?

 

[pol II]

It sure does sound like a bad speaker. If drivers/software were the issue, the problem should have been replicated through the headphone jack. You could try to reschedule service and such a sound will undoubtedly draw attention. In the meantime, maybe you could hook up some cheapo external speakers through the headphone jack when you're not on the go.

 

[Darrvid]

Thanks for confirming what I suspected after not being able to catch any popping of my headphones. I didn't know if drivers acted differently when headphones were detected. Looks like I'll be sending this in Thursday, here's hoping it comes back fixed!