February 3, 201214 yr I got something really strange happen yesterday.As maybe some of you know, I got really powerful sub in my room - the one that produces whatever I give it (up to some 110db +/-3db linear in ranges from 19hz up) - http://www.genelec.com/7070a/specs/The sub is located just behind the computer, membrane is about 1m from the computer.Yesterday I played Wag the Dog by Mark Knopfler, and some tracks have some really really powerful bass guitar lines. It was quite loud, and I was just waiting for the bass to kick in in the track, and after couple of seconds of bass playing, my computer froze.It never froze since I got it.I also don't think I ever played that track so loud.It definitely felt like it was because of the bass. One tone came and it just froze, not a peep out of the computer. Restarted. All OK.No, I didn't try it again. :Shocked:Could it be a specific frequency of the bass or the magnetic disturbance from the bass cone making the computer freeze?
February 3, 201214 yr It wasn't a blue screen.But, I can't answer since I don't know what to look for?EDIT: But I'd guess if this is set, then for sure not...
February 3, 201214 yr That's interesting. It would have to be tested again to verify the connection (maybe?).A pure guess on my part is that I know that woofers can produce some very powerful low frequencies.And that could influence some mechanical parts in your PC. What parts are"moving" in a PC? Fans and Hard drives.Maybe the hard drive? The disks spinning, the heads moving? Maybe.On the other hand, the magnetic current passing in the coil at that moment might produce a strong magnetic field but then woofers aren't magnetically shielded are they?Pierre Pierre I9 14900K 5.5 64gb ram 6800 RTX5090 Asus Strix Gaming E
February 3, 201214 yr I would think of a 2000€ studio monitoring subwoofer to be very well shielded, yes.It's a sub for a studio use, so basically it shouldn't cause such thing to happen. There are computers in studios too. Though probably not so close to the sub as in my scenario.I would hardly believe that I can achieve it again, since it was probably the moment where things played well together for it to happen.My best guess is the soundwave pressure causing the problem. I don't think it was magnetic disturbance with this sub.I might try it out again with the same track some time tomorrow, when everyone is up or away :Thinking:
February 3, 201214 yr I think the low freq vibes could definitely bounce/vibrate the heads on your HDD. Especially since it is only 1 m from your rig. Joe Brown
February 3, 201214 yr Well, without a page file you don't get to store/check crash dumps :rollseyes: Probably you didn't see the blue screen because you have Win set to automatically restart and write no debugging info. You would need to set that to store minidumps or something like that, but again, you'll need to enable the page file. Who knows, the crash might even be related to the absence of a page file... a shot in the dark, I know, but still.You could run driver verifier on the audio driver to see if you can replicate the crash and pinpoint the culprit
February 3, 201214 yr Dario, Win didn't restart. I had to restart it. It froze, like, nothing can be moved, nothing can be typed, I still see the screen though. Nothing moving on the screen.I then had to press a button +6sec and that turned it off.So no crashdump would be useful in this case.I don't believe that this is due to no paging file - that would be a first freeze ever because of that then.Hmmm.... vibrations causing HDD heads to move... that sounds to me like the most plausible explanation.EDIT:http://www.mp3car.co...-to-reboot.htmlSeems like it's possible."If the harddrive were to be the culprit, it should freeze. For example, in Toshiba notebooks when excessive acceleration in any direction or excessive rapid changes in acceleration (vibration), the harddrive spin down. The computer can function just fine without the hard drive. However if it was in the middle of a read/write cycle, it would freeze or BSOD."
February 3, 201214 yr Yeah, I don't think it's the lack of a page file, or have a reason to believe it is, but you know what I think about disabling it. Who knows, if it happens again it may want to BSOD and a crash dump would most definitely help.Is there anything in the event viewer apart of the typical generic "unproper shutdown" log?Have you tried replicating the issue? if it's not easily repeatable only thing you can do that I know is to set your system (temporarily?) to save those crash dumps in case it crashes.Again, if you suspect your audio driver is at fault, you can easily replicate it using Driver Verifier (built in Win 7 feature) to stress the driver.Obviously if a hardware failure caused by the soundwaves triggered the freeze, that's not going to help.
February 3, 201214 yr I know your opinion on disabling swap file :)In the Event Manager, the only thing is a Kernel-Power. The usual thing when something like this happens.I will repeat the situation - although I move the sub but more away now, I can still slide it back - it's a 50KG thing, so not just an easiest thing to move around.To me, it was only interesting if soundwaves can actually make computer crash - I was looking for that. More than looking if I have something faulty on my system - becasue I know I don't :)
February 3, 201214 yr KostaI guess that you have seen this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_weapon and this http://crab.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/a-short-history-of-sound-weapons-pt2-infrasound/I seem to recall somewhile ago that the French Army were developing a sonic weapon that could destroy a concrete wall at a fair distance away. Maybe.In your case it could have been a mixture of sound and vibration and a particualr harmonic or series played havoc with something on your computer as Dazz suggested something like the HDD.Watch out for brain freeze.PeterH
February 3, 201214 yr Mmm, very interesting. I remember reading about these weapons before. But totally forgot about it.Well, I guess my question has been answered positively. Good to know.
February 4, 201214 yr Word Not Allowed,Your Genelc woofer turned "Wag the Dog" into "Wag the HDD R/W Heads" !!! :LMAO:HDD heads fly at almost 140 KN (10,000 rpm 5-1/4" HDD) about one micron above the surface of the platter (really, a single cigarette smoke particle will not fit in between the head and the platter). You really don't want to be shaking those tiny heads with bass-induced vibration if at all possible.See the BW consequences of shouting at your HDDs:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0gcbhF-ZoU(Now this guy has enough HDDs for Whole World photo-scenery at 7 cm!)And even if you shush your woofer, all your electronics are still open to getting zapped by a Cosmic Ray. It does happen, and unlike Autoland, you PC is not fail-operational.Cheers,- jahman.
February 4, 201214 yr A one-time glitch like this is just as likely to be the result of a queertron running loose in your system as any of the more exotic explanations here.If audio-frequency vibes were the culprit, I'd expect something more permanent in the way of damage to the head/platter on the HDD.And you'd be surprised how little shielding exists (magnetic, RF etc) in lots of high-end electronics. Don't assume that the 2000 euro price tag guarantees a good magnetic shield...it very well may not.That said, I still think a random queertron got loose, as is known to happen, particularly in high perf overclocked systems. Bob Scott | President and CEO, AVSIM Inc ATP Gulfstream II-III-IV-V Sys1 (MSFS20+24/XPlane12+11): AMD 9800X3D, water 2x240mm, MSI MPG X670E Carbon, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, nVidia RTX4090FE Alienware AW3821DW 38" 21:9 GSync, 2x4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2x2TB Samsung 990 SSD, EVGA 1000P2 PSU, 12.9" iPad Pro Thrustmaster TCA Boeing Yoke, TCA Airbus Sidestick, Twin TCA Airbus Throttle quads, PFC Cirrus Pedals, Coolermaster HAF932 case Sys2 (P3Dv5/v4): i9-13900KS, water 2x360mm, ASUS Z790 Hero, 32GB GSkill 7800MHz CAS36, ASUS RTX4090 Samsung 55" JS8500 4K TV@60Hz, 3x 2TB WD SN850X 1x 4TB Crucial P3 M.2 NVME SSD, EVGA 1600T2 PSU Fiber link to Yamaha RX-V467 Home Theater Receiver, Polk/Klipsch 6" bookshelf speakers, Polk 12" subwoofer, 12.9" iPad Pro PFC yoke/throttle quad/pedals with custom Hall sensor retrofit, Thermaltake View 71 case, Stream Deck XL button box Sys3 (DCS/P3Dv4/ATS/ETS): AMD 7800X3D, MSI MPG X870E Carbon, Noctua NH-D15S, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, EVGA RTX3090 Alienware AW3420DW 34" 21:9 GSync, Corsair HX1000i PSU, 4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2TB Samsung 970Evo Plus, TM TCA Officer Pack, Saitek combat pedals, TM Warthog, TM RS300 FF wheel/pedals, Coolermaster HAF XB case
February 4, 201214 yr Jahman and Bob, thanks for your insights.I also think it could have been both, and I honestly hope that it didn't cause any permenent damage to the heads or platters, as I have been playing loud music (more bass than music itself) for a long time, I enjoy that very much.I also hope that was an one time glitch...
Create an account or sign in to comment