My Passport Ultra interferes with my internal and external speakers

WD External Drives WD Portable Drives
1

I got some new snazzy speakers for Christmas and they worked fine. After some time, I noticed a beep coming from them. It was’t loud but just annoying like Chinese water torture. I have put up with that now for quite awhile. A couple of months ago I purchased the WD My Passport Ultra - 1 TB and tonight I was looking at it and noticed that the led on it was flashing at the same rate as the beep from the speakers. I tried my old speakers and same thing. I unplugged the external drive and now there is no beep and speakers are very clear now. Also was creating a lot of static on the internal speakers but that too has cleared up with me unplugging the My Passport Ultra.

My question I guess is obvious but WHY??? What would the external drive have to do with the speakers internal or external. Any solutions would really be appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any help.

2

It has to do with RFI (radio frequency interference) Your devices are too close to one another most likely. USB3 drives can cause this issue. See this link about another RF problem with a drive. Notice the reference to an Intel study about RFI with wireless signals and USB3 drives. Look at the Intel whitepaper. Not exactly your problem, but it does concern RFI and USB3 ports with drives attached.

3

Thanks Mike. Unfortunately the WD Ultra only has a very short cord. (It isn’t wireless). Is it possible to buy a longer cord for the drive? I have unplugged it for now and the speakers are great so maybe I just will plug it in when absolutely necessary.

Thanks again for your help. Much appreciated.

Happy Hump Day!!

4

According to the Intel study, the major RF noise seems to be coming from the USB3 port itself, so longer cord might not help.

5

Hmmmmmm very strange. Right now My Passport Ultra is unplugged and everything is fine. Guess I will only plug it in when absolutely necessary.

Thanks again Mike.

6

If you have a USB hub you could use it to see if the problem is less or gone.

7

Thanks Mike. It was actually plugged into my usb hub so I tried plugging it direct into the laptop but the same problem exists.

I only use my WD My Passport for my image and file/folder backups so can just plug it in for those purposes and then unplug it when done.

Thanks again for trying to help. Much appreciated.

8

OK, Too bad you have this issue. So far. it has not affected my equipment; guess I have been lucky.