CPU emitted dog barks

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Level 1

12 points

CPU emitted dog barks

i don't know if i mentioned this in passing in another thread but this even has the apple care people stumped. on two occasions suddenly the computer started barking at me! a couple of barks each time. the first time it scared the living daylights out of me and i thought it must be coming from some website i was on, like there was a dog animation or something but when i looked through all the open browser windows there was no such thing. i probably had a word doc open and the mail program, too. the usual. no special applications running.

the second time i thought maybe it was some kind of alert (even though i have my alert sound set to "tink") for a pop-up window. and, sure enough, when i started getting rid of open windows to identify the problem there was a small pop-up netflix window but i am still not convinced that was it. first of all, with alerts in general, shouldn't they be visual as well as audio? what if i were deaf and there were a problem? if i didn't hear the audio i would never know.

anyway, like i said, nobody i've spoken with at apple has a clue, nor have they heard of this before. it hasn't happened in a while. if it does again i will be sure to note the time and what i was doing but the whole thing freaks me out a bit because, as per usual, when anything weird happens like this i think it's a symptom of something major going wrong and as i just got this new g5 3 weeks ago it makes me nervous to contemplate such a thought.

any clue?

G5 Quad Core Tower, Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Dec 27, 2006 4:24 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 27, 2006 4:45 PM in response to duncecap

Hello! Seems like I've read this one before but can't remember or find it now but I'd start by looking in the system preferences and see if these some odd apps at the bottom of the pane labeled "other" and see if some kind of sound application wasn't generating the odd sound. Tom

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Answer 2

Dec 27, 2006 4:58 PM in response to duncecap

duncecap-

Regarding the visual alerts, you can do that now. I am not in front of a Mac but I think it is under the Universal Access preferences pane regarding difficulty hearing or something like that.

Me thinks website designers are getting better at getting your attention. Throws off the senses if a dog barks when there are none around.

Threw off the folks you spoke with at Apple. That's funny.

Arf-

-DaddyPaycheck

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Answer 3

duncecap Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 27, 2006 5:41 PM in response to Thomas Bryant

Hi Tom, Nothing in "other" apps that was doing it, to my knowledge.

DaddyP, I made the screen flash for the next time, in case this is an actual alert or something else. They do a pretty anemic job of screen flashing, in my humble opinion.

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Answer 4

duncecap Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 27, 2006 6:25 PM in response to duncecap

IT JUST BARKED 3 TIMES!

I was running WORD, Terminal, the Apple Mail Program (I download new messages manually so there is no alert sound there), and Firefox. Firefox had several windows open. One was to this page, one to forums for a program called Growl (it would make sense for that sound to come from a page called Growl - I will have to post this there; on one of the other two occasions I also had that page going), a history reference page and nerve.com. While there certainly are dogs on nerve.com they have never barked at me from the computer.

The screen did not flash so I do not think this was an alert.

After days of no barks suddenly a set of them!!!

It happened exactly at 9:17 pm.

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Answer 5

duncecap Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 27, 2006 6:56 PM in response to duncecap

I just removed a dashboard widget associated with Fetch, an FTP program I use (but which was not running during any of the barking episodes). That is the only other dog related thing here. We shall see what happens. So far no word yet from the Growl people.

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Answer 6

duncecap Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 27, 2006 8:59 PM in response to duncecap

The Growl crew said that their program does not bark, that I should look to my widgets (which I believe I've already done) and that there have been recent audio anomalies and I should check my hardware. No idea how to do that.

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Answer 7

Dec 27, 2006 9:42 PM in response to duncecap

The 'Sounds' Panel on System Prefs has several sub menues. THe dog sound may be in their. Besides that tidbit all I can suggest is that you may need to look into a therapist for your dog sound hallucinations. (jk, i believe you)

Good luck

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Answer 8

duncecap Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 27, 2006 10:14 PM in response to ParkerKuivila

Hi Parker,

All the sound effects in the sound panel of the System Prefs are short very subtle, maybe 1 second, snippets. I have mine set to "tink" which sounds exactly like what it's called. The barking has more depth than these other effects, soundwise, and comes in multiples. It could be a dog sneezing, not barking - I am not that familiar with canine sound output. All I can surmise is that it should not be happening. Maybe the machine is trying to tell me I need a pet.

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Answer 9

duncecap Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 27, 2006 10:34 PM in response to duncecap

i even just ran through all the sounds in iLife. there were a couple of dog bark entries but they were different dogs!

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Answer 10

Dec 28, 2006 7:53 AM in response to duncecap

duncecap-

Dude, you may need a new cap (:>)

I don't know what to tell you. Since it isn't anemically flashing the screen I think your assumption that it is not an alert sound is correct.

As silly as this sounds, have you checked your Date and Time settings to see if your computer is set to announce the time with a custom voice? Seems to me it should flash the screen when announcing the time but what do I know? Any other alarm clock app running?

Running SpyBuddy or anything like that? Supposedly it can bark at you with alerts.

Arf-

-DaddyPaycheck

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Answer 11

Dec 28, 2006 11:51 AM in response to duncecap

Do you know if a way you can get the sound to play? Can you repeat the enviroment where you have heard the sound?

Also, If possible, try reinstalling the OS. Just select the 'Keep User Setting and Network' option when you install it.

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Answer 12

duncecap Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 28, 2006 1:15 PM in response to ParkerKuivila

Hi Parker,

To answer your first two questions - no to both.

I did an archive/install last week. The dog barking occurred both beforehand and now after the intallation, something I do not wish to perform again.

😟

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Answer 13

duncecap Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 28, 2006 1:20 PM in response to duncecap

DaddyP,

I never heard of SpyBuddy and am not running any alarm clock app as far as I know. I have energy saver set to wake the computer up every morning at 6:59 so I can run SuperDuper! at 7. These barks have occurred at other times. In my Date & Time settings the option to announce the time in a customized voice is grayed out, so no, that is not set. This remains a Sherlock Holmes mystery, The Case of the Barking Dog.

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Answer 14

Dec 28, 2006 1:26 PM in response to duncecap

Could you got to system profiler (Apps>Utilities) and post an image of the Applications list? (to get a screen shot press Apple Shift3) You may need to take more than one picture.
Also if there isn't a way to post pics here you can email me at Parkyk219@nospamMAC.COM *remove the 'nospam'

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Answer 15

Dec 28, 2006 1:35 PM in response to duncecap

Oner more thing before I forget. There's a good chance thaht something is located in your Startupitems folder. Check it and let me know whats in there. (Check both the one in User Library and Main Library)

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