Need to make the internal PC speaker louder...

[Maxxarcade]

I need to find a way to make the PC speaker louder in two of my servers, so I can hear it through the floor (servers are in the basement right below my bedroom).

Reason is, the internal PC speaker is used for server status audible prompts, and to warn if a fan has stopped or the system is overheating. The speaker that is currently being used is just a small piezo that came with the case. I can barely hear it over the fans, even when standing right in front of the server rack.

Is there any way I can get it to be louder without using external amplification? I was thinking of trying a horn speaker similar to what is used for alarm sirens, but I wasn't sure if it would overload the driver circuit on the motherboard.

Funny thing is, a lot of newer cases don't even have the speaker in them at all, because nobody uses it anymore. I remember when some DOS games actually came with a bigger speaker that you would install in the PC to get better sound. That was back in the day before the common sound card that we now take for granted came around. And I think I paid a good couple hundred for my old 8 bit, mono Sound Blaster 2.0, even when there were newer cards out

[shadow]

Re: Need to make the internal PC speaker louder...

Hmmm I dunno what to do in this case. A larger speaker has the huge problem in that it will draw too much current from the motherboard head connector. You can certainly try.

The way to go seems to be to amplify the signal. I know that you do not want to do this, however I think it would work out well.

What if you connect your motherboards PC speaker output to your sound cards auxiliary input (even if it is the inbuilt sound chip on the motherboard). That way the sound card could in theory amplify the signal and output it via a set of external speakers. This can be your horn speaker used in alarm sirens or possibly just a pair of $10 speakers that you may have lying around. This should work, I have seen it being done in the past. The sound card should be able to handle quite a lot more powerful speakers. However I am not sure if this is a path you are willing to take.

[Maxxarcade]

Re: Need to make the internal PC speaker louder...

Neither of the servers have sound cards, but I do have a small (~5 watts) rackmount amp that I may be able to use. The only problem is, I still have to figure out what to do with the second one, since I only have one amp with one channel, and using a Y adapter to hook up both systems might cause problems.

Another thing- anyone know how much current can be drawn from a fan header on an older motherboard? The 80mm fans I'm using right now draw about 0.35a or so. I remember burning out a header on my Epox socket 7 board when I was using a 60mm 38CFM Delta fan. Well, not the header itself, the circuit that drives it

[RoadWarrior]

Re: Need to make the internal PC speaker louder...

Some soundcards had a header you could connect the speaker output to, can't remember seeing it on anything recent though. Wouldn't hook up too large a speaker directly to the board though, back EMF might kill it.

I had one out of an old 60s or 70s radio, paper cone 4 inch, that was still rated under half a watt, but that was a lot louder and crisper than the regular sized ones. Had that hooked up on my 486 before I could afford a soundcard lol.

Maybe just using some PCV plumbing parts jammed on top of the "squeaker" and brought outside the case to a small funnel might make enough of a difference.

[RoadWarrior]

Re: Need to make the internal PC speaker louder...

Fan headers used to be considered safe only to 500mA, (circa mid/late socket A era) dunno if they've beefed that rating on newer boards.

[WNG]

Re: Need to make the internal PC speaker louder...

Can't you pipe the PC speaker output through a resistor to reduce its wattage and route it to the soundcard's line in or CD in?


I know some Windows-based drivers for sound include the PC Speaker as a mixed input.
Have you did such a search, unless you're running a non-windows server.

[willawake]

Re: Need to make the internal PC speaker louder...

why cant you use some server monitoring utility, there are so many....

by the way heres an interesting diy temperature monitoring solution

[Maxxarcade]

Re: Need to make the internal PC speaker louder...

Both servers are Linux, one is NASLite 2, the other is running a cut down Mandriva 2006 for a dedicated Zoneminder DVR system. Neither server has a sound card.

[Per Hansson]

Re: Need to make the internal PC speaker louder...

You could try scavanging a speaker from an old 286/386

Many of them came with pretty big speakers... If it kills the circuit don't blame me though

[Maxxarcade]

Re: Need to make the internal PC speaker louder...

why cant you use some server monitoring utility, there are so many....

by the way heres an interesting diy temperature monitoring solution

Sweet, I'll look into this. Though I wouldn't be able to use it with NASLite...

[MD Willington]

Re: Need to make the internal PC speaker louder...

Have the speaker header connected to a relay that can activate a door bell...

"who the hell is ringing the bell"

"the server"

LOL

[toastygoodness]

Re: Need to make the internal PC speaker louder...

nice one, MD. Seriously, it might work.

[Maxxarcade]

Re: Need to make the internal PC speaker louder...

LOL, that would be cool. Speaking of doorbells, I've always wanted to build one of the ones that uses the big chime tubes (~5-6ft in length). I like the big full sound those have, especially when compared to the electronic ones