DPC Latency Really High And Audio Distortion

[Roger_31]

Hi folks,

I've had this issue that started recently with scratchy, poppy and distorted audio with a Soundblaster Z sound card. I got the card replaced but the replacement also did it. So I went back to onboard audio and it was fine for a few days and now audio is distorted again and corrupted.

I've been through a lot of suggestions online, but to no avail. I have the latest drivers, the latest BIOS and the rest of the PC seems to be working okay. I've checked my CPU isn't overheating or anything and that it is the right speed and that's all okay.

I don't know what else to try. Eventually I came to LatencyMon and it appears to suggest my Asmedia SATA driver was playing up because I get massive red spikes and it takes a great deal longer to work than other drivers.

I updated this asstahci64.sys driver to the latest version and no improvement.

Does anyone have any ideas please ?

Here is what LatencyMon is saying :

----------------------------------------------------------------------
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:08:34 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: DESKTOP-B6N4RG9
OS version: Windows 10 , 10.0, build: 14393 (x64)
Hardware: All Series, ASUS, ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC., X99-S
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5820K CPU @ 3.30GHz
Logical processors: 12
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 16297 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 330 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 21 MHz (approx.)

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.

WARNING: the CPU speed that was measured is only a fraction of the CPU speed reported. Your CPUs may be throttled back due to variable speed settings and thermal issues. It is suggested that you run a utility which reports your actual CPU frequency and temperature.



_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 41185.681420
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 11.364218

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 41182.887769
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 7.836879


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 68.628182
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.039841
Driver with highest ISR total time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.044855

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 281335
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 41069.475455
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: asstahci64.sys - Asmedia 106x SATA Host Controller Driver, Asmedia Technology

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.167693
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: rspLLL64.sys - Resplendence Latency Monitoring and Auxiliary Kernel Library, Resplendence Software Projects Sp.

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.373805

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 2720846
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 1
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count: taskmgr.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 2376
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 1540
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 12410.208182
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0.007170
Number of processes hit: 15


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 29.476512
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 68.285455
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 2.737783
CPU 0 ISR count: 278175
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 41069.475455
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 21.474772
CPU 0 DPC count: 2442462
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 7.733911
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 68.628182
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.026447
CPU 1 ISR count: 2142
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 103.709091
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.126016
CPU 1 DPC count: 19836
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.547610
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 31.386364
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.001922
CPU 2 ISR count: 569
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 103.097273
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.288930
CPU 2 DPC count: 65546
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 9.291682
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 13.698182
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.00130
CPU 3 ISR count: 415
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 101.628182
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.068490
CPU 3 DPC count: 9686
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.636796
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 6.321818
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000112
CPU 4 ISR count: 34
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 101.717273
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.289588
CPU 4 DPC count: 47928
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 7.248083
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 5 ISR count: 0
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 100.358182
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.053703
CPU 5 DPC count: 8587
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.343036
CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 6 ISR count: 0
CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs): 102.337273
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0.229271
CPU 6 DPC count: 39140
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 7.780752
CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 7 ISR count: 0
CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs): 100.052727
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0.057068
CPU 7 DPC count: 8975
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 8 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.649771
CPU 8 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 8 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 8 ISR count: 0
CPU 8 DPC highest execution time (µs): 100.787273
CPU 8 DPC total execution time (s): 0.186745
CPU 8 DPC count: 32152
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 9 Interrupt cycle time (s): 7.747960
CPU 9 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 9 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 9 ISR count: 0
CPU 9 DPC highest execution time (µs): 98.863636
CPU 9 DPC total execution time (s): 0.053930
CPU 9 DPC count: 9047
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 10 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.916957
CPU 10 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 10 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 10 ISR count: 0
CPU 10 DPC highest execution time (µs): 99.303636
CPU 10 DPC total execution time (s): 0.171868
CPU 10 DPC count: 28053
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 11 Interrupt cycle time (s): 8.720072
CPU 11 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 11 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 11 ISR count: 0
CPU 11 DPC highest execution time (µs): 98.356364
CPU 11 DPC total execution time (s): 0.063625
CPU 11 DPC count: 9631
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[viveknayyar007]

Hello Roger_31

To start with, you can try Defragmenting Your System Drive.

If that doesn't help, Running the SFC /SCANNOW Command might help.

Feel free to report back if further help is needed in this context.

Cheers!!

 

[Roger_31]

Thanks for the reply, but SSDs don't need defragmenting....

I'll try your link, thank you

 

[Roger_31]

No joy - the scan did nothing.

It's this that is causing the problem, but I don't know what to do about it. Using the latest version of that driver does not work, nor does rolling back to the one provided direct from Asus :

Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: asstahci64.sys - Asmedia 106x SATA Host Controller Driver, Asmedia Technology

The odd thing is that since the other day it was working fine and I had the green light from LatencyMon. The Asmedia driver did not show up. Now suddenly it's screwing it up again and really high latency and ruined sound again.

Any other ideas please ?

 

[Roger_31]

I think I figured it out. A few weeks back I updated the BIOS and at the same time I went to see if there were any new drivers for the PC. I believe I installed both the Asmedia driver and Intel's RST.

I wasn't sure what the RST was, but it appears it is also an SATA driver system ?

So could they possibly have been running into each other ?

I disabled the Asmedia driver in Windows and left the Intel alone.

Now my latency is fine and the system seems to be running fine now - so I will stick to Intel.

If anyone who knows more about this would care to comment if I have done the right thing that would be great.

 

[Roger_31]

Is it always so dead around here or was my problem really obscure ?