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Raffi Ella

(4,465 posts)
Fri Jul 6, 2012, 12:05 PM Jul 2012

Audio skipping and distorted?

I googled about it but I still can't figure out where to start with this problem. I have an old computer so I'm thinking maybe I need to update the audio driver?card? If so, is that something I can download from windows or do I need to buy it from Dell and open it up and install it myself?

Or, is there another way to go that could tell me what's wrong with it?



12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Audio skipping and distorted? (Original Post) Raffi Ella Jul 2012 OP
If you go to Dells support site and enter your computer's Express Service Code... PoliticAverse Jul 2012 #1
Yes, I'm current on all updates. Raffi Ella Jul 2012 #3
1. Sounds like something else is "eating your CPU" use. 2. Have you disabled... BlueJazz Jul 2012 #2
Also run Task Manager ChromeFoundry Jul 2012 #4
As far as start up, Raffi Ella Jul 2012 #5
try something not codec dependent Like VLC grok Jul 2012 #8
I've looked into something like this before- Raffi Ella Jul 2012 #9
since you played with write cache, grok Jul 2012 #12
I've seen this problem. Iterate Jul 2012 #6
I'm glad I finally mentioned the mouse! Raffi Ella Jul 2012 #10
Some things to try bananas Jul 2012 #7
Thank you, bananas! never would have found all this on my own. Raffi Ella Jul 2012 #11

PoliticAverse

(26,366 posts)
1. If you go to Dells support site and enter your computer's Express Service Code...
Fri Jul 6, 2012, 12:21 PM
Jul 2012

you can get a list of downloadable drivers.

Have you used Microsoft update to update all your software ?

 

BlueJazz

(25,348 posts)
2. 1. Sounds like something else is "eating your CPU" use. 2. Have you disabled...
Fri Jul 6, 2012, 12:38 PM
Jul 2012

...the startup programs ? (msconfig and all that)
3. Are you running video at the same time?
4. Have you enabled write-caching on the disk ? (hard-drive)
5. Are you running mp3's or wave files?
6. What program is running the Audio ?

Tell us about your system. Memory..etc.

ChromeFoundry

(3,270 posts)
4. Also run Task Manager
Fri Jul 6, 2012, 01:55 PM
Jul 2012

to see what process is consuming a large amount of CPU and Memory.

Ctrl+Alt+Delete -> Start Task Manager
Select the Processes tab.
Select the "Show processes from all users"
Click the CPU column heading to sort by high CPU usage processes.
Also click the Memory column heading to sort by high Memory using processes.

System Idle Process should be your highest CPU process name.
Your Browser is usually your highest Memory consuming process.

Raffi Ella

(4,465 posts)
5. As far as start up,
Fri Jul 6, 2012, 02:03 PM
Jul 2012

I've disabled everything that isn't necessary for start up. That was awhile ago, although I did update flash and stuff recently and java- I can't get the java quick start to not run on start up this time; I don't see it in msconfig.

It happens on youtube, movies, windows media player. I can get it to play smooth sometimes if I stop it and refresh the page.

I did do something with the write caching a while back when I had a virus. The tech people had me do something with it. It's been so long ago that I couldn't tell you if I disabled or enabled it .

As for memory, really low , 2 gb or whatever it's called. This just started happening two weeks ago though so memory hasn't been a problem for me before this.

I got a new monitor and a new wireless mouse at about the same time this started happening. I don't think they use memory though but I thought I'd throw that out there in case.


 

grok

(550 posts)
8. try something not codec dependent Like VLC
Sun Jul 8, 2012, 02:35 AM
Jul 2012

It's a pain to use with streaming but it should play everything. Pretty much standalone.

Should help narrow down what is wrong if it works.

http://www.videolan.org/index.html



 

grok

(550 posts)
12. since you played with write cache,
Sun Jul 8, 2012, 01:38 PM
Jul 2012

There is something to check. If you are using XP, it is possible you reverted from DMA to PIO to access the hard drive. It would make EVERYTHING go to a crawl.

The way you can tell without doing anything fancy is if your bootup is ridiculously slow even if you have the bare minimum of start up items. Initial load of applications is mega slow too. Once loaded everything runs normally unless it involves disk access(like caching files/swapping). you can also check the disk controller settings to see if it did revert.

Once it reverts to PIO, it doesn't always revert back to dma by itself even on reboot.


This is common with older machines. There is a fix.

Iterate

(3,020 posts)
6. I've seen this problem.
Sat Jul 7, 2012, 03:36 AM
Jul 2012

Or rather, I've heard it. I tend to keep good hardware for a long time, and re-purpose it if necessary. I also built PCs at the edge of energy efficiency. Either way I run up against performance issues like this.

Most likely your problem is with what's called Deferred Procedure Calls. In a nutshell, it means that some bit of software is jumping the queue to take processing priority at the expense of real-time processing needs. That causes a latency problem with audio and streaming. The list of suspects would start with mouse drivers, an overaggressive A/V program, any auto-update, anything connected with iTunes, Firefox and add-ons, and flash. I suspect that code writers have gotten lax about watching this lately.

With 2GB of memory installed you shouldn't be having the problem. No need to deal with Dell.

Task manager doesn't show the detail you need to find the culprit. Here's a freestanding/non-installed bit of software that can show the latency. The site also has good background info:

http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

After a fresh reboot, run it to get a background count, then one-by-one start/stop programs to see the difference. Task manager will show the running processes. Disable the A/V, recheck. Switch the mouse driver, or swap the mouse, recheck. Those two are the first suspects.

There's no single solution. You might have to run a standard mouse or standard mouse driver, or you might have to disable real-time, system wide A/V. Tweaking the audio buffering and keeping a clean system can help. Unfortunately, I've also found that once you notice it, the problem can be like whack-a-mole as it crops up again with new software or updates.

Raffi Ella

(4,465 posts)
10. I'm glad I finally mentioned the mouse!
Sun Jul 8, 2012, 11:39 AM
Jul 2012

Like I said, my pc is old, I replaced the monitored because it died on me. I was going on the assumption that other things needed replacing too.

Ok, so lot's to work with here. Thank you so much for all the information, I really appreciate it!

bananas

(27,509 posts)
7. Some things to try
Sat Jul 7, 2012, 12:02 PM
Jul 2012

As Iterate said above, this is a DPC problem.
Probably caused by the wireless mouse.
Either it's the mouse driver itself, or the wireless NDIS drivers used by the mouse.
Google "ndis audio glitch" and you'll see it's a common problem.

The audio DPC's need to run about every 10 milliseconds,
any DPC or interrupt that takes longer than 10ms will cause the audio to glitch.
Or, if there are several interrupts within 10ms, and it takes longer than 10ms to process all of them, the audio will glitch.

See if there's a "poll rate" setting for the mouse drivers, set it as low as possible.
There's no reason to poll more than 100 times a second.

There are two registry settings for the NDIS driver which can help reduce or eliminate the problem,
ProcessorAffinityMask and TimerResolution.

ProcessorAffinityMask
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NDIS\Parameters
described at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc962266.aspx
Set it to 1 or 2, that restricts NDIS to running on a single core, leaving the other core free for audio
(assuming you have a dual-core system).

TimerResolution
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Psched
described at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc737728.aspx
defaults to 10 microseconds, which is only needed for gigabit networks.
Change it to 100.
Beginning with Vista, Microsoft does this automatically whenever audio is playing.
See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4661390/what-causes-poor-network-performance-when-playing-audio-or-video-in-windows-vist
and http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2007/08/27/1833290.aspx

You'll see that other people have found other solutions,
such as disabling wifi power saving: http://forum.sysinternals.com/ndissys-high-dpc-latenecy-high-dpc-cpu-usage_topic20669.html

Here's another useful page which gives detailed instructions on troubleshooting these problems:
"Windows XP Tuning Tips for Audio Processing"
http://www.native-instruments.com/knowledge/questions/343/Windows+XP+Tuning+Tips+for+Audio+Processing

Raffi Ella

(4,465 posts)
11. Thank you, bananas! never would have found all this on my own.
Sun Jul 8, 2012, 11:46 AM
Jul 2012

It's a little intimidating and it may end up being over my head but at least I have a starting point now.

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