Windows 7 Latency / Audio Drop Out issue

9fcdhzkx46apgr

Hi,
I'm getting audio drop outs when I use Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 adio interface with my windowns 7 64 bit. This issue happenings during playback and recording. I have established that the issue is not related to komplete audio 6, but actaully windows 7, my intel chipset drivers or just my machine.

When I run latency monitoring on my machine, I get the below stats back.
The folowing drivers seem to be the problem.
ataport.SYS
tcpip.sys
mfefirek.sys
ndis.sys

Can anyone help????

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 0:04:04 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: MICHEAL-PC
OS version: Windows 7 Service Pack 1, 6.1, build: 7601 (x64)
Hardware: Dell System XPS L702X, Dell Inc. , 0XN71K
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2860QM CPU @ 2.50GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 8086 MB total

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 2494.0 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 2149.0 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.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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): 56413.841630
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 20.200729
Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 56403.578597
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 2.185349

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED SMI, IPI AND CPU STALLS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The SMI, IPI and CPU stalls value represents the highest measured interval that a CPU did not respond while having its maskable interrupts disabled.
Highest measured SMI or CPU stall (µs) 34.483792

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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): 147.747394
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: ataport.SYS - ATAPI Driver Extension, Microsoft Corporation
Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.043616
Driver with highest ISR total time: ataport.SYS - ATAPI Driver Extension, Microsoft Corporation
Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.060193
ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 296894
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): 56467.358861
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: ataport.SYS - ATAPI Driver Extension, Microsoft Corporation
Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.029802
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 (%) 0.150238
DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 1101747
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 40
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: mcshield.exe
Total number of hard pagefaults 7859
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 5634
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 20117420.761026
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 16.523709
Number of processes hit: 22

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 9.242863
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 147.747394
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 1.176026
CPU 0 ISR count: 296894
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 56467.358861
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 2.807926
CPU 0 DPC count: 1081591
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.876638
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR count: 0
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 400.720529
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.009524
CPU 1 DPC count: 1001
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.523138
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR count: 0
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 257.532077
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.020456
CPU 2 DPC count: 2984
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.323893
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR count: 0
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 295.953488
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.013501
CPU 3 DPC count: 1885
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.614144
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 4 ISR count: 0
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 188.653970
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.024058
CPU 4 DPC count: 4246
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.167264
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): 203.049719
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.010964
CPU 5 DPC count: 1823
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.549293
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): 264.366881
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0.015020
CPU 6 DPC count: 2587
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.800790
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): 229.134723
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0.033834
CPU 7 DPC count: 5672
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9fcdhzkx46apgr

Also, I have already updated my drivers with teh latest available from Intel and Native Instruments.
Any advice anyone? Here is the spec of my laptop. It should be well fit to handle real time audio.
Manufacturer: Dell
Model: XPS L702X
Processor: Inter(R) Core(TM) i7-2860QM CPU @ 2.50GHZ
RAM: 8GB
System Type: 64-bit OPerating System
Windows Edition: Windows 7 Ultimate

ZENER

Could it be the hard disk that's the bottleneck ? You don't mention the make or model of it. Might also be worth disabling any AV (mfefirek.sys is a McAfee AV firewall file) and checking Dells website for up to date drivers, don't rely on MS provided ones !

Edit: Might also be worth checking your swapfile and if possible move it to another partition with a fixed size. If this file gets fragmented about the drive is could cause slowdown ?

Ken

9fcdhzkx46apgr

This is the hard drive:
HARD DRIVE : 1TB (2X500GB) SERIAL ATA (7
ST9500420AS ATA Device
Where can I find my swap file?
Also I'm struggling to find the mfefirek.sys to disable it. Its not in my device manager. Where can I locate this to disable it?
This driver seems to be causing the most problems. ataport.SYS

ZENER

ataport.sys is I believe related to the hard disk or CDROM. Or at least the ATA system, which looks after the IDE devices in your computer. The Intel drivers are something like smartstor as far as I can remember. Try disablng your McAfee AV system and see if that helps would be my first action. One of the files you mention is related to the MacAfee firewall and AV service, if the AV was scanning everything that entered your hard disk then it might be slowing down access and have an impact on all of those services you listed.

There are several posts found on Google that relate to latency issues all to do with the Intel SATA drivers but I suspect it might be McAfee that is causing your problem. Easy way to find out is by just disabling it. If it's in your System Tray (bottom tight hand side beside the Clock) then there could be an option to disable it ?

When requiring low latency response it's important to disable anything else that accesses your hard disk as a starting point, especially when getting video from a camera or audio. AV software could potentially be scanning your drive at the same time you're trying to write to it, i.e. recording.

Ken

9fcdhzkx46apgr

@Zener
Hi there - I disable the firewall but it didn't improve. Below are the results from LatencyMon


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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 0:02:47 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: MICHEAL-PC
OS version: Windows 7 Service Pack 1, 6.1, build: 7601 (x64)
Hardware: Dell System XPS L702X, Dell Inc. , 0XN71K
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2860QM CPU @ 2.50GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 8086 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 2494.0 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 2120.0 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.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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): 32967.993865
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 17.028135

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 32952.393933
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 1.582692


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED SMI, IPI AND CPU STALLS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The SMI, IPI and CPU stalls value represents the highest measured interval that a CPU did not respond while having its maskable interrupts disabled.

Highest measured SMI or CPU stall (µs) 32.841963


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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): 381.651965
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: hal.dll - Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.092164
Driver with highest ISR total time: ataport.SYS - ATAPI Driver Extension, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.110449

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 264892
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 1
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): 33679.765838
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: ataport.SYS - ATAPI Driver Extension, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.051170
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: ataport.SYS - ATAPI Driver Extension, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.204555

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 991282
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 2
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 2
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 1
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: mspaint.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 395
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 294
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 243838.969527
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0.199766
Number of processes hit: 5


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 9.191503
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 381.651965
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 1.479723
CPU 0 ISR count: 264893
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 33679.765838
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 2.653818
CPU 0 DPC count: 978787
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.576812
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR count: 0
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 71.486367
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.002170
CPU 1 DPC count: 141
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.406029
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR count: 0
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 123.678829
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.024284
CPU 2 DPC count: 3368
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.831492
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR count: 0
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 3 DPC count: 0
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 2.350778
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 4 ISR count: 0
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 123.587410
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.029844
CPU 4 DPC count: 4423
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.359928
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): 0.0
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 5 DPC count: 0
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 2.168926
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): 122.859262
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0.030380
CPU 6 DPC count: 4572
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.378128
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): 0.0
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 7 DPC count: 0