M17x DPC Latency

I keep on asking that but I get the same answer, even with the super. "The resolution specialist is handing your case, we cant do anything till he is done"

 

I just made an interesting observation. I am on Vista Ultimate x64. I was looking through my configuration seeing if I had missed anything to try... I noticed I had the nVidia storage drivers installed. Hmm... Maybe I should remove them like the W7 people do and see if that things make a difference. I go through the rigmarole... and these are the results. Looks like DPC is less with the nVidia storage drivers than it is without. test04 image is with, test05 and test06 are without... Oh, watching a fullscreen YouTube video...only, nothing else going on cept DPC checker.

 

Hey refusedchaos, check out the thread BatBoy started up here and click on those links. That's the best and easiest way to escalate something if you're having issues.

 

Trikster,
Sorry to say this, but for Vista 64bit Ultimate, that reading is terrible. . . with and without Nvidia storage.

 

yes and the fix is for win7 only if i am not wrong. this actually shows the no OS related point of view doesnt it? except if its ok on win7 which i highly doubt.

 

Applying the latest fix from Dell, just eliminates the latency from the storage driver. The main cause of the latency still remains for those with the NVidia cards

 

I also had the problem of after escalation you can only talk to your assigned resolution expert. Once you get a Representative at the escalation level that is your only contact point within dell. If they tell you that you have to wait for a fix (like mine told me) then you are stuck. If you try to call and get a different person they look at your file and transfer you to your resolution person.

 

K tried playing Mass Effect last night getting the stuttering sound as well.

 

The downclocking, yes? Because I don't get that latency in-game. Games are running just fine.

The only time I get red spikes above 50k is when the cards downclock, which hasn't translated as an issue with actual gaming.

On the whole, I've put my issues with thermal-tables aside and done a fresh reflash of A03. I have also attached my DPC screen-shot. This was with two youtube HD videos running at 720p, and two browser sessions with quite a few windows.

Note: It looks good, but I still get a few 4-8k spikes here and there, which cause no stuttering or issues.

F.Y.I.: Using Hybrid SLi with this bios under Vista 64-bit, and not having glitches in frame-rates while gaming.

The only real--but pressing--issues I see now are the need for a more efficient OSD programme, and something to deal with those huge spikes when the cards downclock. I really hope Dell make a solid effort on this front.

 

THIS. . . is very important. I know you're all into the 'escalations rock' mantra, but always remember that if you get a stick-in-the-mud rep. on that front, you are stuck with that rep. until the matter is fully sorted.

Just making a statement of fact here because people need to know the full implications of escalations before they embrace the concept. It is a double-edge sword, period.

 

I agree Kade Storm.
About the spikes during gameplay, the load does not allow the GPUs to downclock.
Nevertheless, I want you to do me a favor. Next time you play, could you press the eject button twice and see if there is any video or audio stuttering as well as if there is any FPS drop?

 

*UPDATE*

ManuelG

"This issue has been resolved. The fix will be provided through a future notebook driver update. This fix only applies to GPUs which are in DPC state for too long causing audio static. Thank you everyone for your assistance and your detailed information."

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=157614&st=120&gopid=1010117&#entry1010117

 

let's hope it is the kind of fix that actually fixes things

 

Only time will show. So as soon as they provide us with the new drivers, we will begin a new round of tests.... Let's see how many times I will have to stay awake all night...

 

Not want to be negative
but I doubt very much that the drivers will solve the problem
we shall see what happens
more test, more calls, more complaints, but deaf ears.

 

I like the quote ( The fix will be provided through a future notebook driver update) when will that be ?.Blowing smoke

 

Wana bet they will completely remove powermizer and call that a fix?
Sure ill believe it when i see it. Nvidia is worst than Dell when it come to promises...

 

Well the brown stuff will really hit the fan if that's the case i really hope there plans do not involve this.

 

Glad to answer those questions.

- During MP3 playback, or any other HD video playback, I get zero stutters pressing the eject button, or any other touchpanel button. (OSD has been disabled for this test, and my spikes are now only 4k when touching on eject.)

- Same experience with in-game environment.

Refer to the attached image. The red-spikes represent the constant eject button use. No stutters.

 

I wonder if this means that they are going to just ignore dpc latency with ATI's? Isn't that obviously a motherboard issue?

 

who knows really? i have to try vista with ATIs as i never did till now and see if i still have red spikes under certain occcasions. but i am really bored to do it just for this.

and i hope this new nvidia driver is not powermizer disabled.

 

Dell-Bill_B
Could you please update us with status of this.Another week has past.

 

I have requested an update and will post back what I hear as soon as I hear.

 

i guess the news are that they prepare the R3. we didnt ask for this but anyway... lool.

Dell-Bill, nvidia controller remover is not the official FINAL fix from Dell? are they still working on something more like a bios or something? this is what i cant understand.

 

I know, sad isn't it? Those readings were taken with one Firefox window open playing one 720p YouTube video that has been full-screened. Antivirus and DPC checker are the only other things "on" other than OS related items.

Yup, I am on Vista. I sure would like to go with W7, but that just won't help me right now.

In case you didn't notice my sig, these are on the nVidia 260m's...so I have that working against me too. I tried rendering a 720p video when I first got this thing...what a disaster. Video was nearly an hour long total (my daughters Winter program). By the time the video was done rendering, the sound was off by 11 seconds and the one transition (simple cross-fade) was as choppy as the fast/low quality test. What a terrible machine.

 

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?cat=30&tag=col1;post-7408

UPDATE: Reports from readers who have applied this patch suggests that this update doesn’t actually fix the problems that readers are experiencing. I’m in communication with Dell now to see what the company has to say.

 

Still waiting for update details. No, the mass storage controller driver removal script is not the fix. Last I heard Wednesday, before I took a long weekend off, was the engineers were working on an update, but Mike from AW engineering did not say exactly what they were looking at.

 

Welcome to two weeks ago. That "Fix" was a total joke and a poor excuse to buy more time.

 

DPC latency is purely a software related issue. Nothing indicates a hardware issue here.

 

i agree with you on the eject button as ejecting using ways other than the touch button doesnt cause red spikes. but it may still be the way that power is transfered from the touch button to the motherboard even though i almost exclude this possibility.

Dell Bill please tell them to fix the OSD driver as its the one that seems to cause the red spikes when pressing eject touch button as well as some other touch buttons..

 

Thanks for trying Kade Storm. Your results matches with those of Phycotic deformity on this matter. He also doesn't have the OSD installed and reproduced the same result.
The fact that without the OSD installed your eject button causes only a 4K spike indicates that this driver needs to be reconsidered/rewritten.

 

of course it has to be. at least we are almost sure for something.

 

Not a problem, man.

Also, I agree with your observations.

I've found the latest OSD to also act buggy. Switching from integrated to discrete via Vista powerplan is one straight process. Screen goes blank only once. When using OSD, half of the times, the damned thing switches back and forth repeatedly.

I am just not happy with the current stability/reliability of OSD. The spikes aren't just restricted to the eject button, because they can also occur when the stealth button or wifi button are touched. This was also eliminated upon removing OSD. Of course, stealth button doesn't work without OSD so that part of the point is moot.

 

I have lots of issues with the OSD and Command Centre.
- Sense works sporadically (OK after reboot)
- OSD comes and goes as it pleases
- touchstrip functionality comes and goes as it pleases

I also get two beeps when I cold boot. The BIOS detects that the M17x is not plugged in and that it is switching to 9400m. But my M17x is always plugged in.

I have warnings turned off in the BIOS.

The 'remove battery, unplug, press and hold power button for 30 second' trick did not fix the issue.

 

so the osd driver should be one of their top priorities

 

For those people with the nVidia cards. This is no way a fix, but it helped me out alot. I install Tweakforce drivers and it seems to help. Still get spikes around 16k, but alot better then my 300k spikes. I dont notice it as much anymore. My 5k laptop can finally play MP3's. feel like im back in the early 90's again.

 

Yeah, but aren't the tweakforce drivers without powermizer?

 

Im sorry i am not sure, i dont use it, but ill check it out when i get home.

 

still no word or updates from anyone?

this is turning out to be like the dell blog all over again. engage us for a while then leave us hanging

 

of course there are news.

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=157614&view=findpost&p=1009990

nvidia would fix those latency issues in a next driver release.

 

It has already been posted 3 pages back.

 

how is that news from dell?

it says This fix only applies to GPUs which are in DPC state for too long causing audio static. Thank you everyone for your assistance and your detailed information.

im on atis and that doesnt seem like it would help

 

What kind of problems do you encounter with the ATIs?

 

same as with nvidias except dpc spikes and audio stutters are lesser and lower. and also in game fps drops similar to the ones on nvidias but less often.

posted it before but here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_KR4I4nE9M&feature=player_embedded

 

Could you update your signature with your system specs, so can have a better idea of the situation?
I can't see the video for the time being. ( I encounter internet connection problems)
I would also advise you to run the test to trace the DPC latency (check my signature) so we can take a look at your results.

 

*UPDATE*

ManuelG

"The fix does not disable Powermizer. The driver was in a DPC state for too long and this was corrected. It should not have an adverse affect on performance. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will be releasing a new driver which unfortunately does not include this fix as it did not make it in time (the fix was added shortly after this driver was built). The fix will be in drivers following this. Once I get the exact driver versions, I will update this thread."

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=157614&st=120&p=1010635&#entry1010635

 

done.. vid can be found here http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5912761&postcount=1768

and other vids and ss of dpc latency checker can be seen on posts in this thread

ill run the tests when i have time. exam time for me

 

Crossing my fingers for this update from nvidia to work, I hope this is it.

 

i wouldnt get my hopes up.

no news from dell yet..

 

Dell put up that OS registry change, it also didnt work and caused my ssd to not function properly(hang time on apps). This is while I was on the phone with tech support, I told the techician it would not work, he didnt listen. I also sent a screen print of the dpc latency with a 16000 spike after the registry change he was baffled to say the least. I reinstalled the driver with the storage drive and it works which I expected, with online games its a different story, occasional audio pops and micro stutter.