M17x-DPC/ISR tracing

Ok, so I got the R2 but still too busy switching the LCDs and troubleshooting some software issues. Will run your tests later on. I did however, run the DPC checker for an hour or so, while browsing and installing some soft and there was not a single red bar.

 

Sounds good, I wait for your results

 

Done. Hopefully, it's done correctly. I don't have time to examine the results now, have to run.
The only red spike I saw was the 5k one when pressing the eject touch key. The rest was under 500.
Hope this helps.

 

ok, for some reason, the last command that is supposed to create the HTML file, is getting to 100% and then i get - Event Trace Report Tool has stopped working.... close etc.
?

 

Since it is 100%, did you try to open the html file and see if it is correctly created or not?

 

Your results are as expected

Distribution of DPC execution times
250 500 227x times
500 1000 64x times

I can't see the eject button though.

 

Well, I did press it twice and see the spikes (every time it was 5.1k)

 

it's all messed up.. i tried the XML version too, no go there..
tired the process twice too, so i tried it on different files.
Only thing i can tell you is to confirm that i had similar to Aikimoxes results. Only time i hit the red is when pressing the eject button.

 

Hmmmm weird, do you have any kind of antivirus or security suite that could prevent the program from creating the file?

 

i have msse, but it never made any problems before.
Just tried w/o msse, same

 

I have the same too, don't worry mfractal, thanks for trying though.

 

Did you run the cmd as admin?

 

Yep. I will try to reinstall the tools tomorrow and try again.

 

UPDATE
I wrote a script in order to automate the tracing procedure
The only things the user has to do are:

Download the WinDDK and install it (see directions on the first post, necessary only STEP 1, STEP 2)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=36a2630f-5d56-43b5-b996-7633f2ec14ff (those who already have it installed, don't install it again...)
Download the PDF file
http://developer.download.nvidia.com/presentations/2009/GDC/GDC09_PlatformIndepShaderDev.pdf (those who have the PDF file already, just open it, don't download it again)
Run the script as administrator
http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=47892&d=1270253022

 

Beta testers and feedback are welcome

 

So this is minimal stuff from me to do this?

 

Well the script needs the WinDDK to be already installed.
I could make the PDF file to be automatically downloaded
The user though has to open it because not everybody uses the Adobe Acrobat Reader
The last thing you have to do is to zip the report and upload it here

 

Will it only work with the Reader or will it work with regular Acrobat too?

So, install WinDDK like in the initial post. Open the PDF in Acrobat. Run script as admin. Zip up the report and post here. Is that the gist? Where does the report output too? I still have my R1 and it is just sitting here looking heavy, so if that is all that is required, I will be more than happy to give it a run.

 

Yes, you can open the PDF file with any program you want

Yes that's pretty much it
The report (dpcisr.html) will be on the folder where the program is installed (look at the STEP 2, second screenshot)
zip it and you are good to go

 

Here is my trace route log. I hope it gives you the information to be able to help me understand my problem.

I have an R2. I only have stuttering periodically while playing a blue ray. MP3's, youtube, pdf's, gaming all work fine. It's just the Blue Ray.

 

Flames,

Take a look at your Logitech Device. Not sure if its a keyboard or mouse. From what I can see, this is the component causing issues for you -

wdf01000.sys

Remove the device and see if the checker still goes nuts on you. If so, uninstall the Setpoint software and check again. At the very least, it will rule out the Logitech device.

Stamatis will most likely chime in once he sees your post and has a chance to look over the results.

 

I agree with BatBoy, to begin, follow his advice.

I would also suggest to disable the bluetooth and the devices that use it. Check and see if makes any difference.
Do you use any monitoring tools? Could you try to stop them or disable them from autostarting on boot and after rebooting check if you still have latency?

To be covered try this as suggested by trikster

and this also as suggested by Scook

These are the drivers that are being affected by the latency on your system
Distribution of DPC execution times
acpi.sys 2500 5000 x1
ndis.sys 100 2500 x9

Distribution of ISR to DPC latencies
hdaudbus.sys 500 1000 1x time

Just out of curiosity, do you use the laptop monitor for blue ray playback or an external display?
Do you remember having this problem from day one, or after installing a particular program?

 

Hello,

Thanks for all of your input and support it's really appreciated. I hope this will help other R2 users experiencing similar problems.

I have had this laptop for about a week, I've only actually been able to use it for a few hours over a couple of days (too much work). The very first thing i did when I got the laptop was to put in a Blue Ray Disc and immediately experienced the stuttering.

Everything else I've done on it has worked perfectly (Battlefield Bad Company 2 is running with every option maxed and it runs absolutely perfectly - smooth as butter).

Sounds like my first steps should be:

1. Remove Dell DataSafe
2. Check that PowerDVD is set to use the video card for playback

Run the DPC Latency checker while watching a Blue Ray and see what happens. If there still is latency then:

1. Remove the logitch device. It's a mouse. When i first turned on the laptop and watched a blue ray i didn't have this external mouse connected. I'll try it though.
2. Disable Blue Tooth (is this done from the Alienware Control Center or is it a Service i have to disable?) I can't think of any blue tooth devices I have/use?

Thanks all and I'll post back as soon as I can get to this!

 

Hey,
When I run the script it opens the avatar trailer at the lowest resolution and the does nothing afterward, what am I doing wrong?

Thanks,
Zeal

Also when I tried to do it the manual way, on entering tracerpt test01.etl -report dpcisr.html -f HTML, I get a bad commandetc. report.
BTW should I be using a different folder to amd64 id I don't have an AMD CPU?

I guess I should also mention that while running videos, pdf scrolling etc. the only red spikes I generate are when I hit the eject button. And still game performance is terrible, but only displaying spikes on entry/exit.

 

You select Firefox or Internet Explorer?
With firefox it opens two different windows with two different videos from youtube. The one is avatar. Just pause them both, put the windows side to side and select the 1080p.
After you do that go back to the script to continue
(I don't have internet explorer installed so I haven't tested to see if it works the same way like firefox)

If you just want to check the blue ray you don't have to select firefox or internet explorer. Just press enter to continue.

 

I use firefox, but it only opens one window for me.
Whoops, no it does open two windows but not in HD.
Hold on it's working now, or I'm paying more attention either way, gimme a sec.

 

Ok so I did all that but at the end get a 'Firefox can't find file --------dpcisr.html'

When choosing a letter for the drive, should I set the path to the exact place that the tracelog file is located?

Also when entering a letter for the drive it reports that 'tracelog' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file and that it can't find the path.

Sorry to be such a nuisance here.

 

if you installed WinDDK on C: just type c
The script needs only the drive letter not the full path

 

I did that and it still gives the error at the end, 'Firefox cannot find etc.'
Are the errors throughout (ie. cannot find path, tracelog not recognized') normal?

 

no they are not, did you run the script as administrator?

 

I did indeed.

 

what is the path you installed WinDDK?

 

C\WinDDK\7600.16385.1\etc

Reinstall?

 

So, you right click on the script, run as Administrator
Then you press 1 to select Firefox
You type c for the drive you installed WinDDK
And after that it displays errors?

 

Yeah, after PRESS ANY KEY TO STOP THE TRACING PROCEDURE it displays

The system cannot find the path specified.
'tracelog' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

 

Could you open a console and type:
cd C:\WinDDK\7600.16385.0\Tools\tracing\amd64 (press enter)
tracelog.exe (press enter)

Does it return error?

 

It does not.

 

Hmm
Do you have some kind of antivirus or firewall that could prevent the program from running? If yes could you deactivate it and try again to run the script?

 

Using Windows Firewall, Malware bytes and AVGFree. I'll try turn them off.

 

I suspect that either Malware of AVGFree prevents the script from running...
I only use Microsoft Security Essentials

 

Hold on, is it that in my path it's 7600.16385. 1

I'll rename it and try it.

 

Oh, good catch, I didn't pay attention to your full path...
I guess I have an older version of WinDDK...
If you can't change the folder name I will customize your script

 

Grand, got it. Thanks man. Uploading now.

Just because I haven't posted this here yet, I'll just say that I tried to update my drivers two nights ago, got spikes, reverted, and now I get latency when starting or exiting games, not during, but terrible performance in game. Tested with Mount and blade Warband and Assassins creed 2. Should note that while booting to install drivers was greeted with a message accusing me of not having a genuine version of windows, which I have, and a command prompt displaying something like C:\Nvidia* y/n (yes/no).
In case that's of any interest to you.

 

Thanks for trying the script, and helping me debugging it.
Let me ask you something, during this test, on the DPC latency checker, how high spikes do you see? Do they exceed 1000μs?

 

The absolute max was 1018. But I did only what was instructed on the script. I know hitting the eject and entering/exiting games spikes it.

 

Ok, good to know because the tracing didn't show spikes higher than that.
You can try to run the script during the game if you want.
I also updated the script using two versions.
dpc_script_v1.zip for WinDDK 7600.16385.0
dpc_script_v2.zip for WinDDK 7600.16385.1

 

Cool, I'll fire up Mount and Blade Warband and then AC2 and post what happens.
It's really the crappy performance in game in the absence of latency spikes that has me puzzled though.

 

Heres the report, with only the two games, nothing else. In game it's as if the gpu isn't up to the task or something, makes me think they're not actually working on it even though I hear them throttle up (sooner than they used to as of two days ago), or malfunctioning or something.

 

nvlddmkm.sys 10000 25000 x8 times
dxgkrnl.sys 2500 5000 x1 time

You can try different drivers to see if it will improve the performance during gameplay. The latency seems fine though...

 

That's the thing, the drivers I'm using now are the same was using before I tried to update. Waht drivers have been release with the latency fix? Apart rom the ones here - http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/...dpc-latency-for-alienware-m17x-customers.aspx ?