High DPC Latency Sony S Series SVS15116 FXS

Hi All

This is my first post....

I am experiencing high DPC/Latency audio dropouts when recording audio with this laptop.

It's driving me nuts -- I've tried updating drivers disabling devices, changing power settings and disabling swap file to no avail.

I bought this machine as a music pc and I need some help figuring out what to do to solve the problems.

Below is the past from the LatencyMon application.

Interestingly it shows hard page faults even though paging is disabled?

In addition to the usbport.sys high dpc I also see high dpc from:
ndis.sys 2.1 ms
ntoskrnl.exe 2.1 ms
iastor.sys 1.66 ms

I'd love to know if there is a way to totally disable throttling either at the bios level or application level but so far haven't seen it..

Darth_Fader


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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. Also one or more ISR routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. At least one detected problem appears to be network related. In case you are using a WLAN adapter, try disabling it to get better results. 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 0:02:36 (h:mm:ss) on all processors in the system.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: SVS15116FXS
OS version: Windows 7 Service Pack 1, 6.1, build: 7601 (x64)
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3612QM CPU @ 2.10GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 12187 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
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Reported CPU speed: 2095.0 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 1719.0 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 KERNEL TIMER LATENCIES
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Highest measured kernel timer latency (µs): 1552.144682


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED SMIs AND CPU STALLS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Highest measured SMI, IPI or CPU stall (µs) 16.127448


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 2207.378998
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: USBPORT.SYS - USB 1.1 & 2.0 Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.565723
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: USBPORT.SYS - USB 1.1 & 2.0 Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.985375

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 984748
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 82
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 4
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 2115.962291
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: USBPORT.SYS - USB 1.1 & 2.0 Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.045062
Driver with highest ISR total time: USBPORT.SYS - USB 1.1 & 2.0 Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.070196

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 282345
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 2
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 13
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 3
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
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Process with highest pagefault count: none

Total number of hard pagefaults 20
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 9
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 55113.863484
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0.009017
Number of processes hit: 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 7.908982
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 2084.063484
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 0.543093
CPU 0 ISR count: 215396
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 2171.784726
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 6.360688
CPU 0 DPC count: 671407
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.495274
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 2115.962291
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.166363
CPU 1 ISR count: 31805
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 2207.378998
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 3.084769
CPU 1 DPC count: 148878
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.112366
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 1598.703580
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.015351
CPU 2 ISR count: 2905
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 333.054415
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.294533
CPU 2 DPC count: 17631
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.293071
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 1358.620525
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.067080
CPU 3 ISR count: 13998
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 449.185203
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 1.095189
CPU 3 DPC count: 59544
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.868736
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 1944.720286
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.009690
CPU 4 ISR count: 1710
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 362.487351
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.160787
CPU 4 DPC count: 10659
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.846853
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 1623.525537
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0.042637
CPU 5 ISR count: 9149
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 279.053938
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.702010
CPU 5 DPC count: 38966
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.849679
CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs): 17.933174
CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s): 0.006019
CPU 6 ISR count: 1349
CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs): 373.921718
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0.128612
CPU 6 DPC count: 9802
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.625593
CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs): 23.967542
CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s): 0.028093
CPU 7 ISR count: 6051
CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs): 330.090215
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0.502978
CPU 7 DPC count: 27947
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

my 2011 SA also has high DPC latency; it is not a constant high DPC but is a periodic high DPC peak (around 1 ms) occurring after each 65 or so seconds of very low DPC (100 microseconds). i have realized that disabling Green Ethernet in Device Manager > Network adapters > Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller > Properties helped me. (also, people on the net have suggested that disabling Energy Efficient Ethernet also helps, but i haven't tried it). another thing that helped was updating the drivers to my WiFi adapter. (they're both related to ndis.sys).

 

Hi

Thanks for the comments!

I have the LAN disabled in the BIOS so it shouldn't be causing me any problems...

I also have updated the wifi drivers -- I too get periodic high DPC latency but most of it seems to be coming from iastor.sys (Intel Matrix Storage Manager?) and usbport.sys

Some people have suggested trying to switch from raid to plain sata but not sure how to do that

Any ideas on that or other issues besides the lan/wifi adaptors?

DF

 

I'm also noticing DPC issues across the board, mostly ndis.sys and even a 10ms(!) spike in acpi.sys

Disabling the ethernet adapter in windows as well as 'green ethernet' seems to have helped slightly

 

my iastor.sys is fine. i'm using the 11.1 version, have uninstalled Intel RST front-end, and am using the driver only for the RAID mode (on Intel's website, it's called the F6 driver).

 

Hi

Can you link me to the exact driver you mean?

As well could you please describe how and what you disabled on the "RST Front end"?

Thanks much in advance for any info

DF

 

see this page (it's for 11.2, i can't find 11.1 right now!)

i have uninstalled Intel Rapid Storage Technology, which has removed the GUI (and that annoying icon in the taskbar), and have installed just the driver, f6flpy-x64.zip, through Device Manager > Storage Controller > Intel Mobile Express Chipset SATA RAID Controller. make sure you install the correct RAID or AHCI driver depending on your own configuration.

EDIT: apparently, 11.1 was the beta version for 11.2.

 

I use my SVS15 for audio recording/editing/producing, and I experience none of these problems. If you need me to do any tests or look anything up let me know.

imgur: the simple image sharer - A snapshot of my drivers page from inside LatencyMon.

Here's my data from LatencyMon:

 

How long did you let that run for? Hours or just a few seconds?
DF

 

So you removed it, rebooted, then installed that, or removed it, installed that and rebooted it?

I just dont want to be left with a bricked device if I uninstall that driver...

DF

 

I believe it's listed in the report. I did 2 minutes, figured it was close enough to your 2 minutes and 36 seconds haha

 

^ as far as i remember, it asked for a reboot when i uninstalled IRST, but that was a couple of months ago, so i cannot be 100% sure. you won't brick your device, as Windows will install its own generic AHCI/RAID driver. then you can go ahead and install the Intel driver.

 

Well, I don't think two minutes is enough to prove that you DON'T have any of the issues which is what you are asserting....

Could you please run it for a few hours and see if it reports any problems?

It's only necessary to run a test for a few minutes if it IS experiencing problems but to show that it isn't requires a longer time.

I'm sure that there are 2 minute intervals on my machine I could capture that don't appear to show any problems either ...

DF

 

Possibly just found a fix:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/son...ny-s-series-owners-thread-98.html#post8926349

 

It appears from checking that link that that did not solve your issues... Did you find something that does?

DF

 

OK when I go to the intel website I see a much higher version up to .9 or so do you have the old version? If I install do I even need the Intel one if windows has a built in driver?
DF

 

Also has anyone contacted Sony about this? I called them and then sent them some info via email but have not heard anything and they didn't seem like they wanted to support low DPC, ironically
DF

 

Windows 8 helps drastically

Still a few somewhat high DPC's (~1.3ms from good old ndis.sys), but actual use is flawlessly smooth in comparison, no more little hitches/stutters in high framerate games (400+fps on 120hz screen). It's actually significantly smoother than my desktop PC, I didn't know a PC was even capable of such good timing without some kind of realtime os/optimisation.

Driver-wise I'm running nvidia beta otherwise all Sony

 

i believe the higher version number should be better (less bugs, etc.), but i've attached the one i'm currently using to this message.
View attachment Intel Rapid Storage Technology F6-floppy 11.1.0.1006.zip