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Dropouts in windows 10

Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2018 6:04 pm
by Bartho
Hi
I use ableton 9 suite on win 10 home 64bit
I also use max for live

As soundcard I used steinberg U424 or Allen&Heath ZED10FX

My Laptop is a Dell 13XPS13 with 8GB RAM and Intel i7
Using Ableton I dont use other software at the same time
Internet is off. same to firewall and malware scanners.

The laptop is on highest performance level
Processor kernels are used min and max with 100%

I use the newest asio driver for steinberg u424 and all drivers and windows on the laptop are up to date

In spite off all that I HAVE DROPOUTS AND CRASHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hat can I do?
Some friends advised me to go back to win7...?

Re: Dropouts in windows 10

Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2018 9:50 pm
by jestermgee
What is the buffer setting of your audio interface?

As a test even if its something like 256, try increase it to MAX and test the same set. If you still have the same issues, it's not likely your buffer or audio interface specifically.

Do you get dropouts with just a single device loaded (single synth) or in some projects where you have lots of devices?

What is your OS CPU readout when you have dropouts and what is Live CPU meter reading?

My guess is your Dell uses a slow mechanical drive so that could be part of your issue. Windows 10 + 5400rpm Drive + Anything = a pretty shitty time. Win7 "may" help but an SSD could also help.

Also, try and run the DPC latency check tool:

https://www.thesycon.de/eng/latency_check.shtml

And LatencyMon:

http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

If you see red, you have some issues but you can start disabling things in your system device manager (onboard audio etc) and see if anything makes a difference while the tool runs

Re: Dropouts in windows 10

Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2018 10:43 pm
by Bartho
Hi jestermgee
Thank you for the advise and the tools
The drive is a 500GB SSD

Is there a protocol where i can see the CPU usage? As I mentioned: I play during that time an instrument. When errors arrived I never had the time and the coolness to loook for the cpu usage in that moment :-(

I will try thge tool tomorrow.
Thanks

Re: Dropouts in windows 10

Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2018 10:45 pm
by jestermgee
Just use the windows task monitor CTRL+ALT+DEL > Task Manager.

Use the DPC tools when you are doing your tests, especially latencymon as it will actually tell you what devices/drivers are causing you the most issues.

Also as I mentioned, check your audio buffer setting

Re: Dropouts in windows 10

Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2018 10:43 am
by Bartho
OK
I did all the tests
My audio buffer is at 512

The DCP test was most time under 1000ms, ocacionally between 1000 and 2000.
cpu usage was under 7% during the test

But the latency monitor told me interesting things:
The main problem seems to be the
ACPI.sys - ACPI-driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0,021264
Driver with highest ISR total time: Wdf01000.sys - Kernelmodustreiber-

But what to do with this now?

Code: Select all

____
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system seems to be having difficulty handling real-time audio and other tasks. You may experience drop outs, clicks or pops due to buffer underruns. 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  0:08:08  (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name:                                        DESKTOP-6J73MAL
OS version:                                           Windows 10 , 10.0, build: 17134 (x64)
Hardware:                                             XPS 13 9365, Dell Inc., 00CTCJ
CPU:                                                  GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7Y75 CPU @ 1.30GHz
Logical processors:                                   4
Processor groups:                                     1
RAM:                                                  8064 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed:                                   1608 MHz

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):   1607,321848
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs):   6,068156

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):       1597,769618
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):       1,851693


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 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):              86,723881
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time:       ACPI.sys - ACPI-Treiber für NT, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%):          0,021264
Driver with highest ISR total time:                   Wdf01000.sys - Kernelmodustreiber-Frameworklaufzeit, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%)                          0,033699

ISR count (execution time <250 µs):                   203665
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):              1631,751244
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time:       Wdf01000.sys - Kernelmodustreiber-Frameworklaufzeit, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%):          0,445319
Driver with highest DPC total execution time:         Wdf01000.sys - Kernelmodustreiber-Frameworklaufzeit, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%)                          0,709731

DPC count (execution time <250 µs):                   2129509
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs):                0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs):                1293
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs):              5
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:                 ableton live 9 suite.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults                       10218
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process:          4750
Number of processes hit:                              48


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       23,765374
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs):                86,723881
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s):                   0,646308
CPU 0 ISR count:                                      201344
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs):                1631,751244
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s):                   12,236079
CPU 0 DPC count:                                      1487827
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       5,362514
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs):                74,670398
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s):                   0,011514
CPU 1 ISR count:                                      2321
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs):                445,475746
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s):                   0,275209
CPU 1 DPC count:                                      17476
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       4,777136
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):                138,177861
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s):                   0,199010
CPU 2 DPC count:                                      24645
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       14,853871
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):                570,439677
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s):                   1,144086
CPU 3 DPC count:                                      600859
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________