Sound Stutters

My PC has developed a real problem with stuttering sound, even the
windows start up music is distorted. The stuttering is there on both
speakers and headphones.
I can't pin it down to any specific action on my part.
Device Manager shows no problems or conflicts.
I have tried 3 different sound cards, including Audigy2NX which is an
external USB device, but they all have exactly the same symptoms.
I have replaced the drivers on my video card, Radeon 9800XT AGP, and
have also tried running it as just a standard VGA device, but to no avail.
I have also tried upgrading the chipset drivers (Intel 875P).
The problem is still there with no background processes running except
explorer, state mgr and systray.

My system is MSI 875P Neo ICH5 mobo with pentium 4 2.8hz and 512MB DDR
RAM. Increasing RAM to 1GB made no difference. Temperatures all seem ok.
Antivirus, Spyware and Adware scans are all clear.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Stephen

I'm surprised the system booted at all with 1GB RAM present!
What entries do you have in the [386Enh] and [vcache] sections of
System.ini??

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"Stephen" wrote in message
...
My PC has developed a real problem with stuttering sound, even the windows
start up music is distorted. The stuttering is there on both speakers and
headphones.
I can't pin it down to any specific action on my part.
Device Manager shows no problems or conflicts.
I have tried 3 different sound cards, including Audigy2NX which is an
external USB device, but they all have exactly the same symptoms.
I have replaced the drivers on my video card, Radeon 9800XT AGP, and have
also tried running it as just a standard VGA device, but to no avail.
I have also tried upgrading the chipset drivers (Intel 875P).
The problem is still there with no background processes running except
explorer, state mgr and systray.

My system is MSI 875P Neo ICH5 mobo with pentium 4 2.8hz and 512MB DDR
RAM. Increasing RAM to 1GB made no difference. Temperatures all seem ok.
Antivirus, Spyware and Adware scans are all clear.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Stephen

system ini entries are

[386Enh]
ebios=*ebios
device=*dynapage
device=*vcd
device=*vpd
device=*int13
display=*vdd,*vflatd
mouse=*vmouse, msmouse.vxd
woafont=app850.fon
EMMExclude=C000-CFFF
device=dva.386
DMABufferSize=64
ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1
keyboard=*vkd
PagingDrive=G:
MinPagingFileSize=757356
MaxPagingFileSize=757356

vcache
Max File Cache 524288
Chunk Size 256

Stephen

Noel Paton wrote:
I'm surprised the system booted at all with 1GB RAM present!
What entries do you have in the [386Enh] and [vcache] sections of
System.ini??

Ah - that explains a lot, then!
Why are you running with such a huge fixed-size swapfile?? - and with the
ConservativeSwapFile tweak??
first - let windows manage the swapfile size, and see how much it actually
uses (the Swap File in Use parameter in System Monitor)
turn off the CSF tweak
rem out the DMABufferSize

Then - remove the Chunksize setting from the [vcache]
MaxFileCache should not be needed with only 512MB RAM (but would definitely
be need if you went up to 1GB again) it may be worth trying it with a
smaller limit - say 374000, as this sometimes cures this problem
You may need to delete the swapfile altogether, if it's become corrupted -
which you'd have to do from DOS. I assume that you realise that the Swapfile
is set to partition/drive G:?? - I hope the drive exists!



--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"Stephen" wrote in message
...
system ini entries are

[386Enh]
ebios=*ebios
device=*dynapage
device=*vcd
device=*vpd
device=*int13
display=*vdd,*vflatd
mouse=*vmouse, msmouse.vxd
woafont=app850.fon
EMMExclude=C000-CFFF
device=dva.386
DMABufferSize=64
ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1
keyboard=*vkd
PagingDrive=G:
MinPagingFileSize=757356
MaxPagingFileSize=757356

vcache
Max File Cache 524288
Chunk Size 256

Stephen

Noel Paton wrote:
I'm surprised the system booted at all with 1GB RAM present!
What entries do you have in the [386Enh] and [vcache] sections of
System.ini??

Thank you for responding.

I have now set windows to manage the swap file. It now exists in C:\windows.
I have changed Conservative swap file usage = 0
I have inserted rem(space) in front of DMA Buffer size and Chunk size
I have amended Max File Cache to 374000

These changes made no difference so I deleted Win386.swp in DOS mode.

Still no improvement.

System Monitor shows zero swap file usage on start up, 36.6 MB when
running MS Flt Sim 2002 (which sounds awful now) and a steady 6MB after
exiting FltSim.

Are there any other things I should be looking at?
Could any of my system files be corrupted to cause this?

My psu is enermax 450 watt with max 33 amp on 12v.
Speedfan shows 12v reading varying between 11.86 and 12.22 when system
is idle. Does that sound OK?

I appreciate your help.

Stephen



Noel Paton wrote:

Ah - that explains a lot, then!
Why are you running with such a huge fixed-size swapfile?? - and with the
ConservativeSwapFile tweak??
first - let windows manage the swapfile size, and see how much it actually
uses (the Swap File in Use parameter in System Monitor)
turn off the CSF tweak
rem out the DMABufferSize

Then - remove the Chunksize setting from the [vcache]
MaxFileCache should not be needed with only 512MB RAM (but would definitely
be need if you went up to 1GB again) it may be worth trying it with a
smaller limit - say 374000, as this sometimes cures this problem
You may need to delete the swapfile altogether, if it's become corrupted -
which you'd have to do from DOS. I assume that you realise that the Swapfile
is set to partition/drive G:?? - I hope the drive exists!

Try this
Reboot to Safe Mode
Open Device Manager
Look there for duplicated entries - make a list, and report back if any
found (ignore "IRQ redirect" entries in the System Devices section)

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"Stephen" wrote in message
...
Thank you for responding.

I have now set windows to manage the swap file. It now exists in
C:\windows.
I have changed Conservative swap file usage = 0
I have inserted rem(space) in front of DMA Buffer size and Chunk size
I have amended Max File Cache to 374000

These changes made no difference so I deleted Win386.swp in DOS mode.

Still no improvement.

System Monitor shows zero swap file usage on start up, 36.6 MB when
running MS Flt Sim 2002 (which sounds awful now) and a steady 6MB after
exiting FltSim.

Are there any other things I should be looking at?
Could any of my system files be corrupted to cause this?

My psu is enermax 450 watt with max 33 amp on 12v.
Speedfan shows 12v reading varying between 11.86 and 12.22 when system is
idle. Does that sound OK?

I appreciate your help.

Stephen



Noel Paton wrote:

Ah - that explains a lot, then!
Why are you running with such a huge fixed-size swapfile?? - and with the
ConservativeSwapFile tweak??
first - let windows manage the swapfile size, and see how much it
actually uses (the Swap File in Use parameter in System Monitor)
turn off the CSF tweak
rem out the DMABufferSize

Then - remove the Chunksize setting from the [vcache]
MaxFileCache should not be needed with only 512MB RAM (but would
definitely be need if you went up to 1GB again) it may be worth trying it
with a smaller limit - say 374000, as this sometimes cures this problem
You may need to delete the swapfile altogether, if it's become
corrupted - which you'd have to do from DOS. I assume that you realise
that the Swapfile is set to partition/drive G:?? - I hope the drive
exists!

Safe Mode - Duplicate entries in Device Manager

There's quite a list!

CH Products - Flight Sim Yoke USB x2
Pro Pedals USB x2

Disk Drives - Generic NEC Floppy Disk x3 (only 1 on the machine)
Floppy Disk Controllers - Standard Floppy Disk Controller x3

HID - CH Flight Sim Yoke USB x2
CH Pro Pedals USB x2

Monitors - Default Monitor x3
L371 x3 (this is my flat screen monitor)

Mouse - PS/2 compatible Mouse Port x2

Sound Video & Game Controllers - HID Compliant Game Controller x4
Microsoft Streaming Tee/Sink-to-Sink Converter x2

Storage Device - USB Disk x2 (this could be my TomTom Go and
Digital Camera but they are not connected up)

System Devices - DMA Controller x2
Intel 82802 Firmware Hub Device x3
Motherboard Resources x2
System Speaker x2

USB Controllers - Generic USB Hub on USB 2.0 Bus x2

USB Controllers - USB Mass Storage Device x2 with green Question Marks
USB Root Hub x6

There is also a green question mark against each of the 4 Intel 82801EB
Universal Host controllers 24D2, 24D4, 24D7, 24DE and the Generic USB Hub

There is a yellow question mark against Other Devices which contains PCI
Multimedia Audio Device, also with a yellow question mark.

The motherboard supports 8 USB 2.0 ports and I have attached a 4 port
Belkin powered USB 2.0 Hub to one of them.

My mouse and keyboard are both PS/2 connections.
I have 3 hard disks:
Fujitsu 6GB attached as master on secondary IDE Ultra ATA controller
Maxtor 20GB Ultra ATA 100 and Hitachi 160 GB SATA attached to onboard
Promise SATA controller.

My OS is on one 30GB partition on the Hitachi

CD ROM & DVD ROM attached as master and slave on primary IDE Ultra ATA
controller.

DMA is enabled on all drives.

I disabled temporarily all COM ports and LPT port to try and reduce IRQ
sharing.

I apologise for the length of this post, and thank you again for your time.

Stephen

Noel Paton wrote:
Try this
Reboot to Safe Mode
Open Device Manager
Look there for duplicated entries - make a list, and report back if any
found (ignore "IRQ redirect" entries in the System Devices section)

No wonder the system is stuttering!! (I suspect your system stacks must be
just about full - and rather confused!)

OK
back into Safe Mode
Delete the following items (ALL instances of them!) - in the following order
and after removing ALL external devices (ONLY re-attach the devices after we
have a clean Device Manager - with a reboot between each addition)


Generic NEC Floppy Disk x3
Standard Floppy Disk Controller x3
DMA Controller x2 (this may actually be correct - but it should reinstall
both if required)
(Reboot to Normal Mode, allow drivers to complete installation, reboot again
to normal mode, then back to Safe Mode and continue)

Flight Sim Yoke USB x2
Pro Pedals USB x2
CH Flight Sim Yoke USB x2
CH Pro Pedals USB x2
USB Disk x2
USB Mass Storage Device x2 with green Question Marks
Intel 82802 Firmware Hub Device x3
Generic USB Hub
(Reboot to Normal Mode, allow drivers to complete installation, reboot again
to normal mode, then back to Safe Mode and continue)

L371 x3
Default Monitor x3
System Speaker x2
Mouse - PS/2 compatible Mouse Port x2
Microsoft Streaming Tee/Sink-to-Sink Converter x2
(Reboot to Normal Mode, allow drivers to complete installation, reboot again
to normal mode, then back to Safe Mode and continue)

HID Compliant Game Controller x4
USB Root Hub x6
Generic USB Hub on USB 2.0 Bus x2


Reboot to Normal Mode, allow drivers to complete installation, reboot again
to normal mode, then report back with any remaining duplications - you can
ignore the IRQ ones, and the Motherboard Resources.

If there's no recurrences of duplications (except the expected number of
USB/other devices), and we've got rid of the green flags, then you can start
putting the externals back in.
If the green devices recur - then you need to install appropriate driver
from the manufacturer - probably the Mobo driver set. - the Green symbol on
the existing USB's indicates that they'll only be working in v1.1 mode (40
time slower than v2 mode!)

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"Stephen" wrote in message
...
Safe Mode - Duplicate entries in Device Manager

There's quite a list!

CH Products - Flight Sim Yoke USB x2
Pro Pedals USB x2

Disk Drives - Generic NEC Floppy Disk x3 (only 1 on the machine)
Floppy Disk Controllers - Standard Floppy Disk Controller x3

HID - CH Flight Sim Yoke USB x2
CH Pro Pedals USB x2

Monitors - Default Monitor x3
L371 x3 (this is my flat screen monitor)

Mouse - PS/2 compatible Mouse Port x2

Sound Video & Game Controllers - HID Compliant Game Controller x4
Microsoft Streaming Tee/Sink-to-Sink Converter x2

Storage Device - USB Disk x2 (this could be my TomTom Go and Digital
Camera but they are not connected up)

System Devices - DMA Controller x2
Intel 82802 Firmware Hub Device x3
Motherboard Resources x2
System Speaker x2

USB Controllers - Generic USB Hub on USB 2.0 Bus x2

USB Controllers - USB Mass Storage Device x2 with green Question Marks
USB Root Hub x6

There is also a green question mark against each of the 4 Intel 82801EB
Universal Host controllers 24D2, 24D4, 24D7, 24DE and the Generic USB Hub

There is a yellow question mark against Other Devices which contains PCI
Multimedia Audio Device, also with a yellow question mark.

The motherboard supports 8 USB 2.0 ports and I have attached a 4 port
Belkin powered USB 2.0 Hub to one of them.

My mouse and keyboard are both PS/2 connections.
I have 3 hard disks:
Fujitsu 6GB attached as master on secondary IDE Ultra ATA controller
Maxtor 20GB Ultra ATA 100 and Hitachi 160 GB SATA attached to onboard
Promise SATA controller.

My OS is on one 30GB partition on the Hitachi

CD ROM & DVD ROM attached as master and slave on primary IDE Ultra ATA
controller.

DMA is enabled on all drives.

I disabled temporarily all COM ports and LPT port to try and reduce IRQ
sharing.

I apologise for the length of this post, and thank you again for your
time.

Stephen

Noel Paton wrote:
Try this
Reboot to Safe Mode
Open Device Manager
Look there for duplicated entries - make a list, and report back if any
found (ignore "IRQ redirect" entries in the System Devices section)

Thank You.

I followed your instructions and there are now no duplicate entries in
safe mode device manager.
I cannot get rid of the green ? on the 4 USB controllers. I have
downloaded and installed the latest drivers from MSI (Mobo manufacturer).
With only the Audigy NX USB connected the sound is no better. It states
it is USB 1.1 and 2.0 compliant.
Any further suggestions? I do appreciate the amount of time you are
spending on this.

Stephen

Noel Paton wrote:
No wonder the system is stuttering!! (I suspect your system stacks must be
just about full - and rather confused!)

OK
back into Safe Mode
Delete the following items (ALL instances of them!) - in the following order
and after removing ALL external devices (ONLY re-attach the devices after we
have a clean Device Manager - with a reboot between each addition)


Generic NEC Floppy Disk x3
Standard Floppy Disk Controller x3
DMA Controller x2 (this may actually be correct - but it should reinstall
both if required)
(Reboot to Normal Mode, allow drivers to complete installation, reboot again
to normal mode, then back to Safe Mode and continue)

Flight Sim Yoke USB x2
Pro Pedals USB x2
CH Flight Sim Yoke USB x2
CH Pro Pedals USB x2
USB Disk x2
USB Mass Storage Device x2 with green Question Marks
Intel 82802 Firmware Hub Device x3
Generic USB Hub
(Reboot to Normal Mode, allow drivers to complete installation, reboot again
to normal mode, then back to Safe Mode and continue)

L371 x3
Default Monitor x3
System Speaker x2
Mouse - PS/2 compatible Mouse Port x2
Microsoft Streaming Tee/Sink-to-Sink Converter x2
(Reboot to Normal Mode, allow drivers to complete installation, reboot again
to normal mode, then back to Safe Mode and continue)

HID Compliant Game Controller x4
USB Root Hub x6
Generic USB Hub on USB 2.0 Bus x2


Reboot to Normal Mode, allow drivers to complete installation, reboot again
to normal mode, then report back with any remaining duplications - you can
ignore the IRQ ones, and the Motherboard Resources.

If there's no recurrences of duplications (except the expected number of
USB/other devices), and we've got rid of the green flags, then you can start
putting the externals back in.
If the green devices recur - then you need to install appropriate driver
from the manufacturer - probably the Mobo driver set. - the Green symbol on
the existing USB's indicates that they'll only be working in v1.1 mode (40
time slower than v2 mode!)

http://us-download.msi.com.tw/suppor...r/iusb509x.exe
would appear to be the drivers for the onboard USB hubs


Have you tried using MSI's LiveUpdate to check the status of the other
onboard drivers??
http://us-download.msi.com.tw/suppor...LiveUpdate.zip
(you can use the utility's preference settings to prevent it loading at
boot)

How is the sound using just the onboard AC97 output?

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"Stephen" wrote in message
...
Thank You.

I followed your instructions and there are now no duplicate entries in
safe mode device manager.
I cannot get rid of the green ? on the 4 USB controllers. I have
downloaded and installed the latest drivers from MSI (Mobo manufacturer).
With only the Audigy NX USB connected the sound is no better. It states it
is USB 1.1 and 2.0 compliant.
Any further suggestions? I do appreciate the amount of time you are
spending on this.

Stephen

Noel Paton wrote:
No wonder the system is stuttering!! (I suspect your system stacks must
be just about full - and rather confused!)

OK
back into Safe Mode
Delete the following items (ALL instances of them!) - in the following
order and after removing ALL external devices (ONLY re-attach the devices
after we have a clean Device Manager - with a reboot between each
addition)


Generic NEC Floppy Disk x3
Standard Floppy Disk Controller x3
DMA Controller x2 (this may actually be correct - but it should reinstall
both if required)
(Reboot to Normal Mode, allow drivers to complete installation, reboot
again to normal mode, then back to Safe Mode and continue)

Flight Sim Yoke USB x2
Pro Pedals USB x2
CH Flight Sim Yoke USB x2
CH Pro Pedals USB x2
USB Disk x2
USB Mass Storage Device x2 with green Question Marks
Intel 82802 Firmware Hub Device x3
Generic USB Hub
(Reboot to Normal Mode, allow drivers to complete installation, reboot
again to normal mode, then back to Safe Mode and continue)

L371 x3
Default Monitor x3
System Speaker x2
Mouse - PS/2 compatible Mouse Port x2
Microsoft Streaming Tee/Sink-to-Sink Converter x2
(Reboot to Normal Mode, allow drivers to complete installation, reboot
again to normal mode, then back to Safe Mode and continue)

HID Compliant Game Controller x4
USB Root Hub x6
Generic USB Hub on USB 2.0 Bus x2


Reboot to Normal Mode, allow drivers to complete installation, reboot
again to normal mode, then report back with any remaining duplications -
you can ignore the IRQ ones, and the Motherboard Resources.

If there's no recurrences of duplications (except the expected number of
USB/other devices), and we've got rid of the green flags, then you can
start putting the externals back in.
If the green devices recur - then you need to install appropriate driver
from the manufacturer - probably the Mobo driver set. - the Green symbol
on the existing USB's indicates that they'll only be working in v1.1 mode
(40 time slower than v2 mode!)