Stuttering Audio

Hello All,

I am hoping someone can help me with a very annoying problem I just cannot seem to fix:

I have a problem with audio playback, whether it is an MP3 file, a move or just gameplay - I am sufffering from random audio stuttering. It can happen 50 times during on MP3, or not at all.

I have tried all I can think of to fix it (updating sound card drivers, clearing temp files, scan disk, even seeing what other programs are running when stuttering occurs) but I cannot seem to put my finger on what is wrong.

Here are my DXDIAG file to show my configuration, and a Hijack This file too.

Any help will be gratefully accepted.

Many thanks,
Donster.

 

Hello donster and welcome to the Board,

Given that there is nothing physically wrong with the Sound Card, the way I would tackle this problem is to minimize your startup's. Something running in the background may be interfering.

Another approuch would be to uninstall the Sound Card in DM, and have XP re detect it and install the drivers again.

 

Hi Donster,

Another reccomendation is to go to google and type in "Codec Detective" and when the google page pops up, click on "Sherlock-The Codec Detective "... Keep us posted...

 

Hi,
Check if the HDD may be running in PIO mode.

I find that after "Disk Cleanup" many files are still left in the Temporary Internet Files folder.

Do a defragmentation of all the drives (even if Windows says it is not required).

[Just some things I would investigate] Check the HDD LED when there is stuttering, is there a file checking program running (try disabling antivirus and antispyware when you are not working on the internet). Turn off Indexing.

Yours sounds intermittent, not incurable, but there is some "nitty gritty" here:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Oct04/articles/pcnotes.htm
so check your basic drivers (chipset drivers) and graphics drivers as well.

Matt
? Overheating here:
http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=101&threadID=218890&messageID=2214912

 

Hello All,

Thanks for the swift replies and warm welcome!

Have not had a chance to action all your suggestions yet, but I have used 'Sherlock' and it has told be that "The driver file for DixX 5.1.1 was not found. This probably means the codec was not uninstalled properly" Although I do have DivX 5.2.0 showing installed correctly.

Could this be causing the problem?

Many thanks,
Donster.

 

Hi Donster,

I think at this point based on your latest info, I would consider doing what Charlesvar suggested...Go to your Device Manager and uninstall the sound card, let Windows Xp find it and you can download the drivers...Before you uninstall it, after you locate it in the device manager, right click on it and get the neccessary information recorded incase any of it is needed when you go to download the drivers...Good Luck and keep us posted...

 

May or may not be relavent here but I was having somewhat the same problems.

See my Post in the XP forum "Had to see to believe. "

BillyBob

 

Hello All,

Okay, so far I have tried the following:

> Uninstalled the Sound Card in DM, and had XP re detect it and the installed the driver again

> Installed the latest driver from the Realtek website

> Installed the "Sherlock-The Codec Detective" and only found one old DivX codec not installed correctly

> I have checked the HDD is not running in PIO mode

> I have turned off Indexing

> I have completed a defragmentation of all the drives

> I have installed the latest drivers for my graphics card


Unfortunatley, I am still getting the intermittant audio stuttering. Is there anything else you may think of that could solve this?

Many thanks for your help,
Donster.

 

There might be but the only thing that comes to my mind was, awhile back I had trouble with my speakers and purchased new ones and whatever my problem was back then went bye-bye's...If you don't want to buy new ones than see if a friend has speakers you can borrow...

 

Think of...maybe you should not have asked

I had my stuttering audio problem many years ago when I was beginning to work out my own problems. I viewed it as trouble with "buffers ". The system was waiting for the buffers to be filled before continuing. One part was that my system was underpowered for any serious multimedia tasks.

Go to Task Manager, look at the Performance tab. If you run it minimised, it will show CPU usage in the Notification Tray. Any difference between stuttering and non-stuttering performance. On the Processes tab, are any processes hogging CPU usage.
You should be able to run it along side your media player. Check Page File Usage, Physical Memory Available and look in the Processes tab for differences between stuttering and non-stuttering.

Do you have a reasonable amount of RAM (and graphics resources for, say, running WMP visualizations)?

Do you use Windows Media Player or another player? Players can be set to look for updates from their webserver and I expect some might not like getting blocked by firewalls. Try getting Winamp and using that for playing MP3's as a test.

Matt

 

Hello All,

I have tried WinAmp and several other players to no avail.

Click here to see what processes were running when stuttering occured (sorted by memory useage).

Anything look odd to you guys?

Many thanks,
Donster.

 

Hi donster,
Can you confirm the last entry in your task manager as "bootdd01.exe "
I did a search and I am getting no information on it...While you are confirming that, do an end task on it as well and see what happens with the stuttering.
There's a good chance you may end up doing a HijackThis log and posting it in the spyware/malware section of this forum but first let's wait and see the results of your assignment...

 

I cannot open any of your links, maybe something is blocking them for me. I cannot see the system information.

Drivers?
I would go to Add/Remove Programs and uninstall the audio, then reinstall from the drivers CD that came with the computer. If the New Hardware wizard runs when you reboot, you might try letting it search the drivers CD, otherwise click Cancel and run the drivers installation when you reach the desktop.

Matt

 

Hello,

Because of the number of processes running, I have collaged them together so you can see them all on the one screen (Master Green - it didn't read: "bootdd01.exe" it was "hpotdd01.exe" but was on the cut of the screen shot...) Click here to see the whole process collage.

Mattman - can I post an attachment here or email the .jpg directly to you?

I have already tried uninstalling and reintalling the driver by letting the detection find the most suitable.

Thanks,
Donster.

 

Drivers, drivers, drivers, where do I start?

In your case, I would uninstall as I said in my last post. The audio will have a software "manager" and this might be conflicting with the updated drivers. The correct drivers and software should be included on the drivers CD that came with the computer. The correct driver updates and their associated software will be available at hardware manufacturer's website. Those are the places I find my drivers and software.

I strongly recommend that you don't use driver updating "services" (incl. Windows Update).

I use the original drivers/software, unless I particularly suspect there is a problem with them.

I would be "backdating" the drivers and software first, then updating, at the hardware manufacturer's website only if I suspected any problems.

Just a note...
Do you have a good set of motherboard/chipset drivers installed? These "oversee" the audio system. They also allow for the correct identification of "lower" hardware (suitable may not actually be suitable).

Matt
PS Contributing members have the ability to attach files. I would only direct you to check that the hardware is identified correctly (check the specifications and manufacturer's website), especially if there appears to be a few "unknown" or N/A listings.

 

Hello All,

I am delighted to let you know that my problem is now solved.

After trying everything suggested, I updated my chipset drivers (as suggested by mattman), and hey presto, no more stuttering!

Thank you all for your time and patience with this particularly persistant and annoying problem, now I'm off to listen to some MP3s!!! Hooray!

Thanks,
Donster.

 

I am delighted to hear it

Updating those drivers has worked for me on different problems. Often I left them for last, now I try to update them first

You're welcome and thanks for letting us know the outcome.

Matt