Vista 64 bit high ISR storport.sys

[mtaffer]

Hi guys,

Man, my PC is giving me fits these days. I started noticing this problem when I was playing the game FEAR. The sound would start looping and the screen would get stuck while the hard drive light stayed solid. When it blinked I could have the game back, but it might only be 3 secs before the same thing happened again. I also started noticing issues with stuttering or freezing in streaming audio. This led me to latency mon and process explorer. I have enclosed a pic of my latency mon scan. Storport.sys is apparently what is creating the issue here. I've tried looking up how to fix this, and in the process fixed a dpc issue with nvstore64.sys by updating the driver. But this storeport is giving high ISR's and I really don't know what else to do at this point. I got here due to sheer frustration. I tried a hotfix for the storport.sys, but it appears to have fixed nothing. What do I need to do to try to fix this?

PS. The storeport was not acting up in this screen shot, but when I pulled it back up, the isr row looked just like the bottom bar in this pic with storport.sys being the culprit.

Thanks,
mtaffer

 

[Deek]

Hey Mtaffer,

Well, you seem to speak tech...Have you already done the basics:
-Bios update
-Driver updates - Specifically audio, network, video, chipset and IO controller to start
-windows update
-malware/virus scan
-chkdsk /r ​(could be lenghty)
-defrag

Deek

 

[mtaffer]

Bios update yes
Driver updates - went through device manager and tried to update them all if there was one (there were several that did update but did not fix the issue)
windows update, I do those regularly, and I have also applied at least 2 hotfixes to stop the storport.sys issue.
Drive is clean of malware, took it to work and scanned it externally.
chkdsk, now here is the thing...it doesn't consistently move. I have done plenty of chkdsks at work and they continuously count files in stage 4, but mine might sit there at one file for 30 mins update 3 more files and then hang again. I can't even get into safe mode because of the hanging. But...I took the drive to work and ran chkdsk on it externally and it found no errors.
Defrag will also hang...
I also downloaded the Western Digital Datalifeguard and ran that on it externally and it found no issues with the drive. So, it's got to be something software related on my pc or my motherboard is shot. Here is the data report from latency mon

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 0:38:49 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: MTAFFER-PC
OS version: Windows Vista Service Pack 2, 6.0, build: 6002 (x64)
Hardware: ASUSTeK Computer INC., M2N32-SLI DELUXE
CPU: AuthenticAMD AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+
Logical processors: 2
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 4093 MB total

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 3013.0 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 4447.0 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 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): 44844.680
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 11.235329
Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 1169.720
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 3.490313

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED SMI, IPI AND CPU STALLS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The SMI, IPI and CPU stalls value represents the highest measured interval that a CPU did not respond while having its maskable interrupts disabled.
Highest measured SMI or CPU stall (µs) 84.20

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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): 179968.901427
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: storport.sys - Microsoft Storage Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation
Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.355254
Driver with highest ISR total time: rspLLL64.sys - Resplendence Latency Monitoring and Auxiliary Kernel Library, Resplendence Software Projects Sp.
Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.568720
ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 4402713
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): 1157.000664
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: tcpip.sys - TCP/IP Driver, Microsoft Corporation
Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.575447
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: rspLLL64.sys - Resplendence Latency Monitoring and Auxiliary Kernel Library, Resplendence Software Projects Sp.
Total time spent in DPCs (%) 1.876413
DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 13377317
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 404
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 2
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: latmon.exe
Total number of hard pagefaults 119099
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 96067
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 925196274251.50
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 278328.580708
Number of processes hit: 21

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 179968.901427
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 8.746358
CPU 0 ISR count: 2287378
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 1157.000664
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 52.690294
CPU 0 DPC count: 10957859
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 114.371391
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 17.750119
CPU 1 ISR count: 2115338
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 954.652838
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 34.731226
CPU 1 DPC count: 2419864
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[Deek]

What about using the manufacturers storport driver (IE- Intel, LSI, AMD, etc) rather the the Microsoft driver?

A chkdsk will appear to hang in stage 4 on huge files, but should get past that point eventually. Seatools WILL NOT report a problem until the smart data trips the manufacturer threshold, you need to look at the smart data (Defraggler is the easiest way I have found, but it doesn't with with mirrors or any raid setup, you can view the smart data on the "health" tab).

Another clue provider is HDDTune, that have a 30day trial, you can run an error scan, when it completes, you can click the "speed map" button. As long as you don't use your PC during the test, all sectors should be green, red indicates they are very slow.

HDD manufactures these days try hard to minimize warranty replacements...I have had drives slow to a crawl and still report as ok even though it takes 5 retries to read a sector. That might not be your issue though since your system should still boot...even if it was slow.

Also, an external scan will not pickup a rootkit or any registry malware entries, but it will get the files they use (most of the time)...

During a period of high HDD activity, the storage driver ISR will be high...how much HDD free space do you have? Also, I just noticed you have the m2n32 MB, try disabling onboard audio in bios and try your game...I had one of those, the audio chip SUCKS, driver too...it off loads everything to the CPU, do yourself a favor and through a cheap soundblaster card in there...I will give you one if you pay shipping....but make sure that is at least part of the issue first.

Any chance the CPU is over heating and throttling itself?

Based on your info above try this:


To open a command prompt, click Start and then type CMD in the Search programs and files.
Right-click CMD.exe icon in Programs and choose Run as administrator.
When the User Account Control box pop up, click Yes.
At the command prompt, copy and paste (or type) the following command and then press ENTER:netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt
Note If you do not want to specify a directory path for the log file, use the following command:netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt

Reboot the computer.

 

[mtaffer]

Ok, I forgot to mention that I did let a scandisk run all night long and awoke to find a completely non-responsive system.
Basically the monitor light was flashing amber and it would not respond to any stimuli.
My thought is that it lost connection to the hard drive and didn't know what to do.
This is what appears to happen in my game...it's like the hard drive is just lost or captured.
I can watch the light and when it blinks again, my gameplay resumes until it "freezes" again.

I tried to do some google searches on an alternative storport driver, but came up empty.
Maybe I am searching on the wrong thing.
When I tried to run defraggler, it would not run...it just sat there and never started.
And I have tried swapping out sata cables and ports as well.

 

[mtaffer]

That would be great!
I'm at work right now and i'm in the central time zone.
I could probably try around 6PM central time if that would work for you, or anytime after.

 

[Deek]

I am PST so 6 your time, 4 my time will work, just let me know when you are ready.

 

[Wrench97]

Have you tested the hard drive with the manufacturers diagnostic utility yet?
What brand and model hard drive do you have?

 

[mtaffer]

Western Digital and I ran the lifeguard tools on it and it found nothing wrong.
However, I had to run them when it was hooked up externally.
I could not even get the scan to start on my current PC.

 

[mtaffer]

Ok I will send you a message here when i'm ready

 

[Wrench97]

@ mtaffer Sysnative forum does not offer nor condone remote support by unknown individuals, there are way too many exploits that can be delivered to infect your system. If you choose to follow this course please be aware of the risks involved and do so at your own risk.


As for Data lifeguard did you run the long(extended) test?

 

[Deek]

Western Digital and I ran the lifeguard tools on it and it found nothing wrong.
However, I had to run them when it was hooked up externally.
I could not even get the scan to start on my current PC.

Is it the black edition, red, blue, green, re4??

 

[Deek]

@ mtaffer Sysnative forum does not offer nor condone remote support by unknown individuals, there are way too many exploits that can be delivered to infect your system. If you choose to follow this course please be aware of the risks involved and do so at your own risk.


As for Data lifeguard did you run the long(extended) test?

I agree with this...very dangerous, you can vet me if you like, we are a professional business support company (www . cnets . net) and my name is Derek Calanchini I have been in business in No. Ca since 1995...A google search will reveal everything to give you the warm fuzzy.

Derek

 

[mtaffer]

I did run the long extended test, and it's just a plain old silver 500GB WD. I built this machine back in 2006.

 

[mtaffer]

So, I was able to astonishingly play FEAR for about 2 hours last night with zero lag or stuttering...but when it came in it came in gradually and then got to the point where it would lock up every 3 seconds again. I would get mild stutters that would occur sort of randomly. As always once the freezes began I noticed the hard drive was pegged...only when it started blinking again was I able to resume the game. This time I tried something different and let it just continue instead of rebooting. I used alt-tab during one of the brief interludes between freezing to get back into regular windows. At first it seemed like only the game was causing issues...but process explorer did not really show anything weird...just wmiprvse still taking up it's usual 30 to 40% of CPU. I was actually able to alt-tab back into the game and play it again for a good 30 minutes, but after it started messing up again, this time everything was affected. Webpages freezing, trying to IM and having the typing just freeze at intervals. In short, the entire PC started acting just like it did while I was in the game. It was as if the hard drive just got captured and overloaded and as long as this occurred I could not do anything. Eventually I had to reboot, and then I got a hard disc read error on boot. This happened both times that I tried to do a soft boot. When I completely turned the PC off, I was able to get it to boot again. I started WD lifeguard HD scan before I went to sleep last night and figured I would just try to let it run. I have no idea how I was able to play the game for a little over 2 hours with no issues. I know I have started it right after boot before and immediately got the sound pauses and freezes, so the behavior almost seems completely random. You know, I would really love to solve this case...at this point my goal is to just finish the game and cave and buy a hard drive and build the new machine I have had sitting under my desk for over a year (all I needed was a hard drive). I just figured that Vista would handle older games better than 7 and I was trying to get through all of the 2005 and 2006 games before upgrading. Does this sound like a memory leak to you guys. I'm actually starting to wonder if Ram is the culprit. Is there a decent RAM tester besides memtest?

 

[Wrench97]

Bad ram does not cause a memory leak, memory leaks are poor programing issues.

Memtest86+ is the best ram testing program.

Windows 7 is built on the same NT kernel core as Vista if it plays on Vista it'll play on Win 7.


Try swapping the sata data cable out and while you are doing so use a different motherboard sata port.

 

[mtaffer]

Yeah I didn't mean that the memory leak and the RAM were connected, it was just stream of consciousness typing. A series of random ideas being thrown together in an attempt to figure out what is wrong.
I have swapped out the sata port and the sata cable, however I only moved it from port1 to port 2. I think I have 6, so I can try a different bank. Actually that just reminded me of a post I read about using a completely different bank.
I will try that when I get home. I'm also curious as to what the data lifeguard tools found...but probably will just be a black non-responsive screen like before.

 

[Deek]

How much HDD space do you have left? It sounds like after a certain amount of time you start paging out to disk and that is when you problem starts. Can you look at page file use? maybe post a pic of your taskmgr performance tab when things are lagging.

as to wmiprvse, look here: What is WmiPrvSE.exe and why is it causing high CPU usage?

I also wonder if your resplendent program that is monitoring interrupts might be causing an issue...If it has to look at every interrupt, that could be eating memory and bogging things down.

A sporatic read error indicated a HDD problem, you need to look at the smart data for the drive, record reallocated sectors, pending reallocated sectors and any of the interface error parameters. Run a chkdsk /f, then go back in and see if any of the numbers increased.

Deek

 

[mtaffer]

My hard drive has 150 gig of unused space, so I don't think that is an issue.
I've pretty much stopped using latency mon for now. I do keep process explorer running though...but a lot of good it does me if I can't see it during the freezing.
I do know that I was lucky enough to alt-tab out of game right before 1 freeze and saw the "interrputs" were taking 99% of the CPU.
That is the only time I have ever seen that though. And that was before I fixed the DPC errors by updating the sata port driver.