[SOLVED] [W10StdV1703b15063 x64] DPC audio crackling. BIOS UPDATE FIXED THIS.

[Dallas]

Hello,

Thanks for reading my first post here! I've been trying to troubleshoot some audio issues I've been having with my Alienware 17 R3 laptop. When listening to audio it crackles and pops and I've run LatencyMon tests that confirm to me that this is a dpc latency issue. Specifically it seems like NDIS.sys is the issue but I think it could be more drivers as well. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of knowledge when it comes to latency issues. I believe I have all of the files requested for help but let me know if I missed something that is needed. I greatly appreciate any help you can give.

 

[Dallas]

Re: DPC Latency causing audio crackling

QUICK SPECS:
Intel i7-6700HQ @ 2.6GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M
8GB DDR4 RAM
Motherboard: Alienware model 0GH72M

 

[writhziden]

Re: DPC Latency causing audio crackling

The first non-Windows driver listed that is likely causing issues is your Intel Storage Controller driver. Check your Alienware support for any driver updates related to your Intel Storage Controller.

I also notice that your system is setup in a RAID configuration. I do not know why laptop manufacturers have started doing that (I recently found out my own laptop was setup that way), but RAID is not recommended for the average user. It also makes troubleshooting issues with Intel controllers more difficult because Microsoft does not have generic driver versions to test with. The only safe way to switch to SATA from RAID is to backup important data on the system and clean install Windows after changing to SATA through the BIOS. Hopefully that will not be necessary, but if you cannot resolve the issue by installing different driver versions, a clean install should be considered.


EDIT: It looks like your system also has a BIOS update available. It addresses the following:

Fixes & Enhancements
Enhancements:
1. Update Intel microcode
2. Update RAID Option ROM
3. Update Intel GOP and VBIOS
4. Improve user experience of Alienware Command Center
5. Security enhancement

 

[Dallas]

Re: DPC Latency causing audio crackling

The first non-Windows driver listed that is likely causing issues is your Intel Storage Controller driver. Check your Alienware support for any driver updates related to your Intel Storage Controller.

I also notice that your system is setup in a RAID configuration. I do not know why laptop manufacturers have started doing that (I recently found out my own laptop was setup that way), but RAID is not recommended for the average user. It also makes troubleshooting issues with Intel controllers more difficult because Microsoft does not have generic driver versions to test with. The only safe way to switch to SATA from RAID is to backup important data on the system and clean install Windows after changing to SATA through the BIOS. Hopefully that will not be necessary, but if you cannot resolve the issue by installing different driver versions, a clean install should be considered.


EDIT: It looks like your system also has a BIOS update available. It addresses the following:

Fixes & Enhancements
Enhancements:
1. Update Intel microcode
2. Update RAID Option ROM
3. Update Intel GOP and VBIOS
4. Improve user experience of Alienware Command Center
5. Security enhancement

The BIOS update seemed to fix the issue for me although I'm not 100% sure it won't come back again. Thanks for the help!

 

[xilolee]

Re: DPC Latency causing audio crackling

Marked as solved, but keep us updated if it happens again.