Win 10 AU - Very High ISR counts for DirectX Kernel

NoChance

NoChance

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 2, 2016
Posts
59
I'm debugging what is causing massive microStutter in some games.

When looking at LatencyMon, I can see that the directX kernel is making a huge amount of ISR calls.

I have taken a trace already and uploaded it to Dropbox.

I can send the link to anyone who can help!
 
Speccy Info:

Read More:
 
Hi NoChance. :welcome:

  • Please provide answers for (answer the best that you can):
    • System Manufacturer?
    • Laptop or Desktop?
    • Exact model number (if laptop, check label on bottom)
    • OS ? (Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista)
    • x86 (32bit) or x64 (64bit)?
    • Service pack?
    • What was original installed OS on system?
    • Is the OS an OEM version (came pre-installed on system) or full retail version (YOU purchased it from retailer)?
    • Age of system? (hardware)
    • Age of OS installation?
    • Have you re-installed the OS?
    • CPU
    • RAM (brand, model, which slots are you using?)
    • Video Card
    • MotherBoard - (if NOT a laptop)
    • Power Supply - brand & wattage (if laptop, skip this one)
    • What security software are you using? (Firewall, antivirus, antimalware, antispyware, and so forth)
    • Are you using proxy, vpn, ipfilters or similar software?
    • Are you using Disk Image tools? (like daemon tools, alcohol 52% or 120%, virtual CloneDrive, roxio software)
    • Are you currently under/overclocking? Are there overclocking software installed on your system?

  • System information log
    You should run only one of the following commands, the one you prefer.
    Read More:
    Code: 
    msinfo32 /nfo "c:\users\YourWinAccountFolder\desktop\MsInfo.nfo"
   or
   msinfo32 /nfo "c:\users\%username%\desktop\MsInfo.nfo"
   or
   msinfo32 /nfo "%userprofile%\desktop\MsInfo.nfo"
    (Then upload it here)

  • Retrieve System Information, using speccy
    1. Download Speccy portable - actual version 1.29.714 (click), unzip/decompress it and put it on your desktop.
    2. When the program opens, it will retrieve some information regarding your system.
    3. Once it's done, select the File menu and choose Publish snapshot. Answer Yes to the confirmation message.
    4. On the next screen that comes up, choose the Copy to Clipboard button and paste this link in your next reply.
    5. (Or attach the log here, if you prefer to not publish it for some reason)


  • Download and install the Windows Performance Toolkit on dev.windows.com - included in the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) for Windows 10 1607 (August 2016) - adksetup.exe 1.65MB (click) if you are using windows 10 1607 or Download and install the one for Windows 10 1511 (pre-anniversary update) - adksetup.exe 1.58MB (click) if you are using windows 10 1511 (steps are almost identical...):
    Read More:
    Then open an elevated command prompt (right-click on the windows start button on bottom-left corner, left-click Command Prompt (Admin)) and launch these commands:
    Read More:
    You can also read the original tutorial/guide and its following posts for more informations:How to Diagnose and Fix High DPC Latency Issues with WPA (Windows Vista/7/8) (click) (by Niemiro)
 
The speccy info is posted above.
The build is mine, and is new.

1511 was the original OS install, by me.

I use vpn occasionally, though it doesn't run by default. (OpenVPN)

PS is 1150W Seasonic, platinum.

No daemon tools like stuff.

Kaspersky is the AV, most of its crap is turned off except the actual AV

firewall is Comodo.

everything is at stock freq(ram at rated XMP)
 
Yes. I've tried different driver versions, bios settings, bios versions, disabling hardware and software. I've tried insider builds, non-insider builds.

My my suspicion is that there is a fundamental issue with Pascal gpus and something in Windows 10. I am by far not the only person experiencing the issues.
 
Hi all


The problem seems to be worse, or most common, for ASUS/ASRock Z170 based boards combined with high-end Nvidia cards. We haven't been able to identify an exact, verifiable reason just yet. (If you've looked through the worst of the unsolved "latency" based threads here, you'll likely notice that most have that hardware combo).

I would expect some latency from the extensive storage on your external USB drives. This will often show as high DPC/ISR counts for the HDAudBus.sys and Wdf01000.sys drivers ("Microsoft High Definition Audio Bus driver" and the "Windows Driver Framework" runtime). [They work together]. Usually these are easy to spot - near the top of the lists in Latency Monitor reports.

One simple thing you can try: check in your Comodo firewall settings & see if you have an option to turn off a function that blocks port scanning. Since most gateways/routers have built-in functions to block port scans, Comodo's port-scan-blocking is redundant, so turning it off shouldn't lower your security protections.

I'll copy-and-paste the list of adjustments & "tweaks" that have helped some users avoid audio/video stuttering. Xilolee appears to be ready to diagnose several of the details regarding the unique mix of hardware/software on your system = so you'll have a fairly thorough examination of possible causes.

[But, just so you know: the most recent post from a user with audio/video issues using an ASUS Z170 based board & an Nvidia GTX 1080 ... solved his issue by returning the ASUS board and using a similar MSI board. Solved his problems. If your board is still under warranty.... it's something to consider. Your hardware should be insanely fast (I mean, really: 64 GB of system memory!), so the vendors need to insure your investment isn't wasted.]

(the list starts below)
_________________________
Some things to try for limiting audio/video glitches due to high latency issues and high hard pagefault issues
_______________
SSDs
Since SSDs are dropping in price and growing in size, I've lately been recommending that the worst-offending audio-pop suffering programs/games be installed onto the SSD. Windows doesn't take up all that much room, and neither do a few games (you can still keep "saved games" and other non-demanding software installed to a larger "spinning" hard drive, along with your photo, music, and video collections).


SATA ports
Some users who haven't seen any improvement by means of updating drivers have had success by altering their SATA port usage. A recent thread here concerns a system where the audio stuttering was helped by unplugging a DVD SATA drive (...and our tech Cluberti was nice enough to help explain why) ... The last few posts are where you will see mention of the SATA ports (and the nature of USB polling & the effect on latencies) .... Here's a link to that thread:
https://www.sysnative.com/forums/wi...efaults-fresh-install-usbport-sys-others.html


Hard Pagefaults
For the high hard pagefaults, it can help to:
1) Limit startup processes that you don't need
2) Limit Windows-Updates file-sharing (in Settings > Updates and security > Windows Update > Advanced Options > Choose how updates are delivered > turn off "updates from more than one place" - that will limit unnecessary background network activity)
3) Limit the amount of "telemetry" (data sent to Microsoft ... choose the "Basic" option in Settings > Privacy > Feedback & Diagnostics ... and you can try "Never" as your "Feedback Frequency" while testing your latency issues)
4) Limit any Notifications that you don't need or want (Settings > System > Notifications & actions ...[especially turn off Windows "tips"]
5) Turn off "Live" tiles on your Start Menu (to limit unnecessary background updating of any information you don't want or need)
6) Uninstall any Windows "Universal" apps that you don't want or need (Settings > System > Apps & features -- click the app you wish to uninstall) ... and for those that you don't want, but can't uninstall (some of the built-in apps) - you can still keep them from starting unwanted services (in Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services) or startup modules (in Task Manager > Startup tab)


Drivers
Hunt Windows 10 compatible drivers (this can be an ongoing process). Try generics if the manufacturer supplied drivers cause issues. Try older drivers when the new cause issues. Try and try again. Drivers are sometimes the culprits for high latencies and interrupts.


Nvidia drivers - seem to be having issues on Z170 boards, especially when paired with Realtek onboard audio. When updating to the latest Nvidia driver, try installing it using the "custom" option, and the "clean install" option. You might also see if your want or need all of the background Nvidia services that come with the latest drivers, many as part of the "Nvdia GeForce Experience" - which you can choose to install or not when you choose the "custom" install method. Here's a guide that has some details on the background services installed along with the Nvidia drivers, it might help you decide if you can do without some of them:
Disable NVIDIA Streamer Service and other NVIDIA processes - gHacks Tech News


ASMedia USB 3.1 drivers .... have proved to be an issue for some users, especially for ASRock/ASUS Z170 motherboard owners. Hunt newer versions, try old versions, try generics. Still dicey as of July 2016....


USB device drivers ... USB host controllers, USB gaming periferals (mice, keyboards, headsets...), musical instrument interfaces, wireless dongles - all these can prove to be sources of audio issues.


Antivirus
Some users find that certain modules of their antivirus program can have a rough affect on their audio quality. For some, it is especially noticeable when using the third-party firewall. You can try reverting to using just the Windows firewall, or to turn off a feature in the third-party firewall that blocks port scans (since most routers/modems/gateways have built-in port scanning blocking, it doesn't necessarily lower your defenses, since your hardware provides the service). This issue has shown up for users of BitDefender, Norton, and Avast ... it likely can occur for others as well. The issue also doesn't seem to be "universal" - it only seems to affect a certain blend of hardware/software. (I know users of Avast, BitDefender, & Norton who don't experience any issues at all).


Virtual Memory & a large set range
Since some computers experience the audio/video glitching during gaming, and Latency Monitor graphs often point to high hard pagefaults as a contributing factor (as in the pagefault tips above), I like to recommend testing things with the Virtual Memory settings for your computer manually set to a generous range (generally, with the lowest value the amount of your total installed physical system memory, and the highest value twice that number). This is an overly large range = but it can prove useful for testing. [after testing, the upper range could be lowered to one and a half times the physical memory total]... The reason for the large set range is that some games are infamous for memory leaks, and the large range might give you a better chance of surviving the memory trouble caused by the game with the memory leak.


_______________

(& hi again xilolee ... I'm passing the baton back to you! ....)
 
XHCI handoff is Off
USB Legacy Support is on
USB Keyboard and Mouse Simulator is off

Is there something else?


Note: My motherboard doesn't have PS/2 ports, so if I disable USB Legacy support, I can't make changes to the BIOS without resetting the BIOS.
 
Did you try xhci enabled?
What usb devices are connected and where are they connected (i.e., the usb port positions...)?

(I have the picture of rear panel from your bios manual, I'm not sure if there is a front panel...)
 
I have a USB Keyboard (Das Keyboard DASK3), Logitech G600, Logitech G13, and a Cmedia USB sound card.
I have a 7 Port Amazon USB hub (Via 812 Chipset). I have tried with everything disconnected but my keyboard and mouse. Didn't work.
I'm only using the intel ports on the back.

I am not using any of the header-USB ports from the board.

I use the USB sound card to avoid the realtek soundcard that is included. I turn off the realtek sound, wifi chip, extra ethernet port, and bluetooth chip in the BIOS. (I originally tried with the realtek, but disabled it to avoid the horror stories and went USB)

I have tried another non-logitech USB mouse and it did not result in anything different.

Oh, and yes, I have tried with xhci enabled.
 
The Keyboard and mouse were using the top of #11 (USB 2.0 port 9/10). Mouse is plugged into the keyboard.
Hub was #4(USB port 5/6).
No other USB ports used.
 
I should note that I removed my USB drives to remove them from the equation. They don't get used much.

The issue also occurs on the "clean boot" as Microsoft calls it. So I don't think its an add-on software thing.
 
I have 2 drivers that have high ISR's.

Wdf01000.sys, which increases whenever there is any usb activity, be it keyboard, mouse, or sound. It does it with just the keyboard in or just the mouse in without the soundcard in.

DxgKrnl.sys - Constantly increasing from boot.

I went into the bios and disabled the Alpine Ridge chip, the Asmedia USB chip, and the Asmedia Sata chip. I also disabled the network chips. That means all that was enabled was the z170 USB ports, z170 sata ports. These 2 drivers acted exactly the same.

This should eliminate a lot of board/chip hardware differences between other z170 boards.

That leaves bios settings, and windows settings/drivers.

I can't imagine what would cause this directX behavior. All PCIe power saving items are disabled in bios (by default too)

Should Wdf01000.sys constantly increase with USB traffic?
Is there anyway to look at directX calls?
 
In the same vein, watch out for any 'tweaks' done by Samsung's Magician software, specifically with regard to Power Options in Control Panel, better to use Balanced or High Performance and check the Advanced settings for whichever you use so that any power saving features there are turned off.
 

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