[SOLVED] Windows 11 - Audio Cracks and Pops. FIX: I removed an old and defective (Samsung) SSD.

Goretto

Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2022
Posts
5
Hi,

  • Write a brief description of your problem.
    • I use a Steel Series GameDAC for my audio, plugged via USB on a Windows 11 (22H2) PC but the issue was already present when still on Windows 10 and I attributed it to GameDAC (wrongly, most likely, see below). I get these popping noises when I start/stop audio (example: YT video) and randomly get those popping noise when audio is playing.
    • Steps tried:
      • To isolate the issue, I tried plugging my headphones directly into the 3.5mm audio jack on my PC and using Realtek as the audio output: same problem
      • Different headphones
      • I used LatencyMon and found that storahci.sys is giving Highest reported DPC routine execution time and Wdf01000.sys is giving Highest Reported ISR routine execution time.
      • I reinstalled the Standard SATA AHCI Controller from Device Manager
      • I downloaded all Chipset, Realtek Audio and Realtek LAN drivers from the ASROCK website for my motherboard (AsRock B550M Pro4) and installed them.
      • I changed the MSISupported value of "Standard SATA AHCI Controller" (storahci.sys), from 1 to 0 after identifying the PCI String in Device Manager. Btw, the value in the Registry did not exist, so the command found in another thread created it.
      • Tried putting CPU affinity to 2nd physical core on audiodg.exe process as well as setting it's CPU priority to high in process lasso
      • Disabled all audio devices except GameDAC
      • Disabled all audio devices except Realtek Audio
  • OS ? (Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista)
    • Windows 11 22H2
  • x86 (32bit) or x64 (64bit)?
    • 64bit
  • What was original installed OS on system?
    • Windows 10
  • Is the OS an OEM version (came pre-installed on system) or full retail version (YOU purchased it from retailer)?
    • Full retail version
  • Age of system? (hardware)
    • New Motherboard (AsRock B550M Pro4), CPU (AMD Ryzen 5600X), GPU (Colorful RTX 3080), PSU (MSI MPG A750GF 750W Gold) and extra pair of RAM sticks (Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX PC25600 16GB (2X8GB) - CMK16GX4M2B3200C16) about a year ago
    • 1 pair of RAM sticks a few years ago (same model as the new one, but DRAM manufacturer is Samsung and the other is SK Hynix)
    • M.2 NVME SSD at the end of 2019 (ADATA XPG SX8200 PRO 1TB M.2 NVMe). Boot drive.
    • 1 x SATA SSD for storage (old, 11 years)
    • 1 x SATA HDD for storage (old, 11 years)
  • Age of OS installation?
    • Windows 10 reinstalled earlier this forgot when but upgraded to Windows 11 recently (few weeks ago)
  • Have you re-installed the OS?
    • No, would rather not
  • System Manufacturer?
    • Self built
  • Laptop or Desktop?
    • Desktop
  • MotherBoard - (if NOT a laptop)
    • AsRock B550M Pro4
  • CPU
    • AMD Ryzen 5600X
  • RAM (brand, EXACT model, what slots are you using?)
    • As reported by CPU-Z:
      • Slots 1 & 2: Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX PC25600 16GB (2X8GB) - CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 (Samsung chips)
      • Slots 3 & 4: Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX PC25600 16GB (2X8GB) - CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 (SK Hynix)
  • Video Card
    • ColorFul iGame RTX 3080 Advanced OC 10G-V
  • Power Supply - brand & wattage (if laptop, skip this one)
    • MSI MPG A750GF 750W Gold
  • Is driver verifierenabled or disabled?
    • I don't believe so. Never touched this.
  • What security software are you using? (Firewall, antivirus, antimalware, antispyware, and so forth)
    • Only Windows Defender
  • Are you using proxy, vpn, ipfilters or similar software?
    • I use Private Internet Access from time to time but it is not running and active all the time
    • I use DNSCrypt (the country where I live blocks reddit)
  • Are you using Disk Image tools? (like daemon tools, alcohol 52% or 120%, virtual CloneDrive, roxio software)
    • No
  • Are you currently under/overclocking? Are there overclocking software installed on your system?
    • CPU: only using Performance Boost Overdrive from AMD
    • GPU: slight underclock and boost to memory

Speccy: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/AoqfaGH1Z5qgdOp6A88blyW
SysnativeFileCollectionApp.zip: SysnativeFileCollectionApp.zip
Trace.etl: trace.etl

I'm not sure if the trace.etl worked well because I get an error after following these steps:
1. run elevated command: xperf -on DiagEasy
2. play a YT video, open LatencyMon, wait for pop and high DPC
3. run elevated command: xperf -d "%userprofile%\Desktop\trace.etl"
4. Then I get the error: xperf: error: NT Kernel Logger: The instance name passed was not recognized as valid by a WMI data provider (0x1069)

However, I was able to get the trace.etl file by:
1. run elevated command: xperf -on DiagEasy
2. wait for a bit while keeping the cmd window open
3. run elevated command: xperf -d "%userprofile%\Desktop\trace.etl"


EDIT: I figured that running latencymon while using xperf gave me the 0x1069 error

Your help would be much appreciated!
 
Last edited:
Update: I found the issue.

First of all, I realize that the links I provided in the OP are expired which probably explains why nobody is able to help me.

Nevertheless, LatencyMon reported storahci.sys as the culprit whenever I had audio pops and high dpc on that driver.

I have 4 drives on my PC:
1 x M2 NVME
1 x SATA 3 HDD
1 x SATA 3 SSD 120GB (Corsair)
1 x SATA 3 SSD 250GB (Samsung)

I realized recently that the Samsung SSD wasn't detected anymore (I don't use it much so I didn't notice immediately) but didn't connect it to the audio stuttering.

I unplugged all SATA drives = no more high dpc on storahci.sys.
I plugged just the Samsung = issue is back
I plugged all SATA drives except the Samsung = issue disappears

And all this time, the Samsung drive is not detected.
 
Update: I found the issue.

First of all, I realize that the links I provided in the OP are expired which probably explains why nobody is able to help me.

Nevertheless, LatencyMon reported storahci.sys as the culprit whenever I had audio pops and high dpc on that driver.

I have 4 drives on my PC:
1 x M2 NVME
1 x SATA 3 HDD
1 x SATA 3 SSD 120GB (Corsair)
1 x SATA 3 SSD 250GB (Samsung)

I realized recently that the Samsung SSD wasn't detected anymore (I don't use it much so I didn't notice immediately) but didn't connect it to the audio stuttering.

I unplugged all SATA drives = no more high dpc on storahci.sys.
I plugged just the Samsung = issue is back
I plugged all SATA drives except the Samsung = issue disappears

And all this time, the Samsung drive is not detected.


Thank you so much for finding this solution! it worked for me as well! been struggling with this issue a few months so I super happy this worked! Merry Christmas
 

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