Annoying sound and video problems

Jokke

Hi.

I have a Multicom Kunshan X7200 laptop. It's a custom built laptop from Norwegian manufacturer Multicom. Specs are:

Intel Core i7 980X 3.33Ghz LGA1366
Samsung 4GB DDR3 PC1060 1333MHz
Nvidia GeForce GTX485M
Unknown Mobo, sound card (probably built-in)
Connected through the web through network cable
Win7 Home Premium.

Now to the problems: Sometimes, when using sound for anything (gaming, music, movies, youtube, etc) the sound will become choppy/crackling and distorted. This happens both when I use the laptop speakers and my headset (Koss SB/45). The only solution is to reboot. It'll work fine for a while until it starts crackling again. It can happen right after boot or it can work fine for a day or two. Updating the sound drivers from the manufacturer didn't help.

There is also a video problem, that occurs less frequently, but still annoying. My screen will go black and then flicker for a few seconds, and then return to almost normal with the error message: "The screen driver malfunctioned and shut down, but has now been restored" or something similar to that. When I say return to almost normal it's because sometimes there's a pink-ish ring on my desktop (does not show up elsewhere) and some buttons, tabs and menus are weirldy colored. A reboot fixes this. Once the driver has started crashing, it will do so frequently (as in once per 5 minutes to once an hour) until reboot. The error seems to be random, as it can happen while the computer has been idling for an hour or during gaming. However, it may be just random, but it seems to happen more frequently while surfing the web with Firefox (haven't tried any other browsers). Updating drivers seems the most obvious here, but the ones supplied by the manufacturer website didn't help, and the Nvidia homepage won't let me download. Nvidia tells me to contact the manufacturer.

I've been in touch with Multicom, and their solution is to do a full reformat. If not, I'll have to ship it back to them for testing (which'll cost a fortune). I'm ready to try some advice from you guys first.

Jokke

Ivan

PirateNinja

You should probably update these drivers:
- Intel Chipset and Graphics
- nVidia gpu
- Onboard sound
- Any custom power saving software / modes from the manufacturer

Lastly, does this happen when you are plugged in, unplugged, or both?

Jokke

As I said, GPU and sound drivers are already updated with the last version they'll allow me to download. I'll try upgrading chipset and I'll try location power saving software.

This laptop is always plugged in, as it has like 40 minutes of battery time. I have two laptops, and the other one is MUCH easier to carry around. Brian can probably verify the size of this thing. But anyways, I digress. Could the battery or power brick have anything to do with this, under or overvoltage or something? See, the first time I ever plugged the power brick into the socket, the fuse went... Might have damaged it?

PirateNinja

Sorry for not reading everything...
You mentioned you could not get your video driver updated from nVidia.
Here is the direct link to Win7 64 (English):
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/280.26/280.26-notebook-win7-winvista-64bit-international-whql.exe
and Win7x 86 (English):
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/280.26/280.26-notebook-win7-winvista-32bit-international-whql.exe

I don't think there was any damage done by the battery or power brick. The battery would actually sort of act like a middle man and protect the laptop's insides from most voltage problems, but I'm not an expert in that field.

My first idea, however, was that this laptop was having problems switching from when it used gpu accelerated applications (such as youtube) to standard desktop applications. In that case it is likely shutting down the gpu and switching to the Intel based graphics accelerator. My theory is that there is some issue occurring during that switch.

If drivers and software updates don't do the trick, I'd consider peaking in on your event log when this happens to see exactly what triggers it (if anything).

Another thought is to check your temperatures when this happens, just keep a temperature program open at all times and the next time one of the sound / video problems occurs, look and see if anything is suspiciously hot.

Other than that, I have no idea. I hope you do not have to send it in. It honestly could be faulty hardware / motherboard.

Jokke

Thanks for the feedback, drivers are installed, let's hope this helps. CoreTemp reports a low of 54 degrees celcius and a high of 65 degrees. During this period I'm just folding and surfing the web.

In my event log I have lots of errors under the label "WMI". Related?

primesuspect

I wouldn't fold on a laptop. They're not designed to run 100% cpu at all times.

RootWyrm

Temps are fine. Hell, those are exceptionally low for a laptop, especially folding. Max acceptable for GPU is 100C and CPU is 90C.

WMI errors are related. Can you copy and paste the XML of a WMI error here? (Details tab, select XML view, and put it in a code block.)

Straight_Man

Perhaps. Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is installed in Windows 2000 and more recent. It hooks into Windows Driver Model (WDM). These are complex sets of code that even I would have problems figuring out. Click one of the errors that refer to WMI and look at the details tab info. Tell us the number of the error from the error line please.

You might have WMI also refering to Windows Module Installer.

You also could check your BIOS and update if possible.

Straight_Man

primesuspect said:

I wouldn't fold on a laptop. They're not designed to run 100% cpu at all times.

Um, yes, but you do not have to give it 100% of load-- mine runs at 85% max in one core, the other is free for other uses. It folds like a champ.

Straight_Man

http://www.drivershq.com/lp/driverdetective.html?gclid=CNDzkveMmasCFRoS2godsW_woA

This might help you figure out your mobo chipset and sound driver needs(and, for others, many other kinds of drivers). The program has been, with version 7.1.x, rewritten for XP, Vista, and Windows 7. Reviews are positive. My own experience with it has been excellent. Its name? Driver Detective.

Jokke

RootWyrm said:

Temps are fine. Hell, those are exceptionally low for a laptop, especially folding. Max acceptable for GPU is 100C and CPU is 90C.

WMI errors are related. Can you copy and paste the XML of a WMI error here? (Details tab, select XML view, and put it in a code block.)

This shows up under warnings, with the description: "Display driver stopped working:

Loggnavn:      System
Kilde:         Display
Dato:          11.09.2011 15:15:48
Hendelses-ID:  4101
Oppgavekategori:Ingen
Nivå:          Advarsel
Nøkkelord:     Klassisk
Bruker:        I/T
Datamaskin:    Jokke-PC
Beskrivelse:
Skjermdriver nvlddmkm sluttet å svare, og er blitt gjenopprettet.
Hendelses-XML-fil:
<event xmlns=\"http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event\">
  <system>
    

    <eventid qualifiers=\"0\">4101</eventid>
    <level>3</level>
    <task>0</task>
    <keywords>0x80000000000000</keywords>
    <timecreated systemtime=\"2011-09-11T13:15:48.000000000Z\">
    <eventrecordid>17626</eventrecordid>
    <channel>System</channel>
    <computer>Jokke-PC</computer>
    <security>
  </security></timecreated></system>
  <eventdata>
    <data>nvlddmkm</data>
    <data>
    </data>
  </eventdata>
</event>

And the WMI-error:

Loggnavn:      Application
Kilde:         Microsoft-Windows-WMI
Dato:          11.09.2011 15:17:51
Hendelses-ID:  10
Oppgavekategori:Ingen
Nivå:          Feil
Nøkkelord:     Klassisk
Bruker:        I/T
Datamaskin:    Jokke-PC
Beskrivelse:
Event filter with query \"SELECT * FROM __InstanceModificationEvent WITHIN 60 WHERE TargetInstance ISA \"Win32_Processor\" AND TargetInstance.LoadPercentage > 99\" could not be reactivated in namespace \"//./root/CIMV2\" because of error 0x80041003. Events cannot be delivered through this filter until the problem is corrected.
Hendelses-XML-fil:
<Event xmlns=\"http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event\">
  <System>
    <Provider Name=\"Microsoft-Windows-WMI\" Guid=\"{1edeee53-0afe-4609-b846-d8c0b2075b1f}\" EventSourceName=\"WinMgmt\" />
    <EventID Qualifiers=\"49152\">10</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime=\"2011-09-11T13:17:51.000000000Z\" />
    <EventRecordID>4029</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation />
    <Execution ProcessID=\"0\" ThreadID=\"0\" />
    <Channel>Application</Channel>
    <Computer>Jokke-PC</Computer>
    <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data>//./root/CIMV2</Data>
    <Data>SELECT * FROM __InstanceModificationEvent WITHIN 60 WHERE TargetInstance ISA \"Win32_Processor\" AND TargetInstance.LoadPercentage &gt; 99</Data>
    <Data>0x80041003</Data>
  </EventData>
</Event>

Jokke

Not sure if the above makes sense, that's not how it shows up on my computer.

RootWyrm

Need the raw XML in a [ PHP ] block, actually - THANKS VBULLETIN. Derp. Needs to be the raw XML, because that's got the important details we're looking for. Which includes the triggering PID data. The [ code ] tags 'conveniently' strip out all the XML markup AND the data inside of it. YAY!

Should look kinda like this:

- <Event xmlns=\"http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event\">
- <System>
  <Provider Name=\"Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-PnP\" Guid=\"{9C205A39-1250-487D-ABD7-E831C6290539}\" /> 
  <EventID>219</EventID> 
  <Version>0</Version> 
  <Level>3</Level> 
  <Task>212</Task> 
  <Opcode>0</Opcode> 
  <Keywords>0x8000000000000000</Keywords> 
  <TimeCreated SystemTime=\"2011-09-12T23:53:52.594816000Z\" /> 
  <EventRecordID>525445</EventRecordID> 
  <Correlation /> 
  <Execution ProcessID=\"4\" ThreadID=\"68\" /> 
  <Channel>System</Channel> 
  <Computer>imalamuya</Computer> 
  <Security UserID=\"S-1-5-18\" /> 
  </System>
- <EventData>
  <Data Name=\"DriverNameLength\">58</Data> 
  <Data Name=\"DriverName\">USB\VID_045E&PID_0710\b80298f7-d18d-d2a4-82d8-26eeadcc0ce8</Data> 
  <Data Name=\"Status\">3221226341</Data> 
  <Data Name=\"FailureNameLength\">14</Data> 
  <Data Name=\"FailureName\">\Driver\WUDFRd</Data> 
  <Data Name=\"Version\">0</Data> 
  </EventData>
  </Event>

Code's stripping out the important bits.

Thrax

Actually, it should be a [ php ] block. I edited it into his post. Carry on.

Jokke

Thanks, Thrax.

RootWyrm

Thrax said:

Actually, it should be a [ php ] block. I edited it into his post. Carry on.

Yup, I forgot [ code ] is stupid on vbullshittin'. Thanks, Thraxbert.

Problem is twofold. Something's tripping the video driver, and the PID isn't being logged. Why is the PID not being logged? Because some idiot screwed up and the WMI error you got there, is WMI saying the process trying to log the error, doesn't have sufficient permissions to do that. The load spike is due to the video driver going unresponsive.

Can you go to Applications and Services Logs, then Hardware Events, and see if there's any errors other than the video driver going unresponsive in there? Fingers crossed, but hope slim to nil. Think we're gonna have to do some digging on the sound drivers and registry.

Jokke

Will do as soon as I get home. I'm at school atm.

PirateNinja

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2545227
fix: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9775756

However, none of this seems to have much to do with your original problems you posted about.

Has your display driver crashed since you got the latest one I linked to @ nVidia?

I still think you need to check the event logs the next time any of this happens, especially the system logs.

Jokke

Application and service logs - Hardware is empty, no listings, not even the graphic failure.

Thanks for the fix, PirateNinja, worth a shot.
The graphics seems stable, but as I may have mentioned earlier they happen pretty randomly, and could be weeks before the next crash.

Thrax

Not sure if it's already been said (I skimmed), but nvlddmkm is an NVIDIA driver component. If I had to guess, something is broken with any of the parts involved with Optimus. I'd update the NV drivers, update the Intel GPU drivers, and update the chipset drivers.

I would not go to the manufacturer site to do this.

PirateNinja

Ya Optimus is what I was trying to say earlier, I just couldn't remember the term for it.

Jokke, the logs you want to check out the next time you have issues like this with sound or video are under event logs -> windows logs -> system (and you can check application as well). Just make sure you look at your system time when you have the scratchy sound or crashed driver so you know apx. what time to look for in the logs. Keep us updated, cheers.

Jokke

Well, I went to the manufacturer first (sue me), but then I saw their driver was last updated in 2010, so I went to Nvidia, but they told me (through their automatic driver download/system scan thing) that I had to go to the manufacturer. Thanks to PirateNinja, my Nvidia drivers are now up to date. I'm also working on finding out what drivers are needed for my chipset and Intel GPU.

However, do any of you feel that in order to solve this I have to reformat my entire drive? Because I think, with your help, we can solve this without such drastic measures.

Update:
I'm trying to identify my motherboard, but I can't figure it out properly. I got this program AIDA64, that's supposed to find out for me, but I don't quite understand it..

PirateNinja

I don't think you need to reformat anything. We can get to the bottom of the issues if they occur again by analyzing your event logs.

Here is the chipset driver you need:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=20019&keyword=%22inf+update%22&lang=eng

I'm unsure of the Intel graphics driver, but you could probably get a relatively up to date version of that through Windows Update optional updates.

Jokke

I see, nvm.

Straight_Man

nvm?

Thrax

NVM = "nevermind."