Resolved - Advice on how to switch out a Driver

[Armstrong 1st MRB]

Name: Ben Armstrong

Rank: TSgt.

Type of issue: DPC Latency spikes due to Driver issues

Brief Description of Issue: Probably gonna sound like a broken record showing up here with another problem after fixing the last, but this one should ideally be much simpler.

I've been experiencing brief and sporadic audio glitches in youtube videos, playing games, and listening to people in online chats but don't seem to experiencing any profound lag. I run through a bunch of forums and decide to do an DPC Latency test, find that something is causing it to spike at points up to 6000 or more, causing the audio glitches. I use windows analyzer tools and command prompts to analyze my drivers, and I find the one that is undoubtedly showing to spike to insane amounts compared to the others.

Its a driver called ndis.sys. After consulting a Driver Reference Table, I found that its the NDIS 6.20 Driver, which is from a Windows Update, which would explain why it just started happening after I loaded updates again. Its a driver that seems to govern networking and connectivity, and seems to have come out in a crappy shape.

So my question is this now that I think I've identified the problem driver: do I change out this driver for an older version or newer version, and how would I go about doing that? Or how else do I go about fixing this issue?

I have a windows 7 x64 bit btw.

***Medical Supply Staff ONLY Below this line***

Current Status: Resolved

Researching

Pending Reply

Resolved

Unresolved

Main Technician: GySgt. J. Hill

Supporting Technician:

Edited February 18, 2016 by Candy 1st MRB

[J. Hill]

it is possible that your ndis.sys file has been infected by a virus. A lot of virus's these days can and will infect that file. I would have your AV scan that file in particular. it should be in the c:\windows\system32\drivers folder. It has to do with your network card. It could be a residual problem from the recent event. Are you still hardwired in or are you back to wireless? If that shows no results, then I would try and uninstall that last windows update. Trying to replace the file with a version from another computer can give you blue screens. We don't want that. Let me know what you find and if this solution works. I will continue to research it more.

[Armstrong 1st MRB]

it is possible that your ndis.sys file has been infected by a virus. A lot of virus's these days can and will infect that file. I would have your AV scan that file in particular. it should be in the c:\windows\system32\drivers folder. It has to do with your network card. It could be a residual problem from the recent event. Are you still hardwired in or are you back to wireless? If that shows no results, then I would try and uninstall that last windows update. Trying to replace the file with a version from another computer can give you blue screens. We don't want that. Let me know what you find and if this solution works. I will continue to research it more.

I'm back in with wireless, had AVG scan the file with a Shell Extension scan, had AVG do a PC Tuneup, and both AVG and Malwarebytes have scanned the computer and found nothing in terms of viruses or malware. I'll try and uninstall the most recent windows updates, see if they make any changes.

[J. Hill]

if you go to the Control Panel, add/remove Programs, you will see on the left side a place to click to see windows updates that were installed. Click the last update and a button will appear to allow you to uninstall the last update. Hopefully, that will take care of the problem.

[Armstrong 1st MRB]

if you go to the Control Panel, add/remove Programs, you will see on the left side a place to click to see windows updates that were installed. Click the last update and a button will appear to allow you to uninstall the last update. Hopefully, that will take care of the problem.

Alright, I removed all of the most recent updates of Windows (Mostly security or general updates) from the past couple days, restarted the computer, and running a DPC Latency check seemed to come up clean for several minutes and remained solidly in the green, and its definitely much more stable than it was, but there are still random spikes at times where it jumps upwards of 6000 Us.

I may have to do another Windows Analyzer check to see what has changed more specifically and if the same driver is affecting this, but I don't have much reason to suspect a different drive from the last scan since none were acting up like the one here.

In terms of actual affects, currently I cannot notice any audio drop-outs when watching youtube videos like I could yesterday in spite of these random spikes (which are even more infrequent than before uninstalling the updates). I still have to try gaming, but I don't expect much difference.

So, in principle, it looks like my issue has been resolved to my current satisfaction, even if it has not been totally resolved and I'm not entirely sure what was causing it other than windows updates.

[J. Hill]

Microsoft may have inadvertently put something in the last update that was meant for windows 10. I will give it a few days to see how it goes. If there is no problems playing games, or ot does not return, let me know and I will close this ticket.

[Armstrong 1st MRB]

Microsoft may have inadvertently put something in the last update that was meant for windows 10. I will give it a few days to see how it goes. If there is no problems playing games, or ot does not return, let me know and I will close this ticket.

Played Witcher 3 for a few hours and watched/listened to youtube footage for a couple more hours, last time I tried playing them I'd run into serious drop-outs. Currently they are still there, but there are extremely infrequent.

Like for example, over an hour of listening to music videos, I only noticed 1 drop-out across several videos. For Witcher 3 I noticed about 3 minor drop-outs over the course of the same time. Its still nothing compared to how it was, wherein I could have up to maybe 10 drop outs in less than 10 minutes, but they are still there.

I still have a couple of the recent updates still loaded on (Internet explorer 10, and a couple updates around spelling and english hyphenation stuff), so it could be because of those, but IDK.

[J. Hill]

Idoubt spelling updates would do it, but you never know with Microsoft. LOL. If you are connecting through IE, it is possible that the update there may be causing it. Unlikely, but still possible. We need to make sure that it is not your net itself though. If you have ping plotter or some program like that, check it. Let me know what you find.

[Armstrong 1st MRB]

Idoubt spelling updates would do it, but you never know with Microsoft. LOL. If you are connecting through IE, it is possible that the update there may be causing it. Unlikely, but still possible. We need to make sure that it is not your net itself though. If you have ping plotter or some program like that, check it. Let me know what you find.

Here's a screenshot of ten minutes running PingPlotter Trace and DPC Latency Check at once. DPC caught nothing of those massive packet losses.

[Woz 1st MRB]

It's kinda strange for someone with that low of a ping to have that high of an apparent packet loss.

This article looks like it could be useful in this discussion: http://advancingmusician.com/audio-drop-ou...and-a-happy-end

[Armstrong 1st MRB]

It's kinda strange for someone with that low of a ping to have that high of an apparent packet loss.

This article looks like it could be useful in this discussion: http://advancingmusician.com/audio-drop-ou...and-a-happy-end

The LatencyMon tool they mention is definitely useful, probably the simplest tool for trying to figure out what is wrong I've seen ATM. Here's the latest screen from running that:

And hitting the Drivers Tab, ndis.sys is still the problem driver at DPC Count of over 175,000 if not higher compared to the second highest Driver in terms of execution. The Second highest driver is the Intel USB Port, but its highest execution at the time of recording was 1.253195 . . . compare that to ndis.sys 's highest execution at the time of recording was 138.300382, over 138 times higher!

Looks like the issue still remains with that Windows Update driver, whatever it is.

[J. Hill]

What are you using for a sound card, and how many things do you have plugged in by USB? What all do you have plugged in USB?

[Woz 1st MRB]

Do you know the brand of your network adapter?

In the mean time (just a shot in the dark here) could you make sure that your wireless adapter's power settings are set to this (click on advanced power settings):

[J. Hill]

The big question I have.........Is your wireless connection USB?

[Armstrong 1st MRB]

What are you using for a sound card, and how many things do you have plugged in by USB? What all do you have plugged in USB?

I have no idea how to check Sound Card, but here are all the devices:

Name NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM)

Manufacturer NVIDIA

Status OK

PNP Device ID ROOT\UNNAMED_DEVICE\0000

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\nvvad64v.sys (1.2.31.0, 49.29 KB (50,472 bytes), 01/09/2015 8:24 AM)

Name NVIDIA High Definition Audio

Manufacturer NVIDIA

Status OK

PNP Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10DE&DEV_0072&SUBSYS_38422966&REV_1001\5&2F540492&0&0001

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\nvhda64v.sys (1.3.34.3, 199.85 KB (204,648 bytes), 13/08/2015 6:35 PM)

Name Realtek High Definition Audio

Manufacturer Realtek

Status OK

PNP Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0900&SUBSYS_1458A182&REV_1000\4&42F4E46&0&0201

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\rtkvhd64.sys (6.0.1.7256, 3.79 MB (3,977,944 bytes), 09/07/2015 8:11 AM)

Name Intel® Display Audio

Manufacturer Intel® Corporation

Status Error

PNP Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_8086&DEV_2807&SUBSYS_80860101&REV_1000\4&1793E418&0&0001

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\intcdaud.sys (6.16.0.3137, 439.96 KB (450,520 bytes), 09/07/2015 8:06 AM)

(The last one is likely saying Error because the speakers are no plugged in. I do not use the stationary speakers.)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

There is my USB Info:

Intel® USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_8CB1&SUBSYS_50071458&REV_00\3&11583659&0&A0

Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_8CA6&SUBSYS_50061458&REV_00\3&11583659&0&E8

Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_8CAD&SUBSYS_50061458&REV_00\3&11583659&0&D0

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

There is all of my adapter Info:

Name [00000000] WAN Miniport (SSTP)

Adapter Type Not Available

Product Type WAN Miniport (SSTP)

Installed Yes

PNP Device ID ROOT\MS_SSTPMINIPORT\0000

Last Reset 22/10/2015 5:24 AM

Index 0

Service Name RasSstp

IP Address Not Available

IP Subnet Not Available

Default IP Gateway Not Available

DHCP Enabled No

DHCP Server Not Available

DHCP Lease Expires Not Available

DHCP Lease Obtained Not Available

MAC Address Not Available

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\rassstp.sys (6.1.7600.16385, 82.00 KB (83,968 bytes), 13/07/2009 8:10 PM)

Name [00000001] WAN Miniport (IKEv2)

Adapter Type Not Available

Product Type WAN Miniport (IKEv2)

Installed Yes

PNP Device ID ROOT\MS_AGILEVPNMINIPORT\0000

Last Reset 22/10/2015 5:24 AM

Index 1

Service Name RasAgileVpn

IP Address Not Available

IP Subnet Not Available

Default IP Gateway Not Available

DHCP Enabled No

DHCP Server Not Available

DHCP Lease Expires Not Available

DHCP Lease Obtained Not Available

MAC Address Not Available

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\agilevpn.sys (6.1.7600.16385, 59.00 KB (60,416 bytes), 13/07/2009 8:10 PM)

Name [00000002] WAN Miniport (L2TP)

Adapter Type Not Available

Product Type WAN Miniport (L2TP)

Installed Yes

PNP Device ID ROOT\MS_L2TPMINIPORT\0000

Last Reset 22/10/2015 5:24 AM

Index 2

Service Name Rasl2tp

IP Address Not Available

IP Subnet Not Available

Default IP Gateway Not Available

DHCP Enabled No

DHCP Server Not Available

DHCP Lease Expires Not Available

DHCP Lease Obtained Not Available

MAC Address Not Available

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\rasl2tp.sys (6.1.7601.17514, 126.50 KB (129,536 bytes), 20/11/2010 10:24 PM)

Name [00000003] WAN Miniport (PPTP)

Adapter Type Not Available

Product Type WAN Miniport (PPTP)

Installed Yes

PNP Device ID ROOT\MS_PPTPMINIPORT\0000

Last Reset 22/10/2015 5:24 AM

Index 3

Service Name PptpMiniport

IP Address Not Available

IP Subnet Not Available

Default IP Gateway Not Available

DHCP Enabled No

DHCP Server Not Available

DHCP Lease Expires Not Available

DHCP Lease Obtained Not Available

MAC Address Not Available

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\raspptp.sys (6.1.7601.17514, 108.50 KB (111,104 bytes), 20/11/2010 10:24 PM)

Name [00000004] WAN Miniport (PPPOE)

Adapter Type Not Available

Product Type WAN Miniport (PPPOE)

Installed Yes

PNP Device ID ROOT\MS_PPPOEMINIPORT\0000

Last Reset 22/10/2015 5:24 AM

Index 4

Service Name RasPppoe

IP Address Not Available

IP Subnet Not Available

Default IP Gateway Not Available

DHCP Enabled No

DHCP Server Not Available

DHCP Lease Expires Not Available

DHCP Lease Obtained Not Available

MAC Address Not Available

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\raspppoe.sys (6.1.7600.16385, 90.50 KB (92,672 bytes), 13/07/2009 8:10 PM)

Name [00000005] WAN Miniport (IPv6)

Adapter Type Not Available

Product Type WAN Miniport (IPv6)

Installed Yes

PNP Device ID ROOT\MS_NDISWANIPV6\0000

Last Reset 22/10/2015 5:24 AM

Index 5

Service Name NdisWan

IP Address Not Available

IP Subnet Not Available

Default IP Gateway Not Available

DHCP Enabled No

DHCP Server Not Available

DHCP Lease Expires Not Available

DHCP Lease Obtained Not Available

MAC Address Not Available

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\ndiswan.sys (6.1.7601.17514, 160.50 KB (164,352 bytes), 20/11/2010 10:24 PM)

Name [00000006] WAN Miniport (Network Monitor)

Adapter Type Not Available

Product Type WAN Miniport (Network Monitor)

Installed Yes

PNP Device ID ROOT\MS_NDISWANBH\0000

Last Reset 22/10/2015 5:24 AM

Index 6

Service Name NdisWan

IP Address Not Available

IP Subnet Not Available

Default IP Gateway Not Available

DHCP Enabled No

DHCP Server Not Available

DHCP Lease Expires Not Available

DHCP Lease Obtained Not Available

MAC Address Not Available

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\ndiswan.sys (6.1.7601.17514, 160.50 KB (164,352 bytes), 20/11/2010 10:24 PM)

Name [00000007] Intel® Ethernet Connection I217-V

Adapter Type Ethernet 802.3

Product Type Intel® Ethernet Connection I217-V

Installed Yes

PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_153B&SUBSYS_E0001458&REV_00\3&11583659&0&C8

Last Reset 22/10/2015 5:24 AM

Index 7

Service Name e1dexpress

IP Address Not Available

IP Subnet Not Available

Default IP Gateway Not Available

DHCP Enabled Yes

DHCP Server Not Available

DHCP Lease Expires Not Available

DHCP Lease Obtained Not Available

MAC Address FC:AA:14:9B:22:6C

Memory Address 0xF7900000-0xF791FFFF

Memory Address 0xF793C000-0xF793CFFF

IRQ Channel IRQ 4294967290

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\e1d62x64.sys (12.11.96.1, 476.27 KB (487,704 bytes), 10/04/2014 3:19 PM)

Name [00000008] WAN Miniport (IP)

Adapter Type Not Available

Product Type WAN Miniport (IP)

Installed Yes

PNP Device ID ROOT\MS_NDISWANIP\0000

Last Reset 22/10/2015 5:24 AM

Index 8

Service Name NdisWan

IP Address Not Available

IP Subnet Not Available

Default IP Gateway Not Available

DHCP Enabled No

DHCP Server Not Available

DHCP Lease Expires Not Available

DHCP Lease Obtained Not Available

MAC Address Not Available

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\ndiswan.sys (6.1.7601.17514, 160.50 KB (164,352 bytes), 20/11/2010 10:24 PM)

Name [00000010] RAS Async Adapter

Adapter Type Wide Area Network (WAN)

Product Type RAS Async Adapter

Installed Yes

PNP Device ID SW\{EEAB7790-C514-11D1-B42B-00805FC1270E}\ASYNCMAC

Last Reset 22/10/2015 5:24 AM

Index 10

Service Name AsyncMac

IP Address Not Available

IP Subnet Not Available

Default IP Gateway Not Available

DHCP Enabled No

DHCP Server Not Available

DHCP Lease Expires Not Available

DHCP Lease Obtained Not Available

MAC Address 20:41:53:59:4E:FF

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\asyncmac.sys (6.1.7600.16385, 22.50 KB (23,040 bytes), 13/07/2009 8:10 PM)

Name [00000011] 802.11n Wireless LAN Card

Adapter Type Ethernet 802.3

Product Type 802.11n Wireless LAN Card

Installed Yes

PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_1814&DEV_3090&SUBSYS_760111AD&REV_00\4&2EE48003&0&00E6

Last Reset 22/10/2015 5:24 AM

Index 11

Service Name netr28x

IP Address 192.168.1.11, fe80::21d8:4b3a:e2db:6932

IP Subnet 255.255.255.0, 64

Default IP Gateway 192.168.1.1

DHCP Enabled Yes

DHCP Server 192.168.1.1

DHCP Lease Expires 23/10/2015 1:36 PM

DHCP Lease Obtained 22/10/2015 1:36 PM

MAC Address 1C:65:9D:7E:13:FD

Memory Address 0xF7800000-0xF780FFFF

IRQ Channel IRQ 4294967289

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\netr28x.sys (3.0.0.41, 606.00 KB (620,544 bytes), 10/06/2009 4:35 PM)

Name [00000014] Hamachi Network Interface

Adapter Type Ethernet 802.3

Product Type Hamachi Network Interface

Installed Yes

PNP Device ID ROOT\NET\0000

Last Reset 22/10/2015 5:24 AM

Index 14

Service Name hamachi

IP Address Not Available

IP Subnet Not Available

Default IP Gateway Not Available

DHCP Enabled Yes

DHCP Server Not Available

DHCP Lease Expires Not Available

DHCP Lease Obtained Not Available

MAC Address 7A:79:00:00:00:00

Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\hamachi.sys (7.0.1.1, 33.06 KB (33,856 bytes), 06/08/2015 2:45 PM)

--------------------------------------------------------------

BTW here's something else I found, no idea if it will be of any use or not, but its a tab under system info that said "Conflicts/Sharing" This was all it showed:

I/O Port 0x00000000-0x0000001F Direct memory access controller

I/O Port 0x00000000-0x0000001F PCI bus

Memory Address 0xF7800000-0xF780FFFF 802.11n Wireless LAN Card

Memory Address 0xF7800000-0xF780FFFF PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge

I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core processor PCI Express x16 Controller - 0C01

I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960

I/O Port 0x000004D0-0x000004D1 Motherboard resources

I/O Port 0x000004D0-0x000004D1 Programmable interrupt controller

I/O Port 0x0000E000-0x0000EFFF Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core processor PCI Express x16 Controller - 0C01

I/O Port 0x0000E000-0x0000EFFF NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960

Memory Address 0xF6000000-0xF70FFFFF Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core processor PCI Express x16 Controller - 0C01

Memory Address 0xF6000000-0xF70FFFFF NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960

Memory Address 0xFF000000-0xFFFFFFFF Motherboard resources

Memory Address 0xFF000000-0xFFFFFFFF Intel® 82802 Firmware Hub Device

IRQ 16 Intel® 9 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 - 8C90

IRQ 16 Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core processor PCI Express x16 Controller - 0C01

IRQ 16 High Definition Audio Controller

IRQ 16 Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller

IRQ 16 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960

Memory Address 0xE0000000-0xF1FFFFFF Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core processor PCI Express x16 Controller - 0C01

Memory Address 0xE0000000-0xF1FFFFFF NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960

Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF PCI bus

Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core processor PCI Express x16 Controller - 0C01

Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960

IRQ 19 Intel® 9 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 - 8C96

IRQ 19 Intel® 82801 PCI Bridge - 244E

I/O Port 0x000003B0-0x000003BB Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core processor PCI Express x16 Controller - 0C01

I/O Port 0x000003B0-0x000003BB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960

[J. Hill]

WOW. got a LOT on IRQ 16. To much in my opinion. That could be whats causing the problems. Why so many sound drivers? Did you add a sound card? Need to set up a time when me and a few others can get with you on vent and try and resolve this. let me know when you are available.

Edited October 22, 2015 by J. Hill 1st MRB

[Armstrong 1st MRB]

WOW. got a LOT on IRQ 16. To much in my opinion. That could be whats causing the problems. Why so many sound drivers? Did you add a sound card? Need to set up a time when me and a few others can get with you on vent and try and resolve this. let me know when you are available.

I am available Saturday Afternoon or Sunday Afternoon around 3-5pm EST each day, then on in the evenings from 7 until at least midnight.

I honestly I have no idea why I have so many sound drivers. My best guess is that the Nvidia came with my graphics card and I enabled the audio as well via an update, or from Witcher 3 but I had those on first for months and there were no problems, so I'm doubtful it came from them, maybe that high definition one got added at some point and caused the issues. Unless you guys know better, I think I'd prefer the Nvidia over the other sound drivers.

[J. Hill]

ok, will be on Saturday to help try and figure this out. I have the same drivers you have, except for the Intel Audio. Disable that and then run the check again and see if the audio still drops out. Anyone from the MSO that is available Saturday to try and clear this problem out, I would appreciate the assistance.

[Armstrong 1st MRB]

Update here, strangely the issue seems to have dissipated dramatically on its own, ironically around the same time our internet bill period changed over. The checkers are still reading points where ndis driver is still acting up, but its nowhere near as bad as it was.

[J. Hill]

thats good. one thing we do need to check, is if this is occurring on all computers, or just the one. if its all, its the net. If its just the one, it is probably the computer. run the test on the others if you can. see how they fare.

[J. Hill]

Any update? Does it happen only on wireless or does it happen when hard wired also? Is it all the computers or only the one?

[Armstrong 1st MRB]

Srry about the delay, University work has kept me.

Situation has worsened quite severely again on my regular PC, the audio drop-outs are pretty insane, and its starting to cause some hiccups in mouse movements and typing. ndis.sys is still the issue (with an execution time of over 332 times higher than even the next closest one), and my other computer is running so slow that I cannot even load the page to run LatencyMon on the other to check to see if the same driver is acting up on the other computer, but the regular DPC checker is showing similar spikes on that computer. The LatencyMon help site sees to suggest that ndis issues are likely caused by wireless adapters, but its strange that my service provider noticed nothing wrong in speeds.

Edited November 5, 2015 by Armstrong 1st MRB

[J. Hill]

Talked with Armstrong on vent this weekend. problem comes and goes, but never quite disappears. Need a current Ping plotter or trace run from his computer and an expert on it to help some. problem seems to be network related as it is affecting all his computers to some degree, even the one that is hardwired into the modem.

[Candy 1st MRB]

Has this issue been resolved? Can we close the ticket?

[Candy 1st MRB]

This ticket appears to be resolved from Armstrong's last post. Closing from inactivity since, he can repost if the problem comes back.