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Sound Problems on Dell Laptop

Posted: 20:22, 21 August 2012
by citizenzero
Hello,

I have problems with my laptop that I can’t correct no matter what I try.
Dropout is the symptom and happens in any application that uses sound: Sonar, Forte Performer (soft synth hosting application), Windows Media Player, watching movies or videos online, etc.
I’ve tried adjusting latency, experimenting with the buffer, and lately bought a new Hard Drive that will be dedicated to just audio (ie: no internet, no network connection to my Desktop, no superfluous software, etc.
I can’t even get it to work correctly with this new drive which has nothing else on it but the soundcard! The only thing I can think of is perhaps it’s something to do with IRQ. Is there a way to force the assignment of a lower number?
Whenever I’ve installed the Soundcard (Edirol UA-25EX), (and from what I read, because of ACPI), it just installs down at the very bottom of the IRQ list. I don’t really understand this stuff, but from what I’ve read (the M-Audio site has an article on IRQ’s), you need an IRQ slot of 15 or lower (physical IRQ’s), and one that isn’t shared.

The IRQ assignment is low (23, which would make it a virtual IRQ, and it’s all the way at the bottom of the list), and I’ve checked per the article just mentioned, and although it’s not shared with anything, the article also mentions that you can’t see if a virtual IRQ is shared. How can you reassign to a lower IRQ if you have no control over the assignment to begin with? I’m not even sure this is necessarily the answer to my woes, but it’s something I haven’t tried. As you can see below, there should be more than enough processing power to run a few soft synths inside of either Sonar (Home Edition) or through the hosting software Forte Performer.

I’ve been using the USB connection in the back of the computer (dedicated to the soundcard) because a few people online mentioned that the ones in the back are more “directly connected”, whatever that means….

I’m totally frustrated with this….

Please help!

Link to the M-Audio IRQ article:

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=sup ... 5aec1f755b

My info:

Dell Latitude D820 (Intel Core 2 Duo T7200, 2GHz, 667Mhz 4M L2 Cache,
2GB DDR2-667 SDRAM, Toshiba 7200 RPM SATA Drive.

Re: Sound Problems on Dell Laptop

Posted: 15:41, 10 February 2013
by motic
Maybe i can give a 'partial' tip..
As you can see, with Everest you can see if an IRQ is shared! but concerning changing it i don't know how to help .
Have kind of same problem with an Eigenlabs Tau (instrument) and Komplete 6 Audio where i can't achieve a good (smooth) enough sound, even with dedicated low latency or ASIO4ALL drivers.
Being an I7-860 3Ghz machine you would say should be sufficient but no luck here.
Don't think the new HD will help (at least not without installing a complete new clean windows on it) cause the problem is probably in the current windows it self and that stays the same.
Hope it helps anyone a little bit even if probably much too late ...

Re: Sound Problems on Dell Laptop

Posted: 13:52, 25 May 2013
by 2:43AM
Citizenzero, have you tried running the application dpclat.exe? This will visually see where the drop outs may be occuring.

I understand your frustration. I use a Firewire interface and absolutely could not get it to function without cutouts and have a decent buffer (i.e. small) without narrowing down the culprit to be my motherboard. A manufacturer's "defect" rendered it incompatible for streaming audio despite being a superior motherboard for all other applications. After replacing the mobo with another from another manufacturer, my audio has been clean and trouble-free.

Re: Sound Problems on Dell Laptop

Posted: 11:16, 2 October 2015
by Alazarin
I had no end of problems with Dell laptops. And, yes, dpclat.exe is a useful guide. For anyone still experiencing these sort of problems try turning off Wi-Fi [and maybe even your LAN chip] and see if that resolves your problem.

Re: Sound Problems on Dell Laptop

Posted: 07:55, 20 December 2018
by StormFiber
citizenzero wrote:Hello,

I have problems with my laptop that I can’t correct no matter what I try.
Dropout is the symptom and happens in any application that uses sound: Sonar, Forte Performer (soft synth hosting application), Windows Media Player, watching movies or videos online, etc.
I’ve tried adjusting latency, experimenting with the buffer, and lately bought a new Hard Drive that will be dedicated to just audio (ie: no internet, no network connection to my Desktop, no superfluous software, etc.
I can’t even get it to work correctly with this new drive which has nothing else on it but the soundcard! The only thing I can think of is perhaps it’s something to do with IRQ. Is there a way to force the assignment of a lower number?
Whenever I’ve installed the Soundcard (Edirol UA-25EX), (and from what I read, because of ACPI), it just installs down at the very bottom of the IRQ list. I don’t really understand this dp stuff, but from what I’ve read (the M-Audio site has an article on IRQ’s), you need an IRQ slot of 15 or lower (physical IRQ’s), and one that isn’t shared.

The IRQ assignment is low (23, which would make it a virtual IRQ, and it’s all the way at the bottom of the list), and I’ve checked per the article just mentioned, and although it’s not shared with anything, the article also mentions that you can’t see if a virtual IRQ is shared. How can you reassign to a lower IRQ if you have no control over the assignment to begin with? I’m not even sure this is necessarily the answer to my woes, but it’s something I haven’t tried. As you can see below, there should be more than enough processing power to run a few soft synths inside of either Sonar (Home Edition) or through the hosting software Forte Performer.

I’ve been using the USB connection in the back of the computer (dedicated to the soundcard) because a few people online mentioned that the ones in the back are more “directly connected”, whatever that means….

I’m totally frustrated with this….

Please help!

Link to the M-Audio IRQ article:

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=sup ... 5aec1f755b

My info:

Dell Latitude D820 (Intel Core 2 Duo T7200, 2GHz, 667Mhz 4M L2 Cache,
2GB DDR2-667 SDRAM, Toshiba 7200 RPM SATA Drive.
I have a Dell Inspiron 1545. It's about 6 months old and everythings been working fine till i tried to watch a video about a day ago and the sound wouldn't work at all. I have no sound period. When i try to open a video in window's media player, use youtube, or put a CD in my computer it freezes. I have checked for updates for my driver. I have also used a troubleshooter and no problems were detected. I don't know what to do! please help!