Board of Governors Don Desfosse Posted December 5, 2011 at 02:29 PM Board of Governors Posted December 5, 2011 at 02:29 PM Hi folks, looking for some help if anyone's got any experience with this type of problem. Running FSX/SB4 on a quad-core AMD PC, Vista 32bit, 9800 graphics, Realtek HD audio (I think it's onboard), 4GB RAM. I can get the full set of specs when I get home late tonight if more detail helps. Problem just started happening a few weeks ago, and I've been doing everything I can think of to isolate it to no avail. FSX/SB4 runs just fine for 1-3 minutes, FSX shows 10-20fps, then all of a sudden my CPU goes to 100% utilized, FSX goes to 0-1 (often 0.1) fps, gets really jerky, and SB4 audio is intermittent and badly broken. Problem lasts for generally 4-8 seconds, then goes back fine. All I can see happening is that a process audiodg.exe jumps from 0-1% CPU to 8-17% CPU during that period. Did several google/net/forum searches and didn't get anything useful. Have tried disabling audiodg.exe but then no sound (sorry guys working OAK DEP/CTR last Friday night for that....). Realtek (audiodg) drivers are current. Not a lot of "garbage" running in the background; I keep that to a minimum. Oldest system restore point is from AFTER the problem started happening, so can't do that to fix the problem. Disk defragged recently (about a month ago), but I don't think the problem began coincidentally with the defrag. No issues with FSX offline (without SB4 running). Haven't totally nailed down a trigger for the problem; may or may not be triggered by any audio coming through (out or in) SB4 (untested theory). Only other active software running has been Firefox. Haven't tried to replicate the problem with nothing running but Firefox, but I may try to do that late tonight when I get home. Also, just occurred to me -- I'm now, and maybe this started happening at the same time, getting error messages from Firefox saying that it was using a large amount (200+MB) of memory. I'll try troubleshooting that next, but in parallel, if anyone's experienced this type of issue, any pointers toward resolution would be appreciated. Many thanks! Does anyone have any experience with this type of issue? I know I can get a new machine, but honestly it does everything I need it to very well, except now all of a sudden it doesn't run FSX/SB4 well. Don Desfosse Vice President, Operations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom van der elst Posted December 6, 2011 at 03:32 AM Posted December 6, 2011 at 03:32 AM Easy way to see if it is the audio : Disable the sound ingame, I believe it was Q in FS9 and it might still be so in FSX. That should give a clue as to the sound being the cause. And you might also try this here : http://technicallyeasy.net/2009/03/fix-audiodgexe-high-cpu-usage/ cheers Tom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board of Governors Don Desfosse Posted December 6, 2011 at 04:25 AM Author Board of Governors Posted December 6, 2011 at 04:25 AM Thanks much, Tom. I should have explained in my original post that most folks who have had an issue with audiodg.exe have found that their fix entailed/included disabling Enhancements for their playback device. When I'm using my headset, that option isn't even available, so that's not it. Will try the FSX sound disabling -- that will likely help confirm/deny that it's SB4 related. Thanks! Don Desfosse Vice President, Operations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wycliffe Barrett Posted December 6, 2011 at 10:58 AM Posted December 6, 2011 at 10:58 AM When i saw the title I was going to suggesta plumber to lag your pipes but then realised I was in the vatsim.net forum. This sounds like a heat issue. Check inside the case for fluff, any blockage of the fans, check the main cpu heatsink and bonding paste. get a good pc diagnostic tool and check temps against known manufaturer reccomended specs. go to http://www.snapfiles.com to find a utility. PC wizard is good. A friend here in the UK had the same issue, a sudden increase in cpu usage and high temps. He bought a new cooler fan and case and all of that solved the problems. Wycliffe Wycliffe Barrett: C3 Controller "if god meant for us to fly, he would have given us tickets" Mel Brooks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board of Governors Don Desfosse Posted December 6, 2011 at 02:02 PM Author Board of Governors Posted December 6, 2011 at 02:02 PM I love the utility! But that wasn't it.... Sometimes it's the simple things, I guess.... I killed firefox and opened 8 Chrome tabs. Chopped my memory usage by 75%. Still lagged. Killed SB4. Still lagged. Killed sound. Lagged once in a great while. Thought to myself.... Stop.... stop thinking about what changed because that's not getting you there. Get back to basics. Went in and reduced some of the FSX sliders. Voila. Now I don't remember changing anything, so who knows, but I have a fix that will hopefully keep me and the controllers happier when I fly. Thanks to all for pondering the issue, and for the suggestions. Don Desfosse Vice President, Operations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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