Windows 10 v1903 - ntoskrnl.exe & ISR/DPC latency spikes

Anonymous
2019-05-31T18:33:50+00:00

Hi,

After updating to 1903 LatencyMon associates ntoskrnl.exe with large latency spikes on the order of ~1,300µs. Same results with KB4497935.

I posted here too as I thought it could be related to the GPU driver:

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/1120890/geforce-drivers/win10-ver-1903-ntoskrnl-exe-large-latency-spikes-/

Others are also reporting similar symptoms. E.g. in some instances this results in noticeable audio clicks/pops.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/bu34xv/update_1903_high_dpc_latency_issues/

Are you seeing similar results?

Does anyone at Microsoft acknowledge this?

It should be easily reproducible.

Thanks,

Howard

SOLUTION:

KB4505903 seems to have significantly mitigated the ntoskrnl.exe latency spikes for many users.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-07-02T20:09:30+00:00

    @Microsoft: Please put this issue on your list, it's really a show-stopper for all people doing media production. Thanks!

    I'm having the same problem and use my PC for music production. Microsoft please get your act together and release an update asap. It's been WEEKS since the 1903 release and still no resolution to this major problem. I so wish Microsoft would wait to release major updates, until ALL probs are ironed out. :(

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-07-02T13:08:08+00:00

    I'm also fighting against the same issue here. Since upgrading to 1903 I also experience DPC lateny spikes from ntoskrnl.exe with up to 2.5ms. This is unacceptable for audio production. I tried all so-called fixes and tweaks I found in the net, but in the end only downgrading/reinstalling 1809 really solves the issue.

    @Microsoft: Please put this issue on your list, it's really a show-stopper for all people doing media production. Thanks!

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-06-28T11:54:58+00:00

    I wasn't running any third party antivirus, think your issue is unrelated to this one.       

    In this instance it's most likely a Windows kernel issue with some hardware configurations.

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-06-28T10:50:04+00:00

    I have been using LatencyMon to track the spikes. 

    Short story

    Try removing any third party Anti-Virus product active on your system and reboot.  Worked for me!. Worth a try?

    Long story...

    In a Galaxy Far Far.. (sorry couldn't stop myself)

    Can I just say that I had exactly the same issue with the spikes, but much more prevalent - VERY high.  It was affecting audio severely as well as the speed of the system (the mouse would slow horribly too).   Techy bit - Interrupt to DPC latency and reported DPC execution time counts (µs) spike well over 2000 (sometimes showing 22000!)

    It was doing this randomly -  every few seconds, but *could* then be OK for a minute, then start again.  The seeming culprits were with NDIS, DX and USB component drivers.

    From another forum it was advised to boot to safe mode, after disabling ALL startup programs, and none Microsoft services (this is achieved in Win10 via 'MSCONFIG').

    I did as suggested, and rebooted into Safe mode.  It turned out it was that basic that it wouldn't let LatencyMon run.  It unfortunately disabled my audio too.  The mouse seemed fine though!!

    I restarted into what I though was 'normal' mode, and behold! no latency spikes.  I kept running LatencyMon, and after 30 mins, still no spikes.  It was then I noticed my Anti-virus was disabled.  The system services had not restarted.  Sooo, re -ran MSCONFIG, ensuring 'Normal startup' was selected in the General tab, and rebooted.

    And guess what - my AV solution was active, and the latency back with it.  To make sure, I uninstalled the AV client (BitDefender Total Security 2019), rebooted, and left LatencyMon running for hours.  The system has gone back to normal with no appreciable spikes!!!

    NOTE: There is a slightly higher count of Hard Faults than I would have expected, however I believe this is another Win10 1903 introduced quirk.  I'm not witnessing any noticeable side effects.

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  5. Anonymous
    2019-06-25T18:50:01+00:00

    I rolled back to 1803 and problems are gone.I blocked the feature update until MS gets a handle on all the issues that our out there.The dropped frames I was getting are gone so its a conflict with 1903.

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