System Freeze and Audio Problem

Anonymous
2020-02-11T18:37:30+00:00

I have just purchased a new computer but as i installed programs, a problem was introduced. I think I had seen the same problem on my previous computer, but that is a long story!

The effect is that the computer freezes for about 5 seconds and then continues. Associated with that is a message from the Realtek Audio informing me I have just plugged a device into the audio input. It does not require there to be any audio playing at the time this happens, though if there is audio, then that either goes silent or issues what can best be described as a buzz until the system resumes. The audio can also go into a state which i can only describe as like a stutter, where maybe it freezes for a few milliseconds at a time over a period of about 5 seconds. Sometimes this produces the Realtek message, though not always.

It seems that sometimes this can be triggered by activity, e.g calling a new web page in the browser. Often on returning to the machine after a period away, where the screen has blanked, waking the system up causes the Realtek message, but no obvious freezing of operation.

But the problem can also occur when the machine is not being used. I can be in the next room eating lunch and hear the audio freeze for the period associated with the problem.

With the new system, I started by sequentially installing the programs I required. This was a processed performed over several days as I was also working on the machine as well. Among the programs I had always installed was OpenOffice, I had been using this since it was first available, though I think generally LibreOffice now does better. But as I installed OpenOffice after several days without a problem, I heard the quality of the sound change and the problem started. On average, the problem manifests itself about once an hour, so i think the initial trouble free period up to the installation of OpenOffice identifies the culprit, but uninstalling it did not help. Windows repair tool claims to identify a problem and to have repaired it, requiring a reboot, but the problem still returns, so something somewhere is damaged. Google does nothing but confuse attempts to find the Realtek drivers which could be reinstalled.

I don't know where to go. I can't believe I am the only person suffering from this problem, yet I cannot find reference to such a problem on Google. So this is my last ditch effort to solve the problem before resorting to a clean install.

Regards, Paul Dixon

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-12-02T20:18:42+00:00

    My computer was doing the same thing everyone in this thread seems to be struggling with. I applied a fix back in... March or April and haven't had the issue since then. Microsoft keeps emailing me about replies to this thread for some reason, so I figure it's a sign to share my fix and maybe it'll help with some headaches.

    All I did was open "Power and Sleep Settings" on Windows 10, "Additional power settings", my plan is set to "High Performance" but I imagine this works with whatever power plan you've selected. Go into "Change plan settings" for your selected plan, "Change advanced power settings", then open the tabs "Hard disk" - "Turn off hard disk after" - set the number to something high so the hard disk rarely turns off. Mine is set to 3000 minutes, but I turn my computer off every night so it never reaches 3000.

    In short, what was causing this problem for me was the hard disk turning off randomly and that would cause the stutter and sound card hiccups I was getting. Hopefully this helps at least some others on this thread.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-12-02T16:25:17+00:00

    Yep, just built my new pc and noticing this when playing games. Freezes the game for a few seconds, sometimes crashes it and there is almost a crackling sound for a second over the audio. 

    I am actually running AMD 5800x so guess its also affecting AMD users too.

    Tried a few solutions listed here (downloaded driver booster, changed to performance in power management) but still happening. Glad I stumbled upon this thread because I was about to buy a new PSU thinking it was spiking or something causing the issue but it seems not. 

    Any updates would be greatly appreciated!

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-10-23T18:28:42+00:00

    I am having the exact same issue, Ive done a clean install of windows, updated all drivers, disabled other audio devices, ran sfc etc, mostly everything I could find online with no luck.

    Latest fix Ive applied is increasing the virtual memory, i will reply here if anything works, and please do so as well, this is so frustrating and I dont want to start replacing hardware until I know for sure what the issue is.

    Im pretty sure its not a hardware issue tho seeing as we all have this issue but no common use cases, I mostly game on my system and watch video.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-10-22T05:32:45+00:00

    Capt Crunch11's solution has been working for me so far. I'll update in a few days.

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-10-21T11:12:52+00:00

    I looked for a long time trying to find a solution to this, and one thing seems to have done the trick. Haven't had a freeze or sound issue for weeks now.

    I set my windows power plan to High Performance mode, and inside the advanced power settings, set hard drives to never turn off. I also set PCI Express - Link State Power Management to off as well.

    I have Win10 installed on an M.2 drive attached directly to my motherboard (Asus Z370-E). I also have a larger SSD connected in SATA. Somehow during my last system install I ended up with a "System Reserved" partition on my SSD, even though I installed on my M.2. Not sure if that's part of the issue. Perhaps that SSD going to sleep due to power saving was causing the intability...

    FYI like a lot of people here, the exact issues I was having were system freezes lasting a few seconds, followed by my Sonic Studio audio driver telling my I've just plugged an audio cable in. The sound of anything playing during the freeze would get very distorted, and depending on the app that was playing audio, it would either stop producing sound at all until a restart, or continue but stay constantly garbled.

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