Samsung 5 Series Laptop - Freezing Issues?

I have a Samsung NP550P7C on Windows 8 and it has been freezing for up to three seconds on certain occasions.
The computer will sometimes freeze for a couple of seconds on when doing one of the following things:

- Before a flash video begins playing.
- Before a webpage loads.
- Before a game begins utilizing graphics.

I'm not sure what may be causing the problem.
It could be one of these two things:

- Back earlier this year in February, I had sent the computer in repair because the audio jack was damaged, so maybe they gave me a defective unit.
- It could also have been caused by the Samsung Bios Update version p06ABI that was available back in March, there was also a recent Bios Update on the 13th of April, the version number was p07ABI.

I was hoping that the bios update would fix the problem, but it has not.

Perhaps one of Samsung's recent bios updates has caused the issue.

I may upload a video soon to show the effect that it has on games.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is a video of the problem which occurs at 01:00:

 

My best guess is that the switching of the graphics between the Intel and Nvidia GPUs is not running smoothly.

This might be a driver issue.

It might be worthwhile checking the system log in Event Viewer in case some problems are being logged which would help pin down the problem.

John

 

OK, thanks.
I'll let you know if I come across anything.

 

I took a look in the Event Viewer and found this:
http://i.gyazo.com/ee412783cf06bcaa5f1000fc2d7e2252.png

Perhaps the Bios Update (p06ABI) caused this issue.

 

That is a likely connection.

Can you look further down the log to before the latest BIOS update?

Googling that error message gives quite a few hits. Turning off PCI Express Link State Power Management seems to be one possible fix. I think you'll find that in the power plan advanced settings.

Given that Samsung's Settings program also plays with the power plan configuration then it could either be a possible cause of the problem or reinstalling it might fix the problem.

John

 

I have recently just come across another problem.

While Sony Vegas is loading up, any audio playing in the background will cut off for a second and then return later.
It freezes while loading the "ASIO Driver ASIO4ALL V2" module.

I recently installed FL Studio, so maybe that could be causing the issue as well.

You can see it in this video here at 00:34:


Also, I have looked down further in the Event Viewer and can not find another other of those logs.

 

I'd never previous heard of that software but it wouldn't surprise me if it causes problems by fighting with your other audio software.

If your Samsung comes with the Realtek audio software then try uninstalling it and see if these problems stop.

John

 

I have tried the un-installing FL Studio and also reinstalling the Realtek Sound Driver using SW Update but the problem still persists.

I am beginning to think the freezing issue is separate from the sound issue I have recently come across.
It seems as though FL Studio has caused some kind of problem with the sound drivers on the computer.

 

OK, so I have managed to get rid of the Sony Vegas freezing issue by un-installing the ASIO drivers and software from the computer.
Unfortunately the other freezing problem still remains.

 

What you're seeing is extreme latency, and those are usually caused by conflicting and/or buggy driver software. You could try and install LatencyMon (google it) and run it while you perform any of the actions that trigger the problem. It may help you discover the culprit.

It sounds plausible that it could be some of those audio drivers, and a thorough cleanout is in order. In addition to uninstalling all audio related software and drivers in the Programs and Features control panel, I suggest you delete (Uninstall) your audio devices in Device Manager and make sure to check "Delete driver software for this device". After this, reboot and let Windows re-detect devices and load drivers.

Before you re-install drivers from SW Update, see if it works right just using Windows' built-in driver. If so, just leave it at that.

For my part, if I ever get system problems that don't resolve fairly quickly, I just roll back to a previous backup of my Windows partition. It is much faster than to keep trying to solve a potentially unsolvable mess created by buggy software. I keep all data on a separate partition, which makes this approach a lot easier.

Please keep us posted on your progress.

 

Thanks for the help.
I will be sure to keep you updated.

 

Now that the audio issue has been fixed, I would like to figure out what this lag issue is and how to fix it.
Does anbody have any idea what it could be?

 

Did you try the driver and device clean-out I suggested, and let it pick up the built-in driver (or Windows Update)?

 

Are you talking about the audio issue?
That has been fixed now but I still can't figure out what this freezing issue is and how to fix it.

 

My understanding was that you experienced lags (high latency) related to audio drivers. That's why I suggested it. I apologize if I misunderstood.

Lags like are usually caused by poorly written or conflicting hardware drivers. When they process a hardware interrupt (the signals coming to the CPU whenever a hardware device needs attention) they monopolize the CPU for a brief period of time. If that process goes wrong (again, because of poorly written or conflicting drivers) those interrupts can stack up and cause lags.

As I mentioned, LatencyMon can help you identify the culprits.

 

Well I have done the test using LatencyMon and here is what I got:

Spoiler

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system seems to have difficulty handling real-time audio and other tasks. You may experience drop outs, clicks or pops due to buffer underruns. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:00:30 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: SAMSUNG-PC
OS version: Windows 8 , 6.2, build: 9200 (x64)
Hardware: 550P5C/550P7C, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., SAMSUNG_NP1234567890
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 8079 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 2395.0 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 2014.0 MHz (approx.)

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 1499.289484
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 4.925132

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 1481.756435
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 1.186323


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 132.502296
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: ACPI.sys - ACPI Driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.008748
Driver with highest ISR total time: HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.014967

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 5003
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 1560.264301
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: ACPI.sys - ACPI Driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.045803
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: ACPI.sys - ACPI Driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.124011

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 90935
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 116
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 13
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count: nobuagent.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 10
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 7
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 33587.972443
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0.025795
Number of processes hit: 4


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.100084
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 132.502296
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 0.035939
CPU 0 ISR count: 5003
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 1560.264301
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 0.280489
CPU 0 DPC count: 89102
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.792433
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR count: 0
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 108.903549
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.000155
CPU 1 DPC count: 19
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.498940
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR count: 0
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 396.653862
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.005283
CPU 2 DPC count: 646
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.185996
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR count: 0
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 234.859290
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.000801
CPU 3 DPC count: 143
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.380930
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 4 ISR count: 0
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 359.011273
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.006039
CPU 4 DPC count: 585
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.140078
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 5 ISR count: 0
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 291.755324
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.000558
CPU 5 DPC count: 54
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.417039
CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 6 ISR count: 0
CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs): 368.510647
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0.004461
CPU 6 DPC count: 515
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.226125
CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 7 ISR count: 0
CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 7 DPC count: 0
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Is there anything in particular in here that could be of interest?

 

Thank you. Yes, it shows that your maximum latency was 1500 µs, which is too high for realtime software (the target audience for LatencyMon) -- but not so high that I would expect several second freezes. But then, if you didn't have any freezes while LatencyMon was running, it wouldn't show them. You have to try to reproduce the freeze while LatencyMon is monitoring.

Ideally, you want max latency to stay below 5-600 µs (and certainly below 1000 µs) but that is difficult on on most Windows computers, and particularly on Samsung laptops, where Settings (which contains basic Samsung hardware interface drivers) can often be a latency hog. You can read more about that in the thread linked below -- though note that the advice in there was written with Win7 and the old Easy Settings version 1.x in mind. Much of it is still relevant, though.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/688064-how-reduce-latencies-samsung-laptops.html

I suggest you check the Drivers tab in LatencyMon while it is running. It sorts (by default) showing the driver on top that has had the highest processing time. On my NP700Z3A it is consistently network drivers (ndis, tcpip, netbt) with a max processing time of 0.7 ms (700 µs). Hopefully it will reveal which driver gets stuck when you have those freezes.

It is often a good idea to wait a few seconds after loading LatencyMon before you start monitoring, so that the disk and system processes used to load it can calm down.

 

While running LatencyMon it seemed as though the freezing was not occurring during the 3 minutes and 30 seconds.,

I am new to this, so I am quite confused about what results these stats are showing.
Which thread were you going to link?

Here is a screenshot of the drivers tab

Spoiler

 

Oops, sorry, I forgot that link to the Latencies thread. I added it to my previous post (also linked it just now).

On that Drivers list, the top item is the one that has spent the most time executing its interrupt service (those processes which we want to avoid get hung up, because they monopolize the CPU while they run).

The ACPI you see at the top is the "mother" of the entire device tree, so it is not unusual that it has some fairly high numbers. It shows that at one time it spent as much as 1.5 ms processing an interrupt, which is quite high. But the ACPI.sys device itself is most likely not the issue, but rather some driver that latches onto it.

Unless you can reproduce the lag while LatencyMon is monitoring, it may not help us show the culprit -- although it is still a great tool to check whether the system generally runs smoothly.

Based on the fact that you had software installed which included its own audio drivers, I still think it is the most likely culprit, and I would recommend the rollback and cleanout procedure I described (if you haven't already).

Update - read this first:

Looking at the Event Log you included in this post, I'd say those entries are actually typical of what happens when Samsung Silent Mode is enabled. Are you sure Silent Mode is OFF (in Settings) when you run games or VLC or other demanding apps?

Silent Mode can easily cause the lags you describe, because it limits the CPU to a low speed, in order to keep the system cool and fans off. In fact, it is such a common gotcha for many Samsung Owners, that I am embarrassed that I didn't think of asking you that first

But Silent Mode was NOT on when you ran that LatencyMon report (the CPU speed numbers show that) which could be why you were unable to reproduce the issue.

The posts here and here explain Silent Mode and Samsung's approach to power management. I apologize if you already knew this, but I wanted to rule it out before we spend more time diagnosing this issue.

 

OK, I will check out the thread.

I will try and see if I can reproduce the the problem while LatencyMon is running.

The problem was occurring before I installed FL Studio 11 and the other issue I had was fixed after I uninstalled ASIO drivers and software.

Silent mode is always off in Settings
However I switch Eco Mode on and off from time to time, depending on whether I'm doing something that requires more power.

Before this problem ever occurred, I had silent mode on and I don't remember these problems happening before.
The problem seemed to start occurring after the Samsung Bios Update - p06ABI.
Both Silent Mode and Eco Mode were of when I was running LatencyMon.

I will try and reproduce this issue while LatencyMon is running and see what happens.

 

Got it. Not Silent Mode, then (but note that Eco Mode is the same, except with WiFi disabled). I had to ask

Let us know what you find out. Worst case we can guide you through a re-install or factory restore.

 

The thing is, I had already done a factory reset using the Samsung Recovery Software and I don't think the problem stopped occurring and the hard drive became quite slow, so I ended up restoring it back to my Windows backup that I had made in February before I did a factory reset.

I might just have to try it again and see what happens.

 

That's good discipline and preparation on your part. I love that!

With a fresh backup in hand, I would give the factory restore another try, then perform whatever updates are offered by SW Update. Of course make sure to keep Silent Mode OFF (as you already knew). The purpose here is to see if the issue is still present on a factory installation. If so, it is possible you have an actual defect -- in which case we could try forever to fix it with software and drivers.

One thought came to mind: If you have disk errors, either on your HDD or the iSSD used by ExpressCache, that could cause lags of a several seconds while the system retries. For a starter, you can install HWiNFO to see the SMART status of the two drives, which should reflect any errors.

Recent versions of HWiNFO show Drive Life Remaining for the iSSD, which is very handy for estimating when it's time to stop using ExpressCache: The iSSD is soldered on the motherboard, and if it fails it can cause serious delays on every reboot -- even with no ExpressCache software installed.

 

I did the OS reset just like I did back in March and I am getting hard drive lag just like last time.
So here's how it goes:
- With my windows back up I get freezing without sound issues
- With the factory reset I get sound lag and freezing (the freezing doesn't seem to be the same one as beefore and it is actually much worse, the sound freezing is like a robotic voice).

While I was getting lag, I ran LatencyMon and this is what I got.
Here is the log:

Spoiler

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. At least one detected problem appears to be network related. In case you are using a WLAN adapter, try disabling it to get better results. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:01:00 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: SAMSUNG-PC
OS version: Windows 8 , 6.2, build: 9200 (x64)
Hardware: 550P5C/550P7C, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., SAMSUNG_NP1234567890
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 8079 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 2395.0 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 755.0 MHz (approx.)

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 160.487683
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: HECIx64.sys - Intel(R) Management Engine Interface, Intel Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.009652
Driver with highest ISR total time: USBPORT.SYS - USB 1.1 & 2.0 Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.021972

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 15611
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 240765.780376
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: storport.sys - Microsoft Storage Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.151422
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: storport.sys - Microsoft Storage Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.474160

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 104461
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 111
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 4
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count: tiworker.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 1657
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 573
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 2707963.587056
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 37.097614
Number of processes hit: 22


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.047648
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 66.388309
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 0.029428
CPU 0 ISR count: 4301
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 240765.780376
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 0.689910
CPU 0 DPC count: 27988
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.905774
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 160.487683
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.025018
CPU 1 ISR count: 3640
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 227276.898539
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.703463
CPU 1 DPC count: 17256
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.36560
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 149.040501
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.007489
CPU 2 ISR count: 1140
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 513.098956
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.145583
CPU 2 DPC count: 9985
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.402990
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 91.627557
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.018286
CPU 3 ISR count: 2620
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 4578.919415
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.250952
CPU 3 DPC count: 14608
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.318531
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 59.083090
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.004242
CPU 4 ISR count: 659
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 1189.898956
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.118164
CPU 4 DPC count: 8983
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.378831
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 137.232568
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0.015279
CPU 5 ISR count: 2238
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 432.096868
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.208322
CPU 5 DPC count: 12858
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.322046
CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs): 60.469311
CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s): 0.002257
CPU 6 ISR count: 323
CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs): 1151.355741
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0.108322
CPU 6 DPC count: 7896
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.180198
CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs): 69.815449
CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s): 0.004482
CPU 7 ISR count: 690
CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs): 545.279332
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0.073177
CPU 7 DPC count: 5006
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Here is the report from the CPU tab:

Spoiler

Update (15-05-2014 - 22:36):
The issue of lag still persists with the factory reset and now there are sound and data loading issues.
I am now going to return to the image I backed up previously.

 

Thank you. Good stuff, you nailed it with that LatencyMon report!

This is the smoking gun:

That shows an insanely high latency of 240765 µs. No wonder you're getting lags! (DPC=Deferred Procedure Call, another form of driver code that monopolizes the CPU while running). And it shows the disk driver to be the culprit. It is not supposed to take this long, something is hanging.

You could try and install Intel Rapid Storage from SW Update (an alternate disk driver with better monitoring tools). But I think the most likely cause here is a hardware issue, either with your HDD or with the iSSD used by ExpressCache. And if that is the case you need to find out before it gets more serious.

That also explains why you are seeing this with two different installations.

Download HWiNFO as mentioned in my last post, and check the S.M.A.R.T. numbers for the HDD and the iSSD respectively. In particular, notice if there are any red lines or exclamation points.

 

I ran HWiNFO and here are the results:

Here is the HDD:

Spoiler

I'm not sure about the ISSD because it wasn't listed.
I will install ExpressCache and the Intel Rapid Storage Technology.
-----------------

Update:
16-05-2014 - 14:2

I installed both of the drivers from SW Update and still the ISSD does not appear.

 

No, don't install Expresscache if you don't already have it. It looks like your model doesn't (no iSSD). Probably a newer model. Just forget I mentioned that.

And your HDD looks good. Yes, try and install Intel Rapid Storage (NOT to be confused with Intel Rapid Start). Still, I think it's more likely a borderline defect sector (hasn't triggered an actual error yet) rather than a driver issue.

I'm very busy today, so I won't be able to respond much...

Edit: I just checked: Indeed, your model doesn't have ExpressCache. Most Series 5 and 7 models before 2013 had it, but apparently not this one. Models from 2013 and forward don't have it. Just forget I mentioned it.

 

Do you know how I can delete the individual restore points that I made using Samsung Recovery software.

I want to delete two images.

The one that I made yesterday and factory image that I had made before.
I want to keep the one I made in February though.

You can see the points here:

Spoiler

Also I just got some error from Windows about drive errors and this popped up.

Spoiler

The computer was being scanned by fsavailux.exe.

 

I actually don't know if Samsung Recovery Solution 6 (SRS6) has a function to delete individual restore points (my Sammy has the older SRS5, which works very differently with images). I don't see it in their manual, nor in their online guide ( here).

If you don't find a delete function in there (say by right-clicking the restore point) you may be able to just delete them from the disk where you stored them (external drive or a partition on the HDD) -- although Samsung does warn not to delete Recovery files since Recovery won't be able to find them.

That means you really do have some disk errors. It could be minor, in which case those sectors can be masked out, and the disk might continue running for a long time. But once these things start, they tend to grow worse over time.

I would make sure to backup data to an external drive as soon as possible, then perform a thorough disk check. If you have warranty, Samsung might replace your disk for you (again, backup data first).

It makes perfect sense that this would cause the kind of lags (freezes) you are seeing) particularly across two different OS installations.

 

I have managed to reproduce the lag in LatencyMon while playing a game (Grand Theft Auto IV).
There might be something of some interest here:

Here are the stats:

Spoiler

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. At least one detected problem appears to be network related. In case you are using a WLAN adapter, try disabling it to get better results. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:03:56 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: SAMSUNG-PC
OS version: Windows 8 , 6.2, build: 9200 (x64)
Hardware: 550P5C/550P7C, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., SAMSUNG_NP1234567890
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 8079 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 2395.0 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 2056.0 MHz (approx.)

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 2072.319946
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 6.357626

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 2068.043595
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 1.791282


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 300.891858
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.197838
Driver with highest ISR total time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.255247

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 588551
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 1
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 2509.670146
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 327.02 , NVIDIA Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.148412
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 327.02 , NVIDIA Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.422113

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 1183476
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 369
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 64
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 3
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count: svchost.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 1144
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 834
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 710297.869729
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0.629390
Number of processes hit: 28


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 16.331680
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 300.891858
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 4.819385
CPU 0 ISR count: 588552
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 2509.670146
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 6.581769
CPU 0 DPC count: 1029309
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.465224
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR count: 0
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 903.215031
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.859430
CPU 1 DPC count: 83594
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.285145
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR count: 0
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 743.028810
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.361124
CPU 2 DPC count: 40230
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.212631
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR count: 0
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 108.28810
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.014318
CPU 3 DPC count: 3831
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 2.432414
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 4 ISR count: 0
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 300.459290
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.043934
CPU 4 DPC count: 7861
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 2.913316
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 5 ISR count: 0
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 345.212526
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.016080
CPU 5 DPC count: 3506
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 2.045781
CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 6 ISR count: 0
CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs): 968.816701
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0.076947
CPU 6 DPC count: 11883
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 2.523107
CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 7 ISR count: 0
CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs): 281.140710
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0.016431
CPU 7 DPC count: 3698
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Here is the Drivers tab:

Spoiler

Here is the CPU tab:

Spoiler

 

The latency of 2000 µs reported here from the Nvidia driver, while high for regular use, is probably not excessive during a game. And it is NOTHING compared to that 240,000 µs freeze caused by your disk driver the other day.

I hate to say this, but I really think you should focus on getting that HDD tested and possibly replaced: The fact that you had the freeze happen under different OS installs (including after factory restore) AND that LatencyMon caught it coming from the disk driver, virtually guarantees that it is a hardware disk issue. It could potentially be a loose or defect cable, but HDDs are notorious for this exact behavior when they begin to go bad.

I would not spend time looking for other causes. And I would prioritize backup of data (though I seem to recall you have good backups already).

 

OK, that should be no problem.
The warranty I have for this laptop has two more years remaining, so it should be OK.

Once I have gotten it repaired, I will report back to you with what had happened.

 

Great that you still have warranty. When you call Samsung, make sure to tell them that you already tried a factory restore, and you still have these period freezes, and it appears to be disk related. They will probably ask you to run a disk test (of their choosing) and attach the results of that when you send it in.

And yes, please keep us posted.

 

Many of the HDD manufacturers have diagnostic software that you can download from their website. For Seagate, as an example, it is called Seatools.

John

 

There is another problem that I've been meaning to fix for a while.
It seems to be a problem with the audio driver on the computer.

You can listen to it here:
Vocaroo | Voice message

 

Sorry it took a few days to respond to this.

Did you also have that sound issue after the factory restore? I do remember you mentioned it previously in the context of some audio software which has since been uninstalled, but which may have left its drivers behind.

If the computer is going in for service anyway, I would mention this to Samsung as well, and not spend more time on it till it comes back. They'll likely replace its HDD (assuming errors can be reproduced) which means you will get it back with a new factory installation. (Make sure to backup your data before sending it in).

 

So, I've just gotten the laptop back from repair but I have a strange issue with the partition settings.

After I booted up the laptop and allowed it to restore the default factory image, I went to look at the Hard Disk Drives and I discovered two partitions.
There was a C: drive and a D: drive.
The C drive was 840.8GB and the D drive was 64GB, the problem there was that the D: drive was the main partition which meant that I only had access to 64GB even though I had another partition that was available.
When I laptop was collected it had 904GB all available for the C: drive.

I tried to fix this issue using Samsung Recovery but unfortunately, the problem still exists.
When I try to correct the partition settings using Samsung Recovery, I run into a problem.
The problem is that the C: drive is not allowing me to utilize 904GB like it was before.

In this image you can see how much space the D: drive is allowed to take up:

Spoiler

No if I move the slider so that the C drive can take up all of the space like this:

Spoiler

It will leave me with only 64GB to actually use, as you can see here:

Spoiler

So with this problem present, I am not able to restore the image that I had backed up from before.
Perhaps due to lack of disk space.

Does anyone have any idea how to fix this?
I'm thinking that I will have to change the main order around but I'm not sure what exactly I should do at the moment.
Currently, I am searching for some solutions in various places on the internet.

 

Make sure that D is empty then use Minitool Partition Wizard to delete it and extend C into the empty space.

However, for historical reasons I have more than one partition so my data files are not on the Windows partition. Then, if I need to reinstall Windows I don't run the risk of losing my files.

John

 

Will it be safe to format Drive C:?
I can see several other parts of Disk 1, two of them being Samsung Recovery.

 

I presume that C: is the boot drive. You can reformat it if you are planning to reinstall Windows.

However, I suggest you first try the procedure given in my previous post.

John

 

Hi Gizmo, congrats on getting your laptop back. I hope they fixed the HDD and audio issues.

Are you saying you selected the options shown below and clicked RECOVER, and after the restore completed successfully (probably 10mins or so) you still ended up with a small C partition and a large D partition?

Spoiler

If so, I agree that's very odd. That setting should give you one large C partition. I agree with John's suggestions to use Minitool to delete the D partition and expand the size of the C (although I too am a great fan of having a separate Data partition, but that's another matter).

In Minitool, you should see the following partitions, which are standard on Samsung Win8 laptops (quoted from another post):

Why don't you post a screendump from Minitool first, so we can verify.

 

I managed to fix the problems with the partitions, I had to use Samsung Recovery to format the C: Drive repeatedly and after a few tries it finally worked.
So now that this issue is fixed, later on I will test to see if this lag problem is still present.

 

That's great. Good job getting that working.

And yes, the lag thing -- not the audio thing. I need to practice reading up on discussions before posting, instead of relying on my memory

I would suggest testing if you can reproduce the lag BEFORE you restore any image backups you have made. If you are unable to reproduce it, but it comes back after you restore, you will know it is a software issue that isn't present in the factory installation.

 

I will try and run a test with LatencyMon later.
When I contacted Samsung Support, I told them that the laptop had a faulty hard drive, however, a customer support member that the motherboard in the laptop had been replaced

 

Thank you. I look forward to hearing the outcome.

 

OK, so I've finally done another LatencyMon test.
Here are the results:

Stats:

Spoiler

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system seems to have difficulty handling real-time audio and other tasks. You may experience drop outs, clicks or pops due to buffer underruns. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:00:30 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: SAMSUNG-PC
OS version: Windows 8 , 6.2, build: 9200 (x64)
Hardware: 550P5C/550P7C, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., SAMSUNG_NP1234567890
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 8079 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 2395.0 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 1131.0 MHz (approx.)

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 1110.144652
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 8.543086

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 1085.769365
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 2.494239


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 50.033403
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: ACPI.sys - ACPI Driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.008497
Driver with highest ISR total time: HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.014289

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 4446
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 1534.967432
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: ACPI.sys - ACPI Driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.048245
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: ACPI.sys - ACPI Driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.149081

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 92243
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 151
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 8
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count: svchost.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 28
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 9
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 53250.450939
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0.161187
Number of processes hit: 8


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.874381
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 50.033403
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 0.034366
CPU 0 ISR count: 4446
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 1534.967432
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 0.332990
CPU 0 DPC count: 89497
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.409702
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR count: 0
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 162.863466
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.001358
CPU 1 DPC count: 175
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.341086
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR count: 0
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 203.940710
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.005205
CPU 2 DPC count: 728
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.665996
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR count: 0
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 257.128184
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.00380
CPU 3 DPC count: 335
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.366336
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 4 ISR count: 0
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 224.424217
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.006029
CPU 4 DPC count: 683
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.631940
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 5 ISR count: 0
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 201.197077
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.001856
CPU 5 DPC count: 166
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.293777
CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 6 ISR count: 0
CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs): 205.739457
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0.005395
CPU 6 DPC count: 663
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.602669
CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 7 ISR count: 0
CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs): 263.622965
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0.001913
CPU 7 DPC count: 155
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Processes:

Spoiler

Drivers:

Spoiler

It seems to be better than the last test that I did.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/750256-samsung-5-series-laptop-freezing-issues-3.html#post9661771

There seems to now be another issue that has just popped of over the last 2 days.
The CPU seems to never go above 1.75GHz:

You can see it in the screen of Task Manager Here:

Spoiler

[Update]:
The CPU issue was fixed by reinstalling the Samsung Settings program.

 

Hi Gizmo,

Thank you for the update. Sorry it took me a while to respond.

Yes, those LatencyMon reports look much better. The numbers are still too high for the kind or real-time processing that LatencyMon aims at, but nothing serious at all for a typical laptop installation -- and certainly just a fraction of the freeze numbers you had before. Also, no particular drivers jump out: ACPI.sys has the highest numbers, which is to be expected since it is the mother tree.

Also, glad to see you you managed to fix the CPU throttling issues -- whatever they were.

Sounds like you're in good shape

 

Thanks, I guess we can mark this thread as resolved.