Stuttering/Buzzing Sound During Audio/Video Playback

Try uninstalling Dell Support Center and see if you get any improvement.

I just noticed that the secret partition with the factory restoration data is updating some drivers by himself, i mean, the text says that my secret partition is updating some elements so, maybe that's the explanation Jim. The restore data updates his codecs so when you run this application, what you get  it's not a "factory status" but an updated status.

I have Alienware m14x and I'm facing the same problem. Do you thing mao.tsetung suggestion will work? Can i still download it?

Thanks guys for any kind of information

on XPS L502X? And you said that there are some topics on this problem, is it possible for you to link them for me please.

I put links to the XPS threads in this thread.

The solutions for all models are now in Choppy/Skipping Audio Workarounds

[I edited this reply on 8-25-12]

I just noticed that the secret partition with the factory restoration data is updating some drivers by himself, i mean, the text says that my secret partition is updating some elements so, maybe that's the explanation Jim.

Maybe it is, thanks. I have never heard of that happening. It is really unfortunate if the Dell Factory Image Restore partitiont is upgrading drivers because the whole point of it is to be able to return to the exact configuration as when it left the factory, as the name implies. That is not just to have a known good configuration but also because it is an important diagnostics tool.

Jim,

I Think You have missed your Calling as a PC Technician, or at least certified help desk support. I know you have the Teaching Credentials, Maybe you should check into the MS MVP Program, or other avenues, Your insight is inspiring and very helpful.

Mick

What would Dell Support Center have to do with this?  Please explain.

Micah, It was just a tip that had been left by a few people. Several people have reported that uninstalling it helped their audio but no one has given any in-depth explanation. One person put it this way, " It was running occasionally in the background using up my CPU for just a second slowing everything else down.  first i tried to turn off the auto monitoring features but it was still running.  i uninstalled it, and two days now, no stuttering!"

My model does not have that feature so I haven't been able to personally investigate it.

Guys,

I am going to submit a work ticket to Microsoft to either get that IDE Controller updated when they offer it, or to remove it from their update packs. Beings it is coming from MS, they are the one's I will pursue, Will update as I get updated.

Thanks for All Input,

Mick Barker Sr.

* Together, Nothing is Impossible to Overcome. *

Telekinesiz,

I would say it is safe to say, that the Restore Partition Does NOT update. One it is a hidden Partition, and it takes a certain Key function and stage of PC to activate it. And MS has NO Control Over the Restore Partition, it CANNOT update for the fact that is is in a Zipped format hence it cannot update to compressed form. Usually it is "wim" format. Which is Windows Compressed format to Super Compress Large Files. So for the Update Service to try install updates is Highly Impossible to do. And it would be a violation Against Dell's © Copywright for MS to try and Update Dell's Software (DataSafe). But it is worthy and interesting if something or some app trying to access this hidden partition......

Good Luck My Friend,

Mick Barker Sr.

A+ Technician
Certified Help Desk Support Technician

yesmonkee,

You can Go Here: downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx, and download the updated driver, it replaces the Corrupted  Intel Matrix Storage Manager utility, the Intel - Storage - Intel(R) ICH9M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller. The second one of these was offered as a MS Update under "other" updates and it was corrupted, thus causing the stutter, but once you download the updated one from Intel, it will correct the problem completely, I did a Complete Format and Clean Install and it corrected mine, If this update from Intel had come a hour earlier on the forum here, it would of saved a Complete Format and restore for me... This Fix seems to work for the Inspiron 1545's Laptop series, at least for all the one's that have that brand on this forum. And a good practice is to have the latest drivers and apps always anyway. Good Luck My Friend, and Thanks for sharing your Workaround. It may help someone else too.... For Reference, Look at these Posts too: en.community.dell.com/.../19412524.aspx

Mick Barker Sr.

A+ Technician

Certified Help Desk Support Technician

I have been looking for a solution for 2 weeks now to the intermittent buzzing when playing back media files. I am not a techie so Google was where I started to look for a solution and FINALLY, thank goodness, have come across this forum. It's amazing to find the problem was caused by a Microsoft update. I wasn't confident enough to go to the weblink suggested by mao.tsetung (as I didn't know if I should download/install both files from that page and if they were both applicable to my system) but what I did do was go to my device manager, go to the properties of the suspect Intel(R) ICH9M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller, then in the Driver tab I had an option to Roll Back Driver. I did this (it then showed driver version 8.9.0.1023), restarted my computer and I'm pleased to say I no longer have a buzzing problem.

There's no way I would have known what to do if mao.tsetsung hadn't found the problem.

OK I may have an old driver now but I don't have that annoying buzzing and playback/streaming spoilt by this bug. If I should download/install both files as suggested from here http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?ProductID=2101&DwnldID=20215&lang=eng&iid=dc_rss#help perhaps someone could let me know?

My system is: Windows 7 Home Premium, SP1, Inspiron 1750, 64-Bit 

Thanks all

Thank you Mick.  This worked perfectly.  As soon as I posted I realized it was probably just a bad driver for this.  Thanks for directing me to the right place to get it!!

Thanks so much to mao.tsetung for the solution, to Mick for his great attitude and proactiveness in addressing this issue, and to Jim for documenting!

I've been fighting this for a couple weeks as well (assumed it was a hardware problem and almost made it worse by trying to disassemble my laptop) -- and it seems to have been getting even worse (more frequent) over time!  I originally suspected that the identified Microsoft (storage) Update was the culprit, but was unsuccessful for some reason tryinging to undo it or roll back to the prior restore point.

Anyway, the verified fix (download/install) solved this problem for me too!  Running Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium on a Dell Inspiron 1545.

Thanks again all, - Shain

Guys, I am happy for you that the Driver Roll Back Worked, HOWEVER, the Link for the Intel Download is the Latest Driver available for the Intel(R) ICH9M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller, it is made by the company that made the ICH9M Controller thus is very well trusted and reliable. My Point is, go there and get this download and install it, the first download link is specifically for English Users, the Second is for Multi-Language Users, Both Links are same driver, just one is cut for English Only, and the other supports Multiple languages. Even after doing a complete reinstall and such, that fixed my problem, I still came back here, went to the Intel Link provided in this Posting, and downloaded it and installed it, that way it has the latest and greatest update for the Controller... Thanks for All the Feedback, Input and Such. Download for the ICH9M Controller is: downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx