Stuttering/Buzzing Sound During Audio/Video Playback

hi jimco,

i had call dell and deal with them on the phone for 2 hrs, they were telling me the problem is with my speakers nothing is wrong with there new xps8500. nothing helps and then i follow ur instruction and did an update on the latest version from the site.

www.intel.com/.../imsm

i use the iata_cd.exe  the buzzing noise is still here....i don't know what i can do....

I have a XPS L702X With the same (Annoying) sound problems... Mainly when I watch movies, on the net, or with a player...

Any solutions yet?

Anyone got any more ideas?

I have an Inspiron 15R N5110, purchased in January.  Worked find until sometime in early June when this issue started occurring on it.  Fought with it for two months, including a tech guy Dell sent out and replaced all the boards and the speakers in the machine.  Had no effect.

This last Saturday (8/25), I made sure my backup was current, wiped everything from the machine, restored from recovery partition, and started rebuilding.  Saturday night, everything was working fine.

Sunday afternoon, Dell Support Center (which I hadn't uninstalled) forced an update for itself.  The glitching was back, but uninstalling DSC did not fix the problem.  Looking at jimco's FAQ, specifically at the 15R N5110 section, I updated the Intel software in question and the audio started working nicely again - even managed to watch an entire two-hour long concert DVD on the machine with no glitches.

I get home from work today, power it up, start playing an MP3 and it glitches 30 seconds in.  I had not changed ANYTHING on the system since watching the DVD last night - this is really starting to infuriate me!

I noticed that my IDT drivers were not the most recent ones posted on the Dell Support page at the website, so downloaded and installed that - had no effect.  I'm almost afraid I'm going to have to redo the backup, rewipe the machine, and start all over again, this time making sure to get rid of DSC first thing.  But are there any other suggestions?

I'm not running McAfee (I got rid of that in April when my Norton license on my other machines came up for renewal), I've disabled audio enhancements (both in IDT control panel and in Windows (Manage Audio Devices / properties for each of the playback and recording devices)), and I updated Intel RST.

I will freely admit that I don't know enough about the Rapid Storage Technology thing to know if I can get away with simply uninstalling it - though I see in the FAQ jimco wrote that one person did do this and it fixed their problem.  I also see something about a firmware update for the HDD - have to look into that as well.

But anything else?  As I said, I'm at my wits end and would rather not have to rebuild yet again.

jimco has posted all the solutions for your problem in the posting below yours. I'm sure one of them will help you. Good luck, as I know how irritating it can the buzzing can be. If what you need is not there, please post again for help.

Thank you, Jim, for your help and hard work with this buzzing problem. Also, thank you for the 'honor' you sent me! I hope I can help in my own small way.

I'm almost afraid I'm going to have to redo the backup, rewipe the machine, and start all over again, this time making sure to get rid of DSC first thing.  But are there any other suggestions?

> Next time also disable Windows Updates -- only allow security patches and updates to Windows itself. Do not allow it to automatically update drivers and programs. Windows updates is what caused the Rapid Storage problem on the Inspiron 1545/1750 and Latitude E series models. Windows Updates can be very hard on audio, to the point of it not working at all.

>  If restoring your laptop to the original configuration also restores McAfee, this time try just disabling Net Guard for a while. 

> You only need the Rapid Storage Technology if you are using a RAID hard drive setup, as far as I can tell (this is out of my area). The thing is that although removing it helped some, a few others said that removing the it did not fix the problem, only installing newest from Intel. Same situation regarding reverting to an earlier version.

> Make sure that IDT power management is turned off if your model has that feature.

Shortly after I got my Inspiron 1545 fixed (from the buzzing), I got notice to upgrade RTS. Having never used it, I said no, and  the problem has not returned. Maybe that's one of the causes for the buzzing to start. Just plain dumb luck for me!  

Hi all, i have the exact same laptop (Inspiron)  and my buzz started yesterday.  I am pondering any particular updates i might have done ---Java?  I will be following this thread to see if the issue was resolved. SO annoying!! lol Are you telling me i have to wipe the entire hard drive remove all the update and start over with a clean computer to get rid of this?  I am a music person. 

Please access the website posted by jimco on 8.27.12 (a few postings up from yours). The fix is there and will get rid of the problem very quickly. The buzzing seems to be coming from Windows Updates. There is no need to wait and endure the irritation and frustration. Be careful which updates are chosen from WIndows; some seem to have problems. Jimco did a lot to find the solutions for many different computers, and I know yours is there. Good Luck!

Thank you!

Thanks for the response jimco.  Will be looking at doing this, probably this weekend - luckily, I actually get to HAVE a weekend again, since I've spent the last several either working overtime or running kids all over the place.

Will have to watch what occurs during initialization of the machine - I seem to remember setting it to NOT do drivers but might have accidentally undone that setting.  Would allowing updates for Office software ("Microsoft Update") have undone this?  That's the only setting I can see that might have done it.

Now, here's the frustrating thing - at this moment, I'm listening to MP3s, and I've been going for seven minutes with no glitches.  Yesterday, when I posted in frustration, I was getting glitches four or five times in a three to four minute song.  (And no, it's not encoded in the particular files, I've run them on different machines as well)  So now I have to debate whether I REALLY want to go through the trouble of doing another wipe and restore.  Well, I've got a few days during which to make a decision, I guess.

To paraphase from Elton John, "The Glitch Is Back".

I really don't get this - I'm not using the machine any differently tonight than last night.  Windows Update shows that the last update installation was four days ago, about 1:00 in the afternoon.  Last programs that show having been installed are the IDT software on 8/27 and a Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable file (would this have come with IDT?) on the same day.  I don't see how any of these could be causing a problem TODAY when they didn't last night.

I guess another backup, rebuild, and restore is going to be in my future...

Have you tried this one?

downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx

It worked for me, and it never came back. I understand that the original program was not written properly and is the cause of the buzzing. This is the 'fix.'

Let us know if it works. If not, you have an issue with Windows and may need to contact them, again if necessary. I wish you good luck with this one.

nootch: I get a page not found error when I try that link?

Did try running the Driver Update Utility on Intel's page and the response was:

Graphics Driver - current

Chipset Software Installation Utility (Chipset INF) - "valid" (? how is this different from current - doesn't say there's a newer version available)

Audio driver for desktop board - device unknown or unsupported - contact manufacturer

Wireless networking - newer driver available

Wired networking - device unknown

Intel Wireless Display Software - newer software available

Was the wireless networking the driver you were referring to?