42 Posts
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1853
XPS 15 9520 suddenly misbehaving, "System interrupts" high CPU usage
XPS 15 9520
Hi,
My 2-month old XPS 15 9520 has suddenly gone a bit sad. It had been working 100% fine until this afternoon it popped up an error about audio, then my Bluetooth mouse disconnected, then Windows wouldn't restart (endlessly spinning shutdown wheel). On power cycling, still no audio, no Bluetooth mouse, and in Device Manager the Realtek PCIE CardReader was showing an exclamation mark.
In Task Manager, System interrupts is showing very high CPU.
Probably related to this, Windows Update/Dell Update/driver installs/shutdown all get stuck.
I installed BIOS update 1.5.0 the day before, but had no problems at the time.
Any thoughts?
shortshrift99
42 Posts
0
August 18th, 2022 01:00
Some progress.
Disabling Realtek Audio in Device Manager makes the system stable again: "System interrupts" no longer maxes CPU, my Bluetooth mouse is visible, the system shuts down and restarts cleanly, and I can reenable the Realtek PCIE CardReader device without issues.
Also, I realise now that the problems started after completing a Zoom call, which probably relates to a known Realtek Audio/Zoom bug being discussed at the moment (here). Unfortunately I already had at the time of the failure the "fixed" 9369 driver.
Ah, finally:
Uninstall+Reinstall of the Realtek Audio driver appears to have resolved. Note that I first had to disable the device in Device Manager as the system was too unstable for any driver installs to succeed. (I had also updated the Realtek PCIE CardReader driver, but don't know if this was a factor.)
Saltgrass
3 Apprentice
3 Apprentice
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4.3K Posts
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August 17th, 2022 14:00
Is the audio issue related to the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card? Are you streaming something or is the sound just broken?
Can you get into the Bios and turn off some of the problematic devices?
Do you have anything in the card reader?
I suppose someone will suggest using the boot Diagnostics.
shortshrift99
42 Posts
0
August 17th, 2022 14:00
Thanks. Nope, I wasn't doing anything with audio at the time it failed. (And audio was set to internal speakers rather than Bluetooth.)
I turned off the Realtek PCIE CardReader, which was the only device showing as problematic in Device Manager. This made no difference.
I've not found it easy to make progress. All driver install/upgrade operations just spin indefinitely. Asking Windows to boot into safe mode via Advanced Startup doesn't work either (perhaps because restart also spins indefinitely and the laptop has to be power cycled).
Saltgrass
3 Apprentice
3 Apprentice
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4.3K Posts
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August 17th, 2022 15:00
So you can't get into the system at all right now?
The boot Diagnostics aren't working? You said you had not noticed any problems prior, like cooling fans running more than usual?
It appears to be a little more than the normal bad driver situation. Is the system still in warranty?
You may want to think about calling support and see if they have any suggestions.