system process causing spdif output hiccup

[Guest]

when playing a dvd (eg using wmp) with audio output via onboard AC'97
hardware using spdif passthrough mode, I get occasional (but very annoying)
"hiccups" in the audio. It is definitely due to a system process interrupting
the output at a critical moment (WMP is the only app running, I have disabled
all services not necessary and have raised the priority of WMP). How can I
find out which system process is doing this - task manager can't help as the
sampling rate is much too slow.

Assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Guest]

is there a utility to log all process activity?

 

[Guest]

hello-o.... Is anyone from MS listening? It would be nice to get a response
- even if just to say 'we don't know"......

 

[Malke]

hello-o.... Is anyone from MS listening? It would be nice to get a
response - even if just to say 'we don't know"......

No, no one is from MS is usually listening here. This is a public
peer-to-peer newsgroup posted on Microsoft servers. While occasionally
a Microsoft employee will pop in, the majority of regular helpers are
just volunteers. Some of us work professionally in the tech industry
(like me) and some of us don't. If you want to contact MS, here are
some links:

Contact MS - http://support.microsoft.com/gp/contactuswindows?sd=win
MS International Support -
http://support.microsoft.com/common/international.aspx

As for your problem, I'm not a multimedia expert but you might want to
run the free Process Explorer from Systernals to track what is causing
the issue. I'm not sure how you determined that it is "definitely due
to a system process", but if you don't have a laptop you might want to
see if using a PCI sound card works better for you. You might also want
to post in a newsgroup for WMP. Here are some more links:

http://www.systernals.com
microsoft.public.windowsmedia.player - ng for WMP

Malke

 

[Bob I]

MS employees only stop by here on their own time. This is a peer-to-peer
group. If you insist on "MS", e-mail tech support.
http://support.microsoft.com/contactussupport/?ws=support

 

[Guest]

thks for the responses. I understand that this is not an official MS
newsgroup, but MS emloyees seem to frequent it quite actively....

I too am in the "tech industry" - have been for MANY years - and am often
bemused by the lack of tools to troubleshoot. The poular approach to solving
problems is to change something in the hope that the problem will go away.
Problem is that that way you never get to the root cause of the problem.

I've tried Process Explorer but with a refresh interval of .5 secs it
doesn't catch the interrrupting process. I could give details of why I
suspect a system process, but don't think it will add any value to this
discussion.

Really what I am looking for is a utility to log process activity in real
time. Does such a utility exist?

Thanks.