[MagicAndre1981]

zip the DPC_Interrupt.etl and upload the zip.

[hottroc]

Hi, sorry about the delay. I can't seem to zip it or rar it. Maybe because of the size. I can see the file in Explorer but when I try from Winzip or WinRar it can't seem to find the file even though I have Hidden & System files showing and I've Run as Admin. I'll keep trying.

[MagicAndre1981]

copy the ETL to your document folder or desktop to zip it there.

[hottroc]

That's got it thanks, here is the link:

http://cid-ac6270209...0209775C627!162

If you have no joy with that let me know and I can try again (not 100% positive it was successfully uploaded) or alternatively upload the memory dump.

Thanks again.

[MagicAndre1981]

UNKNOWN is shown as cause for high Interrupt (ISR) cause. I can see that the HDD is busy and a lot of events are lost. So you should check the HDD for errors, also check the cable and make sure you use AHCI.

[hottroc]

OK, thanks, is there any way to find out what "UNKNOWN" is?
I will run a chkdsk tonight. But how can I check I'm using AHCI? Is it in the BIOS settings?

This post has been edited by hottroc: 19 April 2011 - 02:42 PM

[MagicAndre1981]

it is complicated to figure out what causes the issue. Check if your Motherboard and HDD support AHCI.

[hottroc]

I can't find any reference to it in the BIOS or anywhere else. Closest I can get is ACPI.
The MB is an Asrock 775i945GZ and the Hard drives are both pretty modern SATA ones.
What do you suggest next?

This post has been edited by hottroc: 19 April 2011 - 04:56 PM

[MagicAndre1981]

connect the HDDs to a different SATA port and try new SATA cables.

If both doesn't work, do the old CleanBoot approach to see if 3rd party tools/drivers/services cause the issue.

[hottroc]

Well neither of those approaches work tbh, that's why I'm here.

I've had quite a few problems with hard drives before,....they never seem to last longer than 18 months or so, often report that they are predicting failure (even when nearly new) etc.
I've tried different cables and SATA ports when I've had those problems before and they've not made a difference and I've ended up buying new hdd's. But I didn't think the problem was related to the interrupt problem....
If I recall a long time ago I had the same problem with interrupts in XP and Microsoft eventually issued something but I cant remember what, that fixed it. It may have been SATA driver updates or something. And the problem only came back when I installed Windows 7.

Also I have tried killing processes one by one to see if the problem goes away once it has started happening but it's impossible to do the other way round because the problem is not there all the time. You can't do a clean boot, wait 48 hours or more then start a driver, wait 48 more hours start another etc.

[MagicAndre1981]

do you use Daemon Tools? The SPTD driver is also shown as UNKNOWN.

[hottroc]

Hi, no I don't but I use other sw that might be similar. The phrase SPTD driver rings a bell. I use or have used Ashampoo Burning Studio, DLA (not with W7), Roxio Easy Media Creator, UltraIso, Nero etc
Also programs like Paragon Partition Manager and there was another I had installed (name escapes me) for drive imaging for backup purposes.

[MagicAndre1981]

the other tools don't use the SPTD driver.

[hottroc]

I found this line in a OTL scan:

DRV - (sptd [Boot | Running]) -- C:\Windows\sysnative\Drivers\sptd.sys ()

...which seems to indicate it IS running but I don't know why, what starts it or how to stop it.

[MagicAndre1981]

ok, run the installer from here:

http://www.duplexsecure.com/downloads/

and select "uninstall" to remove the driver.

Reboot and make a new trace.

[hottroc]

OK, thanks, I'm giving this a go now. I'll get back to you.

[MagicAndre1981]

ok, give me feedback after doing it.

[hottroc]

Hi, well what I did, I downloaded the file as you recommended and when i ran it it obviously recognised I had an old version as it gave me the option to update the sptd.sys so i thought i'd try that (hopefully to avoid any of my progs not working).
Then I didn't want to speak too soon, I was waiting, and it got close to the point where i was going to say you had fixed it... But then unfortunately just now the problem re-occurred.
I will now try to disable it completely and try again but in the meantime I have uploaded a new etl file for your perusal. As far as I can tell the problem is the same..."UNKNOWN". Would you like to view the memory dump I saved before?
Here is the link for the ETL file:

http://cid-ac6270209...0209775C627!162

Thanks again.

[MagicAndre1981]

try to remove the driver completely. Also update the Via sound drivers, the HDAudio driver also causes some CPU usage.

[hottroc]

Hi, OK well it doesn't seem to be the sptd driver then because the problem still occurred.
As far as I am aware I already have the latest sound drivers available for my mb with my OS according to the Asrock website.
Do you have any other suggestions?

Thanks, really appreciate the help.