clicks and cracks in audio when i record- sandra report incl

[Blaztphemer]

Hi, i have a problem when try to record with protools 7.4cs5
when i enter record mode there is a disturbing humm noise and when i start to record there are clicks and craks in the audio, im on a windows xp service pack 3.
please help me to sort out this problem.
here is my sandra report..

SiSoftware Sandra

Processor
Model : AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2800+
Speed : 2.08GHz
Model Number : 2800
Cores per Processor : 1 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Internal Data Cache : 64kB, Synchronous, Write-Back, 2-way, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 512kB, ECC, Synchronous, Write-Back, 16-way, 64 byte line size

System
System : MEDIONPC KT400-8235
Mainboard : MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD KT400-8235
Bus(es) : ISA AGP PCI IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
System BIOS : Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG
Total Memory : 2GB DDR

Chipset
Model : VIA VT8377 Apollo KT400/A/600 CPU to PCI Bridge
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 167MHz (334MHz)
Total Memory : 2GB DDR
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 167MHz (334MHz)

Video System
Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 (128MB DDR, AGP 3.00, PS 2.0, VS 2.0)

Physical Storage Devices
ST3120022A 120GB (ATA100, 2MB Cache) : 112GB (C:) (D:) (E:)
Medion Flash XL CF (USB) : N/A (G:)
Medion Flash XL MS (USB) : N/A (H:)
Medion Flash XL MMC/SD (USB) : N/A (I:)
Medion Flash XL SM (USB) : N/A (J:)
PIONEER DVD RW DVR-106D (ATAPI33, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 64kB Cache) : N/A (F:)

Logical Storage Devices
BOOT (C:) : 56GB (NTFS) @ ST3120022A 120GB (ATA100, 2MB Cache)
BACKUP (D:) : 50GB (NTFS) @ ST3120022A 120GB (ATA100, 2MB Cache)
RECOVER (E:) : 6GB (FAT32) @ ST3120022A 120GB (ATA100, 2MB Cache)
CD-ROM/DVD (F:) : N/A @ PIONEER DVD RW DVR-106D (ATAPI33, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 64kB Cache)
3.5" 1.44MB (A:) : N/A
Removable Drive (G:) : N/A @ Medion Flash XL CF (USB)
Removable Drive (H:) : N/A @ Medion Flash XL MS (USB)
Removable Drive (I:) : N/A @ Medion Flash XL MMC/SD (USB)
Removable Drive (J:) : N/A @ Medion Flash XL SM (USB)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : VIA VT8235 PCI to ISA Bridge
Audio Device : MSI Realtek AC'97 Audio for VIA (R) Audio Controller
Serial Port(s) : 1
Parallel Port(s) : 1
USB Controller 1 : MSI VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (All VIA Chipsets)
USB Controller 2 : MSI VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (All VIA Chipsets)
USB Controller 3 : MSI VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (All VIA Chipsets)
USB Controller 4 : MSI VT6202/12 USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : MSI VT6306 VIA Fire II IEEE-1394 OHCI Link Layer Controller
System SMBus Controller 1 : VIA VT823x SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)
Printer : EPSON Stylus C46 Series (360x360, USB, Colour)

Network Services
Network Adapter : VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter (Ethernet, 100Mbps)

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP (2002) Home 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 3)
Platform Compliance : x86

Performance Tips
Warning 100 : Large memory sizes should be made of Registered/Buffered memory.
Tip 2546 : Large memory modules should be ECC/Parity.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

[spkguitar]

We need more info;

• What Pro Tools/MAudio hardware are you using?
• any other audio hardware hooked up? (Like a lightpipe or S/PDIF preamp, for instance?)
• What exactly are you trying to record?
• How is it connected?

[Blaztphemer]

Im using FireWire solo interface
no other hardware hooked up to it,
just recording guitar/vocal audio
its connected to my pc by firewire 800 connection.

[greg1]

Make sure you go through this article, General Troubleshooting: WinXP/Pro Tools M-Powered. I had a similar problem as mentioned by others here and found that the network card driver was causing latency problems that once I disabled the network card the noise and crackles went away.

[Blaztphemer]

I went through the article and made the recommended changes to my pc,
I all so disabled the internet and the antivirus system i have, then i did a test recording in pro tools to se if i was still having this problem, and clicks and pops were still [bleep] all audio up so i checked in task manager to se what was hogging my cpu, and i saw alg.exe flicking rapidly in the same way as the clicks and pops seem to apear in the audio when i record in pro tools.
Has anyone run in to this [bleep] with pro tools, and how can i fix it from hogging my cpu?

[greg1]

Did you run the latency check program mentioned in the article? Also, see this http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/process/alg.exe.html. It appears that you still have some aspect of your network connection running. I have a wireless card, I go the control panel, network connections and right click on the card and disable it. I do sometimes experience the symptoms after I have pro-tools up and working, enable the connection to look at something, disable it and record or playback something. I then have to re-boot with the card disabled and all is right.

[DigiTechSupt]

its connected to my pc by firewire 800 connection.

That's very likely the problem.

Have you tried connecting it to a FW400 port?

[Blaztphemer]

Did you run the latency check program mentioned in the article? Also, see this http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/process/alg.exe.html. It appears that you still have some aspect of your network connection running. I have a wireless card, I go the control panel, network connections and right click on the card and disable it. I do sometimes experience the symptoms after I have pro-tools up and working, enable the connection to look at something, disable it and record or playback something. I then have to re-boot with the card disabled and all is right.

I have read the discussion about alg.exe on that link, some say its safe and some say its not safe .. thanks for the info
since you mention that you have a wireless card.. i am connected to the internet by a wireless router, and before i got the router i had a alcatel adsl modem put in my pc which is still inside the pc(im on a desktop pc) maybe its not wise to have that in there also, since i connect to the internet by speedtouch router..

That's very likely the problem.

Have you tried connecting it to a FW400 port?

I havent tried FW400 port, ill check that thanks

[Blaztphemer]

I seem to have managed solve this problem, by doing this :
after i ran the latency test i disabled the old adsl modem wich was apparently still trying to connect to the internet.
Then i followed these instructions :
Right click on desktop and choose Properties.
- Settings Tab > Advanced button > Troubleshoot Tab > Hardware Acceleration -Slide from Full to None.
leave "Enable write combining" click Apply and Okay
- Appearance Tab > Effects button -Deselect "....smooth edges of screen fonts" and "Show contents while dragging." click Okay

-Screen Saver Tab > set "Screen Saver" to None and click on Power button. In Power Schemes Tab set "Power Schemes" to Always On and set Monitor, Hard Disks, and Standby to Never. Click Apply and Okay and ten Okay in Display Properties.

and i changed back to my original firewire cable that came with the interface.. so far no clicks or pops happening, hopefully it will stay that way.

[SixChurchStreet]

If it does re-occur, it may be the VIA chipset on your firewire card.
I have a VIA firewire chipset on my motherboard, and I was getting crackling when recording as well (using M-Audio 1814 interface).

I got this, the SIIG firewire card approved by Digi...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815150074

...and my problems went away.

Hopefully you're all good, but if it happens again, and you can't find the source, give that a try.