[RESOLVED] Strange PC stuttering / polling issue - help needed please

Para Handy

Para Handy
This last few days something weird has started happening with my game in Windows 10 and it is driving me nuts. For some reason, once I start the game, my pc seems to be polling my USB ports twice a minute (regular) and this is causing my game to stutter as it does so (twice for each polling incidence). I have flight panels connected to he PC and the multi-panel flashes on for a few seconds at the same time as the game stutters. This has never happened before this past couple of days. It happens with both Horizons and Odyssey, both a stand-alone installation and a Steam installation. The flight panels do not flash with no game running - the flashing / polling / stuttering is not happening with other games or X-Plane11, Prepar3d or MSFS 2020.

This also produces a really strange effect on my desktop - all the icons with shortcut arrows have the shortcut bit change to either an "X" or a tick (see image below) - Desktop refresh (F5) after shutting the game restores them to normal. This does not occur when the polling / flashing situation has not occurred.

This is driving me nuts, I can't see anything strange in the task manager and full system scans with malwarebytes and windows antivirus find no issues.

Please could some kind PC guru have a think about this issue and maybe give me a hint or suggest a way to investigate.

I have posted a video sitting outside a station to illustrate the stuttering and the periodicity of that.

Thanks for any ideas / suggestions.

x and tick crop.jpg


Source: https://youtu.be/XHdaEmMYMyw
 

Codger

Codger
The tick marks remind me of an online backup system I used to use, called Carbonite. It would run in the background and upload my files to a safe server.

I stopped using it because it was affecting performance.

Maybe you have something like that running? Just a wild guess.
 

GJ51

GJ51
I feel your pain. Both EDDI and the ED Launcher started exhibiting anomalies recently that I never had before.

The tabs in EDDI blank out when the mouse cursor passes over them and the ED Launcher blanks out the rectangle and the X in the top right corner as well when the mouse cursor passes over them. Additionally, two red bars flash across the top and bottom of the Launcher when I close it.

I have no idea what's causing it or how to fix it. Updated to latest drivers, then reverted to the original driver from the ASUS website - no change. I always do an uninstall - clean install for any driver change.

I also occasionally notice some text gray - out when browsing as well, but not with any consistent repeatability.

It only started a couple weeks ago.

In ED I also get the occasional "glitchies", but I usually attribute it to a server issue on the ED side.

EDIT: Took a hop in my DBX to IX. I don't see the OP's problem on my rig.
 
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Morbad

Morbad
Are you running any sort of network share, backup, or syncronization app/service? Something like OneDrive, SkyDrive, Carbonite, Dropbox, or just an accidental Windows share of the desktop? Any USB drives attached that may also be shared?

I suspect you may have something syncing your desktop and an external drive that is being interrupted by the game scanning for new USB devices, which is in turn causing a stall when it's allowed to resume (twice a minute) and verifies the status of it's shares.

I would disable any such apps you don't use, restrict any such apps you do use to areas you really need shared, and also disable Window's ability to turn off any USB hubs and HIDs to save power (via properties > power management in device manager) to see if that resolves any issues. If you have any software associated with your flight controls/panels, see if it's doing anything like tracking application launches or applying ED specific profiles...that could also be causing issues.
 

STRONTIUM DOG

STRONTIUM DOG
EH that's odd they look like apple ticks that can shake on an ipad
I would double check power settings sub menus usb ie ensure its not a power issue
soz m8 guessing...…….
perhapse using control alt delete and task manger details may reveal a process that don't belong or try switching them off one by one tedious yea but may find cause
ie microsoft one drive etc
else use a system restore point well b4 the trouble began if setup.....
 
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varonica

varonica
Ok I have had a look around, it's possidle the green ticks indicate synchronisation with some sort of online backup media, maybe MS Onedrive or, Google or possibly even Dropbox and that may be polling USB interfaces for connected storage devices, so check if any of that is running.
 

Para Handy

Para Handy
Thanks for the pointers and hints everyone - I shall have a sniff around to see if there is anything I missed. I don't use onedrive etc and the only change to my computer this last week has been windows updates (nothing major I don't think) so I can't immediately think of anything that has changed to make this start happening. It isn't Elite itself as I noticed it start to happen when I loaded Steam last night - not a game just the Steam desktop thingie. So time for some mucking about it seems.

(BTW - this doesn't happen on my secondary machine which has the same i7 processor, nor on my laptop which has a newer i7, although they have less on their USB ports.)

Forgot to edit that to confirm that the stuttering does hapen on my other computers, just they have no flight panels to show the "flashing" - I didn't word the above very well, sorry.
 
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MYGUTFEELING

MYGUTFEELING
Windows has this feature where your online profile is synced across many devices, which allows you to have the same desktop / icons and so forth. So perhaps check to see if this is it.
 

Saltyseadog

Saltyseadog
You might try this?. In device manager go through every USB device and open its properties and then in the ones which have a Power Management option uncheck both the "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" and " Allow this device to wake the computer" boxes. Leave the keyboard one checked in order to start your PC if that is how you wake your PC. Not just the USB Bus devices either but all your usb operated devices like the mouse, game controllers etc. It is amazing the liberties microsoft takes with peoples computers.
 

K Olley

K Olley
Para Handy said:
the only change to my computer this last week has been windows updates (nothing major I don't think)
Click to expand...
Slightly different problem started immediately after windows update.

I can start and play the game via steam if I do not touch anything on the desktop after pressing the start button, if I touch anything or while in game touch the windows key it will switch back to the desktop, the game will still be running but I am unable to re-join it, if I select the taskbar icon it will select the game and immediately return to desktop.

The only way out is to stop the exe via task manager then shut down steam launcher and start again, have also noticed that the steam launcher is not visible in task manager until after the ED exe has closed down.

Only USB devices on machine are keyboard, mouse and X52 pro controller.
 

Para Handy

Para Handy
Saltyseadog said:
You might try this?. In device manager go through every USB device and open its properties and then in the ones which have a Power Management option uncheck both the "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" and " Allow this device to wake the computer" boxes. Leave the keyboard one checked in order to start your PC if that is how you wake your PC. Not just the USB Bus devices either but all your usb operated devices like the mouse, game controllers etc. It is amazing the liberties microsoft takes with peoples computers.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that - I thought I had done this but I was mistaken - gosh there were a lot of things to "untick".

However, just having the Device Manager open showed something. It is refreshing at the same rate as the issue I mentioned (even though the control panels are not flashing - there is no game running). I have made a short video showing this, with the details page of the task manager alongside - you can see the refresh at 15 sec and again at 36 sec and then one minute later each. I can't work out what is causing this, does this give anyone any clues? Really grateful for any input, thanks.


Source: https://youtu.be/qqYhTR0xlaQ
 
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GroG79

G
plug your usb hubs/devices in other ports.

Try to use only one USB per block of two usb ports. Something seems to be restarting. A lack of USB power can be the cause
 

GJ51

GJ51
As painful as it can be, sometimes you just have to unplug everything and then plug things back in on at a time to find the culprit.

My PC would never initiate the screen save or go into sleep by the time specified until I pulled everything and then started adding back. Turns out, one of the hubs was a problem and every controller I have that uses Hall effect would prevent screen saver and sleep mode from initiating properly. I had to buy a new hub that can disable the controllers to fix the problem.

It could be a bad hub or a particular usb device or even a few of them.
 

STRONTIUM DOG

STRONTIUM DOG
yea could be power related boot to bios you will see voltage graphs of your rails could watch for spiking but as you say other games fine is a huge clue that it is ed related
I assume you have tried if game still stutters with flight panels disco ) (process of elimination stuff making sure of what it isn't)
deleting your gpuworktabel.xml or just reinstalling the latest driver (clean install option) probably a good idea
I would try disabling obs from the pc boot up too cant understand its erratic behaviour in the details tab unless that is a symptom of the problem(or just the way that software works)
also just to be sure https://www.top-password.com/blog/stop-onedrive-from-automatically-starting-in-windows-10/
 
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AceMcKool

AceMcKool
Codger said:
The tick marks remind me of an online backup system I used to use, called Carbonite. It would run in the background and upload my files to a safe server.

I stopped using it because it was affecting performance.

Maybe you have something like that running? Just a wild guess.
Click to expand...

Same happens to me with Google Backup & Sync. Lots of stuttering when it's on.
 

Bravo17

B
If you didn't get this sorted out have a look at the post near the end of this thread, it seems like a similar issue.

Framerate/FPS Drop

I have a fairly recent and beefy machine and up until very recently, was easily able to run ED at a solid 140+FPS on Ultra settings. Recently, I have been playing with the AFK Type-10 build and noticed after coming back to the PC after a few hours that the framerate was really choppy and the FPS...
forums.frontier.co.uk forums.frontier.co.uk
 

Para Handy

Para Handy
Well, thanks everyone for all the tips etc. it was greatly appreciated.

I went through all of them, made sure no gogglification or onedivers had sneaked-in, did the stuff in the bit @Bravo17 linked in post #19, checked system files ( that SFC thing) messed with the registry, did system restore. I couldn't find the image I am sure I created a couple of months ago, (no doubt it will turn up soon now it isn't needed) got annoyed that there wasn't a restore point before the time the issue appeared.

I was getting close to considering a complete re-install of windows (not really, it takes so long to install all my flight sim stuff, I was just going to accept living with it) when in desperation I tried one last thing...

Disconnected my NAS ...

Issue gorn away. No stutter in Elite, no flashing flight control panels, no refreshing device manager, and no changes to desktop icons.

So, something in a recent windeys update (in version 20H2)* appears to have caused windows explorer to start polling devices if there is a NAS on the network. I had not updated anything else apart from windows before this suddenly started happening two weeks ago.

I don't know a way of flagging this up to micro$oft - any suggestions on that?


TL/DR - Issue fixed by disconnecting NAS.


* BTW - I did enable and allow update to 21H1 as part of my search for a work-around - it made no difference whatsoever.
 
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