[SOLVED] Computer constantly freezing and unfreezing with DAW, Zoom, or any CPU intensive recording application open

[basinabas]

Hi there,

I do not know if this is the right category to post this - if it isn't, I apologize. I am running into a problem that is extremely hindering my ability to do any work.

I do audio production. I also stream, and I am in school (online for now due to the pandemic). Every time I have my DAW (any DAW I use has the problem), OBS, or Zoom open, my computer does this weird thing where the mouse (and sometimes keyboard) stop working for a few seconds. It's gotten worse over the past few days, and it is an incredible nuisance. When I have a DAW open, this issue extends to my audio device as well, which cuts out when my mouse stops working. Sometimes, it doesn't come back and I have to completely reset the program.

My set up is as follows:
Dell Precision 5510 with i7-6820HQ and 16GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM, connected to a TB3 dock
Sonnet eGPU breakaway box 550 with a GTX 960 4GB, connected to the TB3 port on the dock (it functions perfectly fine as a passthrough)
My audio interface is an M-Audio M-Track Solo.

When doing any other intensive task, like gaming, my computer functions perfectly fine.

I have aimlessly Googled this issue, and I don't know if I'm just not searching the right thing, but I cannot find my issue anywhere and it's gotten to a point where I literally cannot do anything.

If anybody else has dealt with this and knows how to deal with it, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
BinaB

 

[Ralston18]

DAW = "Digital Audio Workstation " - correct?

Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

PSU: Make, model, wattage, age, condition?

Drives: Make, model, capacity, how full?

Look in both Reliability History and Event Viewer for any corresponding error messages, warnings, or informational events.

Post accordingly.

 

[popatim]

Did this happen after the last update from MS?

 

[basinabas]

DAW = "Digital Audio Workstation " - correct?

Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

PSU: Make, model, wattage, age, condition?

Drives: Make, model, capacity, how full?

Look in both Reliability History and Event Viewer for any corresponding error messages, warnings, or informational events.

Post accordingly.

Yes, DAW is Digital Audio Workstation.

My main system is a Dell Precision 5510 workstation laptop with a Skylake i7 and 16GB RAM. The power supply is a standard Dell power supply getting power delivery from my TB3 dock. I have a 1TB m.2 drive and a 5TB external WD easystore, the 1TB is about half full and I don't have anything on the easystore yet.

I checked Reliability History and Event Viewer and looked through each of the logs from the date the issue started, but I'm not finding anything helpful.

 

[basinabas]

Did this happen after the last update from MS?

No, it happened before the update. I thought the update would fix it, and last night I even tried updating my BIOS, Thunderbolt driver, Wi-Fi driver, Bluetooth driver... none of those helped the issue, unfortunately.

 

[Ralston18]

Does the 5TB external WD easystore have its own external power supply versus drawing power from the laptop?

Or docking station?

 

[TerryLaze]

Get dpc latency checker run it and copy paste what it tells you.
Sounds like some driver doesn't play well with others and this tool will give clues about which one.

 

[basinabas]

Does the 5TB external WD easystore have its own external power supply versus drawing power from the laptop?

Or docking station?

It's powered entirely from my laptop's USB port.

 

[basinabas]

Get dpc latency checker run it and copy paste what it tells you.
Sounds like some driver doesn't play well with others and this tool will give clues about which one.

"Some device drivers on this machine behave bad and will probably cause drop-outs in real-time audio and/or video streams. To isolate the misbehaving driver use Device Manager and disable/re-enable various devices, one at a time. Try network and W-LAN adapters, modems, internal sound devices, USB host controllers, etc."

The only issue is I have already tried isolating the driver and making the necessary updates, so I don't know what could actually be the issue.

 

[TerryLaze]

Shame it didn't give a better clue but it confirms that it's a driver causing the issue, you will have to disable drivers one at a time while running DPC checker, even the ones you think can't possibly have anything to do with your problem.
Not updating the drivers but actually disabling them or even uninstalling them.

 

[Ralston18]

Try using a independently powered USB hub to connect the drive.

 

[basinabas]

To anyone else having this issue, it was easily resolved when I plugged my mouse and audio interface directly into my laptop instead of in the dock!

Thanks to everyone who tried to chime in!