# [SOLVED] Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active



## Tomasch (Sep 18, 2014)

I experience heavy video/audio stuttering when playing a video or general latencies when downloading a file when connected via LAN/Ethernet *NOT when connected via WLAN/Wifi*. *According to my observations the stuttering only happens when the LAN network driver is somehow busy, which means preloading the video or downloading a file*. *As soon as the video is chached/loaded or the file is downloaded, the stuttering disappears*. So in my opinion it is definetly a driver problem.

I recently updated the LAN driver due to suddenly occuring BSOD. The update fixed the BSODs but now the stuttering appeared. I already tried to switch to other versions of the driver or even use just the Windows driver, but the problem doesn't disappear.

With updating the LAN driver I also updated all the other drivers (BIOS, Soundcard, PCI, Chipset, etc.) because my system was a little outdated. *Everything works fine and in games (like Borderlands) everything works like a charm.* Just when the LAN driver is busy the CPU has a 90%-100% load. The process causing the CPU load is in these cases not Chrome, it's the System process according to the task manager. Another hint that the driver should be responsible.

The Graphic card is up to date and running on the latest beta driver from AMD (tried the normal driver too, no difference).

LatencyMon showed me that ndis.sys is causing excessive latency.

Malware Scans are negative with Malwarebytes and ADWCleaner.

--------------------------------------------

*So as a summary:*

*The problems started when I updated my drivers!* But I can't go back to the state before cause I don't have a backup and the restore points already got overwritten by current ones.

*What I update:*
Practically almost everything that was outdated - used SlimDrivers.. maybe wasn't the best choice..
I remember:
- Chipset driver (not 100% sure but a lot of Intel drivers)
- SATA AHCI Controller
- Various system drivers like:
--- Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family PCI...
--- Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series-Chipsatzfamilie - Thermosubsystem
--- and a few others
- Audio Realtek driver
- PCI-E-Gigabit-Ethernet-Controller Qualcomm Atheros AR8151(NDIS 6.30)
- Broadcom 802.11n-Netzwerkadapter

*What I tried so far:*
- Try to go back by restore points --> didn't work
- Deinstall virus scanner --> didn't work
- removed all apps from startup --> didn't work
- tried to identify the causing process with process explorer --> the process causing the cpu load was either system or chrome, but chrome not to much (30-40%) so I guess its driver related..
- tried to switch back to the old drivers by installing the vendor drivers from acer --> didn't work (maybe there are some drivers missing that I updated via SlimDrivers)

*What I found out so far:*
- The latency and lags don't appear with Wifi/WLAN --> Just when connected via LAN/Ethernet
- The latency and lags appeared after the driver updates --> So nothing to do with malware
- The latency and lags are caused when streaming videos (only in the time when it's loading/downloading) and when downloading bigger files and probably also when loading a website, but not that strong --> So to sum up: Always when the LAN/Ethernet is busy

--------------------------------------------

*My LAN card:*
PCI-E-Gigabit-Ethernet-Controller Qualcomm Atheros AR8151(NDIS 6.30)
Current driver: 2.1.0.16 from Microsoft
Tried 2.1.0.21 from Atheros too.

*My System:*
Acer Aspire 7745G
Windows 8.1 64x
Intel Core i5
Mobility Radeon HD 5850
4 GB Ram
SanDisk 128GB SSD


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

Go to Search and type *devmgmt.msc*, Right click the devmgmt results and *Run As Administrator.* In the Elevated *Device Manager.* Expand* Network Adapters*. Right click your *Ethernet Controller/Properties/Driver/Roll Back Driver*. Roll it back to the previous working driver.


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## Tomasch (Sep 18, 2014)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

Already tried that before. Tried the Microsoft Driver which was version 2.1.0.16 I guess, the Atheros driver version 2.1.0.21 and a very old version which is distributed from Acer on their driver page for the Aspire 7745G which is 1.0.0.24. But it didn't really change anything.

In the meantime I ran a Spybot S&D Scan --> Nothing suspicious
and a Hijackthis scan --> Nothing suspicious


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

If this happened when you updated your drivers, you can roll back each driver you updated, until you find the correct one.


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## Tomasch (Sep 18, 2014)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

The problem is that is that I already messed around with them, meaning going back to restore points (noticing that it didn't change anything), trying to update again (with the hope that I just updated wrong), then tried several different drivers (direct download from Intel and other vendors) and I deinstalled for example the LAN module ones, restarted to make Windows detect it again to see if this changes anything.

For the Ethernet module for example I can't roll back anymore on the driver that I'm on now.

But do you think I should try doing it for all the drivers?

Thanks for your help so far! I really appreciate it!


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

Just roll back the drivers you updated when this problem happened


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## Tomasch (Sep 18, 2014)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

Rolled back everything. Almost everything is on Microsoft Driver now except the Ethernet Card (still Atheros) and my graphics card (AMD driver).
Stuttering is still there..


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

Then it had nothing to do with the updates. 
Go to Search and type CMD, right click the CMD results and Run As Administrator. In the Elevated Command Prompt type SFC /scannow and press enter. 
See if that helps


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## Tomasch (Sep 18, 2014)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

SFC /scannow finished..

It said that it found damaged files of the Windows Resource Protection (translated from German) which couldn't be fixed. Do you need the CBS.log file?

Created with *findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log >"%userprofile%\Desktop\sfcdetails.txt"* the sfcdetails.txt and got the following errors:


```
2014-09-19 01:34:17, Info                  CSI    0000054d [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:36{18}]"Amd64\CNBJ2530.DPB" of prncacla.inf, Version = 6.3.9600.16384, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64 (9), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type = [l:24{12}]"driverUpdate", TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch
2014-09-19 01:34:23, Info                  CSI    0000054f [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:36{18}]"Amd64\CNBJ2530.DPB" of prncacla.inf, Version = 6.3.9600.16384, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64 (9), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type = [l:24{12}]"driverUpdate", TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch
2014-09-19 01:34:23, Info                  CSI    00000550 [SR] This component was referenced by [l:186{93}]"Microsoft-Windows-Printer-Drivers-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.9600.16384.INF_prncacla"

And at the end of the file:

2014-09-19 01:49:55, Info                  CSI    000008b3 [SR] Repairing 1 components
2014-09-19 01:49:55, Info                  CSI    000008b4 [SR] Beginning Verify and Repair transaction
2014-09-19 01:49:56, Info                  CSI    000008b6 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:36{18}]"Amd64\CNBJ2530.DPB" of prncacla.inf, Version = 6.3.9600.16384, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64 (9), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type = [l:24{12}]"driverUpdate", TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch
2014-09-19 01:49:56, Info                  CSI    000008b8 [SR] Cannot repair member file [l:36{18}]"Amd64\CNBJ2530.DPB" of prncacla.inf, Version = 6.3.9600.16384, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_AMD64 (9), Culture neutral, VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type = [l:24{12}]"driverUpdate", TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch
2014-09-19 01:49:56, Info                  CSI    000008b9 [SR] This component was referenced by [l:186{93}]"Microsoft-Windows-Printer-Drivers-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.9600.16384.INF_prncacla"
2014-09-19 01:49:57, Info                  CSI    000008ba [SR] Repair complete
2014-09-19 01:49:57, Info                  CSI    000008bb [SR] Committing transaction
2014-09-19 01:49:57, Info                  CSI    000008c0 [SR] Verify and Repair Transaction completed. All files and registry keys listed in this transaction  have been successfully repaired
```


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

Run SFCFix and then run *SFC /scannow* again, see if this solves the problem.
Also, Start an Elevated *Command Prompt* as shown, and type *chkdsk /R* and press enter. Now type a *Y *for Yes and restart the computer. *Check Disk* will go through 5 stages at next bootup. It will take a while. See if this improves.


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## Tomasch (Sep 18, 2014)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

I ran *Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth* and it was successfull.
Then I restarted and ran *SFC /scannow* again and the errors were gone.

Stuttering still there..

*To come back to the driver:* Are you sure it has nothing to do with the driver update? As I said, I can't roll back the Ethernet driver to the original version. It is in the 2.1.0.21 version (the newest version that I installed when updating) right now and *doesn't give me the option to roll back in Device Manager.*

_[EDIT:] Trying SFCFix and chkdsk now too.. I guess it will take a while._

```
SFCFix version 2.4.1.0 by niemiro.
Start time: 2014-09-19 03:18:02.731
Not using a script file.




AutoAnalysis::
FIXED: Performed DISM repair on file Amd64\CNBJ2530.DPB of version 6.3.9600.16384.



SUMMARY: All detected corruptions were successfully repaired.
AutoAnalysis:: directive completed successfully.




Successfully processed all directives.
SFCFix version 2.4.1.0 by niemiro has completed.
Currently storing 0 datablocks.
Finish time: 2014-09-19 03:30:54.302
----------------------EOF-----------------------
```
_Running chkdsk now.._


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

Try Downloading the Windows 7 LAN driver at the Acer drivers page. Then Windows 8 Drivers for any other drivers you need updating, do not use a 3rd party utility: Acer | Download


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## Tomasch (Sep 18, 2014)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

chkdsk ran overnight. Checked the log under *eventvwr.msc* no problems or damaged sectors found. Everything is fine.

Will try the old driver from Acer again, but as I already posted it didn't work for me before:


> - tried to switch back to the old drivers by installing the vendor drivers from acer --> didn't work (maybe there are some drivers missing that I updated via SlimDrivers)


And what do you mean with Windows 8 Drivers *for any other drivers you need updating*?
I guess the standard drivers from Microsoft (to which I rolled back to) are already the Windows 8 drivers, no? Just not the most up to date ones since not from the vendors.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

Drivers on the computer manufacturer's site are the ones specifically written for that particular hardware. Microsoft drivers are more Generic. It's always best to download drivers from the computer manufacturers site for your specific make and model#, over Microsoft or 3rd party.


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## Tomasch (Sep 18, 2014)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

This were my thoughts too, this is why I already tried it with the acer drivers before. But I guess a bad combination of the updated drivers (from SlimDriver) and the Acer drivers must have caused the problem to still maintain.

Anyway, I tried just the Ethernet driver from Acer again (with leaving the other drivers untouched [Microsoft drivers]) and the problem seems to lessen a bit. The lags are not that heavy anymore. But it still happens occasionally.

For *my test szenario* I installed Youtube Center plugin on Firefox and I forced youtube to disable DASH playback so that the whole video is cached. Then I watch long videos to have a long time of caching/buffering. The video is buffering very fast (100 Mbit/s downstream) and everything, but I still get little stutters in between where the audio distorts for milliseconds.

I attached a screenshot, altough I think it doesn't help that much. I will install the acer SATA driver now, since I somehow suspect this driver to cause the lags.


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## Tomasch (Sep 18, 2014)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

Did a short LatencyMon test when watching a video.. hope that helps..

I guess this should be a similar problem: DPC latency is too high due to the storport.sys file in windows 8. - Microsoft Community

Should I try the acer SATA driver or should I deinstall the AMD catalyst driver and install it again? But just as a question, why does a driver regarding storage come with a graphic card driver? Or did I missinterpret the thread?


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

What is your internet speed? go to speedtest.net and run the test. If it is below the download advertised speed you are paying for, that could be a reason. Have the ISP test the lines.


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## Tomasch (Sep 18, 2014)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*



I have full speed and the videos are caching really fast. Thats really not the problem.
The full system is lagging when I download/cache at full speed.

But the ISP is really not the problem. Since everything was and still is good regarding speed. And the lags are causing the whole system to stutter.. even the mouse movement gets interrupted.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

*AVG* Anti-Virus may be clogging up the internet connection, blocking traffic and or calling home. Try* Disabling *AVG Internet Protection, and/or Disable AVG AV and see if that improves.
You can just uninstall AVG and *Enable* the Free included *Windows Defender* which actually does a better job then AVG


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## Tomasch (Sep 18, 2014)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

But my internet connection is fine?


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## Tomasch (Sep 18, 2014)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

*When I download for example a huge file at fullspeed than the whole system lags. When I for example drag a window around then, then there are stutters and interruptions in the movement on the screen.* *The download itself is fine and running on full speed !!!*


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## Tomasch (Sep 18, 2014)

*Re: Stuttering/Latencies when LAN/Ethernet Driver active*

SOLVED!
Driver Verifier was enabled and caused the lags.
Typing in verifier.exe and "Delete existing settings" fixed it.


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