USB Connected Audio Device Stopping Playing

marellocherry · 2 Sep 2012 at 16:17

Hi All,

I have a Digidesign MBox 2 connected to my Windows 7 64 bit system so that I can use my professional speakers to listen to music.

I have a issue where audio will play through the speakers for 10-20 seconds and then cut out. However the music player I'm using (iTunes) will continue to show the file as playing normally. This happens with browser based streaming such as Soundcloud and iPlayer.

I've noticed that my mouse and keyboard feel laggy and not as responsive as they should so wondered if it was a USB issue. However I've found the following on the windows support base:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2484031

The hot fix no longer exists, I clicked on the link within that page for a "newer fix". When I try and download this I'm told that the version of Windows Authenticate it's just put on my machine is too old to run.

Does anyone have an inkling as whether it's worth pursuing this "fix" and if so, how on earth I actually obtain it, or do you have any other suspicions what it may be?

Orcvader · 2 Sep 2012 at 16:43

Could try updating USB drivers? What motherboard do you have?

marellocherry · 2 Sep 2012 at 17:50

Device manager says that my USB drivers are up to date. I've got a Asus P8P67 motherboard.

Orcvader · 2 Sep 2012 at 18:47

Device manager says a lot of things but sometimes it doesn't know there's newer drivers.

If you're using the blue USB ports, change them them to the black and red ports, as they're controlled directly by the Intel chipset instead of the NEC chip.

Run this utility and see what it can update: http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect?iid=dc_iduu

marellocherry · 2 Sep 2012 at 20:58

OK I've swapped them back to black, and run the utility. The chipset is up to date, and the graphics card (ATI Radeon 5770), Mbox 2, wireless card and wired network are unknown or unsupported.

What's strange about this issue is that I can hear it going through periods of distortion as if it's missing information. Just now I had the audio cut out for fractions of seconds in succession. I've managed to have it play back audio for about 3 minutes in this manner which is the longest it's managed in 24 hours. I'm really grateful for any help, this is a very frustrating problem.

marellocherry · 2 Sep 2012 at 21:35

Right to give some further info...I've noticed a definite corrolation between the music stuttering, my other usb inputs (mouse & keyboards getting laggy/skipping letters) and my internet connection slowing.

I've literally just moved into a new shared house where the broadband is pretty flakey and that's when I've noticed the problem getting worse. Is it even possible that connectivity could exacerbate this issue?

Orcvader · 2 Sep 2012 at 22:54

Could do, I have seen a dodgy network driver could cause problems.

Are you connected to the router via wired or wireless? If wired, get the latest drivers here (will be under LAN): http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8P67/#download

As for wireless, go to the wireless card manufacturer's site and download the drivers from there.

marellocherry · 3 Sep 2012 at 10:14

My wireless card is the OcUK Value 300Mbps Wireless-N PCI Adapter. I can't see where I find the drivers for it on Google. Apologies for the dumb questions, this PC was my first build, I'm beginning to regret it!

Orcvader · 3 Sep 2012 at 11:36

You chose a pretty poor wireless card. Googling around and I can't see who the manufacturer is. Can you try a wired connection at all, just to make sure it's not the wireless card causing the wierd slowdowns? Disable the wireless as well when you're doing this, so it won't interfere.

marellocherry · 3 Sep 2012 at 14:47

Unfortunately I can't get a wired connection up here but I've been experimenting with disconnecting from the wireless network (not even disabling the card) and the PC seems to start behaving itself again. Would it be worth just replacing the card, if so what would you recommend?

Orcvader · 3 Sep 2012 at 20:19

Sounds like it is the card causing the whole slow down then.

This one is USB but I find it more reliable and better than PCI/PCI-E ones: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-023-TP

marellocherry · 4 Sep 2012 at 16:56

OK I've got that on order. I had something strange happen when I started the PC this morning though - non of the USB ports were working, so I couldn't enter my login details. Eventually after several restarts and swapping abouts I got it to work with the blue sockets. Does this give you any further clues?