topic Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu? in PCs & Accessories

[solved] sz1xp - 'system' (not idle) process uses all my cpu?

neenee — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 17:03:24 GMT

*note*

this issue has been solved by downgrading my bios to R0062N0.

hi there.

i've tried both a clean install and a recovery with my vaio sz1xp,
but for some reason the 'system' process (no extension, so at
least it's not a trojan/spyware) uses almost all cpu.

other processes do not seem to cause problems and safe mode
does not seem to have this problem either.

i'm not sure what to enable, install or disable anymore; i've
been messing with this for three days now. i ran memtest86 to
verify that my memory wasn't addle.. i mean broken, but that
was not the case.

i'll keep messing with this, but suggestions would be very much
appreciated. perhaps i've missed something.

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

iunder — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 17:32:48 GMT

Do you mean the system _idle_ process. If so, that's normal.

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

pneves — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 18:20:17 GMT

Windows XP creates a process that basically means that nothing is happening in the system, it is called the system idle process.

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

neenee — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 22:18:52 GMT

i am aware that there's a separate idle process.

however, i am referring to the 'System' process,
which should not be using that much cpu all the
time.

thanks for the prompt replies though

ps. i edited my previous post to prevent others
from assuming i meant the idle process.

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

kee-lo_ — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 15:37:06 GMT

Have you done a full spyware and virus check?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

neenee — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 15:50:27 GMT

yup - no problems of that sort.

i narrowed down the problem a bit - i used process explorer
from sysinternals - 'Deferred Procedure Calls' are/were using
most of my cpu.

i am doing a clean install now and checking cpu usage after
each succesful driver / application installation. i disabled all
unneeded services as well.

i installed wifi and integrated gfx-card without problems so
far. i'll try the rest of the devices and report back.

*update*

installed the sigmatel driver, tried a movie and ker-*blammo*;
cpu usage shot up, making my system near unusable. i disa-
bled the soundcard, rebooted and tried the same video. ofcourse
i had no sound, but no high cpu usage either; around 15-20%,
which is very acceptable when watching a movie.

i will now look for alternate / updated soundcard drivers; i was
using the ones from a newly downloaded package on sony.nl.

*update*

no alternate driver works yet, i've tried a dell sigmatel driver too,
but i did notice something interesting - after about 1 minute (give
or take a second) the high-cpu-usage drops back to normal; pro-
cess explorer has a timer for cpu usage.

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

kee-lo_ — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 17:46:13 GMT

Is it a Realtek card?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

neenee — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:30:42 GMT

er, no - it's a sigmatel as i mentioned above.

the driver installs properly, and sometimes i can hear a second
of sound before cpu skyrockets and the system becomes near
unusable (sound stops when it does this).

at least, i am assuming it's a sigmatel, as that's the driver that's
included in the laptop-specific package downloadable from the
sony site - that and because it does not produce an error when
installing.

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

rich912 — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 19:18:06 GMT

This is a shot in the dark and may be of little help but try turning off the Indexing Service on all drives and see whether this solves the problem.

Right click the drive > select properties and on the general tab uncheck “Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching”.

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

neenee — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 19:33:43 GMT

that service is amongst the ones i have disabled, i removed
the index from all my partitions as well after i installed.

thanks for the suggestion though - keep them coming please

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

kee-lo_ — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 13:32:26 GMT

Is VAIO Entertainment running?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

neenee — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 22:20:22 GMT

nope.

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

tonybeard — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 22:24:40 GMT

Download TuneUp Utilities 2006 here and see what the system optomizer reccommends

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

jaandre31 — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 10:17:29 GMT

Do you have a working network connection? Sometimes drivers or programms consume alot of cpu system time trying to open connections when there is no working network connection, e.g. the latest icq version...

-- aioobe

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

neenee — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 14:33:12 GMT

tonybeard - running a general optimize tool is not some-
thing one does to fix problems, merely to improve perfor-
mance i think.

however, seeing as how i am growing ever desparate
to have this problem solved, i will try it and report back.

aioobe - the problem occurs with or without active in-
ternet connection and with or without programs which
might try to access the internet.

thank you both for the replies.

*update* i tried tune-up, but it did not fix my problem.

i am now using my laptop with the sound device disabled,
so that i can at least do something useful with it. like visit
these forums.

*small update* just to be sure, i connected an external
usb soundcard, which worked without problems. so sound
is possible.

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

rich912 — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 21:51:59 GMT

I think that it is time to open a case with support, assuming that you have not already done so.

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

neenee — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 06:01:53 GMT

i have not done so yet, i will do so later today,
providing i can figure out how that works

*update* seems easy enough - i'll open a new
case during my lunch break.

*update* i did not want to wait that long, so i just
opened a case, providing them with most of the
info i managed to gather here and elsewhere.

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Foxhound — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 18:30:15 GMT

Hoi, SONY has a problem with providing drivers without testing themselves if they really work 100%. I've done a clean install of WIN XP PRO of my lil. brothers FS-115S. The drivers sony had in the driverpack didn't work. I had to look via google for older drivers too have the soundcard work.
SONY support is not very compitant. Last time I asked them for a solution they asked me if I had plugged in the right power cable, no really...
Plz let me know if there is an solution to your problem, and keep us updated. I was planning to buy the new SZ1XP too.
Veel sterkte.

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

neenee — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 19:19:45 GMT

ofcourse i will keep you updated. i would not want others
to have to go through the same mess i am going through.

older drivers? hm.. i've not tried that yet; i was only looking
for newer ones. i'll try to find some other drivers now.

i did post elsewhere with the question which drivers other
users had, but replies mentioned the same version i am
unable to use properly.

*update* i did find some newer drivers in a dell package,
but they did not work (yellow questionmark in device man-
ager, device unable to start - reboot did not help either).

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

neenee — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 14:36:00 GMT

well, i got a repsponse to my case:

  *** NOTES 05-Apr-2006   Action Type: Info
Dear J.J.H. Hillen, 
 
Please run the BIOS update you will find on our website 
www.vaio-link.com - select the ‘Drivers and Updates’ link under the 
header ‘Downloads area’. You will need to enter your model number 
(28xxxxxx) and serial number (5xxxxxx) if you are accessing our 
website from another computer than your VAIO.  
 
Then run a Full Recovery using the Recovery partition - if not 
removed. Select Start Menu/All Programs/Vaio Recovery Tool/Vaio 
Recovery Utility.  
(Or pressing F10 on boot will also initialize the Recovery process). 
Click Next and choose which recovery option you require. In most 
cases a complete recovery is recommended 
Please note that performing the full recovery will delete all your data 
on your C: and 😧 partition and will restore it to its factory settings. If 
you want to avoid losing data, make sure to back up this data prior to 
performing the recovery.  
For more information please see; 
http://www.vaio-link.com/tutorials/recovery/recovery.asp?l=en         
 
If after this with no additional hard/software installed you still have the
same symptoms we will need to collect the Vaio for service.

hm.. i'll try the bios update, but i have little hope, as their reply
makes me wonder if they read my info at all - the bios update
suggestion is a good one, but the rest looks like a default reply
for when support people don't have a clue.

time shall tell.

*update* it seems i have a newer bios than available from the site:

current version: R0063N0
new version: R0062N0

but i'll try downgrading.

*update*

wow. that seems to have fixed the problem. playing the civilization 4
soundtrack now, without problems. the system even seemed to boot
a lot faster.

i'll try some more things to see if it stays like this.

*another update*

boot is much faster. it took minutes before this bios update and now
it boots within a minute easily. sound keeps working so far, but i'll
keep this thread open for the rest of the day so that i can test more
before concluding it fixed.

topic Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu? in PCs & Accessories

[solved] sz1xp - 'system' (*not* idle) process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

Re: sz1xp - 'system' process uses all my cpu?

[solved] sz1xp - 'system' (not idle) process uses all my cpu?