[blindLaw] FW: [JAWSBeta-Info] TSN: On Dell computers, Windows becomes sluggish, Virtual memory errors appear, or applications unexpectedly close or crash when Waves MaxxAudio Service is running.

Lauren Bishop laurenbishop96 at icloud.com
Thu Feb 24 16:20:11 UTC 2022 

Those are better computers, but this problem is concerning for those who may have to use Del and their workplaces. 
Lauren

Sent from my iPhone

> On Feb 24, 2022, at 11:13 AM, Capelle, Michael <capellem at fastmail.com> wrote:
> 
> With my experience, I have had better luck with Lenovo and HP, nothing but issues with dell.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindLaw <blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Lauren Bishop via BlindLaw
> Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2022 10:08 AM
> To: Blind Law Mailing List <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Lauren Bishop <laurenbishop96 at icloud.com>
> Subject: Re: [blindLaw] FW: [JAWSBeta-Info] TSN: On Dell computers, Windows becomes sluggish, Virtual memory errors appear, or applications unexpectedly close or crash when Waves MaxxAudio Service is running.
> 
> I have heard that if you have headphones plugged in before you boot up your computer, the computer will recognize them. 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Feb 24, 2022, at 10:52 AM, Maitreya Shah via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Thank you for this helpful note, David. I have been tired of these 
>> issues with my Dell XPS.
>> Although the performance significantly improves after disabling the 
>> waves max audio service, the laptop stops recognizing all external 
>> devices including headphones. I do need to plug in headphones 
>> frequently, so it is a bad tradeoff.
>> I was wondering if there is an alternate to waves max audio that would 
>> work with the Dell machine?
>> All best,
>> Maitreya.
>> 
>>>> On 2/11/22, Andrews, David B (DEED) via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> Hello Everyone
>>> 
>>> For some time now, some people who use the JAWS screen reader 
>>> occasionally experience periods of unresponsiveness, slow downs, 
>>> freezing up, etc. While this information was anecdotal in nature at 
>>> first, it turns out there was a cause. It applies to some Dell laptops and some software they use.
>>> 
>>> Personally I had this problem, and have disabled the service on my 
>>> computer – we shall see.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Subject: Fwd: [JAWSBeta-Info] TSN: On Dell computers, Windows becomes 
>>> sluggish, Virtual memory errors appear, or applications unexpectedly 
>>> close or crash when Waves MaxxAudio Service is running.
>>> 
>>> This message may be from an external email source.
>>> Do not select links or open attachments unless verified. Report all 
>>> suspicious emails to Minnesota IT Services Security Operations Center.
>>> 
>>> ________________________________
>>> 
>>> Hello,
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I thought it would be a good idea for all of you to be aware of this 
>>> issue with Waves MaxxAudio Service that comes with many Dell systems. 
>>> This can affect users with JAWS, Fusion, or ZoomText installed:
>>> https://support.freedomscientific.com/Support/TechnicalSupport/Bullet
>>> in/1786<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%
>>> 2F%2Fsupport.freedomscientific.com%2FSupport%2FTechnicalSupport%2FBul
>>> letin%2F1786&data=04%7C01%7Cdavid.b.andrews%40state.mn.us%7Cbd244a65d
>>> 30140be40c008d9ec1fc7ee%7Ceb14b04624c445198f26b89c2159828c%7C0%7C0%7C
>>> 637800443507475455%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIj
>>> oiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=bjiAzw%2F7d3Cxq
>>> 0mMs2bPIaVvHPegHRvy6MvoHIbcPbs%3D&reserved=0>
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Short Description
>>> 
>>> On Dell computers, Windows becomes sluggish, Virtual memory errors 
>>> appear, or applications unexpectedly close or crash when Waves 
>>> MaxxAudio Service is running.
>>> 
>>> Problem
>>> 
>>> If your Dell PC or laptop uses the Waves MaxxAudio Service for its 
>>> onboard audio chipset, problems may occur the longer you use the 
>>> computer. Windows® may become sluggish. Applications such as JAWS® 
>>> or Microsoft Teams may close or crash unexpectedly. Virtual memory errors might occur.
>>> 
>>> See the Detailed Description section below before continuing to the 
>>> Solution if you wish to have more background information.
>>> 
>>> Solution
>>> 
>>> To disable or enable the Waves MaxxAudio Service Application:
>>> 
>>> 1.  Open Task Manager (the shortcut is CTRL+SHIFT+ESC).
>>> 2.  Press the TAB key once. If this navigates to More Details, then 
>>> press the SPACEBAR to show more details.
>>> 3.  Navigate to the Startup tab.
>>> 4.  Navigate to the list of items table.
>>> 5.  Type w to navigate to the items starting with the letter w.
>>> 6.  Press the DOWN ARROW, if needed to navigate to Waves MaxxAudio 
>>> Service Application. If it is not in the list, then this is not the 
>>> cause of the problem.
>>> 7.  With Waves MaxxAudio Service Application selected, press ALT+A 
>>> to disable it.
>>> 8.  Restart the computer.
>>> 9.  Use the computer for a few hours or so, without rebooting, until 
>>> you are convinced the performance issues no longer exist. This may 
>>> take several sessions.
>>> 10. If the problem persists and you want to reenable Waves MaxxAudio 
>>> Service Application, follow steps 1 through 8 but in step 8, press 
>>> ALT+N to enable it.
>>> 
>>> Note:
>>> 
>>> The only real downside to disabling the Waves MaxxAudio Service 
>>> Application is that the PC will no longer dynamically respond to 
>>> plugging in a different output audio device. For example, if you plug 
>>> in headphones, the computer will not use them until rebooting.
>>> 
>>> Detailed Description
>>> 
>>> Problem: Many computers include an onboard audio chipset that uses 
>>> the “Waves Sound Maxx Audio Service†. When this service is 
>>> running, your system performance is impacted when your system’s 
>>> on-board audio is being used by various audio apps. Accessibility 
>>> software is an example of audio software which makes use of the 
>>> system’s audio interface in a way which has an impact on how the 
>>> Waves Maxx Audio Service processes audio. The result is that over 
>>> time, your system memory is not freed as applications like a screen 
>>> reader submit audio to be output. Eventually, your system will begin 
>>> making heavy use of the Virtual memory and memory pages. At some 
>>> point enough memory will be used where Windows will need to begin closing applications to recover memory so that the system can continue to operate.
>>> When Windows unexpectedly closes application processes an application 
>>> will either gracefully quit or an application may crash. For example, 
>>> the Microsoft Teams software will often crash, whereas Google Chrome 
>>> may simply exit gracefully. No crash dumps are generally generated 
>>> when these symptoms occur.
>>> 
>>> Troubleshoot: To troubleshoot your system, run the msinfo32 app and 
>>> tab to the system summary of information and if you find that the 
>>> amount of available physical memory is less than 2 GB, typically as 
>>> low as 850 MB of available memory, and if the system is using a large 
>>> amount of virtual memory as much as 3 to 4 times your physical amount 
>>> of memory, and your page file space is significantly greater than it 
>>> usually is when you first boot up the machine, then it is very likely 
>>> you have this issue. You can check this by rebooting your system and 
>>> then load msinfo32. Examine the memory values that are listed under 
>>> Summary. Once you know your startup values you can use the machine 
>>> for 3 or 4 hours. After that time, if you examine the same msinfo32 
>>> information and you find you have little memory left or unexpectedly 
>>> large amounts of memory is being used when you have almost no 3rd party apps running, then you likely have this issue.
>>> 
>>> For example, for a typical system with 16GB of physical RAM we would 
>>> expect Windows 10 to bootup and have all services running with around 
>>> 12.8 GB of RAM available of use. The total Virtual memory would 
>>> typically be 18GB of RAM with the available virtual memory of 14.8GB 
>>> and a Page file space of 2.8GB. If after 8 hours of use we close all 
>>> applications and reexamine the
>>> msinfo32 summary information we should find the memory values to be 
>>> near the values we had when we first booted up. It may be a little 
>>> bit lower but if you have the issue described here then you would 
>>> find the amount of physical memory to be less than 1GB of RAM and the 
>>> total Virtual Memory to be 48GB or greater and the amount of Page 
>>> file space to be more than 8GB. We have seen that Windows can have 
>>> significant performance issues and even will begin closing apps in as 
>>> little as 2 hours of use. This largely depends on how much one is using the machine.
>>> 
>>> Cause: The issue is not an issue directly caused by the accessibility 
>>> software or by audio software like Teams. It is actually caused by 
>>> the Waves Max Audio Service. We are in discussion with the 
>>> manufacturer to see what can be done. But, for now, there is no good 
>>> solution that Vispero can programmatically implement in our software 
>>> which solves the problem. Intel will need to implement a solution on 
>>> their end. Fortunately, the Waves Max Audio Service is not essential 
>>> to the functioning of your computer’s audio. Applications, 
>>> including screen readers and low vision software and other 3rd party 
>>> applications that use audio can make use of the Realtek audio device without the use of the Sound Maxx Audio Service.
>>> 
>>> Workaround Solution: Follow the Solution section above to prevent the 
>>> Waves MaxxAudio Service Application from starting when the computer turns on.
>>> 
>>> The following command line is another option to temporarily end the 
>>> Waves MaxxAudio Service until the next reboot if you still want the 
>>> service to automatically start up when the computer turns on:
>>> 
>>> 1.  Open cmd.exe as an elevated Administrator.
>>> 2.  Type the following command: “taskkill /F /IM Wavessvc64.exe† 
>>> and press ENTER.
>>> 
>>> 
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>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Maitreya Shah (he/ him)
>> LLM Candidate and Dean’s Merit Scholar, University of Pennsylvania Law 
>> School (2021-22) Associate Editor, University of Pennsylvania’s Asian 
>> Law Review (2021-22) B.A. LL.B (Hons.), Gujarat National Law 
>> University (2015-20)
>> +91 8320964462 | +1 908 720 8795
>> 
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