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Dell.TechHub.Instrumentation.SubAgent problems - short duration high resource usage
Good morning all,
I am having some problems with the Dell Instrumentation process (Dell.TechHub.Instrumentation.SubAgent) on an Alienware 13 R2.
Details are: C:\Program Files\Dell\DTP\InstrumentationSubAgent - 1.0.106.4173
I am finding every 10-15 min the PC freezes, the CPU fan spins up to 100% for ~1.5 seconds, then the GPU fan spins up to 100% for ~1.5 seconds. The whole event lasts about 5 seconds.
I watched the task manager to identify the likely cause. From the resource usage when the fault occurs, I suspected the Dell Instrumentation process. Using task manager I ended the process. When I did this, the problem stopped & the PC ran normally for extended times.
Before I proceed, can anyone provide advice on this issue?
Many thanks and have a good day
Regards,
Stevie
refsmmat
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September 13th, 2022 17:00
Good morning Mr. Ohana & all,
Good news is I think I have solved this, although the method is fairly 'clunky'.
For unrelated reasons, I rebuilt my 13R2 from scratch. After the rebuild I noticed the problem had gone (monitored over several days).
It is not really fair to define the solution as 'just rebuild' , so I dug further into the issue.
As my machine is running now, I do not have "Dell.TechHub.Instrumentation.SubAgent" installed.
From further research, there seems to be some conflict between the Dell support and Alienware support for the laptop. I found this issue during my rebuild and this has shaped my solution.
1. Remove all Dell an Alienware support tools using "add remove programs" & reboot.
2. Install Alienware Update 4.6.0 (I used Dell-Update-Alienware-Update-Application_3T5JX_WIN_4.6.0_A00.exe). Don't install the Dell update tool.
3. Run Alienware Update 4.6.0 and accept all update recommendations.
4. Once complete, this flags the PC as 'up to date' . No Dell management elements are installed (Alienware only).
This process should leave you with a working config - without the fan problem.
I have no device manager errors and my PC is performing well. "Dell.TechHub.Instrumentation.SubAgent" is not installed.
I welcome feedback on this, but the problem is solved for me.
Regards
Stevie
Mr. Ohana
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August 25th, 2022 14:00
Hi Stevie...
I have similar laptop AW 13 R2 having same exact issue. I've searched around but no real solution yet. I upgraded the HD to SSD awhile back. But just now upgraded RAM to 16G thinking this would fix issue. Sad to say Dell Instrumentation still running CPU at full blast with fan at random times for about 5 seconds.
Hope we can have a solution presented soon as it is very disturbing during online meetings... thanks for your concise query.
Mr. Ohana
refsmmat
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August 26th, 2022 05:00
Hi Mr Ohana,
Thank for the post. It sounds like the same problem.
I have found shutting down InstrumentationSubAgent process using the task manager fixes the problem temporarily - although this is not an ideal solution.
I used msconfig to prevent Dell TecHub from being loaded at boot, but this didnt help - it degraded performance & stability.
While diagnosing the issue, I found the Nvidia control panel was reporting 'no Nvidia hardware was connected to the monitor' (description to that effect) despite device manager showing the GPU was ok.
As I was now suspicious of the Nvidia GPU , I updated Nvidia drivers to 516.94, from 516.59.
Following this, I have not had any experiences with the machine freezing and fans spinning up randomly.
I don't know if this will work for you but it seems to have worked on my machine. I will monitor for a few days and advise.
Regards
Stevie.
refsmmat
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August 28th, 2022 01:00
Sorry everyone - the fix above (GPU driver update) has not fixed the issue.
Regards
Stevie