I'm using an HTPC running Windows 10 with an AMD Athlon 200GE CPU and MSI Bazooka B450M motherboard. It plays music that's stored on my file server, also running Windows 10, which has an AMD CPU as well, this one a Ryzen 5 3400G. Its motherboard is the same one as used in the HTPC. I'm running Logitech Media Server on the file server, and Squeezelite on the HTPC, along with JiveLite for Windows, which provides a "10-foot interface" for the HTPC, making it useful with a Logitech wireless keyboard.
A few months ago, seemingly out of the blue, and without having had any prior problems, I started getting mysterious non-repeatable audio dropouts. I tried all sorts of experiments for weeks to no avail. Then I found an article on the AMD web site called Intermittent System Stutter Experienced with fTPM Enabled on Windows® 10 and 11. This sounded intriguing. They mentioned that one way to work around the problem (which only works on Window 10, not 11) was to turn off fTPM in the BIOS setup. When I saw that, I realized something. Months ago, I was testing my server and HTPC for Windows 11 upgrade compatibility, and had to turn on fTPM in the BIOS to make the server compatible. I did this with the HTPC also and left them both that way. Because of the intermittent nature of the dropouts, they did not start occurring right away, so I did not logically connect this action with the dropouts.
After disabling fTPM in the BIOS of both the HTPC and server, I haven't had a single dropout in months. The problem is solved. However, I'll eventually have to migrate to Windows 11 when Windows 10 support runs out.
It turns out that AMD is coming up with updates for motherboard vendors to use in their BIOS. The first AMD fix for this is called "AGESA 1.2.0.7". MSI has a beta bios that incorporates this code. I'll probably upgrade the BIOS in both my server and HTPC when a non-beta version is released.
So watch out for this fTPM bug if you're an AMD user and playing audio through a PC. If you're running Windows 11, it's best to upgrade your BIOS with one incorporating a fix as soon as one is available.
A few months ago, seemingly out of the blue, and without having had any prior problems, I started getting mysterious non-repeatable audio dropouts. I tried all sorts of experiments for weeks to no avail. Then I found an article on the AMD web site called Intermittent System Stutter Experienced with fTPM Enabled on Windows® 10 and 11. This sounded intriguing. They mentioned that one way to work around the problem (which only works on Window 10, not 11) was to turn off fTPM in the BIOS setup. When I saw that, I realized something. Months ago, I was testing my server and HTPC for Windows 11 upgrade compatibility, and had to turn on fTPM in the BIOS to make the server compatible. I did this with the HTPC also and left them both that way. Because of the intermittent nature of the dropouts, they did not start occurring right away, so I did not logically connect this action with the dropouts.
After disabling fTPM in the BIOS of both the HTPC and server, I haven't had a single dropout in months. The problem is solved. However, I'll eventually have to migrate to Windows 11 when Windows 10 support runs out.
It turns out that AMD is coming up with updates for motherboard vendors to use in their BIOS. The first AMD fix for this is called "AGESA 1.2.0.7". MSI has a beta bios that incorporates this code. I'll probably upgrade the BIOS in both my server and HTPC when a non-beta version is released.
So watch out for this fTPM bug if you're an AMD user and playing audio through a PC. If you're running Windows 11, it's best to upgrade your BIOS with one incorporating a fix as soon as one is available.
