AMD Driver Issues · DIGIT-ARC

Sorry about starting a brand new thread for this problem

I've gone thru two previous threads :

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/hardware-q/125625-ati-display-driver-has-stopped-responding.html

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/graphic-cards/135666-game-crashes-amd-hd-6850-a.html

system spec is as follows :

intel core i 5 - 2400 proc
intel dh67bl - b3 mobo
msi hd 6850 1 GB cyclone power oc edition
corsair 4 GB DDR 3 @ 1333Mhz
Coolermaster elite 430
antec 650 watts

i get :

Display driver amdkmdap stopped responding and has successfully recovered.

i get this error often as i play mafia ii , nfs hp and fifa 11 at the highest settings . just once error occured while playing chess titans in win 7.

i've tried the 10.10 hot fix amd drivers , the latest drivers from msi website and now i'm using the catalyst 11.8 drivers from the amd website.

each time i've uninstalled old drivers, booted in safe mode , cleaned out using driver sweep and reinstalled new drivers . still i'm getting the error message often .

i've also updated my motherboard bios to the latest version, updated directx to the latest.

is this actually a driver incompatability issue ? lot ot ppl with hd 5xxx and hd 6xxx series cards seem to have issues with amd drivers.

it usually happens with graphically intensive games when gpu is really loaded .

from afterburner i've seen my gpu temp is around 40 c in idle . and max it has gone is around 65 c .

my gpu is factory oc'd . i've never meddled with it .

any other msi 6850 oc edition user here ? have u faced this problem ? is there any work around guys ?

anyone else using amd 5xxx or 6xxx series gpus , pls post ur experience

Uninstall your drivers. Reboot. Delete if any leftover files remains. Install the latest driver. DON'T USE ANY DRIVER CLEANER. In my experience, they create more problems than solving. BTW, which version of Windows are you using?

@ skud : then the damage is already done

.... i've reinstalled drivers three times and used driver sweeper all three times .I've installed the latest catalyst 11.8 drivers now ..... after uninstalling the original drivers that came with my card , i had manually removed the ati folders too .

Anyways , i'm using windows 7 ultimate edition . The driver crash and restart occurs mostly only when playing 3d games at ultra high settings . mafia ii , fifa 11 and nfs hp have given errors ... whereas burnout paradise has never given error.

I wonder if this is really a driver issue . My card is factory oc'ed and as i mentioned above , the temperatures are quite okay , I believe . Really perplexed . When it works okay , this card is really a charm .... the visuals in Mafia ii and NFS Hp are just incredible , especially the textures and lighting effects .... its quite a shame that it crashes this often .

Has your 6950 ever given such errors , Skud ?

Nah. Previously, I have this sort of problem with my previous 4850 and the drivers that came with the disc. I also tried just the steps like you, including driver cleaner and the problem escalated. Then did an uninstall of the whole thing, installed the new one from AMD website, and in peace since then.

With the 6950, straightaway got rid of the disc.

Hmmm. Then its a driver incompatibility problem rather than a hardware problem . Why cant these vendors ( MSi , Asus , Sapphire etc) release proper drivers along with their expensive graphic cards ? Atleast for the most popular Windows 7 Operating system ? With my 9.2 K Graphics card , I didnt get even a HDMI Cable . Just a DVI to VGA adaper . I've connected using that with a vga cable to my LED Monitor. :neutral:

Anyways , I'll try uninstalling the drivers the normal way . Deleting ATI files manually . Do a registry clean with CCleaner and reinstall the latest driver suite from AMD site. Will avoid the Driver Sweeper this time and see.

Is your Windows up to date?

No . I've left it at installed phase . Automatic Updates disabled . Are there any particular recommended updates , security updates , patches or bug fixes to be installed ?

V

Skud said:
DON'T USE ANY DRIVER CLEANER. In my experience, they create more problems than solving.

If you faced this issue with driver sweeper doesn't means everybody will face it too. I have never faced any problem with driver sweeper & many others haven't too. Infact, driver sweeper or any similar tool was created to solve problems caused by the original driver uninstallers. Such tools are made by the devs after extensive testing. Dont forget this fact.

I would suggest the OP to try the older drivers & check if they too are giving you the same problem. Also try increasing your gfx card's fan speed to 65-70% manually before running any game just to ensure that there's is no heating problem.

varunb - the original drivers that came with disc , latest drivers in msi website , 10.10 hot fix amd drivers and the latest catalyst 11.8 drivers are all giving the error . i've tried each of the above . uninstalling the drivers , doing driver sweep in safe mode and installing the next driver .

As for fan speed , from afterburner , I see that the fan speed never exceeds 45- 50 % . But as i mentioned before , the temperature too has never exceeded 65 C . At idling its constant at 40 - 41 C . I'll try manually increasing the speed to higher value .

V

Well a lot of people have attributed the cause of this problem to be low voltage or overclock but I believe you running everything at stock speeds so its ruled out. Also you mentioned that

it usually happens with graphically intensive games when gpu is really loaded .

is making me think that it could be fault gfx card. Did you see any sort of texture corruption, flickering, etc just before or after that error?

I have faced the problem before both with my older HD 5770 and the new HD 6870. 1st time the reason was faulty card and 2nd time faulty driver.

There are several causes:
1. Graphics card driver issue
2. Graphics card is not getting enough power.
3. Graphcis card is getting hot
4. Faulty memory in Graphics card.

Unistalling driver with Driver Sweeper does not bring any problems, infact it is the recommended way to remove drivers. varunb, you get the 11.7 Driver 1st. Then install the latest DirectX and 11.7 after unistalling the 11.8 using Driver Sweeper. Also monitor the temparature using any monitoring tools like GPU-Z while playing games.

varunb said:
If you faced this issue with driver sweeper doesn't means everybody will face it too. I have never faced any problem with driver sweeper & many others haven't too. Infact, driver sweeper or any similar tool was created to solve problems caused by the original driver uninstallers. Such tools are made by the devs after extensive testing. Dont forget this fact.

I would suggest the OP to try the older drivers & check if they too are giving you the same problem. Also try increasing your gfx card's fan speed to 65-70% manually before running any game just to ensure that there's is no heating problem.

I have recommended as per OP's problems. Driver cleaner hasn't solve his isuues. So it's better to stay away from it for the moment.

varunb & cilus : there is no texture corruption . the screen freezes for a moment . then flickers and comes back on and returns to the game . in windows event viewer , there will be a warning message that the driver has stopped responding and has successfully recovered. I dont think this is overclock problem . Because the card is factory overclocked and i havent messed with it at all .

@ Cilus - I do believe this is some driver issue . Power is not problem as I have Antec 650 W PSU powering my system . The temperature afaik is okay , i believe . Maximum it has gone 60 - 65 C. I'm monitoring using Afterburner . Dont know if its accurate or not.I have installed the 11.8 drivers now. Will try with the 11.7 one you told .

V

Skud said:
I have recommended as per OP's problems. Driver cleaner hasn't solve his isuues. So it's better to stay away from it for the moment.

No. Your comment was implying that the OP shouldn't even touch driver cleaner (be it now or in the future) even though it may solve it. OP stated that driver sweeper didn't solve the problem but he didn't say that he started getting a new problem after driver cleaner. So your suggestion about not touching driver cleaner again is pointless.

@cgi86, I faced similar error with my previous gfx card & I found out that my card was dying. My suggestion to you would now be to take it to the service center for replacement if its under warranty.

Just now tried one thing - loaded up GPU-Z . manually set the fan speed to 75 % in afterburner . played nfs hp for sometime . no crash . max temp 60 c.

Set fan speed back to auto . started nfs hp . just before start of race , driver crashed once ... then it was ok .... now checked GPU -Z again . Max temp 60 c . max fan speed - 63 %

I feel its either driver problem or a Gpu memory problem.

V

Well its great you found something. Manually change the fan speed now just like I mentioned earlier.

max fan speed - 63 %

I think his is the reason. Manually increase the speed to at least 75-80% before running any game & see the result.

Then your Graphics card's Fan is not working properly in Auto mode and while gaming temperature increases to a certain degree causing the problem. And Regarding your experience that games getting paused while playing and then the Message is coming....it is same for my case. The reason is that Windows 7 can recover from the Display Driver crash by starting the stopped Display Driver process without restarting.
But running Gfx card all the time with 75% to 80% speed may damage the fan too. So my suggestion is just to make sure that it is not any software issue, format your system and directly install the latest catalyst display driver after re-installing OS and see if the problem still exists or not.
Also you can download MSI Afterburner and can set profile for manual fan control. It has the option to set different fan speed at different load like 35% fan speed at 30% load, 60% fan speed at 50% load and 100% fan speed @ 60% and higher.

Hi Guys ,

I was down with flu . So couldn't experiment much . So here's the continuation of my tale - 'Taming of the Graphic Card'

I'm almost convinced that temperature is not the issue , since it has never crossed 65 c . And the fan speed thing is also not the issue . Tried setting fan speed to 75 % manually in afterburner . Started up NFS HP. Gave crash just at start of race . Not only driver crashed , whole system froze. Had to hard reset CPU

.

So I'm leaving the fan speed back to auto setting in afterburner . Next removed the current amd drivers (11.8 ) . Restarted in safe mode . Driver Sweeped AMD . Cleaned registry with Ccleaner . Restarted and installed the 11.7 drivers . Initially all seems good . NFS HP starts ok . Fifa 11 plays okay . But later , in NFS HP , drivers crash repeatedly . Twice in three minutes . Since then no issues till now .

But obviously its not resolved . Only thing left for me is to format and reinstall OS , and right away try with the latest catalyst drivers as a last resort.

If that too fails , its clearly a faulty GPU - problem with GPU memory or something . May have to get it serviced .

CGi86

From my experiance ur gpu is faulty. I too faced prob of freezing and recovering, game crashing in addition to BSODs.
If reinstall win7 doesnt fix, then RMA imo.

after exhausting all other options i'm preparing to try RMA . have contacted MSI with detailed report of my issue . hope to get it resolved . fingers crossed .

^^
Did you let your Windows fully patch...?

^^ yep . and that didnt solve it either .

I've given my gpu for rma. will take 10 - 14 days.hope to get it resolved.

Ya, it is a GPU problem...I have faced the same issue. Good luck for the RMA process.

intel core i 5 - 2400 proc
intel dh67bl - b3 mobo
msi hd 6850 1 GB cyclone power oc edition
corsair 4 GB DDR 3 @ 1333Mhz
Coolermaster elite 430
antec 650 watts

I have exactly the similar configuration, except for G.Skill 4GB DDR RAM and FSP SAGA II 500W SMPS.

I do remember the AMD driver crash on my system, I think 3 times it crashed, but thats all.. I think after I updated the drivers to 11.10 it stopped crashing.

BTW can you give us the Exact RAM Model which you are using, AFAIK and as reported by other members of this forum some Corsair models have issues with Sandy Bridge.

I am quoting this reply from Cilus from one of my threads.

Cilus said:
DOn't get XMS3 for Sandy Bridge motherboards as Sandy Bridge Mobo ram slots are operate on 1.5V whereas XMS3 is a 1.65V ram module. I've heard about some incompatibility issues between these high voltage ram modules and Sandy Bridge mobos.

As you have already given your GPU for RMA, you can research if there is any problem with the RAM you are using.

EDIT: your temperature is also normal, mine hit 69°-71° C

i too feel there is something wrong with the RAM too ..... i very rarely get the graphics driver crashing error even now ( its not frequent as before) with the intel graphics driver too .

my ram is corsair value select 4 GB DDR 3 @ 1333 mhz : Corsair Memory â€” 4GB DDR3 Memory (CMV4GX3M1A1333C9)
its voltage is given as 1.5 v , same as that of intel dh67bl - b3 mobo memory voltage .

i had updated the graphics driver to 11.10 and subsequently to 11.11 . but my problems had persisted .

my mobo has got a new bios update , so going to try that now .

yah .. my temps are mostly okay ....

check your memory modules with memtest app.

this is off topic . but can anyone suggest a trusted online site to purchase computer components such as RAM ?

Friends ,

Can you tell me why its showing 666 Mhz in bandwidth ? The Ram should be running at 1333 Mhz , right ?

*img840.imageshack.us/img840/2214/50725398.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us

^ Double Data Rate - DDR.

It's normal.

topgear said:
check your memory modules with memtest app.

I'm truly stumped . Memtest ran for 7 hours . 11 passes . zero errors . :crazy:

^^ then your memory modules are just fine - check the HDD for bad sector using your HDD manufacturer diagnostic app.

topgear said:
^^ then your memory modules are just fine - check the HDD for bad sector using your HDD manufacturer diagnostic app.

Checked with Seatools - Ran Smart Test , Drive Self Test , Short Generic and Long Generic Tests - No errors . Dang ! I can't figure out , whats wrong here . Very very occasionally i still get the graphics driver error - with my Intel IGP !

IGP also giving same error , Windows reinstalled twice, Formatted . Almost all catalyst drivers from 11.7 tried , Mainboard Bios updated , Video Bios flashed - updated , Ram Checked with Memtest , HDD checked with Seatools . My temps are quite okay - idle at 30s , max at 68-70 C . Changed power settings to Performance (never turn off)

Can't help but feeling that Windows is screwing with me .

Clean install Windows 7 one more time > Install SP1 > Install all the latest update for the OS > Install the latest intel inf ( chipset ) / lan / audio driver > Install the IGP driver from the mobo CD.

Received the graphics card replaced today. For few hours its normal .... then in Fifa 11 , the error comes again . Twice in 4 minutes . I'm almost convinced this has something to do with Windows. Hmmm . Will Clean Install window again and see with all the latest updates .

Try changing your mother board.And also see if you have any failed updates listed 'Update history'.

cgi86 said:
Received the graphics card replaced today. For few hours its normal .... then in Fifa 11 , the error comes again . Twice in 4 minutes . I'm almost convinced this has something to do with Windows. Hmmm . Will Clean Install window again and see with all the latest updates .

Don't forget to install the latest inf ie chipset software from Intel's website.

yeah.have download ed all the latest Intel drivers. now have to clean install

Ok... waiting for the feedback.

Installed a fresh copy of windows 7 ultimate after formatting. updated upto dec 2011 . installed all latest intel drivers including chipset drivers . installed the latest directx , dotnet , visual c++ runtimes etc . updated to latest catalyst driver .

just tried out with one game . burnout paradise in maxed out settings . it gave driver crash error once and recovered quickly . have not tried any other game after that .

but still the problem persists .

. fairly and squarely beaten by this mystery !

@cgi86:Again,try a different motherboard.Borrow one from one of your friends if you can.

@ OP - so it's not some software issue - reset CMOS settings > make sure pci-e bus is set at 100 Mhz and onboard gfx is disabled ( bios settings ) > test the cpu with some load test app like lynx or OCCt ( med/small data set ) for at-least 2 hour and monitor the cpu temp ( you can also use HWmonitor for that ) - try using another psu.

Are there any reliable mainboard diagnostic tool ? Checking with another mainboard /psu is not viable option for me.none of my friends has compatible mainboard / psu. I'll check the processor and monitor temperature in mean time.

if you want to stress test the mobo then use OCCT large data set test for 1-2 hour though it's not the best diagnostic option but it will put some huge load on cpu, specially memory modules and mobo chipset for cpu testing the medium and small data set test is more suitable though.

Check the system temp using HWmoinitor app while you are running these tests and keep an eye on the volt level - if the test completes with or without any error post the results here and also do post the HWmonitor screenshot ( running during steers test with temp and volt level clearly visible ) here.

hi all. i ran stress test with linx . i'm posting the screenshots here . it gave an error when i ran with the all memory option . is 82 c ok temperature ?

first test . no errors .

*img69.imageshack.us/img69/2710/linxresult.th.jpg

second test . with error after 6 min.

*img521.imageshack.us/img521/3238/linx2.th.jpg

I do occasionally have these errors still, guys

. Its not that frequent as before . But still happens time to time . I do believe something to do with motherboard failing on stress or fault with power supply . Hmmm . Got used to it .

even I'm now facing some issue with my HD6850 ( or it's drivers ? ) - so far tried with only newest stable driver though - some games will just crash to desktop with different message and once this happens there's no way I can run any games or video files - I need to restart to fix the prob but it would appear again with same games.

I doubt if its really a Driver issue. My system gives the driver not responding error even
in windows 7 aero sometimes. But mostly when I play games. Suspecting heat I installed additional
120 mm fan to my chassis. Also loaded the latest graphics BIOS from tech powerup.
but error persists. But I have never faced error that u mentioned above. I am running latest
stable catalyst. Lately the frequency of error has reduced. But it does happen often
and sometimes freezes up entire system requiring hard reboot.

It's a shame though, because when it works well. the performance is mind blowing.
. The visuals in mafia ii, nfs, witcher 2 , f1 2010. really blew me away. I can live with few
Hiccups when it gives several hours of joy otherwise. Only worry is whether the gpu,
CPU or mobo is artifacting behind the scenes. :-(

^^ I suspect this as an issue with the mobo's pci-e slot.

how so? my system was setup by the assembler. initially itself it was giving the error. after my troubleshooting from software side, I myself removed the gpu and sent for rma. after getting it replaced. , I placed it in the pci. express. slot. since updating drivers, BIOS, and windows. the error frequency has reduced but still not gone.

why do u feel its slot problem. could you explain please ?

Your previous GPU has the same issue and the replaced one is also acting as the previous one though the error frequency has reduced but it's not gone - so I'm susecting that the pci-e slot on the mobo has some issue so any gu you put on the pci-e slot is shwing same type of error - the only way to be sure about this is to check the pci-e slot using different gpu - if possible borrow a gfx card from your friend and ut it on the mobo's pci-e slot and test.

Ok. Problem maybe with mainboard or psu.. none of my friends have pci express gpus. :-(

. Will ask around and see. Meantime will look to keep mainboard, gpu drivers and BIOS and windows updated and monitortemps.

I've solved my issue - just reinstalled windows 7 and the SP1 ( no other updates ) and the issue seems to be gone for good.

^^ great!

. I wish my issue was something straightforward like that.

it's not as straightforward like what I've thought before - faced the issue with Alan Wake American Nightmare today. Need more time for R&D ;-)

In fact i too had a similar problem with my 9800gt when playing dx9 based and older games.My display driver crashes and never recovers and gives me a BSOD.Luckily it's solved now.Here's the list of things i tried.
1.Updated all the drivers using drivermax.
2.Updated the BIOS.I think this is the step which fixed it for me.

In your case you can do 2 additional steps too if the above 2 doesn't fix your problem.

a.Install the display driver from your card manufacturer (asus,msi or whichever).
b.Update the BIOS of the gpu.

^^ There's no latest bios availablee for my gpu and I'm always using the latest driver.

The issue I'm facing is really weird - it won't happen with every game but some games will just crash after 5 or 15 mins and once the CTD occurs no games and video files will play properly - they will throw different crash reports with different dll marked as the fault modules.

The apps like KMplayer, MPC will show memory address access violation error or the video file will play with cracking sound and green/purple boxes on the display or the video playing apps simply won't start - same happens with games too though playback of mp3 files will work well.

I've check HDD, Memory but found no error and this happening with a fresh windows install - actually started with 12.1 beta driver and still the issue is here with every 12.x drivers - only way to fix the issue is to restart the system but then the CTD issue will appear again with the same games.

^ Hey, try installing the drivers from the manufacturer's site,not from AMD's site.And also update your mobo bios if not already.

@topgear is your cpu overclocked

Neuron said:
^ Hey, try installing the drivers from the manufacturer's site,not from AMD's site.And also update your mobo bios if not already.

Mobo bios updated and the driver on the manufacturer's site is 3 months old - anyway, will give that a try.

radeon6950 said:
@topgear is your cpu overclocked

Nope - cpu and gpu both running at stock speed.

what speed is your ram running at, if 1600 downclock to 1333 and try.

I've DDR2 800 Mhz ram modules running at stock speed.

try this
type cmd in windows search and right click cmd prompt and run as administrator
once in command prompt, type sfc /scannow.

I think I've resolved my issue - here's what i did ;-)

1. Updated Windows using auto update and installed all the critical and non critical updates.
2. Running cpu at stock volt - previously I've under volted the cpu to save power and keep it more cool.
3. Installed driver from manufacturers website - the latest version there is 11.12 but as long as it works it's fine for me.

Now it's time to find what actually caused the issue - will update the driver to the latest version ( fom AMD ) and play with cpu volts again. - I've created a backup for windows drive so now I can experimnet with the latest drivers.

i bet the cpu was unstable due to less voltage.

^^ could be but the cpu was stable on prime 95 2 Hrs Small FFt test and some time when there's a CTD issue I got a message relate to msvcrt.dll ( which was a 2k9 version ) - and this got updated with a 2011 version when I updated win 7 on last Tuesday.

did you happen to check the event log?
This is a known driver Issue with AMD video drivers

2 hrs of prime95 is nothing i ve had the crash to desktop after being 12 hours prime95 stable. keep the cpu at the recommended voltage and you shouldnt have any issues.

R

guyz i'm having trouble with my 6850,.......when i tried to update from 11.11 to 12.4....my screen gets filled with random color patches.......what should i do??

^uninstall amd catalyst 12.4
download and install amd catalyst 12.1 (seems to be the most stable driver for 6000 series graphic cards)

R

ok i'll try .....

^^ uninstall the driver in usual way - after that use driversweeper to clean any undeleted file/registry entry which can't be uninstalled using normal uninstall process and may conflict with new driver installation.

Gollum said:
did you happen to check the event log?
This is a known driver Issue with AMD video drivers

yep, checked event log but there's no error was showing except msvcrt.dll errors.

radeon6950 said:
2 hrs of prime95 is nothing i ve had the crash to desktop after being 12 hours prime95 stable. keep the cpu at the recommended voltage and you shouldnt have any issues.

^^ true but I undervolted the cpu for some energy savings and to keep it cool on summer mainly but I'll try to find the exact reason behind this .. wait for the results.

how to check the voltage of my cpu ? i've never tinkered with frequency or voltage of neither my cpu , nor my gpu . so it should be at stock, right ?

u can use cpu-z for monitoring cpu voltage, it can also be viewed in bios.(it should be at stock if not tinkered with)
normally "driver stopped responding" is due to an unstable gpu. Try settings your gpu clocks to those of a standard 6850 and see if the crashing stops.