Drivers & Software

[mbergeson]

I posted "Radeon HD 7700 Win 10 freezes when attempting to "Turn off display"" two months ago without an answer.

I now have more information and I've determined the issue is the 7750 with the Radeon driver. The system details are

Dell Optiplex 3010

A21 BIOS (latest), Bios settings to default
i7-3770, 16GB ram

Win 10 Pro 64-bit 1809, in a domain  (same issue with 1803)

Samsung Pro SSD

Radeon HD 7750 (18.12.2, have used the last three versions, all have same behavior)

Dell P2414H (x2) monitors connected via displayport

Power configuration is always on. The display timeout is 15 minutes.

If no one is logged in, the displays turn off after 15 minutes and will not wake up via USB mouse or keyboard. The computer can still be

pinged. After a while it no longer responds to pings and must be powered down and restarted.

If a user is logged in the displays turn off after the timeout period. There is no issue with waking up the computer with the USB mouse or

keyboard. It works just fine.

The event log has a curious error in the system log just prior to the unexpected shutdown (via hard power off/on).

A timeout (30000 milliseconds) was reached while waiting for a transaction response from the AMD External Events Utility service

I've tried disabling the AMD External Events Utility service but that caused other issues.

And, yes, I can disable the display timeout and this issue does not occur. However, I would prefer the displays turn off to save power.

In frustration I uninstalled all AMD drivers using their clean utility. With standard Microsoft display drivers, the computer works fine (albeit with

duplicated displays) and the displays turn back on via USB mouse and/or keyboard whether or not a user is logged in or not.

That tells me there is some interaction between the 7750 and at least the last few revisions of the driver, perhaps tied to display port and/or

dual monitors. Perhaps there is some vital software that only runs when a user logs on that is not present when no one is logged in?

This is very frustrating because the user must remember to not log out, which is against company policy, but is required if they need

to login remotely. I have and HD 7800 and R9 380 as well as lesser radeon cards and do not have this problem.

[kingfish]

Turn off fast start...then reboot.

Windows 10 Fast Startup could be detrimental to your computer

[mbergeson]

I reinstalled 18.12.2 with fast startup disabled. No effect. With no one logged in, once the displays were turned off the system was hosed.

By the time the display time out occurs, any services delayed by MS fast startup would have had plenty of time to start up.

[pokester]

You say your bios settings are at default. Do those default settings allow for being pinged while asleep? Is your usb set to allow the computer to be awakened by Keyboard or Mouse?

[mbergeson]

The computer is not "asleep". The monitors turn off that's it.

As I explained, with the Radeon drivers removed and the default MS drivers in place, the problem goes away. The issue is tied to the Radeon drivers.

I would think the event relating to AMD External Events Utility service would mean something to the developers? It shows up right before the system
hangs.

Again, without a fix my options are limited to:

   1) Don't turn off the displays after inactivity. Probably do this.
   2) Always make sure a user is logged in.

   3) Don't use AMDs driver

[pokester]

Maybe try an older AMD driver. I would try 17.7.1 or 2. They predate the Wattman changes and many have good luck with those drivers. They just don't have the more recent game optimizations.

[mbergeson]

Same behavior using 17.7.1.

Went back to latest 18 drivers and have set turn off display to Never.

Again, this issue only happens when the computer is idle with no one logged on. If any user is logged on (normal or admin) this issue does not occur. I would think the AMD External Events Utility event along with user logged in or not would be a clue as to what's going on.

Thanks for your help. Do AMD techs monitor the forums? I don't think this is an issue a fellow user can diagnose.

[kingfish]

Then report it to AMD?

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