Drivers & Software

[bitmaker1024]

Hi all,

I have a problem with my two amd graphics cards with windows 10pro (64) and would be very happy to get some help.

I have a win10pro (64) system with 2 graphics cards installed with one monitor attached each. The two chipsets are the older HD 5570 and the R7 200. When I've set up the system both graphics cards were working well, i.e. both send a signal to the monitors attached. After a windows update containing newer crimson drivers the HD 5570 is no longer working.

What I've found so far:
- both graphics cards are working properly (they do, if I run win7 (64) on the same system) - but with an old graphics driver

- I found that the support for the older HD 5570 was dropped in the last half year in the crimson drivers - this is probably why after windows 10 updated the drivers to crimson 16.12.2 (or 16.12.1, not sure) the HD 5570 did no longer work

- AMD offers drivers actually supporting both graphics cards (WHQL catalyst drivers): as soon as I uninstall the crimson drivers and install those catalyst drivers, both graphics cards work perfectly again: the device manager also shows that both are operating normally and shows the old driver just installed for both graphics cards.
Unfortunately this lasts only for a short period, as suddenly both displays start blinking a couple of times and after that the HD5570 is again black and no longer working: after this the device manager shows that the HD 5570 is not working due to an unknown error and the R7 200 shows again the newest crimson drivers.

My guess is, that after having successfully installed the old catalyst drivers, Windows 10 detects that there is a newer driver for the R7 200 in one of the "generic driver update" packages (the crimson driver). The fact that there is a second graphics card installed requiring an older driver is being ignored.
I'd like to add that when removing all graphics drivers (before installing the catalyst drivers) I let windows delete all driver files from the disk and I also remove the "AMD" folder from "C:\" (the folder where usually the amd drivers are being unpacked), so the crimson drivers that windows 10 installs can only come from a windows update, imho.

My questions now is: can I avoid windows 10 installing the amd drivers from the update package (I'm happy with the older catalyst drivers)?
Or can I install the catalyst driver for the HD5570 in parallel to the crimson drivers for the R7 200?
Also, would someone explain whether this is a windows 10 update issue or more a amd crimson driver issue, so that I can address the issue properly, please?

As requested I attach the Questions list below.

I really appreciate any help!

Thanks,

John

Describe your system:

• AMD Graphics Card
  • 2 graphics cards: HD 5570 and R7 200
• Desktop or Laptop System
  • Desktop
• Operating System
  • Windows 10 professional 64bit
• Driver version installed
  • Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.12.2
• Display Devices
  • Dell U2711 connected to the R7 200 via Displayport
    
  • Samsung SyncMaster 203B connected to the HD 5570 via DVI
    
• Motherboard
  • Gigbyte GA-890GPA-UD3H
• CPU/APU
  • AMD Phenom II 955
• Power Supply Unit  Make, Model & Wattage
  • bequiet! BQT E7-600W
• RAM
  • 12GB

Describe your issue:

• Provide a detailed description of the issue you are experiencing and the steps required to reproduce the issue:
  • Install both graphics cards into the PC and connect a monitor each. Install Windows 10 pro (64). Perform all windows 10 updates. The monitor attached to the HD 5570 will fail and the device manager will state that there is an issue with the drivers (in the resources tab of the device details)
• Details about applications/games affected (including version number):
  • Windows 10 is affected, so every application is affected, too.
• Graphical settings used in the application/game (resolution and 3D settings):
  • Default resolutions for both monitors mentioned (2560x1440 on the Dell attached to the R7 200 and 1050x1400 on the Samsung attached to the HD 5570)
• If possible, include a screenshot or video link of the issue:
  
  • not possible, unfortunately.

[ray_m · Accepted solution]

You have correctly diagnosed the problem.

The situation is that both cards will need to run the same driver version, however, the R7 200 series continues to receive updates while the HD5xxx series has been moved to legacy status with no further driver updates planned.

If you want to run both cards together, then you need to rely on either Crimson 16.2.1 beta or 15.7.1 WHQL, available here : Legacy

Unfortunately this is a Microsoft Windows issue, but you can google for different ways to prevent Microsoft from forcing updates to your drivers.

[bitmaker1024]

Ray_M, thanks for your help - much appreciated.

Nevertheless it's a pity that Microsoft doesn't just easily allow to control the update process, as they're messing that up pretty frequently.
Also dropping the support for older cards by AMD/ATI isn't really any better, knowing that Windows 10 just updates all drivers by default.

Thanks again,

John

[amdmatt]

My post here should help you prevent Windows from forcing a driver update onto your system.