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Drivers & Software

sTi
Adept II

PC occasionally freezes during Windows startup

My self-built PC occasionally freezes during windows startup, around 5-10% of the time. 

The freeze always happens around the same time, shortly before the windows desktop should appear. The dots under the user name stop spinning, the computer freezes completely and I have to restart manually. Sometimes after the next boot the AMD graphics driver is deactivated and reverted back to the Microsoft basic display driver. I then have to manually re-activate the  "AMD Radeon graphics" device in the device manager, which suggests to me that the freeze may be related to the graphics driver. Usually the freeze does not leaves a trace in the event log, but very occasionally the freeze may generate a blue screen like this: 

634515a4-d296-4b78-a4d7-2560da3f74db.jpg

 

 

 

==================================================
Dump File         : 110921-5359-01.dmp
Crash Time        : 09.11.2021 12:13:57
Bug Check String  : THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER
Bug Check Code    : 0x100000ea
Parameter 1       : ffffa10d`e264c080
Parameter 2       : 00000000`00000000
Parameter 3       : 00000000`00000000
Parameter 4       : 00000000`00000000
Caused By Driver  : amdkmdag.sys
Caused By Address : amdkmdag.sys+1ae5ab
File Description  : 
Product Name      : 
Company           : 
File Version      : 
Processor         : x64
Crash Address     : ntoskrnl.exe+3f72a0
Stack Address 1   : 
Stack Address 2   : 
Stack Address 3   : 
Computer Name     : 
Full Path         : C:\Windows\Minidump\110921-5359-01.dmp
Processors Count  : 16
Major Version     : 15
Minor Version     : 19041
Dump File Size    : 1.877.340
Dump File Time    : 09.11.2021 12:16:21
==================================================

 

 

 

The freeze only happens during startup, once the Windows desktop appears the system is stable (tested with Prime95, Furmark, Memtest...)  

Configuration:  

  • AMD Ryzen 5700G 
  • Asus B550-F Gaming Wifi, latest BIOS 2423 
  • 32GB RAM Crucial DDR4-3200 
  • Seasonic Prime Fanless 500W 
  • Windows 10 Home, Version 21H2, latest updates installed
  • Windows fast boot deactivated 
  • Latest AMD chipset drivers 

DXDiag: https://pastebin.com/Y6R5pmk7  

 

I have tried the following so far: 

Hardware measures

Swapping everything that could cause a hardware-related crash: 

  • CPU: with another 5700G 
  • RAM: With a different 2x16GB kit from a different manufacturer  
  • Mainboard: With another Asus B550-F Gaming Wifi 
  • PSU: With another Seasonic Prime Fanless 500W 
  • SSD: With an SSD from a different manufacturer + reinstall Windows

 

Nothing made a difference. So now I am pretty confident that the issue is not caused by faulty hardware. 

 

Software measures

  • Reinstalling Windows (several times...)
  • Disabling all autostart programs 
  • Disabling all non-Windows services during startup 
  • Reinstalling latest WHQL AMD drivers from AMD website (after removing previous driver with AMD cleanup utility)  (did so several times...)

 

Again, nothing made a difference. Currently I am using the latest driver that I installed manually via Windows update after a clean Windows install, but the issue remains the same. 

I am out of ideas what else to troubleshoot, nothing seems to make a difference. The evidence so far suggests that the freezes are most likely caused by the graphics driver, but what can I do besides doing a clean reinstall of different driver versions (including the one provided by Microsoft Windows update), none of which solved the issue?

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