Drivers & Software

[KevinMX]

Hi there, newcomer to the community here.

I've been using this Lenovo Thinkbook Gen5+ APO (R7-7840H / Radeon 780M) for quite some time, with a 4K60 display hooked up via the laptop's onboard HDMI 2.1 TMDS (a.k.a. HDMI 2.0).

However, it seems that hardware accelerated video decode & encode has been a huge issue here. And it's pretty annoying.

No matter it's in Chrome, Firefox, or OBS Studio, just play some random video in the web browser, or hook up my USB capture card in OBS Studio, the video codec will crash. In browsers, Chromium based for example, they will fallback to software decode, or a black screen might occur.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Open a browser, both Chromium-based and Firefox are okay, or open OBS Studio

2. Play some random video (In OBS Studio you don't need to anything to trigger the issue)

3. Check chrome://gpu, or about:support in Firefox, or check logs in OBS Studio (Help -> Log files -> View current log)

Extras. It seems when there's no extra monitor plugged in, the issue is less likely to be triggered.

What I experienced:

- chrome://gpu or about:support in Firefox reports D3D11 device removed/resets. (See screenshots below.)

- OBS Studio reports Device removed/resets, or OBS Studio crashes entirely and asks for a restart.

- BSoD might happen, but very rarely.

- Video playback artifacts might happen. Or a total black/white screen in the browser.

What I have tried:

- Reinstall OS -> both Windows 10 and 11, even sometimes in Linux HW accelerated video decode can stuck for a few sec in Firefox

- Reinstall driver -> All versions up to 23.12.1 (latest by now) from AMD website, and also those provided by the OEM (Lenovo), DDU/AMD Cleanup utility were used between driver version switches

- RMA -> The new laptop returned to me still has the same issue

- Change to a different machine that has the same GPU -> Bought a Minisforum UM780XTX with R7-7840HS -> Can still reproduce the issue

(note: it's the HS suffix. AFAIK the 7840H without S is for Mainland China only but should not be that different, since they even share the same product ID according to AMD's website)

Since the OEM didn't reply me, by now AMD Community seems to be my only place left to report this issue. 

I really don't know if this is a driver issue, or it's on firmware side (UEFI fw maybe?), as I can reproduce across all machines using the same iGPU.

Some logs/screenshots attached.

Thanks in advance.

[elstaci]

I bet the problem is with your 780M GPU card and not the IGPU.

Can you run and upload GPU-Z to see if the AMD driver is working correctly and to see what data is showing especially the APIs at the bottom of GPU-Z.

EDIT: Looking at AMD Download page, your Mobile AMD Processor Ryzen 7840H is not listed for any drivers to download. The closest is the Ryzen 7840HS processor and the Release Notes doesn't show it is compatible with the 780M GPU card since it isn't listed: https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-23-12-1

[KevinMX]

https://www.amd.com/en/support/apu/amd-ryzen-processors/amd-ryzen-7-processors-radeon-graphics/amd-r...

Radeon 780M *is* indeed the built in iGPU of 7840H/HS.

If you check the download URL you will find they are actually all the same one.

As I already mentioned, OEM drivers did not work well either.

On the driver's side, generally speaking, if you can install it, you're using the correct driver, as the installer usually uses VID/PID to decide which driver to install. If it's not in the inf file, then nope.

Obviously drivers from AMD.com CAN be installed on both my machines.

(I've already returned the 7840HS mini PC to the seller and got my refund, so only the 7840H laptop is with me now)

[elstaci]

I stand corrected. I always believed the 780M was a separate Mobile GPU card and not part of a AMD APU Mobile Processor.

True about your previous reply but sometimes even if the AMD Driver installs correctly it might be corrupted or not working the way it should. Thus the GPU-Z request.

GPU-Z can many times show if all the appropriate APIs are enabled for your GPU like Vulkan, OpenCL, OpenGL and version, Direct Compute, Ray Tracing, etc.

It will show the BIOS Version installed and all data pertaining to your GPU.

Otherwise I suggest you open a AMD SUPPORT TICKET: https://www.amd.com/en/forms/contact-us/support.html

[KevinMX]

Here you go.

I think you're right. Maybe I should open a suport ticket. Hope I'll hear reply from AMD staff soon.

[elstaci]

Thanks for the update.

GPU-Z seems to show everything correct including all the appropriate APIs at the bottom being check marked.

Yes, I would see what AMD SUPPORT has to say about it if they don't send you back to Lenovo Support that is.

Please post what AMD replies. Thanks

[KevinMX]

Just got AMD's reply from email.

You guessed it right, I have to contact the OEM (Lenovo in my case). AMD does not handle supports tickets for laptops/OEM products.

What I got in email (translated from Chinese to English via ChatGPT):

Response to Service Request History:

Dear valued customer,

Thank you for your email.

Based on the product information you provided, we have identified that you are currently using AMD hardware embedded in a notebook/OEM computer. We regret to inform you that our support window is currently focused on retail desktop products, and due to this limitation, we are unable to provide assistance and troubleshooting for issues related to notebook/OEM hardware products.

Since the hardware in notebook/OEM devices is customized by the notebook/OEM manufacturer, any issues encountered while using notebook/OEM devices require further support from the respective manufacturer.

Considering that the issue persists even after attempting to change different drivers, we recommend reaching out to the notebook/OEM manufacturer for additional assistance and feedback on the problem. The notebook/OEM manufacturer will have dedicated departments to coordinate with our relevant departments. We believe that this approach will help you provide more effective feedback on the issue and receive targeted support.

Once again, we appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience caused. Thank you for your understanding and support.

To update this service request, please reply to this email, keeping the email subject or the service request number unchanged.

Please note: If we do not receive your response within 10 days, this service request will be automatically closed and cannot be reopened. If you are unable to respond within 10 days, feel free to submit a new service request and reference this number for continued support.

Best regards,

AMD Global Customer Service Center

---

[elstaci]

Thanks for the update and thanks for posting AMD's Support reply. It was actually quite informative. So it seems like the OEM/Manufacturer does consult AMD when they are having issues with AMD embedded hardware in their products.

As a last resort you could 'Reset" your laptop back to the way it was when you first purchased it and see if the problem occurs otherwise I would RMA your laptop back to Lenovo to have them check it out. It might be a hardware issue.

Have your run Lenovo's own Diagnostics program/website on your laptop to see if it comes back with any issues?

[KevinMX]

I have this issue since day 1, with Windows 11 Home pre-installed on my laptop and using MS Edge. Yes, the issue can be reproduced OOTB on a brand new laptop returned from RMA.

(I can't be that unlucky to have two laptops and one mini PC in a row which are all faulty

Lenovo Vantage & other programs reported no issue at all.

I'm afraid this is on firmware / driver side, or even a chip design flaw, to be the worst. Nothing I can do so far.

BTW I reached out to Lenovo today, seems the tech support guys can't really handle this issue, and they said an engineer will contact me, and I provided my phone number. So far, no one called me, yet.

Well, it's midnight here now already. Let's wait & see.

[elstaci]

I know Users have been having issues with the 780M GPU in the past here in AMD Forums.

Use AMD Search function and input 780M and you will see all the problems. Mainly it deals with the "U" Mobile Laptop processor.

Anyways, Good luck.

At this time I really don't have any more suggestions. If you do find out a fix please post it back so other might find an answer to their issues with their laptop.

Take care.

[KevinMX]

Quick update: I got the phone call from Lenovo.

TLDR: They suggest me to go to the after-sale service station and let them diagnose what exactly the issue is.

(Even if I said this issue can be reproduced out of the box.)

So Lenovo is basically doing nothing at the moment. I guess.

[NOGNOF]

I have Lenovo Yoga pro 7 with 7840Hs 780M GPU.Have similar problem.Artifacts in OBS studio preview screen when capture my screen,it goes white and freezes in OBS,all other programs and windows 11 looks like working very good but OBs Studio crashes,i tryed everything,changed drivers,reinstalled windows,tryed windows 10 instead of windows 11,changed lot of settings,nothing helped.Please if someone will resolve this post here please!

[elstaci]

Since you are the second  User with a somewhat similar problem it is beginning to sound like a Lenovo 780M GPU hardware or driver compatibility issue.

[KevinMX]

Check OBS's log output. It is possible that we're facing the exact same issue.

(Help -> Log files -> View current log)

[NOGNOF]

Hi Kevin;) Is there any news, maybe you have discovered and solved the problem? I am waiting, maybe new AMD drivers will be released and the problem will be solved 

[KevinMX]

The problem is still there as for now.

Waiting for new drivers.

I might eventually sell this laptop and never touch any 7040 series laptop again, if they fail to fix this issue.

[esel]

Hello! I'm so happy to see this post. I've encountered this issue in THREE different laptops and I couldn't believe the lack of complaints online about this, I thought I'd gone crazy or something.

• When browsing with Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome with hardware acceleration on, I get sudden black flickers in slightly iGPU demanding sites such as YouTube, Netflix and sites with plenty of video ads.
• External monitor and without it, it doesn't matter.
• I had this in 2 HP Victus with a AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS and 1 ASUS Vivobook 16 with a AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS (all of them with an iGPU AMD Radeon 780M). I can't believe I kept falling for this thinking it was just bad luck.
• Fun fact, the latest HP Victus I got even has a lot of Windows 11 stutters (clicking on volume buttons, using the log-in windows...) that go away when enabling the dedicated GPU. See video:

Look at this comparison done by Jarrod's Tech between the i7-13700H and the Ryzen 7 7840HS:

That massive Web Browser Responsiveness difference is the most suspicious thing I've ever seen. Radeon 780m's really have a problem with that.

I just need a reply from any AMD employee saying that they know about this bug and they're working on fixing it. Otherwise I'm returning all laptops, because the few complaints I've seen regarding this behavior date since from the beginning of 2023, with no AMD acknowledgement.

Regards,

esel

[chunchunamru]

can you go into your bios and increase the vram of igpu to something like 2gb? It has helped me i think.

[esel]

My specific laptop (a HP Victus 16) already has 16.1 GBs of dedicated RAM. That can't be the issue

[KevinMX]

https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-2340-01-10-preview

Try out this preview driver and see if there's anything different.

DDU might not be needed, you can do it if you want to.

---

Update: 

Tried the latest preview driver. The issue persists.

[esel]

Hi Kevin! Thanks for sharing!

Sad to hear that this new patch didn't solve the issue. To me a proper web browsing experience is so fundamental I can't grasp why AMD is not burning the midnight oil to fix it. Those people don't use web browsers on AMD iGPUs?

I opened a new post in this forum with a recopilation of internet posts of people complaining about this exact same bug to get any confirmation that they're working on it, but instead it got mysteriously deleted as "spam", and when I appealed, I was ignored.

What am I supposed to do with my last laptop purchased? I'm really puzzled about this. It pushes me towards Intel for the rest of my CPU decisions in my life. Probably I'll return my last laptop and go for a new one.

Best of luck, I hope you can get this fixed as soon as possible.

Regards,

esel

[KevinMX]

For those who might concern:

Congrats to AMD, I just sold my 7840H laptop and purchased a Lenovo Thinkbook 14+ 2024 (Thinkbook 14 Gen6+/G6+ IMH I guess?), w/Core Ultra 7 155H inside, which just launched today here in China.

I assume these hassles about AMD's 7040 series chips are gone for me from now on.

Huge thanks all of you guys here in the community for reproducing the issue and providing support. @esel @chunchunamru @NOGNOF @elstaci 

Sad to see this issue still persists even to this day. 

Best regards,

Kevin.MX

[NOGNOF]

Hi Kevin! It's sad to hear that you gave up and left, now I'm alone with this problem. I'm still waiting for new drivers that will hopefully appear soon, and if it doesn't help, I'll never choose AMD again. It's a shame, because I really like the specific Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 computer, but the most important thing for me I wanted to be able to use OBS studio for live streams, which is not possible at the moment because the program does not work and something is wrong with the graphics card. However, I cannot say 100% that it is the fault of the graphics card because I am not a specialist, but it is very likely that it is the 780M or an incorrect driver because of this problem that prevents this AMD processor and video card from working properly.

[KevinMX]

You're not alone.

I will continue to monitor this issue and keep you guys posted in case a. new driver released or b. workarounds are in place, issue is fixed (after confirmed by other guys).

EVEN IF I DON'T HAVE THE MACHINE ANYMORE.

Anyway, a middle finger to those OEMs that doesn't give a ***t about user experience

[norti]

You're not alone.

I have an ASUS Vivobook 15 Pro with 7840HS and I have/had several problems with the 780M:

- flickering screen at 60Hz with the 23.12.1 driver -> solved by the latest 2014 preview driver
-Netflix makes the laptop freeze with 512MB iGPU setting almost instantly, in the Netflix app and in browser too, picture is distorted/encoded (like copy protection)
- with 2GB setting, Netflix ha playback only with sound, the screen is distorted/encoded, freezes after several minutes

I contacted ASUS, tried 2 version of OEM VGA drivers, none of them worked.
It's like there is a problem with Netflix or the AMD VGA driver or AMD chipset driver or the ASUS BIOS.

I hope it will be sorted out because this is really annoying.

There was a 2 week period when Netflix worked with tha 2GB settings, but it's gone and this is really strange...

[KevinMX]

A piece of advice here:

For all those people having the same issue, please submit crash logs / screenshots here. Otherwise the devs might just see this as yet another unreproducible issue.

As we all know, issue can't be reproduced = issue do not exist.

[NOGNOF]

I will try new driver later today or tomorrow.I don't know where I can see and save those crash logs to post here, but I will make video or post screenshots here of what happens when I open OBS studio on my laptop.Artifacts and OBS studio freezes will be visible there.Maybe new driver will fix that,I really hope. 

[KevinMX]

New driver is out:

https://drivers.amd.com/drivers/whql-amd-software-adrenalin-edition-24.1.1-win10-win11-jan23-rdna.ex...

Would anyone give it a try?

[cluka]

Unfortunately, the new driver does NOT fix the issue

Verified just not with my Minisforum um780xtx that has Ryzen 7 7840HS  with Radeon 780 M iGPU.

The only way to fix this for me is to turn off Hardware Acceleration in browser. But this is not acceptable.

[norti]

Yep, with hardware acceleration turned off at least Netflix is working for me in the browser but not in the Windows app, itt still gives distorted image on screen and freezes the laptop seconds later if not closed immediately.

I don't know why this problem is not top priority at AMD, there were more and more laptops with 7840/7940/780M released in the last 3 months and there are more complaints about the freezing.

[NOGNOF]

 Nothing has been fixed yet.Same artifacts and OBS studio screen preview freezes.Tested on latest drivers.Other programms and internet explorer seems like working normal,but not the OBS or Streamlabs OBS.I will wait this month, if nothing changes, I will give the computer to my mother and will wait for Lenovo with an Intel Ultra processor to be available in our store.

[esel]

@cluka @norti @NOGNOF @KevinMX

I think that writing here won't solve the issue, nor speed up things. We need to report this to AMD through their tools, and make clear that this is a multiplatform bug so it's not the OEM's responsibility to fix.

I'll collect all of your messages here and try to come up with some template that we can use as message in the AMD Bug Report Tool.

Regards,

esel

[esel]

@cluka @norti @NOGNOF @KevinMX

I made use of Chat-GPT to make it easier to read and more succinct. If you're a native English speaker and would like to correct any paragraph, please feel encouraged to do so.

---

Subject: AMD iGPU Radeon 780M Bug Report - Hardware Accelerated Video Decoding and Encoding Issue

Dear AMD Support Team,

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to bring your attention to a critical issue affecting users with AMD iGPUs, particularly the Radeon 780M.

 Issue Description:

Users are experiencing significant difficulties with hardware-accelerated video decoding and encoding, resulting in crashes across various applications, including web browsers (Chromium-based, Firefox) and OBS Studio. The issue seems to be particularly prominent when an external monitor is connected.

There are many posts opened in different sites that describe this bug.

 Steps to Reproduce:

• Open a browser (Chromium-based or Firefox) or OBS Studio.
• Intensively use websites and/or apps with heavy hardware acceleration dependency (YouTube, Reddit, Discord…), triggering the video codec crash sooner or later.
• Check chrome://gpu or about:support in browsers, or OBS Studio logs for error messages.

 Symptoms:

• Black flickering.
• Web browser tab resets.
• D3D11 device removed/resets reported in browser logs.
• OBS Studio reports Device removed/resets or crashes entirely.
• Occasional BSoD and video playback artifacts.
• Issue persists across multiple driver versions and even after OS reinstallations.

 Devices Affected:

• At this point, all those that have an integrated GPU Radeon 780M.

 What Has Been Tried:

• Reinstalling the OS (both Windows 10 and 11).
• Reinstalling AMD drivers (versions up to 24.1.1).
• RMA processes had no resolution.

 Additional information:

The issue persists out of the box (OOTB) on laptops received after an RMA process, suggesting a systemic problem.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Your efforts in resolving this bug will undoubtedly enhance the user experience for a significant number of AMD customers.

 Best regards,

[Your Full Name]

---

[cluka]

That's fine.

[KevinMX]

Not a native English speaker but LGTM.

However as I said here: https://community.amd.com/t5/drivers-software/radeon-780m-video-codec-causes-device-remove-reset-in/...

AMD's response was, I should contact the OEM. They do not handle these requests.

BTW my Core Ultra 7 155H laptop (Thinkbook 14 Gen6+ IMH) hasn't shipped yet, but some lucky guys have already got their hands on the laptop. AFAIK video codec works fine. The forcepad is awesome.

[cluka]

I am wondering if this happens on the new AMD Ryzen 7 8700G also, because it too has the 780M iGPU.

In the meantime, I have returned my Minsofrum pc with the above iGPU.

[KevinMX]

8000 series should be fine. I heard some rumors that AMD's new 8000 series laptop chips are just a rebranded 7040 series, but a new stepping with those hardware bugs fixed. And of course they're changed to AM5 socket instead BGA for laptops.

I wouldn't recommend but... Good luck if you want to.

[DocTh]

Hello,
I use a Minisforum UM790 Pro and also had restarts or blue screens with most hw-accelerated videos in chromium browsers (Vivaldi, Chrome and Edge).
Have you tried turning off the "Multiplane Overlay" (MPO) in windows registry?
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Dwm]
"OverlayTestMode"=dword:00000005

Since then I haven't had a video that caused problems in any browser.

[KevinMX]

I tried to disable MPO but no luck, the issue is still there.

Can't test it for now since I've already switched to Core Ultra / Arc iGPU.

[leducanhctn]

I also encountered the same situation as you. I used the method you mentioned and my computer worked fine. Thank you very much
I use Google translate