PC Drivers & Software

[Vortoxin]

Hello all, my computer has recently been crashing ONLY WHILE PLAYING GAMES. No BSOD, just straight black screen (audio will bug out aswell during this) and computer reboots automatically. The crash seemingly has no pattern, with some crashes happening towards the start of a game and some hours into gameplay. 

Below is one crash dump through WhoCrashed. 
I've reset my computer, used DDU and updated drivers, I've also rolled back to previous drivers (Currently 20.9.2). I don't know if the issue is a driver issue or a GPU issue. The crashes happen while playing any games, I've monitored temps and they aren't a factor in the issue. I've also done stress tests on both PSU and GPU with neither causing a crash, but I believe they still could be an issue. Twice, the crash wasn't straight to black screen and left me with the "We detected a driver timeout that occurred on your system" error. My BIOS is up to date also. Any help would be appreciated in either determine if the issue is a driver, GPU, PSU, or other issue, and I can provide more information if needed. 

Thanks!

On Thu 12/3/2020 9:05:27 PM your computer crashed or a problem was reported
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\LiveKernelReports\WATCHDOG\WATCHDOG-20201203-2105.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: amdkmdag.sys (0xFFFFF8007DE9E590)
Bugcheck code: 0x141 (0xFFFF858F55463010, 0xFFFFF8007DE9E590, 0x0, 0x1CEC)
Error: VIDEO_ENGINE_TIMEOUT_DETECTED
file path: C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\u0359518.inf_amd64_ddc5c961c2795261\B359297\amdkmdag.sys
product: ATI Radeon Family
company: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
description: ATI Radeon Kernel Mode Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that one of the display engines failed to respond in timely fashion.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: amdkmdag.sys (ATI Radeon Kernel Mode Driver, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.).
Google query: amdkmdag.sys Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. VIDEO_ENGINE_TIMEOUT_DETECTED

[Castanzo]

I had the same

problem with mine that has just started a day ago. it would crash randomly on games like sea of theives or valorant. I attempted to install new drivers. When I did I was prompted to restart my computer for the driver install to happen. When restarting the monitor black screened and now will either say The input is not supported or HDMI input not found. Hopefully my comment can be helpful towards the creator of this post aswell.

[Vortoxin]

That's unfortunate! I'm hoping this suggests a larger driver error and NOT that my GPU isn't functioning correctly. Thanks for your input!

[RPX100]

@Vortoxin check your Radeon Software settings - do you have any of these active?

- Radeon Anti Lag, Radeon Boost, Radeon Chill, Radeon Enhanced Sync, Radeon Image Sharpening

If any of these is activated, then you can try this: clean install and standard profile (link)

I recently bought a brand new RX 5700 XT and it would crash the entire time (day 1).

Was already thinking about returning it. Then another user suggested the above fix.

The solution for me was to do a clean install of the driver and then leave it on Standard profile,

which disables all the Software-Features (Anti Lag, Boost, etc.).

I have 0 crashes since I did that. Card is running very well, even with overclock/undervolt.

cheers

[Vortoxin]

I don't have any of these settings. I did notice that I had Surface Format Optimization on, which I promptly turned off incase the driver overriding textures was causing issues. I'll update if this fixes or improves the issue in anyway.

[Vortoxin]

This fix didn't do anything.. also, crashes have stopped appearing in WhoCrashed. I might just have the wrong directories selected, if anyone wants to help. 

My current selected directories are:

C:\WINDOWS
C:\WINDOWS\Minidump
C:\LiveKernelReports

If anyone else has any new developments on solutions I would be grateful.

[taskforce131]

This will might fix the problem https://youtu.be/nHd0065duKE

[Vortoxin]

I'll check this out next time I crash. I tried uninstalling MSI Afterburner after seeing a thread about it, if that fix doesn't work I'll try yours and reply if it was successful. Thanks for your input!

[Vortoxin]

Your fix didn't work, and neither did uninstalling MSI Afterburner.  Thanks for suggesting. If you have any more suggestions, I would be thankful!

[RPX100 · Accepted solution]

@Vortoxin here is some detailed info from user @mackbolan777 from another post.

I have added some more info into his solution for making it clear what to do.

The full "solution" is:

1)  use DisplayDriverUninstaller (DDU) first in "safe mode"
- how to start your PC in safe mode in windows (support.microsoft.com)
- either disconnect your internet or use DDU to block windows update (temporarily)

2) then after the unistall is done and your PC has been restarted install driver 20.8.3
- this seems to be the most stable for 5000 series (community feedback)
- I am using 20.9.1 myself and it works for me (which is the recommended WHQL driver for 5700 XT)

3) Then for a bonus and a bit more stability, go into the "performance", "tuning" area. (Radeon Software)
- Click on "automatic", "undervolt GPU" and write that number down. (the mV number)
- Switch to "manual" and enter that lower number into the "max" voltage area under the "advanced controls", "fine tuning".

4) Then navigate to the power limit (and enable control) and set that to max. (slider all the way to the right)
- This allows the GPU to take more juice as needed, if it needs more than the undervolt.
- Think of it as a "reserve".
- The GPU doesn't tap that power limiter until it's used up the max voltage set under "fine tuning"
- and then only takes what it needs, not all of it.

5) last step should be to optimize your fan curve
- increase it as far as it needs to: manual testing required or go for 100% RPM
- adjust fan curve until your card stays below 85°C junction temp (under gaming loads)
- your cards core, VRM and memory temps should stay around 60-65°C

These 5000 cards come out running far more voltage than needed.
Undervolting them will result in more stable clocks and better temps.

As I said: this solution is from user @mackbolan777 and I added some details to it.
If you follow this step by step and do the uninstall correctly, then it should fix the crashes.
... and if you still crash after all of this, then you might want to start looking for other issues (CPU, RAM, ...)

[Vortoxin]

I don't want to jinx anything, but im accepting this as my solution. I haven't had a crash at all for a whole day, which is something I haven't had happen yet. I'm guessing my issue was in the power settings with the card. Thank you for your valuable input in helping me (and hopefully others,) solve these unfortunate card issues.

[iTruji]

Hi

I'm testing your solution and works fine for one day gaming and testing.

I have an msi 5700 xt gaming X with z490 and normally crashes showing a black screen with wattman crash, sometimes windows hangs and have to reboot).

I bought the gpu second hand in december and only try with driver adrenaline 20.11 and above. 

Seems that 20.8.3 and 20.9.1 are more stable.

When uninstall and install the drivers, I usually use the game or esports profile (other fix recommend use only the standard profile)

How is the profile that you use?

[NikoKlb]

Hello, I have the same problem. Recently, this problem has occurred in the browser, discord, and even in the case of live broadcasting + game + browser.