PC Drivers & Software

[Unstanced]

As of February 3rd, my PC has been having seemingly random moments while gaming in which all three of my monitors will lose their HDMI/DisplayPort signal; Screens will be black but I will still hear sound and can hear in-game sounds in response to my keyboard inputs.

I am forced to turn my computer on and off again by holding down the power button till it forcefully shuts off; pressing it once does not turn the computer off even after 10 minutes of waiting. When booted back up, only monitors 1 and 2 receive input but monitor 2 is just a duplicated screen of monitor 1 (main display shows up twice).

If I try to open my AMD Radeon software, I'm prompted with the message "The version of AMD Radeon Software you have launched in not compatible". If I open up Device Manager, my display adapter (GPU) is disabled. There is no change when enabled, but SOMETIMES disabling it AGAIN and re-enabling it again will turn my computer back to normal. The error message under properties is "This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device (Code 31)"

My only fix to this is to reinstall my drivers which promptly turns my computer back to normal, however this is only a temporary fix as eventually I will black screen again and the cycle will continue.

It does not make a difference if I update my drivers through Windows or through AMD's Radeon software. It does not make a difference if I use the newest drivers available or drivers available from October (default when reinstalling Radeon software).

I am completely at a loss, I have tried and tested every possible solution I could think of. GPU temps are fine as well, but my CPU has always ran a little hot in my setup, but I don't think that would cause these GPU issues. Despite everything pointing towards driver issues, after all my attempts at fixing this I am starting to believe it might be a physical hardware issue with my GPU. Any help? Thanks in advanced.

Specs:
Windows 10
Ryzen 5 3600
RX 580
16GB RAM

[NinjaP15 · Accepted solution]

Hey again, @Unstanced!

I may have just figured out a solution. It has just worked for me and I have had no issues for the past two hours.

Step 1:

First, you want to make sure your software is completely up to date. To do this:

- Open Radeon Software Application

- Navigate to the settings icon (top right of your screen)

- Go to System and hit check for updates (most recent update is from 1/25/22 for 22.2.1 version)

Step 2:

If the problem still persists, uninstall all of the chipset drivers.

After, make sure you restart your computer.

Finally, re-install all the software and drivers.

Keep in mind, you may need to double check for updates if you re-installed drivers/software.

NOTE: I am 100% not an expert by all means. We had the same problem and this worked for me. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. I'd be happy to assist to the best of my abilities.

~ NinjaP15

[NinjaP15]

Hey there!

I am having the same issue. After looking at posts with other people that have the same question, I am seeing them having the same difficulties as us. I don't think its a physical issue however, I am no expert. 

If they reply to mine first I will keep you updated.

Good luck! 

[NinjaP15 · Accepted solution]

Hey again, @Unstanced!

I may have just figured out a solution. It has just worked for me and I have had no issues for the past two hours.

Step 1:

First, you want to make sure your software is completely up to date. To do this:

- Open Radeon Software Application

- Navigate to the settings icon (top right of your screen)

- Go to System and hit check for updates (most recent update is from 1/25/22 for 22.2.1 version)

Step 2:

If the problem still persists, uninstall all of the chipset drivers.

After, make sure you restart your computer.

Finally, re-install all the software and drivers.

Keep in mind, you may need to double check for updates if you re-installed drivers/software.

NOTE: I am 100% not an expert by all means. We had the same problem and this worked for me. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. I'd be happy to assist to the best of my abilities.

~ NinjaP15

[Unstanced]

@NinjaP15 Really appreciate all the detail and info man! Unfortunately I have already tried these steps to no avail, and the problem still persists. Yesterday night my computer had a COMPLETE crash where it would not boot up and the "VGA" light on my motherboard was on (indicating GPU problem).

I eventually managed to get it to boot randomly after repeatedly turning it on and off, and it seemed that taking out one of my RAM sticks and reinstalling it pretty consistently made it boot up again. I disabled XMP thinking that could be the issue, but I started having even more frequent crashes today. It might be some bad RAM I have, but nothing really guarantees that.

If I find a proper solution I'll be sure to post about it here for anyone with a similar issue!

[u7QO8]

wrote such long message, the point and method is to reinstall the newest driver. i didn't work sometime for the issue, at least my current case. 

[Unstanced · Accepted solution]

I found the solution!

Turns out it was the PCI-e slot my GPU was plugged into. I swapped it from my top PCI-e Gen3 slot to my bottom PCI-e Gen2 slot and the issues are GONE. However, there is a small noticeable decline in performance due to it being a previous gen so this is not ideal.

The most common cause for this seems to be PSU issues so I will be getting a new one, which will hopefully solve the issue and allow me to put my GPU back in the original slot.

Hope this helps for someone else, but also please refer to @NinjaP15's solution as well BEFORE spending money on a new PSU.

[llovering]

I have a different problem.  My AMD 5450 just quit on me, black screen, and I had to pull the plug on my PC.  I saw that I had an HDMI port on the motherboard, so I took out the graphics card and rebooted.  Now, I can't uninstall the AMD drivers and I am constantly nagged to update them.  I did try to put the card back in, but it is dead and I have no way to access the screen when it is black.

[brakespear]

just tried this with my similarly-failing RX 7600 and seemed to work OK there so hoping the cause is the same - now off to find a reasonably-priced 600W PSU

[Ninogiannino]

Hi, did u fix your issue?

If Yes pls tell me how to do it 

[Unstanced]

I did! In my other reply I marked as the answer, I put my GPU in the other PCIe slot and that TEMPORARILY fixed the issue as the problems started to come back after a few days, however this confirmed it was a PSU issue. After replacing my power supply it immediately fixed EVERYTHING. I haven't had a single issue since.

[honestolive]

This post help me get to the bottom of it and centrally locate the issue (The PSU). I had a two prong PSU cord not fully in the GPU all the way. I was about to go out and buy a new PSU too. Make sure to check your power supply cord connections to the GPU. After I plugged the two prong in all the way, haven't had a issue yet.

Felt like I needed to come on here and post this because someone could be in the same boat as me. I spent hours thinking the problem was software/driver related...

[SeeJeeR]

Hello, 

I have been having these issues for over a month.

I have sent the GPU for warranty check and it came back saying it is perfectly working, but the black screen still occur.

I would try the solution you offered but i am no pc guy and I was just wandering if after uninstalling and installing the GPU more than 2 times would not resolve the problem? I mean the prong connection issue.

I have already ordered a new Nvidia 3060 TI but i am very curious if that would have worked.

[Mincci]

I have been having this kind of issue like two years, at least. My GPU was expensive (700€), and I thought the issue must be in somewhere else. So, I did not send it to RMA nor have I bought a new one, because when it works okay, it is still good. Anyway, few years back I bought very nice new components and I spent almost 5000€ on this PC and f..! I bought the first digital PSU (corsair ax860i), with 10 years of warranty, and it cost like 500e too. I was so proud from my new shining PC…

Until suddenly it began to just cut off the power totally random. It might shut down three times during a film, or not once in a month … and it did not have anything to do with usage, sometimes it happened at night and so on. So, I googled about that PSU, and noticed that people are telling the same thing. Green light when testing it, gives the right voltage from the rails, etc. And they had sent it to RMA, only to be weeks without computer and get new one with same issues. While that was going on, this GPU issue was going on at the same time. I thought it must be that PSU causing the screen go black randomly when surfing the web or watching movies etc.

First the picture freeze on screens and TV, but the sound goes on. Cursor and everything freeze, image becomes still-image and about ~5 seconds after that, all the screens go black and turn back on, leaving sometimes some websites broken (some parts black) until refreshing. Every time after that I get that “AMD crash handler” message, that the driver had crashed, and would I like to send feedback. I have, like, 50 times given that feedback properly, until I realized nobody care. It is VERY annoying, if you would like to lay on the sofa, with someone even, and then you have to get up just when it is nice. Just to wait for the black screen to come and go, and put the film back on. Today it has been wild, It has been doing that all the time … I am so full of it. 

I have changed my motherboard, I have changed my SSD, I have changed my PSU twice…! And what ever slot at motherboard I would stick it, what ever you might be doing on PC, it just keeps happening totally random. Year after year, so that my exhausting aggression against it has changed to anxious despair, and I have given up all the gaming and so.

It hurts my brain that I pay thousands and thousands, and I am lucky if I get to listen one good song some day my eyes closed, before it happens. It is like it was sinister action, the more comfortable you are somewhere or so, then this happens mostly. But then again, it may not happen in weeks … It is totally irrelevant of what I do, where to plug the GPU, and which cable goes to which port, and so on. Nothing helps. (Or maybe some people could be writing a driver which would not crash. :D). Some error code it always has with Radeon DLL's and with ntdll.dll. 

Anyway, the point after the whining and telling how much that issue ruins things is that probably that new PSU won't help, because someone was thinking it. Worst thing is, that when you get yourself a new PSU, and suddenly it won't crash in weeks, and you feel joy, like “it is over!”, and then suddenly… again. I have also tried those different gen PCIe slots, and changing all the possible settings from bios, and also trying so many drivers and plans and programs. It bothers me, because I would like to know WHY that happens. And not just that “These expensive cards sometimes are like that and one should just buy new and ignore it”. I can't. But one thing is for sure, it has caused a LOT of sadness, ruined so many moments, etc. It has scarred me for life. So if after all these years someone really knows what to do, like some wrong driver or something physical which can be modified inside the card (I have training for that kind of work), please tell me. I stumbled on this and saw that I am not alone with this, that warms my heart. 

Thank you. Phew.

[SeeJeeR]

Hi

As I said above, I gave up on my Radeon gpu and got an Nvidia 3060 TI.

The surprising thing is that i still get frozen screens and now even blue screens. I am literally desperate. I thought changing the gpu and getting out of the RADEON software ecosystem would help but it didn not…

Please help

[dBL]

Same problem here, It starts after Windows update so I dont think this is a Hardware problem.Reinstall Windows did not help.

I donno what should I do next, I think I tried everything I could or maybe someone has an idea ? I’m hoping so

[Mincci]

_Many_ times. As I have changed ssd/mobo/psu/ram etc, I always do a clean install after changing a main component. Believe me, I have tried SO many different things to make it work, that reinstalling Windows has happened dozens of times. Even different versions of windows, virtual machine, all that one can briefly imagine to test. The problem just persists.

[jsk68]

Have you tried reinstalling windows?

[SeeJeeR]

Update:

The black screens turned into blue screens. I am going to reinstall windows from scratch. Starting with Linux and all the jazz. I will write more updates on Tuesday-Wednesday. 
Thank you all for taking part in this horror journey! 

PS: Do you think this could be a PSU problem? No beeping nor strange smells. Just the frozen screens and blue screens.

[jsk68]

It could be, but I ALWAYS start with windows, if it happens after a clean install you know for sure it's hardware.

[SeeJeeR]

Another update:

Since the last post was shared, i have been juggling with my pc in and out of service… We sent the parts to warranty, almost every single one of them but the motherboard, which is right now being delivered back to us. This is extremely annoying since i haven’t been able to use my pc for literally 3 months now… I dont know what could be the cause… I am a bit desperate, but i see the good part in it: documenting this would help other people that have the same issues. I hope this would end ASAP and i am going to make sure to share the results with you, here.

PS: no, the pc is not overheating, we added more coolers

no the rams aren't the problem, we changed them

no the gpu isn't the issue, we changed it to an NVidia 3060 TI

no the PSU isn’t the problem, we upgraded it

at this point i would just get a new pc but i am scared that the issue would persist even after that.

[Mincci]

Sorry, I answered to previous post first and can't find delete post -button. 

_Many_ times. As I have changed ssd/mobo/psu/ram etc, I always do a clean install after changing a main component. Believe me, I have tried SO many different things to make it work, that reinstalling Windows has happened dozens of times. Even different versions of windows, virtual machine, all that one can briefly imagine to test. The problem just persists.

[civilgoat]

Apparently it's the latest drivers. They're really unstable.

[Mincci]

I have tried different drivers too, and the ones that Windows 11 downloads on it's own without AMD software. Still happens. I am totally out of options, and this thread should be anythin but solved.

[raphlong]

bro how is this a solved thread? I have been experiencing the same things for 2 years since i have gotten my 5700xt. thank god i found this post, knowing im not the only one experiencing this. I have thought of buying a new gpu but it seems it didnt worked for y’all. i just want a reliable working pc at this point :).

I noticed when experiencing low fps before a black screen, system/client server runtime process app gpu usage would be off the charts, not sure what that means.

[Nanocar]

If you've disabled your machine's main graphics chip, your screen will instantly go black. This situation occurs because the hardware sending visual data to your screen is inactive. Regardless, the problem is purely a software issue and is entirely reversible by merely resetting the CMOS that controls the BIOS

[Mincci]

If the issue is similar to the problem that I discussed earlier in this thread, it has led me to test so many bios (UEFI) settings. Including power saving systems and other PCI-E-related settings. I am confident that with the skills I possess, this cannot be resolved through BIOS settings. If it can, then there is no such settings in my BIOS. And I had this problem even with two different motherboards. 

[MikeSis]

Which processor do you use?
I had the same issue. For me, the problem was the AMD PSP Device driver. Which is a chipset driver. 
Try to update this driver through the official AMD's webpage and make sure that it is updated. 
If the update doesn't help, try to disable this driver through the Device Manager. 

[MikeSis]

Yes, it is a software issue. However, it isn't related to BIOS, or to BIOS settings, because you don't get black screens while you are using the BIOS menu. 
You get black screens only after the OS is loaded.
So, it's a driver related issue. 

[beandip]

No way! Having exact same problem. Random black screen (audio still plays), on reboot GPU is disabled in device manager. I've tried completely uninstalling drivers with DDU, booting into safemode to reinstall ect with no luck. Installing the drivers for a new monitor got me going for about 8 hours of uptime before the next black screen (previously they would happen 10-30 minutes into running a game).

I'll try some hardware stuff, checking the power cable connections, re seating the GPU and fiddling with bios setting. Will report back.

[Manu3146]

Same here,

Black screen, bug report " AMD detected a driver timeout"

I tried to reinstall the drivers but it doesn't work

Turned out my native audio input of the scree is also not detected now

I don't know if it's because the las update, thought updtae was to imporved things but in this case just **bleep**ed up my pc

don't know what to do

[jsk68]

Do you have IQUE software installed? It's know to cause these exact problems.

[VoidCL]

I've had my computer untouched since about a year and yesturday it suddenly started doing the same exact thing. I'm not touching the hardware as I'm no expert, but it's just plain wierd as it suddenly just started giving me black screens (and the fans on the gpu turn off) out of the blue. I can be after an hour or after 10 minutes of using the pc.

[beandip]

Okay I reseated the GPU, unplugged and then replugged the power cables and so far have not had any futher issues! I would reccomend those experiencing similar issues do the same, it looks like it was a hardware problem after all.

[Alathi]

This thread is like hearing myself talk. I can't believe this is years old and amd have not resolved or addressed this.

I am at a complete loss at this point.

When the games load, the graphics are fine, I can play for a random period of time, never longer than an hour. Nothing overheats and the machine hardly uses power or hits maximum usage yet the screens go black. When I restart the pc the driver is disabled and I get an error 31 code. If I reinstall the driver it works again until the next crash. Rinse and repeat.

Only seems to happen when gaming. When I'm using the pc for email or whatever it's fine. So basically when the gpu is in use the driver crashes and the only way to correct it, is to reinstall.

This is ridiculous at this point

[LiDAF]

For Anyone here after trying everything still not got it solved.

Try turning off (Freesync in monitor OSD).

[Stampfi82]

The only solution that helped me was to switch off Freesync. I was able to reproduce the error very well. With every new game, the black screen with sound came back - until I deactivated AMD Freesync in the Adrenalin Driver (Home, Game, Game Settings, Freesync off). It is an annoying problem, as the setting s for Freesync can be found everywhere. Below Gaming -> Display,  Global Performance Settings, in the game itself under Graphic Options .... and finally also on the display itself.

If you deactivate Freesync on the monitor, it will also be deactivated in the Adrenalin driver, as no supported hardware is found!

[antusphoenixx]

Ive been having the same problem the only thing i can do is tell you to download the 22.11.2 version driver its the only one that ive discovered that dosent black screen.

[bradly]

Facing the same issue.. blank screen for 10-230 seconds, Model
AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750GE with Radeon Graphics, i think AMD just ignored us

[Chronikus]

Well, I'm still facing the same issues more or less, it does still crash. A couple of years since I got the 5700 XT on release. What a frikkin **bleep**show this card's been. I remember way back in the early 2000, long before AMD bought ATI. I was already facing crashes all over the place, the old 9550 was a classic crashcard. I wouldn't buy any AMD products no more and wouldn't recommend anyone else doing so neither, trying to get support from these guys is futil as well.

[Chronikus]

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