PC Drivers & Software

[L0nkRuelz13]

My computer keeps randomly black screening. Sometimes while gaming, sometimes while browsing the web, and sometimes even when sitting idle. When this happens audio continues going like nothing ever happened, and the only way to fix it is a complete restart. Most times when this happens I get the the error code PA-300 when trying to open the software again, and I have followed everything the article says and to no avail. I just rebuild my PC and it only started recently. The only thing I changed though was adding an NVME drive. I have tried reinstalling the drivers over and over and while it does have a temporary effect, the problem always resurfaces.

My GPU is a PowerColor RedDragon RX570

I can provide other specs if necessary

[ThreeDee · Accepted solution]

Are you able to try a different power supply? 

I had kinda sorta had a similar issue with my wife's setup 

3700x,2x16gb 3200,ASRock B550m Phantom Gaming 4,ASRock RX 550 2GB, 512gb M.2 SATA,500wt Thermaltake RGB 80 Plus (White rated)

She was getting driver timeouts and some other issues that all pointed to a GPU issue of some sort .. 

I replaced her garbage power supply with a  Segotep (Big in China and starting to see the more in the US) 600wt 80+ Gold PSU and all her issues went away.

Make sure your BIOS is up  to date on your motherboard

Make sure you have the latest AM4 Chipset drivers installed from AMD.com

Check your CPU/GPU temps

Run the program called DDU to remove all past present AMD GPU drivers ... reboot .. and THEN install latest GPU drivers from AMD.com

IF still issues after all that .. try reseating everything .. CPU, GPU, power connections ..etc

[ThreeDee]

You should list your full PC specs for starters

so you've already done this stuff?

[L0nkRuelz13]

Yes I have and to no avail

[ThreeDee · Accepted solution]

Are you able to try a different power supply? 

I had kinda sorta had a similar issue with my wife's setup 

3700x,2x16gb 3200,ASRock B550m Phantom Gaming 4,ASRock RX 550 2GB, 512gb M.2 SATA,500wt Thermaltake RGB 80 Plus (White rated)

She was getting driver timeouts and some other issues that all pointed to a GPU issue of some sort .. 

I replaced her garbage power supply with a  Segotep (Big in China and starting to see the more in the US) 600wt 80+ Gold PSU and all her issues went away.

Make sure your BIOS is up  to date on your motherboard

Make sure you have the latest AM4 Chipset drivers installed from AMD.com

Check your CPU/GPU temps

Run the program called DDU to remove all past present AMD GPU drivers ... reboot .. and THEN install latest GPU drivers from AMD.com

IF still issues after all that .. try reseating everything .. CPU, GPU, power connections ..etc

[L0nkRuelz13]

I don't have another power supply to try but I will work on some of the other suggestions.

[L0nkRuelz13]

DDU is what fixed it, thank you!

[L0nkRuelz13 · Accepted solution]

turns out DDU only delayed the problem. After a couple weeks the problem resurfaced and eventually my PC crashed and it refused to post. After removing the GPU I was able to boot into windows and from there a BIOS update permanently fixed the problem.

[ralf123]

Hey I have pretty much the same setup, and same problems. What Bios update fixed it? Please let me know, this problem is so annoying, been a pain in the ass for like a year now.

[zombiecatchers]

Random black screens on your computer can be caused by a variety of issues. Here are a few things you can try:

1. Check your GPU temperature: Overheating can cause your GPU to shut down and black screen. You can use software like MSI Afterburner to monitor your GPU temperature while gaming or running other intensive applications. If you find that your GPU temperature is high, you can try cleaning your PC case and fans or adding more case fans.

2. Check your power supply: A failing power supply can also cause your computer to black screen. Make sure your power supply is providing enough power for your system and try swapping it out with a different power supply if possible.

3. Check your graphics card drivers: Make sure you have the latest graphics card drivers installed. You can download the latest drivers from the manufacturer's website. Try uninstalling your current graphics card drivers and reinstalling them to see if this resolves the issue.

4. Check your NVME drive: Since the issue started after adding an NVME drive, it's possible that the drive may be causing the issue. Try disconnecting the NVME drive and see if the black screens still occur.

[ScornfulWizard]

If you're running the "beta" (optional) GPU drivers - that often might be the problem, especially with older graphics cards. 

[Moist]

Might help to try and turn off Multi-Plane Overlay that helped me when I had similar issues.

[L0nkRuelz13]

Since I have posted this it has now escalated to just outright losing power and restarting itself. Here are my specs

Current Driver version is 22.11.2

AMD Ryzen 3 2200G

MSI B450M PRO-M2

Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB 2400

Seagate 1TB HDD

Kingston 123Gb SSD

WD Blue 1TB NVME SSD

PowerColor RedDragon RX570

Corsair CX550M

[cracks43]

Dealing with random black screen on your computer can be super annouing, right? It's like your computer

playing hide and seek with your display. But no worries, there are a few things you can try to get to the

bottom issues:

1. Check Your Connections: First things first, make sure all your cables are snug and secure. Sometimes, a loose cable can cause all sorts of trouble.

2. Test Your Monitor and Cables: To rule out hardware problems, try your monitor and cables on another computer if you can. Or swap them out with known-good ones.

3. Update Your Graphics Drivers: Outdated or messed-up graphics drivers can lead to black screen shenanigans. Head over to your graphics card manufacturer's website (like NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel) and grab the latest drivers. When you install them, choose the clean installation option.

4. Keep Windows Updated: Make sure your operating system (like Windows) is up to date. Sometimes, they release updates that fix display issues.

5. Keep It Cool: Computers don't like to be too hot. Check if your PC is running too hot by cleaning out any dust from fans and heatsinks. You can use software like HWMonitor or MSI Afterburner to check your temperatures.

6. Check Your Power Supply: A weak or failing power supply can cause all sorts of weird problems. Make sure your PSU is up to the task, and consider an upgrade if it's not cutting it.

7. Boot Into Safe Mode: Try booting your PC into Safe Mode (usually by mashing F8 or Shift+F8 during startup) to see if the problem persists. If it doesn't, it could be a software or driver issue.

8. Hardware Check: Run some hardware diagnostic tests to see if your RAM, CPU, and GPU are all playing nice. There are tools like MemTest86 and Prime95 for this.

9. Software Shenanigans: Uninstall any recently installed software or drivers that might be causing conflicts. You can do this through the "Programs and Features" or "Apps & Features" settings in the Control Panel (if you're on Windows).

10. System Restore: If you recently made a change that kicked off this black screen trouble, you can roll your PC back to a time when things were A-OK with System Restore.

11. Malware Check: Run a deep scan with a good antivirus tool. Sometimes, malware can mess with your system in all sorts of ways.

12. Check Event Viewer: Peek into the Windows Event Viewer for any error messages or warnings that might spill the beans on what's causing those black screens.

13. Graphics Card Swap: If you've got another graphics card lying around (or a friendly friend who's willing to lend one), swap it in and see if the problem persists. This can help you figure out if the issue is with your GPU.

If all else fails, don't hesitate to reach out to a tech pro or your computer's manufacturer for more hamds-on

help. They can dig deeper and might uncover a more complex hardware problem.