PC Drivers & Software

[notamdfan]

Apple iMac 2020 27" Windows 10 1909 via Bootcamp, the Radeon Pro Settings app show illegible characters in all the controls so can't do a thing with is (see attached).  Can't run Repair from Window Control Panel as that also shows illegible fonts.

PC is US-English and as with all Bootcamp at this time, drivers are installed (and only available) when creating the Bootcamp partition and install. 

Please see image for what I am experiencing.

Really massively WTF and not happy here.

[elstaci]

First: need to know the AMD GPU Card you are trying to install drivers for.

Second: You need to go to APPLE SUPPORT for your problem since you are using an Apple computer.

Here are AMD Official Bootcamp drivers. See if one them works correctly even if they are out dated. Just to see if the gibberish Radeon Settings is fixed with a previous driver: https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/apple-boot-camp 

This website has the lastest AMD Driver but it is unofficial Bootcamp drivers: BootCampDrivers.com: Turbo-charged AMD graphics drivers for Mac BootCamp users.  See if your GPU is listed under Release Notes from AMD.

EDIT: Forgot to add the link to AMD Download page showing AMD Boot camp drivers. Added link now.

[notamdfan]

Not trying to install - it installed as part of the package when creating the Bootcamp  partition and installing Windows10.  The driver works it's the interface to make changes like scaling that loads with illegible characters as if it's using another language with non ASCII alphabet.  Can't uninstall because the uninstall also launches a non-standard dialog like the AMD Settings app that's unreadable.  So stuck in a box on this.  Thanks for the links and will check it out.  But have to add, even though its OEM from Apple it *is* something AMD rakes a ton of money from and *some* support should be provided when it's a defective interface issue and not a how-to type of question.

[elstaci]

I understand about the driver but when you install the Driver it also installs the related software the driver uses like Radeon Settings. That is the reason why I mentioned about changing the driver. It will also change Radeon Settings.

AMD has some Bootcamp drivers available as a courtesy but since you have an Apple Computer, the Mac OS runs bootcamp Windows. Thus you need to ask Apple Support.

If you can't uninstall the current AMD driver, try using Microsoft own troubleshooter Installer/Uninstaller program. I have attached it to this reply. Just click on the attachment to download it.

See if it makes a difference.

[notamdfan]

Not possible to uninstall as this stupid thing comes up, which is what I am attempting to repair: the AMD Settings app is using wrong fonts and or language.  Is there a command line to uninstall silently and completely?

[elstaci]

Does Windows Bootcamp support the Restore Point feature?

Try restoring your Windows to a point before you installed the latest driver.

If that fails, Download a free program called DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller : Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) V18.0.2.2 Released. - Wagnardsoft Forum ) which works in Windows. It will erase all traces of the AMD Display driver from Windows.

It doesn't run the AMD Uninstaller (So no gibberish Menu to look at) but uses the AMD Uninstaller to remove the Display Driver and related software.

But not sure if it will work in a Windows bootcamp environment but seems to work for eGPUs as per this Apple website: https://egpu.io/boot-camp-egpu-setup-guide/#boot-up 

Normally it is best to boot into Safe Mode but if Bootcamp can't boot into Safe mode you can use it while on your Windows Desktop. Just need to reboot computer to finish eliminating all traces of the AMD driver.

This instructions is for regular Windows OS but if DDU works in Windows Bootcamp then use this basic method to uninstall and install your AMD Display driver:

Uninstall the current AMD Driver using DDU as per this method:

It could be due to a corrupted AMD Driver installation.

Download free program DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller). Run it in Safe mode with the internet disconnected.

You can also run it in Windows Desktop but then you would need to Reboot the computer for DDU to finish erasing all of  the AMD Driver traces from your computer.

 Once it finishes uninstalling the current AMD Driver in Safe mode and boots back to Windows Desktop, still with the Internet disconnected, delete the AMD Installation folder C:\AMD if it was created before.

Now install the full AMD Drive package you downloaded manually from AMD Download page. Not the express package. Run the package and if it installs correctly again delete C:\AMD folder and reconnect the internet.

This should prevent any conflict when installing the new version from the previous version.

By the way, C:\AMD is always created whenever you run the AMD Driver package

[notamdfan]

Thanks for all the above. To give you info on Bootcamp:  when you're in Windows, your in Windows, period.  So same as if not on a Mac - hence Safe Mode, previous versions,etc. are all the same.  The only thing that can brick your Mac is doing a system image restore.  

The Radeon Pro and AMD FirePro Advanced settings app (ccc.exe) loads fine so I have some control.  Bit the other Radeon Pro Settings app us unusable, as shown.  And that controls a bunch of other stuff that I can't access.  Apple just points me to a URL that's on the AMD site to download an older version than the one that installs via Apple Update under Windows.

So no help at all, As far as their concerned if the driver loaded, case closed.  The app is AMD's responsibility.  As is should be.  It worked OOB then stopped after Apple Updater ran and gave me a newer driver.

So still looking for a solution.  FWIW, I was able to do an uninstall, then reinstalled using that older driver package, which does not actually fix the problem - the uninstall only removes the driver and not the apps.

Basically, sorry to say in this forum, Apple should have stuck with NVIDIA.  Unless someone at AMD wants to take this further, I'm either going to have to wipe Bootcamp and start from scratch - a horrible process since our Windows machines are tweaked in dozens of ways for specific workflows and uses, needs a ton of apps, some legacy, for business processes, etc.  It's a nightmare - even with a ton of scripts to automate some of it.

[kingfish]

NOTE: 
This driver is not intended for use on AMD Radeon products running in Apple Boot Camp platforms. Users of these platforms should contact their system manufacturer for driver support.

[notamdfan]

What do you mean by this driver?  IT WAS THE ONE INSTALLED BY BOOTCAMP ITSELF.  And it's not a driver issue it's the AMD Settings app that's part of the bundle that's unusable.  See the screen cap attached with my post.

[notamdfan]

@elstaci

This issue was caused because the RadeonSettings.exe app uses (wait for it!) TAHOMA as it's font  - a font that hasn't been a system-default font in Windows since Vista.  And its hard coded  (I assume since as we develop software here, we don't hard code that : you look for the default system font and use whatever it is where it should be that, and if other fonts are preferred for other parts of the UI you look if it's there and use that or else have a fallback or install what's needed. Basic stuff.)

We use font substitution for Tahoma to replace with Consolas. No Windows anything uses it and one legacy app uses it for text in a place where numbers are prevalent and O vs 0 matter, etc.  Never had an issue for over 12 years of doing so on all our machines.

Worse though is the MASSIVE amounts of buffer overflows the app produces - 195 just to load the app. These are really, really not a good thing!  Who codes this stuff?  Just running System Internals Process Monitor (so not like developers doing their own testing, which clearly seems to have been absent) raises an alarm.  How many are exploitable?!?

This was NEVER going to be an Apple support issue.  That AMD rakes in massive cash from Apple but punts off any support is pretty weak.

Anyway, thanks for your persistence even if the assumption is some user initiated thing, which in forums I guess assumption is "not real sharp knives" when it comes to users seeking answers.

Hope someone over at AMD sees this.

[notamdfan]

This issue was caused because the RadeonSettings.exe app uses (wait for it!) TAHOMA as it's font  - a font that hasn't been a system-default font in Windows since Vista.  And its hard coded  (I assume since as we develop software here, we don't hard code that : you look for the default system font and use whatever it is where it should be that, and if other fonts are preferred for other parts of the UI you look if it's there and use that or else have a fallback or install what's needed. Basic stuff.)

We use font substitution for Tahoma to replace with Consolas. No Windows anything uses it and one legacy app uses it for text in a place where numbers are prevalent and O vs 0 matter, etc.  Never had an issue for over 12 years of doing so on all our machines.

Worse though is the MASSIVE amounts of buffer overflows the app produces - 195 just to load the app. These are really, really not a good thing!  Who codes this stuff?  Just running System Internals Process Monitor (so not like developers doing their own testing, which clearly seems to have been absent) raises an alarm.  How many are exploitable?!?

This was NEVER going to be an Apple support issue.  That AMD rakes in massive cash from Apple but punts off any support is pretty weak.

Anyway, thanks for your persistence even if the assumption is some user initiated thing, which in forums I guess assumption is "not real sharp knives" when it comes to users seeking answers.

Hope someone over at AMD sees this.

[elstaci]

Since Apple Support is directing you to AMD. I haven't posted the link to AMD Support. So here AMD Service Request (AMD SUPPORT):  https://www.amd.com/en/support/contact-email-form 

Maybe they might be able to show you how to manually change the font or suggest a work around.

Sorry I couldn't be much of help. But generally Bootcamp issues are referred to Apple Support.

By the way, Both Moderators of AMD Forums are AMD Employees. On rare occasions they will open a ticket to the appropriate AMD Dept if they feel it is important enough. But their main responsibility is running AMD Forums.

[notamdfan]

Except that it was never a Bootcamp issue - it was an application written by AMD for it's GPU running on Windows.  Bootcamp is just to allow running Windows and macOS on one machine - an iMac which is just a PC at heart (literally as in Intel processor etc.)  If I had not mentioned Bootcamp probably different.  It was also not a driver issue: it works.

Anyway, fixed it by removing the Tahoma to Consolas replacement, using the app to do what I needed, then restoring the Tahoma replacement.