PC Drivers & Software

[RoachyRad37]

Dear community,

maybe one of you can help me out of my misery here. I just built a new rig and was fortunate enough to get everything up and running the first time...or so I thought.

Specs: MSI Pro 690 motherboard (onboard VGA) with 12700k CPU and the Hellhound RX6600 as GPU, connected via HDMI, bequiet 750W PSU

Windows install and bootup went fine, installed motherboard drivers beginning with chipset, network drivers, ATI Radeon drivers - and then it happenend, somewhere in between the Radeon installation the display went black.

After like the 10th reinstall of windows I noticed that plugging in the onboard VGA HMDI slot still gives me a signal, however to the extended display, everything else is displayed on the primary which is not visible. 

By creating a shortcut I could clone the display and since then at least work on the (windows) desktop. There I found out that the RADEON is disabled in the device manager, with error 43 (means graphics driver informed WIndows there is a problem with the device).

I tried earlier driver vesions back until beginning of the year, all with the same result (and after a clean install of Windows, so no problems with leftovers).

I tried to disable the onboard VGA adapter, no difference except that I can't use Windows at all. Problems starts already on Windows startup, where the GPU is disabled (before the login screen).

Had the system running for about 2 hours without updating the drivers, so to check whether there is a general issue - it ran fine.

Before I RMA the device, any of you have another idea what I could have done wrong or maybe check/try?

Any help appreciated, and thanks in advance for your time!

Nick

[RoachyRad37]

Okay, next steps on my journey: tried installing Linux (PoP OS), same effect here. As soon as the OS boots up, I lose the display and can only access the OS via onboard VGA. The GPU is recognized by Linux though, but I can't use it. Something is definitely wrong here...

Will try 2 things next to rule out these problems:

- switch to a secondary/alternate PCIe slot and check if that solves it (might then be a problem of the motherboard)

- use a DVI adapter instead of HDMI (cable is not the problem as it works on the secondary/VGA adapter fine, and also does before booting into the OS). But maybe the HDMI port has a problem once the drivers are installed?

If both solutions won't work, I will have to RMA the device - don't have anything else (GPU or other card) to check the primary PCIe port whether this might be a problem (however as it is recognized and also working during startup, I don't think it's a problem).

Still, any of you have an idea or other suggestions, I'm open for it!

[Mitsui14]

Hello!

what psu model do you have? maybe it has two separate 12v rails. You would have to read the manual and use different pci-e cables to power your gpu.

[RoachyRad37]

Hi Mitsui, 

thanks for your suggestions, my PSU is a bequiet 750W, power cables properly attached - I might try to use the other plug on the cable, but I doubt it originates from there.

Reason is that I can boot into Windows properly until the drivers are updated. 

I think I found (part?) of the problem: it seems to be a common issue with the Z690 chipset and the PCIe1 slot. I put the card into slot 3 (maximum Gen4x5 rather than Gen5x16 on slot 1, so it is rather a temporary issue, but still) - card works properly there  

[RoachyRad37]

@Skrybe 

Thank you as well for your suggestions. 

Unfortunately I'm not able to test it in another PC, but I tested it on another (PCIe slot), and you were on the right track, it seems not to be the card. 

To your other questions (and maybe to help others not to waste too much time :-):

- yes, I installed Windows multiple times, both with internal and external (Radeon) GPU as primary

- When the internal was main GPU, i could never switch to RADEON at all, but could at least boot properly and install all drivers (including RADEON), however the RADEON doesn't get recognized (error 43)

- when I had RADEON as primary GPU I could always boot up Windows up until either installing RADEON drivers OR getting internet connection, as then Windows update tried to update the RADEON drivers...same problem then 

- I updated the BIOS to the newest version, no effect (however I assume that that is the real issue here, not solved by MSI  yet however)

[RoachyRad37]

@yallah and @ryanryankthompson 

I think the real issue is the Z690 chipset with PCIe slot 1 (the main/top one). I found several topics in the internet over the last couple of months, and indeed could solve it (temporarily) by switching to slot 3. 

I will now get in contact with MSI and try to find a solution there, I suspect a problem with the BIOS (even though it seems to occur with several manufacturers, not just MSI). 

Try also switching to another PCIe slot thus (kind of) ruling out the GPU, it (kind of) worked for me, however this is of course not a solution but rather a temporary workaround.  

[yallah]

I recently posted about this as well -- perhaps the same issue? My card was working fine for a while until a driver crash/artifacting, and now the output ceases as soon as I try to (re)install AMD drivers, even after I uninstall everything via DDU. 

Today I had intended to do exactly what you did (install linux and see if the card would run in that environment) but if that didn't work for you I won't hold out hope...

[ryanryankthompson]

I recently posted about this as well -- perhaps the same issue? My card was working fine for a while until a driver crash/artifacting, and now the output ceases as soon as I try to (re)install AMD drivers, even after I uninstall everything via DDU. 

[Skrybe]

Are you able to test the card in another PC? And conversely do you have another video card you can test in your PC? It could be the CPU/mobo that's the issue rather than the video card. Just trying to work that out.

Also, reading your initial post you said the first windows install went fine. Am I right to assume that the monitor was plugged into your video card rather than the onboard graphics? From the sound of it you've reinstalled Windows multiple times, did the video card work each time until you did the AMD driver install?

Have you updated the motherboard bios? I recently helped build a new PC for a friend with an MSI Pro z690-A and there were about four new bios available for it. I'd double check you've got the latest.

Similarly, did you install the intel chipset drivers before trying to install the graphics drivers? I'd always do them before video drivers. Nevermind, just realised you did that.

[yewline]

Do not suffer, if possible, just hand over the card and buy from competitors. I suffered for 20 days with mSI 6600 , green, black screens. I'm sick of it. That's not why we pay a lot of money. in order to solve the problems of manufacturers, Amd still bear reputational damage

[RoachyRad37]

Quick update on the actual status: tested a different (new) graphics card (Radeon 6600XT), same problem. Card in slot 1 shows a picture/MSI splash screen but as soon as Windows boots up it is gone. Switching to the internal graphics card shows the same problem: a deactivated 6600XT, so it gets recognized correctly but deactivated.
I then inspected the CPU and mainboard pins, however couldn't find a fault there - upon reassembling the problem persisted, GPU only usable in slot 3.

Any further suggestions are very welcome. I don't have the possibility to try the GPU in another board (no gamers around here, or at least not PC gamers)...
Thanks!

[Mitsui14]

You say it's working in the pci-e 3 slot. Maybe the first slot on the mobo is damaged? can you test another card in the first pci-e slot to see if it works?

Also, it would be helpful to see the card info with gpu-z when you have it working on the 3rd slot. if possible, take a screenshot and upload it here.

[RoachyRad37 · Accepted solution]

I would finally point the finger towards the motherboard, as switching to another one (also 690 chipset) did resolve the issue. Upon reinstalling (the hardware) I put the GPU in slot 1 and it worked right from the beginning. So I can't say whether it's a general incompatibility with the MSI board and the 6600 or rather a faulty board. 

I hope it stays working, and thank you all for your help and suggestions - happy gaming!