PC Drivers & Software

[mlvnmore]

Hi, 

I am having an issue where when I begin to install the the graphics drivers, the screen freezes and I cannot use the computer.

A fresh install works fine as these are using the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter, but as soon as Windows installs drivers updates, the system freezes.

I was able to freeze windows updates but the problem still occurs when manually installing the chipset drivers.

I have tried both the drivers supplied by AMD, Lenovo and the community drivers.

I have tried both windows 10 and 11.

I have found that once the freezing occurs, I am able to plug in an external monitor and the machine is usable, only the notebook screen is frozen.

From here, I run the amd cleanup tool to and start fresh with a working system (without the gpu drivers).

As a side note, I tried installing Linux (NixOS) which works perfectly without issue.

AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 3500U w/ Radeon Vega Mobile

[elstaci]

I presume that you are using a Lenovo Thinkpad T495 laptop correct?

If everything was working well before you started updating drivers on your Lenovo laptop I would suggest you install Lenovo's own OEM AMD Drivers first and see if everything work good again.

Here is Lenovo Support for your t495. Please input your laptop's Serial Number to get to the correct Lenovo Support download page: https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkpad-t-series-laptops/thinkpad-...

also https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkpad-t-series-laptops/thinkpad-...

You can click on "Automatically update drivers" or use "Manual drivers" to download and install your laptop drivers.

I would update your BIOS, CHIPSET, and GRaphics drivers first and see if everything works well.

NOTE: If worst case scenario where you have to do a full laptop Recovery order the Recovery Media from Lenovo for your specific laptop model.

EDIT: I would also run Lenovo's own Troubleshooting and diagnostic programs to see if anything comes up.

[mlvnmore]

thanks for your reply!

i confirmed my model is the t495 and not S version. 

My bios is the latest (1.34), from the driver page I cannot find the CHIPSET drivers, and the Graphics Drivers are the ones I try to install where the freezing occurs.

I will try the Recovery Media and test this troubleshooting/diagnostics.

[mlvnmore]

I tried the Recovery Media but after installation, it also started freezing.

I plugged in my external monitor and carried out troubleshooting and diagnostics and no errors were found.

[elstaci]

IF you made a full Recovery of your laptop where your original Windows OS and Apps were installed again as when you first purchased the laptop and it still freezes, in my opinion, you have a hardware issue. Either with the Laptop Motherboard or GPU card installed.

Logically speaking if your recovered your laptop to the way it was when your first purchased it then the laptop should have been working normally without issues.

Now by "Recovery Media" if you meant you just installed your Windows OS again that is different type of Recovery.

I would contact Lenovo Support, even if your laptop is not under Warranty, and see if they believe you have a hardware or software issue unless Lenovo Support will charge you a fee.

[mlvnmore]

Yes I ordered the full recovery which reset it everything fresh. 
I would reach out and see what they say.

What is puzzling to me is that it works perfectly over Linux, which leads me to believe it is not hardware related.

[elstaci]

Good point. If your laptop works fine with Linux OS than it seems it isn't hardware related otherwise similar issues would occur.

But why doesn't your laptop work normally after a full Recovery?

If my understanding of a Full Recovery is correct, it means that the Windows SSD/HDD of your laptop was completely erased with all the original Partitions created again and original Windows OS and Apps.

So, i would believe, that your laptop would work normally again like when you first purchased it. 

Try running a SSD/HDD Diagnostic app (Seagate or WD as an example) on your Windows OS or run CHKDSK.

Bad sectors can cause a PC to freeze intermittently as it tries to read the bad sector of the drive.

To eliminate AMD Driver uninstall the AMD Driver and just run your GPU using Windows own native Graphic driver and see if the freezes continue.

[mlvnmore]

I was able to solve it. 

I bought a second ssd for the wwan slot to check if this would work.

I installed Windows directly to this media but met the same freezing.

I had tried the Recovery Media initially on my main ssd, which was also freezing.

I unplugged this ssd and tried the Recovery Media on the second ssd and surprisingly this worked!

Im not sure exactly why it worked but I have since updated to Windows 11 and all updates/drivers are working.

Im assuming it must be an issue with the main ssd which persisted as long as it was plugged in and only affected windows systems. I havent tried to reinstall Windows to the main ssd as i have a stable Linux system installed and am able to dualboot.

Thanks for your help!!

[elstaci]

Good troubleshooting!

Most likely you needed to do a CLEAR CMOS of BIOS to get the new Windows SSD drive correctly recognized or there was still some possible remnants of your old SSD in RAM Memory that wasn't erased.

But the after doing a Full Recovery it removed all traces of your old SSD Windows drive. Just guessing.

Also mark you last reply as "Solution" since replacing your SSD fixed the issue. 

[mlvnmore]

Nevermind, about a full day later it started freezing again.

Im not sure what changed over the day but its producing the same freezing as before.

Retrying a full recovery ends up with freezing, even on the second ssd in the wwan slot.

Trying to replicate the same conditions as before doesnt work.

The linux drive is still working fine.

What's interesting is that after the full recovery, the initial setup (user name, password, diagnostic settings etc) there is no freezing, until the setup is complete, and the desktop loads and the freezing starts.