PC Drivers & Software

[randomuser1234]

So recently I installed the latest driver update for my GPU AMD Radeon RX 560X i.e. v20.7.1, following which Windows Update automatically installed a driver update called "Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. - Display - 26.20.12036.4002". When Windows installed this driver, on booting AMD Radeon software, it gave a pop up message saying "AMD Radeon Software and Driver versions do not match". Also, all the windows acrylic transparency effects stopped working (even though PC Settings app showed them to be on). Then, I went into Device Manager and installed a driver update for my integrated GPU (AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics) and also the dedicated card (AMD Radeon RX 560X). Following this, the AMD Radeon software would boot normally. Also, after restarting explorer.exe from Task Manager, I got the Acrylic Effects in Windows working. However, all of the above mentioned bugs would return with a restart and I would have to update the driver via Device Manager again to get them working. Also now, AMD Radeon Software won't boot. Any help in fixing these bugs would be appreciated.

[pokester]

They one thing you didn't mention is what APU you have. There is your answer. When you have an APU even with discrete graphics, if it is AMD discrete graphics. You install the driver for the APU and it should install everything you need for both products. The stand alone GPU driver doesn't take into consideration your APU. 

Run DDU then install the correct APU driver and see if that works out for you. 

Honestly and not trying to shift blame to you at all when I say this, but two graphic options are often problematic. If you were going to buy discrete graphics you would have been much better off getting a Ryzen CPU with no graphics. 

That being said, this stuff shouldn't be this complicated to get working for the end user.

I hope that helps. Please report back how it goes. Many are complaining in general about the latest drivers on Polaris cards which you also have, so there may be more going on than just what driver was installed too.

Good Luck!

[randomuser1234]

Thanks for the reply. It's not that it's under my control whether I was getting an APU or not when I'm buying a notebook lol. Thanks anyway I'll try out the APU drivers and get back to you.

[kingfish]

This would be the correct driver:

https://www.amd.com/en/support/apu/amd-ryzen-processors/amd-ryzen-5-mobile-processors-radeon-vega-gr... 

[randomuser1234]

Yes I did install just that

[pokester]

Understandable, you also didn't mention you had a notebook and that would have changed my statement. 

[randomuser1234]

Yeah no problem my dude. Could ya just help me with the windows transparency issue? Is it a common bug?

[pokester]

Brother I would if I could, I really don't know. Realize we are all just users like you here. These are USER TO USER forums only. Hopefully someone else will know better than me. While waiting for a possible answer here I would strongly suggest you ask the support department for your laptop. You can also directly ask AMD as driver development does not participate here. To contact AMD support: https://www.amd.com/en/support/contact-email-form 

[randomuser1234]

Yeah sure thing. I was going to contact support before this, but I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a common issue (and if it was it would be resolved rather quickly here). Anyway, thank you for your assistance. At least Radeon Software works now lol.

[randomuser1234]

So yeah I installed AMD Radeon Software 20.8.1 for my APU Ryzen 3550H. AMD Radeon Software launches now without any problem. However, all acrylic transparency effects in windows still do not work despite the toggle for transparency in Settings is turned on. The taskbar is just transparent instead of an acrylic blur and everywhere else there is an opaque background instead of an acrylic blur. Please help.

[pokester]

You might check out this page. Maybe some of the advice here might help?  https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5556-turn-off-transparency-effects-windows-10-a.html 

[pokester]

I use an app for a lot of my appearance changes myself. Maybe it would be of help too, for you. 

Winaero Tweaker 

Sorry if none of that helps. 

[randomuser1234]

Oh thank you I'll check that out

[randomuser1234]

So yeah none of it worked but the Windows Update driver "Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. - Display - 26.20.12036.4002" has popped up again. If I install it, I think it will screw up Radeon Software again. And I'm kinda stuck in this endless loop of installing drivers from AMD and then Windows Update forcing its version of the driver to auto install. Any fix available?

[randomuser1234]

Now that I installed the driver from Windows Update, the transparency issue is gone but AMD Radeon Software throws the error "AMD Radeon Software and Driver versions do not match".

[kingfish]

You need to prevent/delay Microsoft from automatically installing drivers. Depending on the Windows version you have, there are several ways to do this.

https://www.windows10forums.com/threads/windows-10-automatic-updates-how-do-i-suspend-or-delay.20702... 

[randomuser1234 · Accepted solution]

OHHKKK. I HAVE FINALLY FIXED ALL ISSUES.
First, I downgraded to the stable, WHQL release of the driver (20.4.1)
Then I used this post (https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/g33zi1/windows_10_keeps_reinstalling_wrong_driver/ ), where I downloaded the mentioned troubleshooting file and disabled Windows from auto installing the 1 driver that was messing everything up without having to stop Windows Update all together.
And then all I had to do was restart once and voila! Both the transparency and AMD Radeon Software boot issues were fixed! Hope this helps anyone else with the same issues.

[pokester]

kingfish‌ Thanks for pointing that out. 

Yah unfortunately you have to disable the internet or the update service to keep Windows from installing it's repository driver vs the one you want at the same time, in many cases. For a while this issue affected both red and green teams. However it has been fixed on the green team for a long time now, so not sure where the fault lies in why it is an issue when installing the AMD drivers. My guess would be that the green drivers are likely temporarily stopping the update service while the drivers install. That is only a guess though. 

Another thing that will screw up your drivers in Windows 10 "Hibernation/Fast Startup" If you disable that it hurts nothing at best it only sped up a boot by seconds, however it's old cached data will interfere with new drivers and software you want. So you might want to disable that too. 

[randomuser1234]

Yes I do already have hybrid shut down disabled because I prefer cold booting the device. This time it was the Windows Update's fault for pushing out faulty drivers (and at this point it has become pretty common for Windows to break driver and features even on stable builds - dang MS). Also yeah, the optional driver was a beta of some sort (should've figured that out) which is why the transparency issue was there in it. So that's the main reason I downgraded to the stable driver since I always feel stability weighs more importance than new features unless you want to have some trouble. But I don't think pausing Windows Update was the best way to go and honestly the reddit post I mentioned came up with a better solution to just selectively disable the faulty driver update. Anyway, thanks for anyone that has been keen to help. Really appreciate it .

[randomuser1234]

I am extremely sorry to bump this thread again, but I am experiencing the transparency issue again after updating to Radeon Software 20.9.1. I also experience a black window if I open Chrome, the chromium based Microsoft Edge and WhatsApp Desktop. Is this a known issue? Also if it is, how can I downgrade to the older version (can't find older version download on the AMD website)?

Update: I was able to find the older version of the driver and downgraded to solve all of my issues. Still don't know why a stable update would cause so many issues.

[toasterdev]

I can also confirm that only by downgrading the driver to 20.4.2 I'm able to restore Transparency Effects into WIndows. Shame that AMD seems to not have tested the latest stable drivers troughly.