AMD - Display driver stopped working and has recovered

[samaiya]

I wonder if I can post this here, but I've been having problems with the ATI drivers for my HD Radeon 5770, 1GB, XFX XXX version. I had just recently wiped the computer due to the problems in an effort to locate the issue, reinstalling Win 7 and prior programs, then making a system image and repair disc just before putting two things back on it: MS Office 2007--an update that never seems to update for it I thought was the problem, but it wasn't, and the new ATI drivers (10.2 to 10.4 were messing up my display).

I keep getting the "(AMD) Display driver has stopped working and has recovered", after the monitor getting random flecks of whatever color, then the screen going entirely (insert solid color here) before giving that message. Sometimes it even freezes my computer and I'm forced to reset computer.

On the standard, generic drivers, everything was absolutely fine, but not on any of the ATI ones (even from the installation disc). I can't roll back the drivers to some previous version either.

The catch is that it only really does this when I'm doing anything else (writing an essay, watching youtube, watching House MD/some other video, chatting on AIM, surfing the web, just idle, etc.) other than gaming (Aion, WoW, Spore). It never does this when the game is running. In fact, it's absolutely fine.

Help please? D:

~Samaiya

 

[Night Hawk]

Having installed 7 fresh on an entirely new build with an MSI Radeon HD 5750 1gb model I never put the software disk in at all but went for the 10.4 right off the bat! There are no bugs with this latest Catalyst.

For simply removing the present version you have on now you simply run the setup all over but choose the uninstall option instead. Besides having drivers and the catalyst on things like Java, Adobe Flash Player, and other things haven't been installed on the fresh copy of Windows you have on now.

 

[samaiya]

Unfortunately, I've tried that route and still no dice. I had done the 10.4 straight away, got the problems, and then uninstalled and reinstalled using the drivers on the disc.

Further, I had already installed many of the programs I used to use and there had been no problems with generic/standard display drivers. Problems happened after I installed the 10.4. So yes, I do have Adobe and Java and the like.

~Samaiya

 

[Night Hawk]

Did you see the driver for the monitor go on at all with the MS updates or simply leave everything set to auto? I ran into problems with 10.x Cat.s on the old build here having an older Radeon HD 2xxx series card on that case while no problems at all have been seen with the 10.3 or 10.4 on the new build.

With the catalysts however one person may see a working install right away while others run into problems. On the old build the 9/4 which caused problems for several went right on here without a glitch.

Here I set the refresh rate to 75hz not leaving it at the default 60hz for improving the overall appearance of the display. That could help on a few things there while the freeze ups while watching videos on Youtube or on the AIM messenger may have more to do with something else you have running.

One thing found recently mainly with a few other programs but not excluding the catalysts is the protection programs you have on. If no hardwares are seeing a problem you may want to look over the startup items to see if any of those is having some form of clash with the catalyst.

Another thought of cource would be simply downloading a fresh copy of the 10.4 to see if the first saw a bad install. A fresh download and clean install may be all you would need to clear things up. An incomplete download the first time around would cause bad installs while the only other thing to look into would ne the latest NetFramework 4.

Not having the latest version on has been known to effect the previous catalysts even back on AGP cards going back a few years! The latest version is available at Download details: Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (Web Installer)

One other thing comes to mind besides simply running things without any ATI catalyst/drivers is the option for downloading the latest driver set by itself where you leave out the catalyst entirely. With only the basic drivers installed that will either point to or rule out any software conflicts.

For the 32bit 7 the option for the display driver only is seen when selecting the individual catalyst components option. http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx

When clicking on the 64bit 7 link in the catagory you still end up at the same page as you will see when a different sub opens up.

 

[ThePizzaMan]

hm also what are the temps of your card at load? sometimes that problem is from overheating

 

[Night Hawk]

Most cards would typically overheat during a gaming session especially when oced rather then when simply sitting idle or only viewing a Youtube clip. Some form of hardware problem still can't be ruled out however like a need to reseat the card after a good cleaning inside the case is seen. Some use pen erasers on the contacts for cards as well as memory.

 

[samaiya]

Hello,

I did not see any hardware changes, and have already tried downloading the newest drivers repeatedly, and no go. So that has nothing to do with it. Further, considering that my problems do NOT happen at all when I am playing, but when I am idle, I tried this fix from one of the threads on this forum. http://www.sevenforums.com/graphic-cards/38277-windows-7-radeon-hd-5770-a-14.html Also, I have never overclocked or tinkered with that setting (I don't know how to), so again, OCing was not the issue, and my problems did not happen when I was gaming--everything was going absolutely fine.

It worked so far; tried it last night. I have not had a single "display has stopped working and has recovered" message, nor has the mouse, then computer froze, forcing a restart.

I'm giving it about a week, and if there are no problems, I consider it solved.

Thank you for your help, though. It's appreciated.

 

[Night Hawk]

Sometimes a problem will actually disappear after some time originally being caused by something be loaded sideways until that no longer loads or is somehow corrected on it's own. At least you were able to rule out any hardware problems which is a big help.

 

[samaiya]

Yeah, so far it seems to have been that the clock and mem speeds were too low at idle to sustain itself. They went up during gaming (I checked) and as there were no problems during that time, I figured that fix would work. Haha, before it, I had resorted to leaving a game on to prevent the TDR messages xD

Thanks for the help.

 

[Night Hawk]

You're Welcome!

I had some fun with the new board on the new build here lately with memory speed! But I will have that all sorted out soon enough with some new memory being ordered. The default stock kept being reversed to the board's slowest speed with the recommended showing faster memory listed as doing the same thing?!

Solution? Buy the same speed but simply lower voltage memory. This is one thing to watch for on the newer Core I7 and Phenom II boards coming out now with the memory recommended not even available yet!

 

[samaiya]

Oh wow, interesting! Thanks for the heads up~ Though, being kind of a broke college student, I don't think I'll be building something with an i7 or Phenom II X6 any time soon xD *filled out my sys specs, finally*

 

[Night Hawk]

Surprizingly your specs are not that far off from mine are now. I went from an Asus board to Ggabyte on this one and ran into the 1.5v requirement while the memory supported list shows voltages running upwards from 1.65v to 2.2v with the numbers looked up!

DDR3 2133mhz memory backclocks to 1866mhz on 2v memory to the board's 1.5v. That rather limited the options for selecting the replacement memory however! while leaving everything on auto hasn't resulted in seeing any other problems other then running the memory in now at the reduced speed.

Fortunately however the present memory will work on the upgrade planned for a family memory later this year when finished removing one item from the list of things needed there! :roflmao: That will save a little!

 

[samaiya]

Surprizingly your specs are not that far off from mine are now. I went from an Asus board to Ggabyte on this one and ran into the 1.5v requirement while the memory supported list shows voltages running upwards from 1.65v to 2.2v with the numbers looked up!

DDR3 2133mhz memory backclocks to 1866mhz on 2v memory to the board's 1.5v. That rather limited the options for selecting the replacement memory however! while leaving everything on auto hasn't resulted in seeing any other problems other then running the memory in now at the reduced speed.

Fortunately however the present memory will work on the upgrade planned for a family memory later this year when finished removing one item from the list of things needed there! :roflmao: That will save a little!

xD Oh wow you're right. Just took a peek at your specs. Very interesting, hahaa. Hm, my memory I had to keep messing with the timings, because I originally thought the problem was with that, but after a certain set up passed MemTest overnight for nearly 11 times (I wanted to use the computer, so I stopped it just before the 11th pass), I figured it was not the memory.

Awesome, good luck with that

Edit: Haven't tried unlocking the two cores on my CPU still... *not sure how to go about OCing, plus I would need an aftermarket cooler that I don't have the cash for right now xD* Thoughts?

Also, for my "Other Info", was thinking about getting a new Case because this current one, well...the "Other Info" of my specs says what's the prob. Do you have any recommendations for a good case that's good quality, but also kinda cheap, with good cable management? I hear Cooler Master is the bomb at Cases.

(Also, my power supply doesn't fit properly into the current case D: Only three screws hold it in, and one of them is tilted at such an angle, it's like, perilous. Came out once already, so I re-screwed it in and it's been good.)

 

[Night Hawk]

Well as far as ocing is concerned the case you have will be a factor as well as any 3rd party hsf! If the case lacks adequate cooling your other hardware temps will climb like the board for example bringing up the cpu temps too!

At present while the thermal paste is still in the two week bonding phase I will be monitoring the stock temps for the 125w quad core model in use now. The last case however saw the initial temps at stock around 23C for the cpu and about 31C for the main board.

I went from an Antec 900 to the newer 900-2 now seeing dust screens included on the twin front and side cover vent/fan opening there. But that was the case preference here due to where the case is placed inside an enclosed area on the computer desk here. When not in use I simply close the cabinet door on the desk.

Generally a good case is made of steel or steel with a plastic front. ThermalTake has had some nice ones to look over as well as a few other makes. But it also depends on what you want on a case like front or top usb, eSata ports, an lcd display on some NZXT models, audio jacks, etc. when shopping for one as well as what type of case size wise.

Some cases even see a dropdown side panel once the side cover is off for easy access and installation of the board. The 900 series mounts the supply at the bottom not top of the case where you invert the supply unside down for allowing the cooler air coming in from the front to be drawn in by the supply's fan generally seen on the bottom which is facing upward on the 900s.

As for the cpu cooler I ran the Zalman model seen at Newegg.com - ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler on the last build for the AMD 6000+ X2 there and now have another Zalman for the Phenom II X4 model in this case. Newegg.com - ZALMAN CNPS10X Extreme 120mm CPU Cooler with Worlds first PWM Fan Speed Controller

The latest being Aluminum with a copper base also explains why the cpu is a bit warmer during breakin then seen with the large copper array on the last. The 6000+ X2 was also a 125w model dual core however. But the one thing about the new case is how quiet it has been running so far.

Don't worry in a few days the specs here will change slightly with the new memory in! As far as your case there look over the specs for the board as well as those seen for the memory to see the recommended timings as well as voltages the board will run at. GSKILL sees the 1.35-1.65v range for most of their's.

 

[samaiya]

Hi, thanks for the advice. I was looking at some of the 'better' cases, since the one I have is a cheap one that was steel+plastic front bezel. It's good, it just has two distinct flaws that I don't like--I wrote a review on it at the Newegg site, and that has the explanation http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681114702 (Mochi IceCream's review).

I've heard that ThermalTake is really good at air flow in their cases, so I'm currently looking at some of those and a Cooler Master.

I'm aware of my components specs, as I've kept the manuals, so it shouldn't be a problem. My G.Skill voltages are 1.5v as per the auto configure from the mobo. So I'm thinking that's fine.

Question. My case right now is a Mid ATX. I don't have too much room to stash the desktop, but I do like the roomier Full Towers--they're just more expensive and I am unsure of where I'd be able to put them xD Do you know of any roomy Mid Towers?

Thanks~

 

[Night Hawk]

For having room look at the cases used most often by the ocers who have liquid cooling in use! The 900 series due to it's layout of having six 5.25" bays or simply 3 at the top when both drive cages are inplace is considered tight for water cooling.

ThermalTake has one of their own that looks almost identical to the 900 but not the 900-2 model also seeing twin 120mm fans in the front. It also depends where your case will be like on the floor, sitting on top of a stand or desk, or like here placed inside the cabinet on a computer style desk.

As for any full tower again many who opt for water cooling or home server setups will be looking at those more often due the larger sizes seen. More room for hard drives as well as for liquid coolers are the two main reasons of course.

At this point there are so many different makes, styles as well as the types of cases to go through before selecting the one you will feel is the best for your own use. First you need to get an idea of the dimensions as well as features you want to see in order to one by a good brand that sort of "fits the bill" for you.

One thing to remember however is never getting one with a supply included! Generally they throw the cheapie models in on the bundle deal which often isn't adequate for most custom builds to begin with just to move those along! Specs on supplies also is a large help.

 

[samaiya]

Haha yeah, totally. I am making a habit of buying separate power supplies, especially after some of the horror stories in the reviews of some that do come with PSUs on Newegg or something. Was thinking of getting this Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case It suits me, and has enough room for expansion and all that--but mostly it has a side panel that has like a pocket in it for extra room for cable management, something I'm still trying to learn effectively and the current case is.... not helping. Lol.

How do you feel about an Antec Basiq (spelling?) power supply that is modular? I was looking at them, and they're pretty cheap for a modular, but seemingly very good. The corsair ones I was looking at are like, twice the price, but also very very good. I hadn't known of the Antec ones at the time of making my first build, so I didn't consider them.

Hm... I hear that if there is more than one hard disc, you have to do a Raid configuration. Is this true? I've heard of the most commonly used ones, 0, 1, and 5. Don't quite remember which is which, but I recall one being that it's total copy of one drive to the other, another that is partially copied to the other, and the third being that it is a mixture of Raid 0 and Raid 1 (the Raid 5 configuration.) Correct me if I'm wrong. I ask because I'd like more HDDs, but am kind of nervous about setting it up. Tips?

Thanks.

 

[Night Hawk]

The case looks good having a large front intake that will be a plus for keeping the drives as well as board running cooler. That's a bit larger being a 20cm on front as well as on the top like the Antec 900 series.

I only wish I could have used the hsf on the old build on the Phenom II X4 model in this case since that allowed more room with the round copper array over the bulky box shaped aluminum model on this one! Newegg.com - ZALMAN CNPS10X Extreme 120mm CPU Cooler with Worlds first PWM Fan Speed Controller

I wonder if I could still fit this one on the new cpu? Newegg.com - ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

As far as that series power supply by Antec the largest seen at newegg is a 500w model. Newegg.com - Antec Basiq BP500U 500W Continuous Power ATX12V Version 2.01 Active PFC Power Supply

That wouldn't be any recommendation for running several drives along with large case fans and other things. On the last case here I ran the 900 with 5 HDs along with the 120 on the side cover as well as the twins in front and 20cm on top with a calculation of 587w advised. An OCZ 700w model was in use there as well as on the new build only seeing 4 HDs on this one. And don't forget other expansion cards for video, sound, tv tuner added in as well.

One thing to note is that when using the Antec Power Supply Calculator seen at Antec Power Supply Calculator

Now as for running several drives you do not have to have them set up in pairs for arrays. Creating a storage out of two is an option not any mandate. With several matched drives in a series you can also span a single volume over them. The one thing to note however is arrays and spanning volumes can be costly if any of the drives fail or you simply have a mishap where the entire setup is lost along with data and files!

 

[Lomai]

Thanx NightHawk

 

[samaiya]

Thanks for the tips. I have a 550W PSU currently, and I was thinking of expanding eventually so I would go for a higher PSU. Didn't realize that the Antec Basiq was max 500W only. Perhaps it's good for smaller builds like the one I have now (no multiple drives and fans). I'll have to look into getting better cooling for the CPU--I haven't yet, though I have wanted to unlock those extra core(s).

Yeah, that's what I've heard about in terms of probs with Raid arrays--you can loose the entire thing if one goes that route. So... it's not mandatory to make more than two drives into a Raid? Seriously? That's the first I've heard of it, since all others I have asked had said, "Yes, you need to put them into such and such Raid _insert number here_ if you have more than one HDD."

At least assuming that the HDDs are all of the same make/model, correct? One cannot, then, use different kinds of HDDs (like mixing WD and Seagate, for instance) to use no Raid array?

If it's really not a requirement, that's a relief. I did not like the idea of possibly loosing everything across all drives if I had to do that.

Expansion card-wise, I'ven't tinkered with anything more than a separate graphics card, and probably won't for a while. Will keep that in mind for power requirements if I do, down the road, though.