Win 7 and ATI drivers not playing nicely together...

G

gulfcoastfella

Member
I just finished a system build, and having installed Win 7 64bit Professional, one of the first things I did was download and install the latest ATI drivers from ATI's website for my Powercolor ATI HD5970 graphics card. One of the ATI files caused a BSoD, so in safe mode I uninstalled the drivers and sweeped everthing ATI off my computer.

I thought that maybe I had downloaded a corrupt set, so this time I downloaded the drivers from Powercolor's website; BSoD again; driver swipe again.

So now I thought that the newest drivers, which were only a few days old at that point, weren't "right", so I tried installing the previous version (10.7); BSoD yet again; driver swipe again.

I contacted ATI, and after asking about my BIOS update (it's updated) and my Motherboard Driver updates (they're updated), the ATI tech guy told me it was basically my problem to fix with the manufacturer.

I would send in the card for an RMA, but I removed the fan it came with and installed an aftermarket cooling block, voiding the warranty in the process. So I really need this to be a software issue and not a hardware problem.

Any help?

Here's the new system specs:

OS: Windows 7 64bit Professional
Proc: Intel Core I7 930 2.8GHz stock speed
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 1366 rev1.0 bios"F6"
Memory: Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)
Hard Drive (OS): RAID 0 - 2x Crucial CT64M225 2.5" 64GB SATA II SSD
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache
Video: PowerColor AX5970 2GBD5-MD Radeon HD 5970 (Hemlock) 2GB 512 (256 x 2)-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP
Power Supply: BFG Tech EX-1200 1200W Continuous Rated at 40°C ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified
Case: Cooler Master COSMOS S
 
StrangleHold said:
Did you try the card to make sure it worked before you changed the cooler?
Click to expand...

No, the entire computer was assembled to it's finished condition before the computer (and it's respective parts) were tested. Testing the card as it arrived would have required building the system with one coolant loop, and then after the card test, altering the existing loop to include the modded graphics card.

Even if the card worked fine before the mod, it wouldn't help me now.
 
You could have just put it together on air...

Have you tried just installing the latest Catalyst drivers from ATI?
 
Driver sweeper and ati drivers do not cooperate. driver sweeper leaves registry entries behind which causes bluescreens when you try to install them again.'

Download the latest set, use CCleaners registry cleaner (much better imo) and THEN install the new drivers.
 
linkin said:
Driver sweeper and ati drivers do not cooperate. driver sweeper leaves registry entries behind which causes bluescreens when you try to install them again.'

Download the latest set, use CCleaners registry cleaner (much better imo) and THEN install the new drivers.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll try that.

Here's an update: I've noticed that the same file appears on the BSoD every time: ATIKMPAG.sys. Does that mean anything to anyone?
 
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That's the core ATI driver file i believe.

Also, try using catalyst uninstall manager instead of a driver cleaning program, it may work better. I believe the catalyst installs are meant to co-operate better.
 
Uninstall the driver and CCC. Run Driver Cleaner. Then just install the Driver (not CCC) Pretty sure its part of the CCC Panel, not the driver.
 
linkin said:
Driver sweeper and ati drivers do not cooperate. driver sweeper leaves registry entries behind which causes bluescreens when you try to install them again.'

Download the latest set, use CCleaners registry cleaner (much better imo) and THEN install the new drivers.
Click to expand...

A different driver cleaner uncovered lots of other files I wasn't aware of, but getting rid of EVERY ati file and then rebooting to reinstall the drivers still produced the same BSoD:

DSCN1044.jpg
 
Okay, for now, I would suggest booting into safe mode, using catalyst install manager to express uninstall everything.

After this, do a reboot into normal mode. DO NOT run ANY regsitry/driver cleaners. For now, I want you to let windows install the generic drivers for your GPU, through windows update if need be.

After that's done, reboot again into normal mode, if you don't get any bluescreens then proceed to download and install the latest catalyst package for win7 64 bit:

EDIT: link shows catalyst 10.7, you want 10.8 - give me 5 mins.

Make sure you run the file as admin. Also do the express install. At the end it will show a log. if there's a green tick and it says everything is okay then you should be good to go. it will ask you to reboot. go ahead.

If you get a yellow tick and it says there was a problem, but you open the log and nothing is there, then I think it's time for a O/S Reinstall because i had to do the same thing, at one stage.
 
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I tried your advice. When I saw you recommend 'run as administrator', I thought 'That must be it!!' Sadly it wasn't. I checked the log at the end of the display driver install and it showed a green check mark. I viewed the log and everything was listed as 'success'. Reboot, and BSoD. On restart I tell it to start windows normally, and when I go to Control Panel/Device Manager/Display Adapters/ATI Radeon HD 5900 Series/Properties/General Tab/Device Status Window/ it states "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)".
 
I bought the card from Newegg.com, and they don't offer warranties on anything, so you have to use the manufacturer's warranty. That puts me in a bind because Powercolor doesn't honor the warranty if the stock fan has been replaced with a waterblock.
 
I took some time off from the problem for Labor Day weekend, so now I'm back at it. Here's a rundown of what I tried:

(1) I rebooted after removing all ATI files and graphics drivers using "Driver Cleaner .NET".

(2) On reboot, Windows automatically installed it's default VGA driver titled "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter" (driver version 6.1.7600.16385 by Microsoft).

(3) I run "10-1_vista64_win7_64_dd.exe" (the display driver <only> executable for driver version 10.1; I'm trying an older driver in the hopes something will work :)

(4) Catalyst Install Manager Installation Report says Success was achieved for "ATI Catalyst Install Manager" installation and "ATI Display Driver" installation.

(5) On reboot, system POSTs, loads the BIOS, tries to load Windows, but fails part way through, going to a Blue Screen and then rebooting.

(6) On reboot, inspection of the Device Manager's Display Adapters states "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)". Windows still recognizes the card as an "ATI Radeon HD 5900 Series" card.
 
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