Windows 7 x64 ATI display Drivers

thatguy011071

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Shamelessly posting this every where till I get a workable solution for my system. I am having a really terrible time with the ATI video drivers. And from what I have read, others are too. I shut it off for now and will leave it off till better drivers are released. The funny this is, is that the drivers from windows update are just as bad as the drivers from ATI. If you install the video drivers from windows update you are looking at BSOD. You can reboot into safe mode and remove everything ATI however if you continue to try to boot normally you will ruin the OS and you will have to reinstall. Specifically it is atikmdag.sys. This was also a problem with Vista from what I have seen researching this issue. The supposed work around is to just install the driver but even if you download just the driver it wants to install the Catalyst Control Center. So you are stuck between wanting to install the drivers for your video card or using the generic video driver that is stable and won't crash your system. The annoying thing is is that with the generic driver the video on the monitor is scaled. So you have a black border all the way around the screen. The maximum resolution of my monitor is 1920x1080. The best I can get with the generic driver is 1440x1080.

I would say that it was a hardware conflict somewhere however this is hardware that worked just fine in Windows XP.

Is there a fix for this yet or is it more of a "be patient" thing?

My system is as follows,

Windows 7 Professional x64 (Clean Install)
Asus P5K-E Motherboard
4 gigs of DDR2 1066 RAM
3 10,000 RPM drives in RAID 0
Intel Q9550
Powercolor ATI Radeon 4850 cards in Crossfire. Monitor hooked up via HDMI.

Not that any of that matters since it seems everyone across many different configurations is having the very same issue as I am. I have tried driver version 9.9 and 9.10 and had no success with either one. Does anyone have a driver version that works with Win 7x64?

Essentially, its a very expensive case full of hardware that is unusable. I know that I am going to asked for information that I haven't included in this post but I am at work at the moment and can't provide it.

Thanks
 
I have been using 9.7 with win 7x64 with no issues running a 4770. here is a list of previous driver releases http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/previous/Pages/radeonaiw_vista64.aspx These are beta drivers but i have no issues with them.
I have also used Omega drivers in the past and was very pleased with them, they are a third party driver, must admit i havent looked an the site for W7 drivers but i guess its worth a go.

Mactronix
 

thatguy011071

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Thank you, I'll give that a go tonight. I have posted on the Microsoft forums and the ATI forums and have not even gotten a sniff. I appreciate your response.
 

thatguy011071

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The 9.10 drivers are junk. It won't let me go into Eyefinity "group" mode with my current monitor setup. I also have issues flipping around moitors in extended. I had to roll back to an older download. I think the drivers are picky about certain monitors and their native resolution.

Also in Win 7 x64, using a 5870.


I hope an older version of one of the drivers will work, if not I am screwed till ATI delivers new drivers. I really hate to have to go back to XP. I like everything else about the Windows 7, its just this one hiccup.
 
I am having trouble understanding what you mean by it wanting to install the Catalyst Control center if you just use the display drivers ?
I have used just the driver on many occasion without it bugging me to install the CCC.

I can surmise that it may be about getting access to higher functions ? If this is so then try running just the Display driver along with ATI Tray Tools (Free download). ATT will work alongside the display driver and gives you much better control over the card than CCC does.
I have used this configuration myself with numerous cards and drivers for benchmarking purposes and have found it works well.

Mactronix
 

thatguy011071

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I am talking about just installing it. Any of the display drivers I install crash Windows 7 "ATIKMDAG.SYS". I can't get any drivers to work.
 
Have you tried the powercolor drivers ? http://www.powercolor.com/eng/support_driver.asp?CategoryID=1&SeriesID=1&ModelID=560.

This kind of thing is usually a driver conflict and short of digging around for a driver that works you are pretty much at the mercy of AMD/ATI to send out a Hotfix.

Mactronix
 

daedalus685

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atikmdag.sys is an issue with TDR. (This is called nvlddmkm.sys for nvida, both are TDR)

Are your cards overclocked, how are the temps? TDR is supposed to reset teh card (cause it to crash) when the card fails due to power, temeprature, or other hardware faults.

TDR was not in XP, only vista and 7 so teh issue does not need to be common between the two.. though if TDR is working properly it should not fire unless something is happening to tax the card card more (aero, for example, has(had) a habbit of triggering it)
 

daedalus685

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Anyway.. sometimes TDR would fire mistakening in vista (specifically when crossfire was installed, and depending on other drivers in the system). You can disable TDR in teh registry, however if you are not sure the issue is tdr going off when it is not supposed to the isntance where tdr used to fire will become hard lock ups that can damage things.

Are you getting a "cluster" of errors? Such as atikmdag appearing over and over in the tray until the comptuer BSOD's?

If windows is reporting in the event log "drvier stopped responding and has revocered" this is NOT a drvier issue, it is TDR triggering (at the right or wrong time I cannot say). The wording of this error is misleading.

Was a huge issue with vista on release, though I have not seen in personally in a while. Remember that seven uses teh VRAM a lot more. If you got anything like minor artifacts while gaming in XP, it could manifest as TDR during desktop use in Seven.

I'm stil using 9.9 on my system, though will update to 9.10 eventually.
 

radnor

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I don't want to give a bad reply (or a hopeless one) , but i have a 4850 CF with Win7 X64 and works flawlessly. I have a 22" monitor (monitor) and a HDTV plugged in via HDMI.

I always buy sapphire, because Ati drivers ussually work pretty well. Asus, Powercolor and one more or two brands they not always work 100% and you have to wait till the brand delivers updated drivers. And for a CF configuration you will always need them. I update drivers ussually on launch day

Tyy disabling the CF and update drivers. I believe is more a powercolor problem than a Ati/Windows one.
 

daedalus685

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TDR is not usually a problem with drivers or windows.. I enjoyed calling it a feature when it was clearly broken as people got a kick out of it.. but these days it is just that. Like I said, I have not seen it break on any of my computers in a long while. It is usually a hardware fault.. whether it is an obvious one on another system would depend.
 

thatguy011071

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Good morning all. My issue was apparently the crossfire set up. I removed the second card last night, formatted and reinstalled AGAIN and I was able to install the latest complete ATI driver package without any return of the "ATIKMDAG.SYS" monster.

I am just glad that I am able to use the operating system. There is much to like with Windows 7, especially the ability to watch AVCHD from the camcorder with no need to encode video as I had to do in the past. I have an Asus HD monitor (hooked up via HDMI) and the screen looks much better now then it did with Windows XP. Now, that could be all in my head but pictures I took over the weekend in upstate NY look so crisp and sharp that it is like I am looking out the window. Amazing. Video is another matter and 1080p 24MB's per second video is like nothing I have ever seen before. Also, amazing. There is no comparison between the 8 MB's per second 1080p WMV video I was watching before hand in Windows XP.

I am glad I didn't have to go back to Windows XP and for a time I thought I was going to have to do that.

Thank you.

EDIT: To answer you daedalus685, I was getting the error two ways. Sometimes upon installing the driver it would immediately crash and pop the monster. Or, on reboot after putting my password in at the log on screen the screen would go black and pop the monster. Sometimes it wouldn't even install the driver.

Those were the only ways I was getting the error.
 

crackajaxx

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I've been fighting the same issue and I too am all but certain it's related to the crossfire setup. In scouring the event log, one thing is clear, there is a failure to detect a display that proceeds just about every BSOD. So, it sounds like you were able to get everything operational, but have you been able to get your crossfire setup back?


 

thatguy011071

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I have not had the guts to add the second card back in. And to be honest in the games I play I have not seen any degradation of performance. I will add the second back in eventually but I am going to wait a few revisions of the ATI drivers before I do that. The display drivers were the only drivers that gave me a hard time. Everything else has been pretty smooth. And BTW, the forums @ Microsoft had no response for the issues I was having. The only help I got that was of any use was from maximumpc.com forums. I placed one post there and got a response that resolved my issue immediately. Not knocking anyone here, just stating the results I received.

Take that second card out man, format and reinstall the OS and then try to install the your display drivers. Let me know how it goes.
 

crackajaxx

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Well, I have to agree with you about the crossfire setup. I have a pair of Radeon 4850x2 and I pulled one of the chasis and reinstalled the drivers. Everything is now running picture perfect. I reseated the second card without the crossfire cables and it came up just fine, again no issues with anything I tested. Then I connected the crossfire cables and BSOD returned. So ruling all things out, the only thing that caused the BSOD was the crossfire setup. Even having two cards (one without a display) in the machine did not cause any significant issue (just sucks some extra power).

I'm going to submit this to ATI and pray they take the time to give it due consideration. Seriously, what's the point of buying (or - hear this ATI - even marketing) a crossfire setup if you (a) can't get it to work on the new flagship product and (b) aren't willing to invest the time to ensure your drivers work.
 

OmegaNemesis28

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I'm having a MASSIVE problem with this.

On a FRESH windows 7 x64 install, if I attempt to boot for the first time - I get the atikmdag.sys BSOD on boot.
This means that I can't even go into safe mode if I want to because I have not finished the first boot ever into Windows.
Basically, going into Windows gives me "Starting Windows" and then.... nothing. It just freezes midway and after about 4-5 minutes I get atikmdag.sys.

If I install Windows 7 with my 7800GTX Nvidia card, I can boot fine. But once I put my ATi card in it refuses to boot. If I install Windows 7 with my Nvidia card, then use my ATi card to boot into safe mode, remove the atikmdag.sys from System32 - it boots fine my 4870x2. The only problem is - if I attempt to install Catalyst (doesn't matter which version), the atikmdag.sys comes back along with the BSOD until I delete it.

Any help PLEASE. Been trying this for months. I've RMA'd every part of my system, even the hard drives, and tried different ISOs of Windows 7 with no success. I've called ATi, EVGA, anything that I can think of thats related and none of them can help me.
 

crackajaxx

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You said its 4870x2 - try removing one of the cards and booting with only one. I'm guessing you have these cards setup with Crossfire? If so, try only one of the cards. If that works, drop them both in but do not install the Crossfire cable. Wild guess, but from what I can tell Windows 7 + Crossfire = BSOD.
 

OmegaNemesis28

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lol
no - I meant THE one 4870x2. The single card with dual GPUs :p
 

thatguy011071

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The thing that bugs me is this was a set up that worked beautifully in Win XP SP3. The only thing I can blame it on is immature drivers and it still isn't even as bad as what happened with Vista. So far the Win 7 system never crahses. So, hopefully in a few driver revisions they will get it sorted out. Having said all that, my monitor look brighter and much more life like in Windows 7. My photos and video look much crisper and sharp. Tha was the first thing I noticed with Windows 7. Plus, overall, it just looks so damn cool.

I have been eyeballing a faster card, possibly a 4870x2. Then I wouldn't have to worry about adding back in the second card. However, I can't complain about the performance so far.

Cracka: I had 2 4850's in a crossfire set up. By removing one of those and formatting and reinstalling I rid myself of the blue screen. Been crash free since and I am running the most current drivers from ATI.
 

thatguy011071

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One explanation I received was that the CCC somehow doesn't play well with the OS. If you install just the driver you should be OK however that did not work for me. If you can get into the device manager in safe mode, remove everything ATI from the display adapters section, right click "uninstall". Then remove anything installed by ATI in add/remove. Finally, go into explorer and remove the ATI folders in x86 and the other program folder. Lastly, download a program called ccleaner

http://www.ccleaner.com/download

Run the registry cleaner and remove everything that it finds.

Reboot, then try to reinstall the drivers for your 4870 with one card in place. You should be OK. I think Windows 7 just has issues at this point with dual card set ups from ATI and NVIDIA. At least that is what I have read.
 

crackajaxx

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LOL, fair enough. Anyway, what I can tell you is that the issue I have definitely appears to be related to having multiple GPUs though maybe not the same as yours. I can run with 2 cards in the machine just fine, its when I try to use them in tandem (which the driver is probably doing with your card) is when it fails (miserably I might add).

I've been stable ever since I removed the crossfire cable. Every time I add it back I get a BSOD. Take it for what its worth.


 

thatguy011071

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ATI and or Microsoft have to be aware of this. I have not heard anything official though, other then consumers reporting issues. I just hope that they are working on getting it fixed.
 

xexorz

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I am experiencing the same error message while playing Sniper Elite on a Windows 7 machine

Single HD 5770 card.
4GB memory
ASUS P7P55D PRO Motherboard
i5 Processor

NO overclocking of any sort on MB or GPU


I'd love to know if this is a hardware or software issue. Good luck to all of us.