AMD Radeon HD 6870 "Display driver amdkmdap stopped responding and.."

[venomousx]

Card details: AMD Radeon HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 (Made by powercolor)
System: Windows 7 Ultimate x64bit

I am having a problem with my card lately when playing games my system and the screen freezes, after a few seconds the screen goes black, and then eventually it will "fix" itself and a pop up saying "Display driver amdkmdap stopped responding and has successfully recovered." is displayed.

It seems to happen sporadically, I can't do any particular thing to make it happen, it just happens after I've been playing for a while.

The number one "fix" I see for the issue is to completely uninstall the CCC (Catalyst control center) using add/remove and a program called "driver sweeper" which I did, and then I went to the website and downloaded the CCC suite again and installed. However I am still having the issue.

I'm not too terribly tech savvy, so any help would be appreciated. If you need more information please let me know!

 

[ilysaml]

Try to install all the windows updates regarding WinInstaller, C++, and the NetframeWork...if the problem still persists you'll have to do a fresh install of Win7.

 

[venomousx]

I always do my windows updates when they are available so I guess that isn't a problem. Is there any chance it's something else? Doing a whole new install is an awful big hassle..

 

[ilysaml]

The other way is to make sure you express uninstall all AMD drivers, navigate to Program Files and manually delete AMD folder if it's there.

Download and install the latest CCC from AMD website.

 

[venomousx]

I can try that. The folders in my 'program files (x84)' that look related to my card are "AMD APP" "AMD AVT" and "ATI Technologies" And there's also some in my regular 'Program Files' called just "AMD" and "ATI"

Would I need to get rid of all of these? (Assuming they're still there after the uninstall)

Also I'm unfamiliar with the term "express uninstall" is there something special I have to do for that?

 

[ilysaml]

Express uninstall means all the AMD Drivers and Software, and yes you need to get rid of everything then start new.

 

[venomousx]

Alright I did everything (and re-seated my card due to advice from a friend) and this time windows auto-installed what I assume is a bare-basics driver for my card. I will be testing if the problem occurs all day today.

What I'm wondering is, do I need to install CCC if I already have this basic driver? I have a bad feeling that my problems may be due to CCC. Is there an alternative software that would accomplish the same thing CCC does (letting me edit my gfx card settings)?

 

[ilysaml]

No, the CCC is the full driver package officially from AMD, the Windows Driver Mode (WDM) is just a generic driver to make some vision available to you when you install the Win but the card won't be fully utilized with this driver.

No need to get disappointed, this problem go away quickly by doing a fresh install of windows, also try what i've said above and it might work for you.

 

[venomousx]

The problem still happens after the express unistall, windows driver, and reinstallation of CCC... Damn.

I no longer have my windows 7 install disc so reinstalling windows is going to have to wait a while. But it'll be the next thing I try.

 

[venomousx]

Ah geez, that's a lot of possibilities.

I’ll start with I don't have anything overclocked; I have everything in CCC set to default. Also, driver sweeper was the first thing I tried but didn’t have any luck.

I never had temperature problems before but I’ll be sure to check that next time the problem occurs and go down the list from there.

 

[venomousx]

I checked out the event viewer and it's only listing the warning I get (amdkmdap stopped responding, etc etc) The event ID is 4101 and I looked it up here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/b00646c8-457f-4363-a6f4-f5c2782edc16.aspx (according to the comments, tons of different people with different cards are having the issue - some think it has something to do with windows 7 - but like you said it could be anything...)

However their suggested fix doesn't apply to me (I have the newest drivers) so I'll keep checking other things the best I can.

 

[venomousx]

I can confirm it's not overheating. The hottest is got while playing the game was 45C which isnt enough to be causing the problem.

I guess the next cheapest thing would be to check the ram.. Is there any way to do that without of buying new ram?

 

[venomousx]

Alright I switched out the ram for a different set (same size, new brand) and the problem is still happening.. Not sure what to do next

 

[ilysaml]

Fresh Windows?

 

[venomousx]

I have been trying out different things since I'm not able to afford a new copy of windows yet (or a new graphics card).

I tried switching from an hdmi cable to DVI for my monitor (in case there was something wrong with the cord/slot). And I tried updating my motherboard bios. But the problem happened again.

Something I've noticed lately is that is freezes in game for about 5 seconds, the screen goes black, and then it immediately goes back to the game (instead of showing me the error). I’m starting to wonder if the problem is specific to the game I'm playing (Guild Wars), but I haven't been able to test other games yet.

Just desperate to try everything I can until I can afford other solutions

 

[venomousx]

Due to the generosity of some friends I was able to do a fresh install of windows 7 today. As far as I can tell, the issue seems to be fixed! Thanks for the help everyone. I'll be sure to come back if any more issues arise.

 

[venomousx]

Best answer selected by venomousx.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey