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5870 crashes on startup for every driver except Catalyst 9.10

T

trenchDiggr

n00b
Joined
Apr 14, 2010
Messages
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About 4 months ago I built a new Windows 7 (x64) rig with a Gigabyte P55-UD3R motherboard and an Diamond Radeon 5870 video card, model 5870PE51G. I installed the latest (at the time) Catalyst driver version 9.10. Everything worked fine.

Except... every time a new ATI video driver would come out, I would attempt to update. And every time, the computer would blue-screen on reboot after new drivers were installed. The BSOD happens right after the "Loading Windows" graphic appears. So I would have to boot into safe mode and go back to an earlier restore point with the 9.10 drivers. I have tried uninstalling previous drivers first, overwriting previous drivers, driver sweeper, with and without Calalyst Control Center, etc, etc, etc - every possible way of updating the driver. And I've tried the 9.11, 9.12, 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3 driver. Every time, same result - BSOD on reboot after driver install. So I have to boot into safe mode and go back to a prior restore point with the 9.10 driver to get the computer working again. I must have restored the PC 15+ times by now.

So, I finally decided there might be something corrupt in my Windows installation. It just doesn't make sense for the PC to be 100% rock solid stable on one old set of video drivers, and unable to boot at all on all 5 driver versions since. So I performed a clean Windows install, and loaded drivers for chipset, onboard ethernet, and onboard audio. No video drivers. Everything working fine. Downloaded Catalyst 10.3 driver, installed, reboot. BSOD. ARRRRGGGGHHH! Revert to previous restore point. Install 9.12 driver, reboot. Again, BSOD! @$!##@!%$#!!! Revert to previous restore point. Install 9.10 driver, reboot. Now everything works fine again. WTF?!

So on a clean windows install with just ethernet, audio, and chipset drivers, I have a video card that works on the 9.10 Catalyst driver but no driver version since. I cannot be stuck with a PC that only works on one version of drivers from months ago. There have been many performance improvements and bugfixes in the drivers released since 9.10.

Any ideas on this? I noticed Diamond has a new 5870 BIOS available, but no documentation anywhere on what the BIOS is purported to fix. So I'm thinking about a BIOS flash. But I'm leaning towards just getting an RMA and trying a new card out.

Other info - I have a Corsair 750W PS and two new sticks of RAM. The issues also happened on the old PS and old RAM, so the problem is not with either of those.

:confused:
 
Update: I decided to try the video card BIOS update from Diamond so I could try to load the 10.4 beta driver (with the Bad Company 2 load times fix, that problem is driving me crazy). Flashed the BIOS, installed the 10.4 beta driver, rebooted. BSOD, no surprise. Back to a restore point with the 9.10 driver. No BC2 fix for me. Dammit.
 
Can't imagine it's a heat issue - I can play a 3D shooter for hours without issue on the 9.10 driver. I mean, this rig is rock solid stable and never crashes on 9.10. On any newer driver - 9.11, 9.12, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 beta - it's a BSOD on startup. The PC doesn't even run long enough for a heat issue to arise.
 
Congratulations and welcome to the Gigabyte/P55 chipset and 5800 series issues club!

Seriously though, I had all kinds of problems UNTIL I flashed my motherboard bios with the latest version. Its so easy nowadays it's ridiculous.

Here is what I'd do.

1. flash the bios (if that works, great!)
2. if not, format once more and install the 10.2 HOTFIX drivers. (I'm still using these, so I vouch for them)
3. if your still having trouble, format AGAIN and follow the EXACT install order for win7 drivers on www.tweakhound.com

I'm pretty confident flashing your mobo will fix the problem....

GOOD LUCK AND LET US KNOW!
 
OMG I have the exact same problem as you! I just picked up this card today it's a XFX 5870 but the only difference I have is that even the 9.1 drivers don't work.

I've tried updating the BIOS (Mobo is Asus P5B Deluxe) and still no go. I hope someone out there has the solution!!
 
Did you right-click on the driver and install it as administrator? Some have had issues when installing drivers where it either freeze during install (progress bar doesn't move) or it doesn't install drivers properly.

Also, when you uninstall drivers, before reboot, go to device manager and manually put the drivers as "standard VGA". Vista and Windows 7 often install some generic one upon reboot which can block the install.
 
Good thought on the BIOS, but already tried that. I was at F4 originally, but before I did my last clean Windows install and tried more drivers, I flashed to the latest F6 BIOS dated 2/11/2010. I was on F6 when I tried the 10.3, 9.12, and 10.4 beta on my clean Windows install, all of which gave an instant BSOD on reboot. So even on the latest BIOS, Catalyst 9.10 is still the only driver working.

Diamond is not responding to my attempts to contact them for a video card RMA. So I may just try a new motherboard. Cheaper than a new card at least. Are the 5800 series issues with all P55 boards or just Gigabyte? Or are other P55 motherboards (Asus maybe?) known to be more compatible with the 5800 cards? Thanks!
 
Tamlin_WSGF said:
Did you right-click on the driver and install it as administrator? Some have had issues when installing drivers where it either freeze during install (progress bar doesn't move) or it doesn't install drivers properly.

Also, when you uninstall drivers, before reboot, go to device manager and manually put the drivers as "standard VGA". Vista and Windows 7 often install some generic one upon reboot which can block the install.
Click to expand...

More good ideas. Don't think this is the problem though. My latest attempt was with a clean windows install (just chipset, ethernet, and onboard audio drivers). So I'm starting with the standard VGA driver after a clean Windows install, and then:
- Install 10.3 driver. Reboot. BSOD on startup. Restore to before driver install.
- Install 9.12 driver. Reboot. BSOD on startup. Restore to before driver install.
- Install 9.10 driver. Reboot. Everything works fine.

So in every case I was installing the video driver on a clean Windows install, no video driver uninstall required. Exact same procedure for each driver - 10.3, 9.12, 9.10. And only the 9.10 worked.

I've also tried installing the new drivers as administrator, no difference.
 
trenchDiggr said:
Are the 5800 series issues with all P55 boards or just Gigabyte? Or are other P55 motherboards (Asus maybe?) known to be more compatible with the 5800 cards? Thanks!
Click to expand...

The AMD forums pointed specifically to Gigabyte.

Most issues were resolved with a bios flash.

I mean, if you've flashed your video card and your motherboard....

It might be time to RMA the card :(

EDIT: After reading your last post, I noted you had not tried the 10.2 HOTFIX driver set. Give that a whirl.

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/ATICatalyst102Hotfix.aspx
 
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