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ATI driver issue

Discussion in 'Device Drivers' started by joesmith1992, Dec 5, 2010.

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Page 1 of 2

  1. joesmith1992 Newcomer, in training

    Hey, I've got an extremely annoying issue with my GPU. It's a ATI HD 4890 and I cannot update the drivers.

    If I try it the normal way, by using the ATI website and I get an error on the installion.

    If I try updating it through Windows it tells me to restart to complete installing the drivers, and when I do my moniter doesnt work and doesnt detect my machine so the screen just stays blue. To fix this I boot in safe mode and uninstall via the device manager, then restart into normal mode and it works, but of course with no drivers.

    I've tried using the Driver Cleaner, I've tried alternate drivers and I've tried the reccomended ones for my card. All have the same effect. The only way to get my display to work is to either boot in safe mode or uninstall the cards drivers and boot in normal mode.
    joesmith1992, Dec 5, 2010
    #1

  2. mailpup TS Special Forces Posts: 7,908   +77

    Although I haven't installed the very latest drivers, I happen to have three Radeon 4890 cards made by three different makers in three of my PCs and I haven't experienced any of the trouble you described, fortunately. You should be uninstalling the old driver through Add or Remove Programs (XP) or Programs and Features (Vista or W7) rather than the Device Manager. When you uninstall through the Device Manager, Windows should reinstall the same driver when it restarts because it's not really gone.

    If you are trying to install the full Catalyst Control Center version, make sure you also have .NET framework installed. I think the version is 2.0 but you get that when you install version 3.0. You can't install version 2.0 alone anymore through Windows Update. It has to come with 3.0. As an option you can install the driver only.

    Anyway, try uninstalling as I said and then install the new driver afterward. Make sure you download the correct operating system version.
    mailpup, Dec 5, 2010
    #2

  3. joesmith1992 Newcomer, in training

    Thank you very much for the responce, I cannot see any ATI drivers listed in Programs and Features.

    I installed .NET ( MS .NET Framework 4) in hope that it would fix the issue I was having with installing drivers from the official website, but it didn't.

    There seems to be no way to update my drivers, or install any. The only way to be able to use my computer is to uninstall any driver I have, or the display simply doesnt work. The moniter is blank. :dead:
    joesmith1992, Dec 5, 2010
    #3

  4. mailpup TS Special Forces Posts: 7,908   +77

    Just checking but do you have the external power connectors on the graphics card connected to the power supply?

    Also, I recommend you install the .NET 3.0 version as well.
    mailpup, Dec 5, 2010
    #4

  5. joesmith1992 Newcomer, in training

    Yeah, checked that ealier myself. For some reason now, on the device manager it is just reading my card as a Standard VGA Adapter. Weird, now it seems I'm able to boot up my computer normally. I'm really confused by this... I imagine now I will be totally unable to even try updating the drivers since it wont register that an ATI card is there.
    joesmith1992, Dec 5, 2010
    #5

  6. mailpup TS Special Forces Posts: 7,908   +77

    The driver software is what enables the PC to identify the ATI model so I wouldn't expect it to show the specific card until the driver is installed. Right now it appears that you are getting a graphics display courtesy of Windows built-in generic driver.
    mailpup, Dec 5, 2010
    #6
     

  7. joesmith1992 Newcomer, in training

    I'm going to send it back, I put my old Nvidia 8800GT back in and it runs perfectly, even with no drivers installed it started up at the native resolution. I'm glad I have the 4890 under warranty, shame though because it was a really good card.

    Thanks for your help however, really appreciated. Other places weren't really interested in helping.
    joesmith1992, Dec 5, 2010
    #7

  8. joesmith1992 Newcomer, in training

    Sorry to double post.

    They do say "dont count your chickens before they hatch."
    After updating the 8800GT's drivers and restarting, the same issue occurs! This makes no sense at all. I'm really REALLY confused now! :S Blank screen, unless I remove the drivers using safe mode!
    joesmith1992, Dec 5, 2010
    #8

  9. mailpup TS Special Forces Posts: 7,908   +77

    Do you have another power supply to test with? The problem could be a marginal or weakening power supply.
    mailpup, Dec 5, 2010
    #9

  10. joesmith1992 Newcomer, in training

    I do yes, I'll have to find it tomorrow because it's pretty late here. Windows does start up okay, I can hear the Windows start up sound if I wait for it. I think I may just have to reinstall windows, which is annoying.
    joesmith1992, Dec 5, 2010
    #10

  11. mailpup TS Special Forces Posts: 7,908   +77

    When you can hear Windows starting up fine but get no signal to the monitor, I usually suspect the graphics card or the power supply that powers the card. Since you've used two very different cards and got the same problem, it doesn't seem like the cards are the problem. That's why I'd like to check the power supply.
    mailpup, Dec 5, 2010
    #11

  12. joesmith1992 Newcomer, in training

    I think your right, infact it's stupid I didn't mention this before, but I actually lost power last night whilst my system was on. Also today I switched monitors from a 19" inch which had several issues to a 15". I should of mentioned it earlier, but I figured it was irrelevant. I'm pretty sure it's not a resolution based thing because I've changed the res in safe mode to the smallest size possible and tested it.
    joesmith1992, Dec 5, 2010
    #12

  13. mailpup TS Special Forces Posts: 7,908   +77

    I don't think it's a resolution problem either. Let us know what happens when you switch power supplies.
    mailpup, Dec 6, 2010
    #13

  14. joesmith1992 Newcomer, in training

    Well after reinstalling Windows, swapping power supplies and removing my graphics card and using the onboard video and clearing CMOS, I still have the same issue. I made a descovery though. If I run in low resoultion mode by pressing f8 at boot, it works fine. If I change my resoultion once Windows has booted up, it happens again. I just cannot use my native res on normal mode. So it cant be the power supply, as I've replaced it, it isn't the graphics card and it isn't Windows since I reinstalled it.

    I've had a fair share of issues before but this is something else. It's kind of interesting, but at the same time extremely annoying as you can imagine.
    joesmith1992, Dec 6, 2010
    #14

  15. mailpup TS Special Forces Posts: 7,908   +77

    Pressing F8 lets you start Windows in Safe Mode which uses only the Windows generic graphics driver and not any installed ATI/AMD drivers. This points back to a graphics driver issue.
    mailpup, Dec 6, 2010
    #15

  16. joesmith1992 Newcomer, in training

    I've just installed the 8800GT again for a test, I'm using normal mode at 800x600 with aero effects enabled and drivers installed. If I increase my resolution at all, the screen goes blank. Could it possibly be the monitor? But then again, if it is, why does it work at the native res in safe mode? It just makes no sense.
    joesmith1992, Dec 6, 2010
    #16

  17. mailpup TS Special Forces Posts: 7,908   +77

    Make sure your ATI/AMD graphics driver is uninstalled before installing the Nvidia card and vice versa.
    mailpup, Dec 6, 2010
    #17

  18. joesmith1992 Newcomer, in training

    Right now I'm on a clean install of Windows 7, with no drivers installed at all. Same issue even when installing the OS, so I had to restart and boot in 680x480 small res mode to finish the installation. Tested it on a another moniter, the one I was using before, same issues occur. If I use no graphics card at all, with no drivers and only generic ones, I still get the same issue when not in safe mode or low res mode.
    joesmith1992, Dec 6, 2010
    #18

  19. mailpup TS Special Forces Posts: 7,908   +77

    Maybe something is wrong with the motherboard itself. When you lost power the other night, it could have damaged the motherboard.
    mailpup, Dec 6, 2010
    #19

  20. joesmith1992 Newcomer, in training

    Do you think updating the bios may help? Thanks for all your help by the way.
    joesmith1992, Dec 6, 2010
    #20
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