Windows 10 GPU Driver Hell

[Mkfish]

Okay so over the last few day's I've been smashing my face into the keyboard trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with my PC.

Currently I have a 4K TV that is capable of 60hz refresh rate no problem and supports HDMI 2.0 ... However my R9 Fury Nitro does not come equipped with a HDMI 2.0 port so I've had to buy a Club3D DisplayPort -> HDMI Active adaptor in order to get the desired 2160p/60hz - problem solved.. was working great for 2 months no issues whatsoever.

However in the last few days Windows 10 has decided that it is going to keep downloading and installing the latest WHQL Crimson driver from AMD... And the problem is.. whenever it does this.. it's as if my active adapter is no longer recognised (not that it should be, it should just do what it does regardless of Windows) and Windows will only report display refresh rates of 2160p/30hz.. I've tried forcing a custom resolution in CCC which does work, but in games the colours are all washed out and it looks like utter garbage, the desktop looks fine, but games text is all fuzzy and it's just incredibly unsatisfactory.. IE unplayable.

This 16.300.2311.0 driver seems to be the only driver that will work properly as any new Crimson WHQL, or latest Hotfix driver will force the same 30hz issue and it is driving me insane.
I just don't know what is going on, and why this driver is the only driver that will work as expected, until Windows 10 decides to overwrite it with the latest WHQL driver.

I've told update to defer updates, and also in advanced system settings told Windows not to update device drivers automatically.. but it keeps on doing it anyway.

I've tried flashing a new VBIOS but it makes no difference it's purely a driver issue..

Any ideas folks? 

[Mkfish]

10 minutes ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

I giggled at that image.

 

So the problem's that the adapter only works with one version of the driver?

That's about the base of it.. the thing is I don't see why it should matter which driver I'm using since the adaptor is just a dongle that converts displayport to hdmi.. it's not like it has it's own driver or is even a recognised device of any kind... I just don't understand!!

[Mkfish]

This is with Windows 10 overwriting the driver again...

I just checked CCC and it even says "DisplayPort"....... WTF

[Mkfish]

Well I managed to fix the problem until AMD releases a new driver version that doesn't suffer the same problems as I was talking about above, but until such a point I found a tool from Microsoft that will force it to stop updating the driver.

If you head over to:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3073930

You can download a tool to select the problematic driver update that is causing issues and tell Windows to "hide" that update.. effectively meaning that it will no longer install it.

I hope this helps anyone in the future who may stumble upon this thread 

[SLAYR]

5 minutes ago, Mkfish said:

Well I managed to fix the problem until AMD releases a new driver version that doesn't suffer the same problems as I was talking about above, but until such a point I found a tool from Microsoft that will force it to stop updating the driver.

Really this isn't an AMD issue, it is a microsoft issue for windows 10, there is options to turn off automatically downloading drivers, you shouldn't need to download a tool to fix it.

[Mkfish]

Well I looked all over Windows for those "options" you speak of, and believe me, I've seen the screenshots of them and read articles about them, but for love nor money were they nowhere to be found in my copy of Windows 10.. Version 1151 build 10586.633 - I followed every instruction to a T, and never found them. So they were either phased out, or I live in some alternate dimension.

So yes I'm afraid this tool was necessary. And was obviously coded and released by Microsoft for a reason

[Mkfish]

7 minutes ago, SLAYR said:

Really this isn't an AMD issue, it is a microsoft issue for windows 10, there is options to turn off automatically downloading drivers, you shouldn't need to download a tool to fix it.

I'm sorry but I disagree, Windows 10 updating to the latest driver version is not really the issue, usually that's a good thing. The problem is that AMD's latest drivers have broken something in between those driver revisions that stops the DisplayPorts fitted with an ACTIVE HDMI 2.0 adaptor from working. I don't see how Microsoft is responsible for that.

[SLAYR]

5 minutes ago, Mkfish said:

I'm sorry but I disagree, Windows 10 updating to the latest driver version is not really the issue, usually that's a good thing. The problem is that AMD's latest drivers have broken something in between those driver revisions that stops the DisplayPorts fitted with an ACTIVE HDMI 2.0 adaptor from working. I don't see how Microsoft is responsible for that.

 

Microsoft was the cause of the reinstalling of the drivers.

 

It is hard to believe AMD caused the drivers to shutdown an adapter, the gpu cannot even sense whether or not an adapter is present, it doesn't care, as long as something is sending a signal it will registed a display. If the drivers cause the displayport to not power the adapter then that could be happening. More likely an adapter issue then a driver issue.

[Mkfish]

1 hour ago, SLAYR said:

 

Microsoft was the cause of the reinstalling of the drivers.

 

It is hard to believe AMD caused the drivers to shutdown an adapter, the gpu cannot even sense whether or not an adapter is present, it doesn't care, as long as something is sending a signal it will registed a display. If the drivers cause the displayport to not power the adapter then that could be happening. More likely an adapter issue then a driver issue.

Let's be clear.. this is the adaptor in question:
http://www.club-3d.com/index.php/products/reader.en/product/displayport-12-to-hdmi-20-uhd-active-adapter.html

It has no power requirements, and works out of the box.

It works perfectly to get 2160p / 60hz using the Crimson 16.7.3 drivers.

As soon as any newer driver from AMD is installed. 60hz is no longer an option at any resolution other than 1080p and below
I just don't see how anything other than a problem in the newer AMD drivers can be the cause?

*Edit*
After visiting the club3D forum the top posts yields the answer I believed to be true from the very beginning
Source:

http://insights.club-3d.com/thread/fed-up-with-the-fact-the-club3d-1-2-to-2-0-adapter/

So there you have it, it is and was AMD drivers all along.

Edited November 1, 2016 by Mkfish
AMD Admits Driver issue is the problem