Catalyst 7.3 Causes BSOD in Vista

[Android1]

For those who have experienced this issue, a workaround has been posted by an AMD driver engineer.

If you experience the blue screen after installing Catalyst 7.3 drivers and rebooting (the system usually blue screens right after a reboot), go into safe mode. Then:

1. Invoke the RUN command (either by clicking Start and Run, if you have Run enabled in the Start Menu, or by holding the Windows key and pressing R).
2. Type SERVICES.MSC and hit Enter.
3. Locate the service called ATI External Event Utility
4. Right-click it and select Properties
5. Under Startup type, pull the menu down and select Disabled.
6. Click Apply and OK.
7. Reboot. The computer should start up normally.

This process disables Catalyst Control Center's ability to auto-detect a hot-swapped display. In other words, if you plug in a monitor while the computer is on, the Catalyst software won't detect it. Makedon notes that if this workaround doesn't do the trick, you can simply use the Catalyst 7.2 drivers until AMD posts a fix.

Source: ExtremeTech

[Wotan81]

7.2 causes BSOD for computers with X1950XT when launching games in the Battlefield series. Atleast for some systems.

[gamefoo21]

Originally Posted by Wotan81

7.2 causes BSOD for computers with X1950XT when launching games in the Battlefield series. Atleast for some systems.

Thats what you get for playing battlefield games...

[Wotan81]

Originally Posted by gamefoo21

Thats what you get for playing battlefield games...

I don't have any BSOD problems with the Cat 7.2 or 7.3 and I don't play Battlefield games. It's my brother who has these problems, both BSOD and Batlefield games.

I have two X1950Pro in Crossfire and a RD600 motherboard.

[Jas420221]

Nice find!!! Hopefully this will cut back on all the threads about it.

+1 for you!

[Ristogod]

Yeah, I think I'll be waiting on Vista. I have enough driver issues in XP. I don't need to multiply that by a factor of 10.

[JonZ]

Indeed. Installed Vista upgrade on my XPS laptop and HTPC and there's so much annoyance for little advantage gain. I should have made a XP image before

[Fearless Leader]

Odd. I was under the impression that Vista was supposed to have fewer BSODs since drivers and apps weren't going to be running in kernel mode.

[daPhoenix]

Originally Posted by Fearless Leader

Odd. I was under the impression that Vista was supposed to have fewer BSODs since drivers and apps weren't going to be running in kernel mode.

Are you interested in some of my snake oil?

[Lupine]

Thanks Android1!

[Mcmlxxx IV]

Originally Posted by Wotan81

7.2 causes BSOD for computers with X1950XT when launching games in the Battlefield series. Atleast for some systems.

Actually, 7.2 and all prior Vista ATI driver releases would BSOD on every game or 3D application that ran in full screen on the x1950xt (only the x1950xt, pros, xtxs, x1900s, etc, were not affected). It had to do with the clock changing/voltage changing and resolution changing. There were some games, in certain circumstances, that would run fine if your desktop resolution was the same as the game and there was no resolution switching in the game. Even this was hit or miss. For instance, if I put my desktop to 1280x1024 and ran 3dmark06, it would work. If I left my desktop at 1600x1200, where I usually run, and tried running 3dmark06, it would BSOD. If I set my desktop to 1600x1200 and ran Vanguard (which is the resolution I played in) it worked. Other games would not, possibly due to spash screens/intro movies that are in a different resolution. Once in Vanguard, if I tried to change the resolution, it would BSOD immediately. The only way to get rid of the BSODs completely was to disable the Hotkey poller (ATI External Event Utility) and deal with 2D speeds or then use ATI Tools or ATI Tray Tools to up the speed and voltage to 3D levels (which is what I did).

The ironic thing is the x1950xt may be the only x19xx card that works with the 7.3 drivers correctly. I have not tried them yet, but some others with the x1950xt have been able to use the 7.3s with the Hotkey Poller running.

[Nocturne]

Pretty ridiculous...

But then again, any of you try nvidia's vista drivers? Which ones work don't have any usefull features (no scaling, color, video, or advanced options), and what releases that do have the necessary features barely work.

[Zeatrix]

For those interested there is a way, posted in the same thread, to enable ATI External Event Utility after booting.

create a *.bat file and add "net start "ATi External Event Utility"" and add it to your startup folder. Remove the outer quotation marks. I'm 100% sure that is exactly what you should write so look it up.

[Humus]

Originally Posted by Fearless Leader

Odd. I was under the impression that Vista was supposed to have fewer BSODs since drivers and apps weren't going to be running in kernel mode.

In the long run that'll be the case. Apps never ran in kernel mode btw.