Problems with AMD/ATI Radeon HD 6500M/5600/5700 Series GPU driver/software

[IainB]

This is posted on the offchance that it could be helpful/useful to someone and possibly save them time and from experiencing the same frustration that I have had over the last few months.
The post is focussed on:
(a) the software driver for the AMD/ATI Radeon HD 6500M/5600/5700 Series GP/DU (Graphics Processing/Display Unit).
(b) the software which enables you to tweak the display settings.
(c) getting and installing the latest versions of both.


I have an HP Envy 14. The specs say it has:

• ATI Mobility Radeon HD5650 1GB Dedicated Graphics
• Intel Core i7-720QM 1.60GHz Quad Core Processor - Actual: 35W turbo processor (1333-MHz FSB, 6-MB L3 cache).

The O/S is Win7-64 Home Premium.

Initially, I was finding the screen much too "glary" and could not find in Help, nor figure out, how to adjust colour, brightness, contrast or gamma settings. Stumped, I googled the problem and stumbled upon a website where someone had been having identical problems and said that he found a brightness and other adjustments inside the AMD driver utility package CCC (Catalyst Control Centre), which was already installed on his laptop. It was installed on mine too, and it worked very well!    

There was also some good advice to keep the drivers and CCC updated to AMD's latest version.
So I later went to AMD's website and downloaded an update. The update came as an integrated package, which used CCC's InstallManager to install an updated driver and an updated CCC. There was/is no option. You have to take it as a package. You couldn't have one without the other.
So I updated. No problem.    

The problem started when I tried to install the next update. It hung on install at the "Analyzing installation files" stage. No error messages. You had to kill the process to get rid of it.
So I was left with the status quo - the older driver installed, and older CCC.    

So I went progressively through some steps:
STEP #1:
I commenced an uninstall-then-clean reinstall of CCC. That means I removed CCC altogether - but the install still hung at the same point in the installation. I tried this with successive new versions of the CCC+driver package, but to no avail.
So I was left with the older driver installed, and no CCC, and I still needed the display adjustment capability in CCC. Bother.    

STEP #2:
I took a look inside the downloaded CCC+driver installation package and found, after a bit of trial-and-error, that there was an .msi installer buried in the package that installed just the driver. It worked on its own. Hooray!      
So I was left with a newer driver installed, but still no CCC, and I still needed the display adjustment capability in CCC. Bother, again.    

STEP #3:
Having run out of ideas, I wondered whether maybe the existing installed driver might be blocking the upgrade installation.
So, rather nervously, I removed/uninstalled the driver via the Computer Management Console:

That left me with an 'orrible-looking display.
I reran the upgrade installer, it got a bit further along this time, but still hung, so I killed the process.
So, I got Windows to scan for new hardware, and it reinstalled the (previous) display driver.
This returned me to the state at the end of STEP #2.

STEP #4:
Because my googling had by this time uncovered quite a lot of evidence that many users were having similar problems in getting their AMD Radeon HD 6500M/5600/5700 Series display driver and CCC updated, I widened my search for a glimmer of light.
What I found:

• was this very helpful/useful website post at NotebookReview.com: HP Drivers and Software Forum
• From links in that site and others I eventually linked to Guru3D.com downloads - here.

I downloaded the unimpressively-named ATI Tray Tools and installed it.
It is a superb alternative to (and seems better than) CCC. Hooray!    
So I was left with a newer driver installed, and something as good as (or better) than CCC.    
Now I had the display adjustment capability that I needed.    

STEP #5:
So, with ATI Tray Tools installed, I used the .msi driver installer buried in AMD's latest (v12.4) driver/CCC installer package (I was tempted to try AMD's latest ß release version from NotebookReview.com, but decided on caution), and installed the very latest stable driver.

So I was left with the latest driver installed (v8.961.0.0) and the display adjustment capability that I needed. Success!    

[IainB]

Just a note to say that when I installed the file for ATI Tray Tools (file: attsetup-[Guru3D.com].exe), it installed with no problems. Because I have Windows 7 Firewall Control, I guess I didn't notice that the install file had OpenCandy - which didn't install.
I just discovered today that the file has OpenCandy in it. This is because MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) just today announced that the file was infected, during a regular scan. I downloaded the file again from Guru3D.com to check, and MSE immediately quarantined it. It didn't quarantine the file the first time I downloaded it (though it was the same version of ATI Tray Tools).



Anyway, I "allowed the file", so it was released from quarantine.

Microsoft had a humungous Windows Update today, including MSE/virus file updates, so I guess it included a definition file that checks OpenCandy adware as malware.
Good thing too.

[Carol Haynes]

Just to note - I have found 12.4 anything but stable (and there are lots of reports of problems). Loads of BSODs and freezes and other issue.

Personally I have found the whole Catalyst 12 series to be problematic and followed the advice from a tech support conversation with AMD to go back to 11.12 - I have had no issues with 11.12 and I don't intend to upgrade again until all the glitches are ironed out in the 12 series drivers.

PS Using Radeon HD 6870

[IainB]

^That's interesting. This probably similarly affects thousands of users.
It's a good job that I found the solution I did, because I still can't install the v12.x Catalyst drivers etc., nor can I install the older drivers - at least, not using using the Catalyst install software, I can't.

However, I do have the latest drivers installed simply because I located them (they are in .msi files) in the Catalyst install package. I used 7-zip as a file explorer and to extract the files.

[4wd]

Just to note - I have found 12.4 anything but stable (and there are lots of reports of problems). Loads of BSODs and freezes and other issue.

-Carol Haynes (July 11, 2012, 06:13 AM)

Definitely a YMMV type problem since I'm running 12.4 and have had no BSODs, freezes or anything attributable to them on a HD6850.

[Stoic Joker]

This is a bit of a tangent, but it may be related so I'll toss it in.

I've got about 50 Dell T1500s running in the field in various offices. They're spec'ed virtually identical (by me) straight business machines with a (from Dell) ATi 2270 Radeon video card. 48 of them ran perfectly. 2 of them BSOD'ed often...and one of those BSOD'ed constantly.

What I found was that there was a video codec (don't recall which one) that the CCC just didn't like that would cause the machine to crash with a kernel-power event. This codec was/is popular with web video sites (like youtube), and oddly enough the machine crash pattern match the user video watching pattern perfectly.

Frequent BSOD = curious user with free time...
Constant BSOD = Doctor who spent all free time on youtube...
Never BSOD = Users with OpenDNS filtered connection that blocked access to youtube (and etc).

Uninstalling the CCC helped a bit (maybe 30%), but the problem continued until Dell finally came out with a driver update about 6 mo. ago.

[Carol Haynes]

It is interesting that the AMD tech support seemed to recognise the issue. They didn't offer a solution other than rolling back to a previous driver and waiting for a new release to replace 12.4. They even suggest using 11.12 as more stable than the 12 series!

I have seen lots of posts about problems with 12.4 in particular.

There was no recognisable pattern to the BSODs I saw. There was a range of Bugcheck codes and they happenned playing games, surfing the net, collecting emails or even when the computer was sitting idle. The were all traced to Catalyst driver components.

I have had no BSODS since I rolled back.