AMD Special Edition Driver: Catalyst Omega

[Dankk]

Thanks for the heads up. If I already installed the driver is it safe to install the Windows update?

And if you already installed the Windows update, isn't it possible to just boot Windows 8.1 into driver signature non-enforcement mode and install the driver from there?

 

[taq8ojh]

Unfortunately no. The very act of using FRAPS @ 60 FPS to record a video locks the framerate in place and stops the stuttering. My .ini file is stock so vertical sync is enabled by default. Some may have never noticed it. A good example (on my 60Hz monitor) is "Anise's Cabin" near Riverwood and Bleak Falls Barrow. Go to the cellar where there is an enchanting table. Activate it in first person and when the cut scene goes to third person is where the stuttering occurs. In similar lighting situations in caves and forts there are lots of instances where I see it unless I use a frame rate limiter. Again never does it on any Nvidia card I've owned.

I'm not getting any stuttering in those places. Must be specific to some combinations of settings and hardware or I don't know.
I know I never got any stuttering unless my fps was dipping below 40.
You might still try to have the inis recreated by the launcher, remove any possible changes done to CCC etc.
Also, don't use FRAPS for anything. That program eats performance like nothing else. MSI Afterburner is great.

 

[axlrose87]

Somewhat of a random question, but is updating to 14.9 worth it for an HD5850 with a very minor overclock?

 

[Red Hawk]

Somewhat of a random question, but is updating to 14.9 worth it for an HD5850 with a very minor overclock?

For compatibility with current games, sure.

 

[Black Octagon]

Unfortunately no. The very act of using FRAPS @ 60 FPS to record a video locks the framerate in place and stops the stuttering. My .ini file is stock so vertical sync is enabled by default. Some may have never noticed it.

I think he means take a video of the screen with your phone or a similar device. Even if that's not what he meant, that's what you should do. I never had this issue with Skyrim, though I gamed at 120Hz at all times.

 

[Phynaz]

Hello everyone,

I just updated the OP. Note the new section please.

Oh yay, Microsoft fubared another Windows patch. I just installed them yesterday. I should have known better.

 

[Leyawiin]

I'm not getting any stuttering in those places. Must be specific to some combinations of settings and hardware or I don't know.
I know I never got any stuttering unless my fps was dipping below 40.
You might still try to have the inis recreated by the launcher, remove any possible changes done to CCC etc.
Also, don't use FRAPS for anything. That program eats performance like nothing else. MSI Afterburner is great.

I have a Dell U2412M - not sure if that's part of the issue (pretty sure it did it on a HP TN monitor I used when I first got Skyrim too). Here's a post someone made in another forum that is my issue to a "t":

http://pricespy.co.nz/forum/index.php?showtopic=2961

Its not that I can't fix it - any frame rate limiter set to 60 FPS will eliminate it. Just odd that it never happens with Nvidia cards on the same monitor and two different PCs over three years (tested it on a GTX 460, GTX 670, GTX 750 Ti and GTX 970). Its done it on every Radeon (HD 5850, HD 7850, HD 7950 and now my R9 290). Given that I doubt its specific to my hardware.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Warsam, I filled out a bug report detailing my struggles with both Catalyst 14.9 and 14.12 autodetecting faulty resolutions from my monitor (Gateway FPD1730). Turns out I needed a custom xorg.conf with the right features:

Modes calculated by cvt
No/commented out HorizSync/VertRefresh lines
PreferredMode

I used the default xorg.conf created by aticonfig --initial and hacked it to do my bidding. Took awhile.

Bottom line is that your Ubuntu driver seems to be getting wildly inaccurate EDID data from some monitors. This problem has been happening for awhile now, since I have seen bug reports/complaints about this problem since Ubuntu 9 or so (if not earlier). The usual 'fix' is to try a different monitor cable or to plug the cable into a different port via an adapter until the driver pulls in some at least marginally-correct settings via autodetect. Otherwise, people generally give up on fglrx and go back to the Radeon driver.

The truly bizarre problem is that, after choosing the wrong resolution, somehow X gets hosed so badly that you can't use xrandr/xset from a command line to fix the problem.

Also, the .deb packages you are hosting on your site have the typical wine incompatibility problem. Fixing this is REALLY easy, all you have to do is, well, this:

http://askubuntu.com/questions/540780/14-10-wine-and-fglrx-conflict

Yeah I know I posted this URL earlier in the thread but big whoop. Just follow the first answer, only in the case of the 14.12 Omega driver, different filenames are in effect.

Regardless, I used those directions with your .deb files in Lubuntu 14.10, and installation was successful despite my having wine installed alongside it. If I encounter any problems in wine that I didn't have when using Gallium .4, I'll be sure to let you guys know . . .

 

[Red Hawk]

Oh yay, Microsoft fubared another Windows patch. I just installed them yesterday. I should have known better.

Ha! Good thing I installed the driver before installing the Windows update.

 

[tential]

Ha! Good thing I installed the driver before installing the Windows update.

I refuse to install any new windows update that hasnt been tested for a LONG time first. If an update comes out tomorrow, that thing isn't installed for 6 months.

 

[Red Hawk]

I refuse to install any new windows update that hasnt been tested for a LONG time first. If an update comes out tomorrow, that thing isn't installed for 6 months.

Well I prefer to keep my PC as secure as possible.

 

[DiogoDX]

Installed the driver after windows update and have no problems.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Performance of 14.12 is leaps and bounds ahead of Gallium .4 on my 7700k. Downside: the Warsow benchmark in Phoronix Test Suite now dies early in the loading sequence and spits out an erroneous result of 83.10 fps. Tried it even at stock settings, and it's a no-go.

I guess Warsow doesn't like 14.12?

 

[Shamrock]

Now that they are working (after a nightmare) I could swear it has a slightly better image quality. Desktop, apps, games, everything just pops.

 

[Gloomy]

Now that they are working (after a nightmare) I could swear it has a slightly better image quality. Desktop, apps, games, everything just pops.

Looks the same to me. If you're using HDMI it might have reverted to proper settings, or just different settings. Make sure it's set to "Full RGB".

 

[Shamrock]

Looks the same to me. If you're using HDMI it might have reverted to proper settings, or just different settings. Make sure it's set to "Full RGB".

Nope, using DVI-D dual Link. I have a QNIX PLS 1440p monitor.

I might have hit something different than before, because I am getting slightly lower fps in everything.

 

[Hitman928]

Also, the .deb packages you are hosting on your site have the typical wine incompatibility problem. Fixing this is REALLY easy, all you have to do is, well, this:

http://askubuntu.com/questions/540780/14-10-wine-and-fglrx-conflict

Yeah I know I posted this URL earlier in the thread but big whoop. Just follow the first answer, only in the case of the 14.12 Omega driver, different filenames are in effect.

Regardless, I used those directions with your .deb files in Lubuntu 14.10, and installation was successful despite my having wine installed alongside it. If I encounter any problems in wine that I didn't have when using Gallium .4, I'll be sure to let you guys know . . .

Were you able to install CCC when using this to solve the openlibc conflict?

 

[DrMrLordX]

Were you able to install CCC when using this to solve the openlibc conflict?

Yes. It appears to be functioning properly, too.

 

[Hitman928]

Yes. It appears to be functioning properly, too.

Did you install the CCC package before or after the other two?

 

[DrMrLordX]

This was my procedure:

1). I started with the fglrx-core file, doing the unpack/control/edit/repack procedure that I linked earlier. I installed the modified fglrx-core .deb via dpkg.

2). I set up the local repo following the other site I linked earlier, using two of the three .deb files(fglrx and fglrx-ccc, both unmodified).

3). I installed fglrx from the local repo using Synaptic. Synaptic included fglrx-ccc as a dependency. Since I used the unmodified packages, Synaptic picked it up as the latest flgrx and didn't even give bother listing the distro-approved fglrx from the Ubuntu repos.

4). Before rebooting, I ran aticonfig --initial to get it to create xorg.conf, and then I modified it to add the modelines and preferredmode settings I needed for my monitor

5). I rebooted, and success

The only lingering problem I've had is that all the autodetected modes are still available in Lubuntu, so if I run a graphical benchmark in Phoronix Test Suite that supports multiple resolutions, it will try running the benchmark n times in each autodetected resolution, and there are a whole boatload of them that don't even work. It still runs the benchmark, but I don't get to see it on the monitor. I have to build my own test suite to avoid this problem.

On the flip side, I can use xrandr to set up a totally bogus resolution and bench that without having a monitor that can support the resolution, which is pretty funny. I could probably bench 16384x16384 . . . or whatever is the max res for a 7700k.

 

[psolord]

Hello.

I use a Samsung HDTV as a monitor and in the "my digital flat-panels" properties, I saw a "color depth" option that was set to 10 and had also options for 8 and 12.

I set it to 12 and now colors are more vibrant.

Is it better to leave it there? Does it bring a performance hit of some sort?

 

[Final8ty]

Hitman.
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/103911

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/103915

 

[f1sherman]

AC:U runs lovely all of a sudden

roughly +25-30% compared to 14.11.2 on single 290, no stuttering and full GPU utilization

Tis but a miracle - AMD coding blindly through Gameworks binaries and pulling these kind of optimizations.
Or maybe it's not a miracle, maybe there is system to it, because we see this time and again: ACIV: Black Flag , Watch Dogs?

 

[Piotrsama]

The Catalyst Omega driver is WHQL certified, so all components are signed.

The root cause is Microsoft update KB3004394 – (Windows Root Certificate Program in Windows) which was pushed yesterday.

Uninstalling the update fixes the driver installation issue.

What's the final solution to this problem?
Will you release a new driver that does not have compatibility issues with that update? Any ETA on that?
Do we have to wait for MS to release a fix for that update?

Thanks!

 

[Hitman928]

This was my procedure:

Maybe I'll have to give Synaptic a try. I have the drivers installed now, but not CCC, which isn't a big issue as I can do everything through aticonfig, but it's more convenient with CCC. Can you do me a favor real quick before I try going through Synaptic? Can you just open CCC and look in the information tab under the driver and 2d driver lines just to make sure they're both 14.501? When installing CCC after the drivers through the Ubuntu package it reverts the 2d driver to an older version. Thanks.