HD 7750 Crashing During Netflix Playback

[fourpobs]

Hi All,

Hope this is the right spot for this - I am certain the issue is with my new HIS HD 7750 (passive hs and stays really cool...)

Upgraded from an HD 4550 on my 2 year old very stable HTPC running Win 7 64. No other changes - Gigabyte AM2+ Mobo, Athlon ii X3 435, 2 gb ddr2, HDMI to 720p plasma, NOT using HDMI audio.

Catalyst 12.8 drivers. Played hours of Dirt 3 and Just Cause 2 no issues.

Netflix crashes within 5 minutes of play it now playback. System completely freezes, sometimes sound continues for few seconds then needs hard boot. Also, I use sleep and monitor shut off. After it goes to sleep, wont wake up - hard boot.

Troubleshooting:
-Upgraded Silverlight to most current- was way out of date
-Some other useless setting changes cant remember was frustrated
-Switched off monitor shut off - THIS SEEMED TO WORK

Now, I couldnt leave well enough alone. I completed my HTPC refresh with:
I3 3220
2x4gb Kingston HyperX Blue (or blue hyperX whatev)
Gigabyte B75M-D3H
Fresh Win 7 64, let it get all updates

Wow frame rates are way up BTW. Netflix, screwed again(let it install the latest silverlight). Same crap. Sleep and monitor shut off OK though.

catalyst 12.9 beta - no help. Firefox - no difference.

I tried running the TV with a DVI to HDMI adapter - actually worked for couple hours ONCE. Now, back to the crap.

What next?

Thanks in advance

 

[Jaydip]

nm

 

[zaydq]

I think AMD had sleep issues where the drivers wouldn't allow you to get back in. Try to change the settings so the system doesn't go on sleep right after so and so minutes. Unfortunately I'm a Windows 7 noob and do not know how to control it (Just finally went from XP to 7) but I suspect it could be a reason for your grief.

 

[fourpobs]

zaydq - thanks. From other info I have read, does seem related to power saving settings.

When I get home later I am going to try to disable Link State Power Management and see what happens - will update.

Also, maybe I will roll back the drivers and try 12.6 or 12.7.

 

[zaydq]

Let us know hope its something silly like that.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Does it work if you boot from, say, a Linux LiveCD? (As opposed to being a hardware error that's locking up the card when doing h.264 decoding or something.)

 

[Ketchup]

I agree, it sounds like the sleep setting is kicking in, even though netflix is running. Do you even need auto sleep set up for an HTPC?

I am wondering if AMD is arguing with Windows on when to go to sleep.

 

[zaydq]

I agree, it sounds like the sleep setting is kicking in, even though netflix is running. Do you even need auto sleep set up for an HTPC?

I am wondering if AMD is arguing with Windows on when to go to sleep.

Kinda like when my wife yells at me for being up late...

 

[fourpobs]

LOL. Yeah, this machine does keep me up late playing games normally which is my favorite part. The wife, however, sees the main value of the HTPC as Netflix. That is how I got it into the living room to begin with.

Regarding the sleep function, a couple reasons I want it:
1. I spent a lot to watch movies and play games via a PC in my living room. I should not have to get up off the couch, turn it on and wait for it to boot everytime I want to turn off cable and watch online video/play a game. It's 2012!
2. I hate it when things I spend good money and put time into dont work! Yeah, yeah, I have been building PCs for 10 years now I should know better

 

[fourpobs]

BTW - sleep is set to 1 hour always. Problem occurs only with netflix even if I just booted up.

 

[Ketchup]

Which level of sleep is it set at in the BIOS? I have had issues with S3 in previous builds (I am not talking about right at installation either, just at some random time it stops working correctly.)

 

[Schmide]

Well you have a i3 3220, have you tried it to eliminate the video card as an issue by taking it out and using the cpu's 2500 gpu?

 

[Ketchup]

BTW - sleep is set to 1 hour always. Problem occurs only with netflix even if I just booted up.

I agree that it doesn't sound like a normal sleep issue, but I am not sure what AMD does from their side.

 

[fourpobs]

Schmide - re: using the integrated graphics - I will try that and post back.

Being that I was having issues when this card was in my old build with the Athlon ii I concluded must be the 7750. It is behaving a little differently in the new mobo so I will check into that ASAP.


Ketchup - I will look at the bios sleep options. I am not too familiar though with what those do and the mobo manual is...well...anything in particular I should look for or try in the bio?

Thanks all.

 

[Ketchup]

If changing your card does not fix this, you can try changing the sleep option. There are two places to try:

1. In windows under power options, you can turn on/off the option to enable hybrid sleep.
2. In the bios, my board has a line called ACPI Support Mode in the Power Management Setup menu. My options are S1 and S3.

 

[LoveMachine]

fourpobs, I have the same iSilence 7750 card, and just watched an hour of HD Netflix streaming without issue on my HTPC with the config below. I did have some weird issues in Windows Media Center when I switched to this card that have since been sorted out, but no problems with Netflix using Chrome. All of my BIOS power saving/Sleep settings on the default settings, and the Win7 power/sleep settings are turned to "never". Sorry I can't be more specific in helping you nail down the exact problem, but at least it isn't the video card in isolation and must be some sort of sleep or software/driver issue. BTW running 12.8 Catalyst.

 

[pandemonium]

First, I think this needs to be moved to Computer Help. This could very well be related to your video card, but in all honesty, it may not be.




Second, I'd highly recommend uninstalling Silverlight and AMD's CCC drivers completely. To do this properly:

1. Uninstall Silverlight and AMD's Catalyst from Add/Remove programs
2. Download CC cleaner if you don't have it already
3. Reboot into Safe Mode with Networking
4. Run CC cleaner and clear temporary files (cached installation files, IE temporary cache) while leaving restore points and other pertinent information that you probably want to keep [If you need help with these options feel free to ask.]
5. Run CC cleaner's option for cleaning the registry using the default settings
6. Do Step 5 twice after you click to fix all selected issues (I don't know why, but sometimes it'll find some of the same issues again after being cleaned. This is just to make sure!)
7. Reboot into Windows normally
8. Download a fresh copy of AMD's Catalyst package appropriate for your card and install
9. Download a fresh copy of Silverlight and install
10. Reboot back into Windows so everything updates with the registry and the OS is concurrent

Let us know if this fixes the problem. I fear that it may actually be the sleep settings in Windows - as mentioned by others - but I had the same problems revolving around sleeping and resolved them through troubleshooting an adjacent issue while running DirectDraw programs (a gaming benchmark in particular). This also may be a more convoluted issue revolving around your BIOS settings that will need more fine-tuned investigation.

Also, there may be a setting with 2D applications interfering with Silverlight from running accelerated graphics settings in CCC. If after you go through the trouble of reinstalling and you're still running into problems, disable any acceleration settings in Catalyst Control Center.

Best of luck and hope this helps!

 

[fourpobs]

UPDATE:

After turning Link State Power Mgmt off, things have stabilized. Watched movies, allowed to sleep then wake up, watched more and games are stable still. I did not mess with sleep settings in bios or switching to integrated graphics bc this seems have done it.

If after some time I get more problems I will reports in the Computer Help area.

For now, things are working fine as configured:
CAtalyst 12.9
Most recent silverlight
Firefox
Sleep: On
Monitor Shut-off: Off
LSPM: Off

Thanks all!

Cheers,
Fourpobs

 

[ryanl2299]

UPDATE:

After turning Link State Power Mgmt off, things have stabilized. Watched movies, allowed to sleep then wake up, watched more and games are stable still. I did not mess with sleep settings in bios or switching to integrated graphics bc this seems have done it.

If after some time I get more problems I will reports in the Computer Help area.

For now, things are working fine as configured:
CAtalyst 12.9
Most recent silverlight
Firefox
Sleep: On
Monitor Shut-off: Off
LSPM: Off

Thanks all!

Cheers,
Fourpobs

I'm glad that I stumbled upon this thread, though I wish that it was much earlier since I tried a lot of other things first and even put the card into another system. Anyway, after a week of using my LP 7750 with link power state "off" under power options in the control panel, I'm happy to say that there are no more Netfilx lock-ups. I thought for sure that my card was defective. I applaud you for posting this and most importantly, the solution. Too often I come across threads like this and the poster doesn't bother updating anyone with results. I do have a question for you fourpobs since it sounds like you do some gaming on your HTPC also (or anyone else who has experienced this); I don't know if your card does this or not, but does it sometimes minimize a full screen game out of the blue. It seems completely random and it doesn't seem to matter if the game is a demanding one or not. For example, I had it just sitting, paused in the menu of an older game "X-Blades" and it did after a few minutes. Maybe it's just a buggy AMD thing, but overall I'm very happy with this card (quiet, uses hardly any power and seems to have great performance, especially with games like Crysis 2).

 

[ryanl2299]

I spoke too soon. It seems as though it's acting up again with Netflix. I would like to say that maybe it's just drivers but I'm leaning more towards an issue with Netflix itself since I found a thread from a few months ago where Nvidia users were having the exact same problem. I just don't understand why switching the PCI link power state setting to off fixed the problem for a few weeks (and yes, I did check it and it didn't switch back to moderate or maximum power savings on its own). Maybe that was just a coincidence.