Problems with Catalyst 11.3 drivers.

[Dankk]

Sorry, I had to get this off my chest. I normally have zero issues with new driver updates, but there are three different issues I've been having since I updated.

First of all: Who here uses Media Player Home Classic? You know, the one that comes with the K-Lite codec pack and the like? It is my main media player of choice, and now, everytime I open certain video formats, I get a error that says something to the extent of "could not render pins on the graph". I looked a little further into this and possibly it's a video driver thing that conflicts with codecs I already have installed on the system. I KNOW this is caused by Catalyst 11.3, because I updated my drivers both at work and at home, I use MPHC both at work and at home as well, and now I've been having errors on both computers. I'm using VLC temporarily for now, but I don't know new video drivers could have broken MPHC.

2: This might be very minor, but literally everytime I boot up my computer, this pops up in Windows error log: "The AODDriver4.0 service failed to start due to the following error: The system cannot find the path specified." Most people won't notice this, and I don't even know if it has an effect on anything, but it's there. If you're using 11.3, go to Event Viewer and take a look. I guarantee it will be there. What's causing this exactly? I don't fully understand it, and it's kinda bothering me.

3: This might be unrelated to my video card, but... twice last night my video output just shut off. My monitor loses a signal, and my computer apparently continues to run but I can't do anything because I can't see my screen. For all I know this MIGHT be a power supply problem, but it's certainly never happened like this before, and certainly never twice in the same day. I restart the PC and it's fine. Maybe this is related to the new drivers?

Sorry. But I'm just feeling a bit frustrated.

Edit: I've reinstalled 11.3 twice just to make sure. I am VERY thorough when uninstalling old drivers too. I delete the driver through windows, completely uninstall all ATI software, clean everything up with Driver Sweeper, and do a registry scan/fix.

Edit 2: Desktop PC specs are in my sig.

 

[3DVagabond]

Did you try reinstalling AMD Overdrive? Might be a corrupt file?

 

[Dankk]

Did you try reinstalling AMD Overdrive? Might be a corrupt file?

I didn't have AMD Overdrive installed in the first place. I have my video card slightly overclocked, but that's in CCC.

I did install AMD Overdrive though. The startup error is still there. Edit: Isn't AMD overdrive about CPUs, not GPUs?

 

[3DVagabond]

Hmmm? The AODDriver is part of AMD Overdrive.

It's hard to research it too much because of all the reg fixer and spyware/malware remover hits whenever you try and search any system file.

 

[Bearach]

I have installed Media Player Home Classic to see if I too had an issue with the program and I did not. It plays videos fine and opens without errors.

As for the error with AODDriver4.0, I have that also. It's under system and says :

The AODDriver4.0 service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the path specified.

I have no problems whatsoever in games, playing videos or just plain using Windows for day to day things.

Since you have removed the driver and reinstalled many times thoroughly, have you ran any tests on your memory?

Also does the system have these issues if you now revert back to 11.2?

The video shutting off, could possibly be a hardware issue. Maybe PSU, memory and even the graphics card... but I wouldn't discount the driver.

My suggestion is to do a memory test, see if all is okay there. Try to run the memory test once you start having issues, and make sure you don't shut down. It's how I found the fault with my memory (even after days of passing).

If all is okay, then try a reinstall of 11.2's and see if the issue is still there for you.

 

[MustangSVT]

11.3 and mpc has no problems and I have no issues at all.

 

[Dankk]

I have installed Media Player Home Classic to see if I too had an issue with the program and I did not. It plays videos fine and opens without errors.

It doesn't occur with all videos; only certain filetypes. Most FLVs tend to give me the error. As an example, can you try downloading this clip and opening it in MPHC?

Thanks for the tips about testing memory. Maybe I'll try a memtest pretty soon here if it happens again.

 

[Bearach]

I downloaded the clip and it does play without any errors or problems.

AMD Overdrive is for overclocking and controlling the GPU fan manually (as well as the utility for AMD CPU/Chipsets). It's greyed out in my CCC due to it not being unlocked.

 

[badb0y]

Try 11.4s.

 

[Dankk]

I downloaded the clip and it does play without any errors or problems.

Well, I decided to uninstall and reinstall K-Lite codec pack. The files play fine now. However, when I was at work today, I actually reinstalled it SEVERAL times. The reason why is because my job involves a lot of audio/video so I use MPHC a lot. However, it still wasn't working on my work PC.

But... I think I might know why. When uninstalling K-Lite/MPHC, a dialogue box pops up: "Error! quartz.dll is not properly registered. Would you like to fix this?" I decided to select "Yes" and I think that actually fixed it.

When I did it at work, I think I selected "no"... which is why I kept having the problem. err, yeah. So I think that's solved now.

Thanks for the info on CCC versus AMD Overdrive. Like I said, I do my simple overclocking directly within CCC.

Try 11.4s.

I think I'm actually gonna try this. Thanks.

 

[Dankk]

Ok, so I took a few minutes to uninstall Catalyst 11.3, and then install the 11.4 preview drivers. Here are some observations:

1) For the brief period where my PC was completely sterile of any drivers, I decided to look into the event viewer again. That error about "The AODDriver4.0 service failed to start"? It definitely didn't pop up that time. So, I went along and installed 11.4. Checked in the event viewer. Guess what? It's back again. So there's definitely something fishy with these graphics drivers.

You guys are right: It's probably something totally trivial that has no effect on anything. Still makes me wonder though.

2) Now I know that installing a new Catalyst version DEFINITELY screws with MPHC. Tried opening an FLV again, and I got the error. So, I uninstalled, reinstalled, opted to fix the "quartz.dll registration" error or whatever, and now media player works perfectly. I hope this doesn't become a routine... graphics drivers shouldn't have to mess with MPHC or my video codecs. I don't want to have to reinstall K-Lite everytime I update my drivers.

Anyway, I'm gonna run Memtest86+ for a bit now. I'll see if anything pops up.

 

[Arkadrel]

First of all: Who here uses Media Player Home Classic? You know, the one that comes with the K-Lite codec pack and the like? It is my main media player of choice, and now, everytime I open certain video formats, I get a error that says something to the extent of "could not render pins on the graph". I looked a little further into this and possibly it's a video driver thing that conflicts with codecs I already have installed on the system. I KNOW this is caused by Catalyst 11.3, because I updated my drivers both at work and at home, I use MPHC both at work and at home as well, and now I've been having errors on both computers. I'm using VLC temporarily for now, but I don't know new video drivers could have broken MPHC.

Sounds like a codex issue to be frank... try updateing your codex packs (and/or look for conflicts with codexes, like if you have divx installed, but also have it from the K lite pack)

It doesn't occur with all videos; only certain filetypes. Most FLVs tend to give me the error. As an example, can you try downloading this clip and opening it in MPHC?

Yeap... def. a conflict of codex's... usually with codex's packs, for there to be conflicts, its due to user mixing and mis matching codex packs. I suggest you remove them all, and find one pack that has it all and just install that 1 pack (the users that made such a pack, would make sure there wasnt any conflicts, and there would be no way for you to mess it up)

3: This might be unrelated to my video card, but... twice last night my video output just shut off. My monitor loses a signal, and my computer apparently continues to run but I can't do anything because I can't see my screen. For all I know this MIGHT be a power supply problem, but it's certainly never happened like this before, and certainly never twice in the same day. I restart the PC and it's fine. Maybe this is related to the new drivers?

Power saveing features? turn them off in windows... or try shakeing the mouse, and your screen should come alive again. IF it doesnt, just turn the feature off in windows (again this is not a graphic card driver issue).

2: This might be very minor, but literally everytime I boot up my computer, this pops up in Windows error log: "The AODDriver4.0 service failed to start due to the following error: The system cannot find the path specified." Most people won't notice this, and I don't even know if it has an effect on anything, but it's there. If you're using 11.3, go to Event Viewer and take a look. I guarantee it will be there. What's causing this exactly? I don't fully understand it, and it's kinda bothering me.

AMD OVER DRIVE (AOD)... is a CPU overclocking software... I suggest uninstalling it if its giveing you issues.
It has nothing to do with your graphic drivers.

*IF* you have it installed and dont want to uninstall it:

Right click on Computer on the desktop or start menu, and go to Manage. If you see AMD's Overdrive service towards the top of the list, double click on it, stop it, and then change the "Startup type" to Disabled.

*IF* you already have uninstalled it:

I did install AMD Overdrive though. The startup error is still there. Edit: Isn't AMD overdrive about CPUs, not GPUs?

YES! its about CPUs... and you obviously messed up uninstalling it <.< it is NOT graphic driver related. Non of the issues you mentioned are graphic card driver issues, it has to do with your tinkering with windows and not knowing what you where doing (assumeing this cuz you messed stuff up).

 

[Bearach]

Sounds like a codex issue to be frank... try updateing your codex packs (and/or look for conflicts with codexes, like if you have divx installed, but also have it from the K lite pack)

I would have to agree with this, something is a drift with the OP's codec pack. The OP believes the problem stems from installing a new driver once the Catalyst's are in. Which I will test.

Power saveing features? turn them off in windows... or try shakeing the mouse, and your screen should come alive again. IF it doesnt, just turn the feature off in windows (again this is not a graphic card driver issue).

Good catch, I had assumed this was too obvious and that the OP would have moved their mouse or tried to see whether it was a power management feature.

AMD OVER DRIVE (AOD)... is a CPU overclocking software... I suggest uninstalling it if its giveing you issues.
It has nothing to do with your graphic drivers.

I have the exact same error. It's not causing me any issues, so I doubt it's causing the OP's issues.

Also, I believe the CPU version of the software is 3.2? 3.3? Can't remember.

That has NOT been installed on my latest install so the error is not related to the version of program you believe it is.

Error message :

AMD Overdrive for graphics :

What could explain this error, is that it's for future releases of Catalyst. Or is for the APU version.

AODDriver4.0 suggests it's a yet to be released edition of the application and one that could possibly be more integrated into Catalyst.

I believe the OP tried to install AMD Overdrive to rectify the error I've shown you in event viewer, and it was AFTER the problems were occuring.

YES! its about CPUs... and you obviously messed up uninstalling it <.< it is NOT graphic driver related. Non of the issues you mentioned are graphic card driver issues, it has to do with your tinkering with windows and not knowing what you where doing (assumeing this cuz you messed stuff up).

I'm sorry but isn't that a little harsh? Like I said above I believe the OP installed the application to rectify the problem. Stating that the OP has tinkered with their system as fact is also an assumption. We don't know what they've done and not done.

The only issue that the OP seems to be having that could be related to the graphics card is the shutting off. How are the temperatures on the GPU? With an older driver, does it still happen?

You say you do a registry scan/fix? Is that software removing the entries that are for video playback? Do you make a backup before hand? If you did, check them for any references of quartz.dll.

"regsvr32 quartz.dll" without the quotations should re-register the dll. You might also want to run system file checker before hand, just to see if anything has been replaced by a rogue codec pack.

 

[Dankk]

YES! its about CPUs... and you obviously messed up uninstalling it <.< it is NOT graphic driver related. Non of the issues you mentioned are graphic card driver issues, it has to do with your tinkering with windows and not knowing what you where doing (assumeing this cuz you messed stuff up).

Thanks for the suggestion about disabling it in services. However, the "AMD Overdrive" service isn't there. I see "AMD External events utility", "AMD Fuel Service", and "AMD External Events Manager", but no AMD Overdrive. Hmm.

Also, I have very good reason to believe that the AODDriver error is, in fact, graphics-related. Just for fun last night, I decided to revert from 11.4 back to 11.3. During the time when I had completely removed all graphics software and not yet installed any new drivers, the error did not occur. Even after restarting multiple times, the AODDriver error did not show up until I had installed Catalyst drivers again. IMO, I think that's a pretty good indicator.

I would have to agree with this, something is a drift with the OP's codec pack. The OP believes the problem stems from installing a new driver once the Catalyst's are in. Which I will test.

I've had another realization about this codec pack thing. I think Driver Sweeper might be causing the errors, and not Catalyst. Just a thought. So it may not be AMD's fault. Of course, at least we know how to easily remedy it.

I use CCcleaner to fix registry errors.

Good catch, I had assumed this was too obvious and that the OP would have moved their mouse or tried to see whether it was a power management feature.

Errm, I'm pretty confident I tried moving the mouse and pressing buttons on the keyboard. You're right, it should be obvious... but whenever people bring that up, I start questioning myself. (It was two nights ago when it happened, so it's been a little while now). Whenever stuff like that happens, I DO try to move the mouse and press keyboard buttons.. but I don't know. Now I'm beginning to doubt myself.

I'm sorry but isn't that a little harsh?

Meh, he's fine. I could use a dose of harshness now and then. I knew from the start that I was being whiny about things that I don't completely understand.

For all I care, this thread could end now. The codec problem is easily fixable. The AODDriver error, while exhibited by lots of people, is most certainly trivial and doesn't do anything. Finally, the video shut-down problem is exceedingly rare for me, and if it ever happens again maybe I'll start a new thread. Bearach/Arkadrel even pointed out that it might just be power saving, which I'm pretty sure I checked for (moving mouse/keyboard) but it makes me seriously consider if I DID check for this. Like I said, I can't remember. (My mind is terrible like that.)

But, you guys are awesome and I appreciate your help. Of course this thread will remain open for discussion and any additional insight is appreciated.

Edit: My only problem now is that AMD Cool 'N' Quiet, for whatever reason, has stopped working. I checked in the BIOS and it says it's turned on though. Gah! Even when my computer is idling, the voltage never lowers and the CPU remains hotter now. I'll try reinstalling the BIOS.

 

[Dankk]

Sorry to double-post again, but does anyone know why AMD Cool 'N' Quiet would suddenly stop working? I use SIW to monitor my CPU voltage, and ever since the graphics uninstalling/reinstalling fiasco, it just decides to stay at a full 1.5v rather than dropping down to 1.0v.

According to the task manager, there are absolutely no programs using more than 00&#37; CPU. (Except for CCC.exe, which sometimes spikes up to 2% or 3%, but that's not often and it's pretty minimal). I know I have CnQ enabled in the BIOS. What gives?

 

[Bearach]

Sorry to double-post again, but does anyone know why AMD Cool 'N' Quiet would suddenly stop working? I use SIW to monitor my CPU voltage, and ever since the graphics uninstalling/reinstalling fiasco, it just decides to stay at a full 1.5v rather than dropping down to 1.0v.

According to the task manager, there are absolutely no programs using more than 00&#37; CPU. (Except for CCC.exe, which sometimes spikes up to 2% or 3%, but that's not often and it's pretty minimal). I know I have CnQ enabled in the BIOS. What gives?

Check that your power profile is set to balanced, or power-saver and not performance because I believe that disables the feature. I hope that helps! If not, there are other things to try.

Also check the plan options to see if they're as follows :

 

[Dankk]

Check that your power profile is set to balanced, or power-saver and not performance because I believe that disables the feature. I hope that helps!

My power plan was set to "balanced", which is why I was confused. However, seeing as my minimum processor-state was at 100%, I figured that didn't sound right. I clicked "restore defaults for this power plan" and it fixed itself. Yay!

I owe you guys so much. Bearach, you are awesome. I feel selfish when I come on here with a whole host of problems, and yet people are so willing to help for absolutely nothing. Thank you so much.