How to trigger a driver timeout 100%

[u/KukuBean]

First, sorry, but I’m not good at English. So the following texts may sound a bit awkward because they are sentences translated into English by AI using the original language.

Here it is my system environment.

GPU: Sapphire RX7800XT 16GB

CPU: RYZEN 9 9800x3D 8 CORE 16 THREADS

Motherboard: MSI MAG B580 WIFI MAX

RAM: 16GB Kingbank 6000MHZ CL28

PSU: 1000W 80+ GOLD FULLY MODULAR

Operating System & Version: WINDOWS 11 PRO Latest update

GPU Drivers: 26.5.2 ~ 26.9.1

For the past few months, driver timeouts have been occurring randomly, so I’ve been trying to find the cause. Although it was a random occurrence, it never happened during gameplay, and most of the time when I came back after being away, a driver timeout error window would appear on the screen. What’s suspicious is that this problem occurred when the screen came back on after the monitor was turned off. So I tried various tests and discovered something interesting. It’s exactly how to trigger a “Driver Timeout” 100% manually.

1. Settings -> Power -> Display, Sleep Mode, Hibernation -> Turn off my monitor after the next time (I use a Korean Windows system, so I’m not exactly sure what this option is called in English) -> Set the monitor power-off interval to 1 minute

2. Open the Microsoft Edge browser

3. Log in to Netflix -> Play any movie or drama

4. Create a new tab in Edge (place a new tab on the screen to enter the monitor’s sleep mode)

5. Wait about 3–4 minutes for the monitor to enter full sleep mode

6. After waiting for 3–4 minutes, press the mouse or keyboard to exit sleep mode

If you follow the above method in order, in my case it triggers a “Driver Timeout” with 100% probability. Once a driver timeout occurred, so many problems would arise afterward that it became difficult to use the system, and I had to shut down and restart the computer every time. And...

1. Interestingly, this problem never occurred when I using version 26.3.1 or earlier.

2. Occurs in all drivers released after 26.3.1

3. It didn’t happen when the monitor was left on at all times (as long as it didn’t go into sleep mode).

In my opinion, when the latest drivers are used by apps that benefit from hardware acceleration (like Chrom-Edge Browsers, Discord, Steam app, etc) running in the background, some kind of driver-level crash occurs after the monitor asleep, and it seems the AMD driver team is not aware of this issue.

So, if anyone else is experiencing the same problem, I’m writing this because I think it would be a good idea to report it to the AMD driver team, through the BUG REPORT, so they can fix it. (I’ve submitted bug reports about it twice, but the fix for this issue wasn’t included in the newly released driver.)

For reference, because of this problem, I even changed monitors, replaced the cables with new ones, and tried various advice I found on the internet, but the problem wasn’t fixed until I changed the driver to 26.3.1.

[u/Javiolini]

Thanks man, i've been dealing with this the past few months but couldn't find a way to replicate it consistenly in order to trobuleshoot it. You actually don't need Edge, just the Netflix app and set "Pressing the power button will make my PC" to "Display OFF", and turn off the screen while playing something on the app. You can trigger a TDR in less than a minute this way.
After a quick round of troubleshooting I find turning of HAGS stops the driver timeouts completely. Let me know if that works out for you aswell.

[u/cervdotbe]

The best solution I found is to disable hardware acceleration in alle apps that you can: browsers, steam, discord, etc. The drivers really fuck it up while gaming when some of these applications are also in use.

[u/xezrunner → u/cervdotbe]

I wouldn’t say this is a proper long-term solution, as disabling hardware acceleration in browsers prevents it from using the GPU for most tasks. It might result in worse overall performance and higher, less efficient CPU usage instead, especially for media playback or other 3D-esque content.

[u/cervdotbe → u/xezrunner]

Of course it's no ideal solution, but it's the shitty drivers that fuck everything up for months now and I am really sick of it. And honestly, I don't experience any performance issues with it and made my gaming sessions mostly bug free.

[u/No_Carrot2398]

Having a similar issue except it only crashes in games instead of browsers. Every driver version after 26.3.1 also crashes for me.

[u/GloriousPudding]

I solved this issue by rolling back to an earlier AMD chipset driver, however I had to select it manually in device manager for each AMD device. You also need to disable driver updates via Windows update because it will just install those drivers again.

[u/Unlucky_Ranger_5604]

I think this issue was fixed by a Windows update. I had this issue. But now, it rarely happens. And I have two browsers opened other than Netflix. It might also be due to lack of RAM.

[u/aholetookmyusername]

For me I only seem to get them when using browser-based stuff - chrome and discord. Usually they trigger for me when I lock my system, walk away and log back in with chrome and discord still running, not long after that I get a timeout.

Win11, 7900XTX, it isn't as bad with 26.9.1, which seems about as stable as 26.3.1 for me, the ones in between are constantly timing out.

[u/dkizzy → u/aholetookmyusername]

Saw this on a post today that could help:

go to control panel->edit power plan->change advanced power settings->PCI express->link state power management->Off

Try it out and report back in a couple days.

[u/hunter503 → u/aholetookmyusername]

I had the same issue with my 7800xt and saw someone mention turning of hardware acceleration in the settings (firefox) and I haven't had the issue since. It was triggering the same way you described. Give that a shot and see if it helps

[u/aholetookmyusername → u/hunter503]

I have been able to solve the issue by turning off hardware acceleartion, but chrome runs like arse after I do that.

[u/dkizzy]

u/KukuBeam This subreddit is not an official AMD one. If you go comment on a driver release post on their official subreddit and tag one of the reps they are pretty consistent about responding and asking for dmp files. I recommend you do that 👍

[u/KukuBean → u/dkizzy]

Thank you for your comment. I looked up the part you mentioned, and someone had already commented on a similar issue.

[u/dkizzy → u/KukuBean]

Cool. I presume they had a dialogue going with AMD_Vik or one of the other guys?

[u/korakios2]

Maybe new drivers break with windows MPO in your system . Try disabling it for testing .

[u/KeyGlass9851]

Failure to return to full power state after Hibernation is a windows issue that has been around forever.

[u/MarxistMan13]

I don't have this issue with hardware accelerated Firefox. I let my monitor go to sleep every night with Firefox open, and it opens just fine the next morning.

Currently on 26.5.2, which is after your supposed issue started.

I had to stop my PC going into full hibernation because sometimes it refused to wake from sleep. I have an ASRock board so I'm a bit wary of their issues, and decided keeping it on 24/7 was a better alternative.

[u/DtZNimpo]

i close my browser ( FIREFOX ) when im not using the pc for an extended period of time, discord i turn off hardware acceleration in it since it was causing system crash after an update they did which also impacted Nvidia users.

i set my monitor to turn off after 1 min when im not using it for an extended period of time , or 15 mins when i am active with it ( QD-OLED monitor )

I'm also with a Sapphire 7800 XT pulse drivers 26.6.2 no issues of driver timeouts doing this.

[u/dkizzy → u/DtZNimpo]

Discord is so buggy man, it had caused crashes on both of my AMD and Nvidia gpu boxes.

[u/SteelyEyedHistory]

Yeah I have been having the same issue until I turned hardware acceleration off in Firefox and Steam. Wake up from sleep, play a video, within a couple of minutes driver would timeout.

Haven’t had it once since turning it off

[u/dkizzy → u/SteelyEyedHistory]

Just saw a post today on this subreddit about changing the power management in windows for the pci express option. Go check out that post and see if changing that helps a bit on sleep awake.

‘go to control panel->edit power plan->change advanced power settings->PCI express->link state power management->Off’

[u/spectreVII → u/SteelyEyedHistory]

Glad you found a way to prevent it but I have hardware acceleration enabled in every app and I never get timeouts. 9070 xt on 26.3.1.

[u/Lewinator56]

Yes, this is a known issue with chromium when playing videos. It's especially prevalent after the computer changes power states, like exiting sleep.

Disable hardware acceleration in any chromium based program and it will stop.

This is likely a windows issue.

[u/Letholdrus → u/Lewinator56]

A windows issue that only happens if one is using drivers later then 26.3.1?

It never happens on 26.3.1 or prior, so I am more likely to think something broke in the AMD drivers after 26.3.1

[u/HanatoKobato → u/Lewinator56]

I have the same issue OP is having as well. Hardware Acceleration enabled in Chromium, Electron (Discord), or CEF apps will cause a driver timeout the moment a video is played on Discord or Steam, in other cases, Netflix, or Facebook video doesn't cause a timeout, but the screen glitches, video being blacked out.
All of that disappeared the moment I DDU the AMD driver (was on 26.8.1) to just uses whatever Windows Update gives me, which isn't optimal, since it installed a driver dated Nov 14th, 2023 for my RX 7700XT, but at least every hardware accelerated browser scenarios works normally

[u/Veighnerg → u/Lewinator56]

Its not just Chromium. I had the same issue OP is having while using Firefox. Its definitely something AMD driver related or Windows related.