Driver issues Windows 8.1

jescott418
jescott418 Member Posts: 38 Troubleshooter

Its becoming apparent on the Windows 8.1 forums that their is issues with AMD drivers specifically graphic drivers and Windows 8.1. I guess trying the AMD beta driver or waiting for stable driver fix is the only solutions. Its possible some of the other drivers are also facing issues with the upgrade. I have yet to see any Acer released drivers as yet??

I myself with my Acer V5 122P have noticed that Catalyst Control will not open. Some also noted the inability to get correct resolution on second monitor with AMD graphics and Windows 8.1. I am regretting already upgrading to 8.1.

Answers

  • drampuria
    drampuria Member Posts: 4 New User

    I am facing similar issues with my Z3-605 AIO PC having AMD HD 8670 card. The Catalyst wont open and Graphics switching wont work. Initially, it even caused the Black Screen after installing Windows 8.1 and only after restarting in Safe mode and disabling the Card the issue was resolved.

    Now Windows 8.1 is identifying the card as HD 8600M and has installed an old driver dated 11th February. At least the PC is booting normally now.

    Request Acer to provide proper working graphics with Windows 8.1. Have already tried the latest AMD graphics from their website but it does not work.

  • Tommy-Acer
    Tommy-Acer VIP Posts: 6,317 Seasoned Specialist WiFi Icon

    Please be aware, as stated in the first post, that it is an AMD issue with the graphics drivers.

    Acer does not write the drivers, AMD does.

     

    We are waiting expectantly with you for improved driver support for AMD cards.

  • drampuria
    drampuria Member Posts: 4 New User

    Dear Tommy,

     

    Thanks for your reply. I want to point out 2 things with respect to your response:

     

    1. As a AIO provider, I believe it is the overall responsibility of Acer to co-ordinate with the OEMs for the latest drivers and make the same available on Acer website for download. This is because as ACER AIO PC Buyers, we will always check the ACER Website for the latest drivers. We do not want to risk downloading the drivers from individual OEM websites in case it does not work. We trust Acer website as that gives us 100% assurance that the driver will work with our hardware.

     

    2. In case of my AIO model Z3-605, the AMD Model is HD 8670A. This particular model has no driver available from AMD website. The driver installed before update to Windows 8.1 was the driver provided on Acer Support website as indicated in the snapshot below. As you can see, the driver is dated 29/04/2013. I had not updated this driver because AMD Auto-detect does not recognize the Graphic card in the AIO PC, and I cannot manually download any updated driver from AMD Website because there is none for the model HD 8670A. I would appreciate if you could provide me the link for any latest AMD Driver which is suitable for my AIO PC. It does not matter whether it is Acer or AMD website. I just want to make sure the driver is for my Card model!!acer.jpg

  • Ajw
    Ajw Member Posts: 1 New User
    Will acer list the new driver on their website once it becomes available, my z3 605 is now only useable in safe mode
  • drampuria
    drampuria Member Posts: 4 New User
    hi AJW, when in safe mode, disable the intel hd 4000 graphics from device manager. then restart normally. you wont get the blue screen but your functionality will be reduced with resp3ct to the graphics. then in normal mode, download and reinstall the old acer drivers available on acer website for the amd card. also install the latest drivers fron intel website for hd 4000. then restart the pc. now the graphics will work normally, but catalyst will not open, and graphics switching wont work.
  • Tommy-Acer
    Tommy-Acer VIP Posts: 6,317 Seasoned Specialist WiFi Icon

    Windows 8.1 drivers are posted for the Aspire Z3-605.

     

    Please let us know if these take care of the issues that you are experiencing.

  • drampuria
    drampuria Member Posts: 4 New User

    Hi Tommy!

    I had tried those drivers 2 days back itself. They do not address the problem which is because of AMD Drivers. The Intel graphics work fine with Intel website driver, and that is newer than Acer website drivers. The AMD Drivers are outdated on both AMD and Acer website. They do not work with Windows 8.1 at least on the Aspire Z3-605. The Catalyst software wont open, and the graphcis switching wont work. It is as good as leaving the AMD card disabled and running on Intel graphics. Instead, I have reinstalled Windows 8 to enjoy the AMD switchable graphics. I will wait till Acer releases updated AMD graphics drivers for Windows 8.1. Lenovo & Asus have already released their customized AMD Graphics, and the same are working fine on my other Laptops/AIOs. In any case, Windows 8.1 isn't worth sacrifcing the AMD graphics card Smiley Happy

     

    Thanks for all your help anyways.

  • jescott418
    jescott418 Member Posts: 38 Troubleshooter

    Well at least now Acer has poted newer drivers. I tried them and am not sure they are better but did read AMD worked closely with Microsoft Windows team on 8.1 to improve performance. Not sure why AMD seems to be the only one I have read about with graphic and performance issues with Windows 8?? I can say after doing the update to 8.1 my Acer V5-122P A6 1450 is performing better but their is a downside as battery life has been reduced. 

  • saltj
    saltj Member Posts: 1 New User

    I am having the same issues with my Aspire S7 391 laptop.  Can't use the extended monitor.  Also can't use the track pad.  This really is unacceptable.  How could Acer not either be ready for the new release, or at least warn us not to update until they were.   

     

    My questions:

    - Are the drivers on the Acer driver page for 8.1 updated so they will allow me to use the external monitor?  Seems not.

    - Are the drivers on that page updated so I can use my track pad again?  Seems not?

    - Other issues I haven't discovered yet?

     

    When I called support, they recommended I go back to 8.0.  Is that the current recommendation?  If so, is there a way I can do it without having to reinstall all of my software?  If not, I'm going to be VERY disappointed in Acer.  

     

    Jim

     

  • weldon
    weldon Member Posts: 1 New User

    On my Aspire V5, ever since I updated to Windows 8.1 the laptop does not sense the printer

  • OMEGA
    OMEGA Member Posts: 3 New User

    once i updated my v5-552pg-x809 from windows 8 to 8.1 i cant open amd vision control center, catalyst, when i would open a new program it would pormpt me to choose power settings n now i cant, the laptop has crashed 2-3 times, i think it runs hotter now, and one time the screen has gone black and then came back on with a message that the video driver crashed, plus boot time mite be a lil more or not sure if its because i have installed more programs.

  • blackorb
    blackorb Member Posts: 10 New User

    I had horrendeous issues with Windows 8.1 on my Aspire V5.

     

    Anytime the computer went to sleep and woke up it Blue Screened with a BAD_POOL_CALLER error. The wifi connectivity became irradic and often upon connecting to a network I would get a BAD_POOL_CALLER Blue Screen.

     

    The computer became noticably slow to start up and sluggish in general operation. I couldn't connect to an external monitor.

     

    Searching through forums consistently directed to updating drivers. All drivers were as current as they could get.

     

    Upon contacting Acer, I was eventually instructed to restore my computer to prior Windows 8.1 state. It was implied that it would be as easy as using a system restore point. All restore points prior to the Windows 8.1 installation were gone.

     

    They were also nice enough to clarify that they don't write the software and their hands are clean of all of my problems.

     

    Long to short, Windows 8 is back, it works fine and I'm avoiding Windows 8.1.

  • thecobra
    thecobra Member Posts: 4 New User

    These win 8.1 problems are manufaturer wide tho. My Dell XPS now takes 3 mins to restart from when I click 'restart' But it killed my bluetooth, knocked out a USB port and the brightness control stopped working!

     

    I've everything but the restart issue fixed, but I would recomend everyone stay away from 8.1 until the summer.

  • linnasak
    linnasak Member Posts: 1 New User

    Having same problem with HD4800 cards.

     

    Win 8.1 starting feel like a virus!

  • OMEGA
    OMEGA Member Posts: 3 New User

    so finallly toady i went on driver updater on my pc checked for updates and there was an update. plus i went to this website http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/mobile?os=Windows and donwloaded the AMD Mobility Radeon™ Driver Verification Tool. but make sure you get the right one ther are 4 of them and none say which one would work for you so i just clicked on one and saw the name of the file (eg. ....windows7-32bit , or ...windows7/8-32bit etc) and used the one that was for windows 8 64 bit i ran the program and it reinstalled some stuff and now Catalyst works again.

    but its still to early to see if this update has fixed the problem, since octobrer it has probably crashed 15 times! 

  • saulo
    saulo Member Posts: 24 New User

    I suggest to uninstall all the software and drivers pre-installed by Acer and go on Windows Update in order to get the latest drivers available

This discussion has been closed.