Now Working! - AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition

 October of last year (2021), I posted about issues with AMD's video card and gaming software management console.

I tried various tutorials to get it to work and went as far as uninstalling all video drivers from the system using several different driver removal software packages.  None of it worked.

I've been manually checking for driver updates since I couldn't get the console software to work on my system.  I'd check maybe every two months.  I refused to follow most recommendations of reinstalling the OS just to get this to work and I cursed AMD every time I had to do this manually.  It's not difficult to do, but this is 2022...I shouldn't have to be doing this manually.  I'd also check to see if I could get that console software to run after every update...it never worked (it wouldn't give an error but would flatout not work).

So, today, I checked and saw that there was a recent driver.  I downloaded it manually and installed it.  I checked to see if the console software would work - and it did!  I didn't change a thing with this system, so it wasn't something that I'd forgotten or didn't know how to do.

This tells me that it's a driver-, console- or installer-related issue.

I have noticed that my Nvidia GTX 1060 6 GB video card was still stronger than this AMD RX 6600 and between that and this console issue, was very close to getting rid of the RX 6600 and going back to the 1060 (it's in my storage closet).

Now I get to look at the console and see how well it compares to Nvidia's.

Windows 11 & TPM 2.0 Requirements; Radeon Software Issues

I just wanted to speak a bit on the Windows 11 TPM 2.0 and SecureBoot requirements.

I spent a bit of time trying to understand why TPM 2.0 was needed.  When I investigated, I found that SecureBoot is also a requirement for upgrading to Windows 11.

I suggest enabling it if you have it.  If your system was built 3-4 years ago, it should already be TPM 2.0 capable (you may need to enable it within your BIOS or use a discreet TPM).  If your system is older, your system will more than likely not be capable of using TPM 2.0.

SecureBoot is also a requirement, as both TPM 2.0 and SecureBoot will keep rootkits from starting before the OS boots up.  I'm not sure on if SecureBoot will interfere with dual booting systems (if you've configured your systems to boot both Windows and Linux, for example)...it shouldn't but I'd test first.

The below video has a lot of information about TPM and SecureBoot.

Now, for a different subject.

So, as you know, I've upgraded my GPU to an AMD Radeon RX 6600.  While I love that it's a lot more capable than my prior GPU, I'm finding that I do NOT like certain things about it.  Well, it's not a card issue, specifically, but it is a driver and software issue that I've been experiencing the past few days.

If I right-click on my desktop, I should be able to pull up the AMD Radeon software console.  Well, it hasn't been working.  I've followed several tutorials explaining how to fix this issue, but none of them work.  It's always explained that the issue is due to conflicting drivers and that you have to remove the driver installation folders, safe boot, then use DDU to remove all GPU drivers, then boot back into the OS normally, then reinstall the drivers.  I've done that at least 3 times, back to back and the software still doesn't start.  This is problematic because the software should be checking for driver updates and notifying me.  If the software can't start, it can't check the drivers and notify the system owner.  Apparently this is a known pain point with AMD cards.  I'm not sure how long it'll be before I find a real solution to this issue, but I'll manage, a guess.