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Post by colonelblimp on Jan 10, 2019 3:12:06 GMT
Yesterday, I restored my Boot Camp partition from a WIM clone I made a year ago before updating from version 6.0 of Apple's official Graphics Driver Update for Boot Camp (AMD Driver Packaging version 15.301) to version 6.3 (AMD Driver Packaging Version 17.10) through Apple Software Update. To my surprise, when I ran Apple Software Update yesterday after restoring, it did not offer me the Graphics Driver Update for Boot Camp 6.3 that I had installed a year ago (although it did offer me other current updates, like iCloud for Windows 7.9.0 and Wi-Fi Update for Boot Camp 6.4.0). Nor am I the only one who is no longer being offered the Graphics Driver Update for Boot Camp 6.3 through Apple Software Update. A little searching turned up the following Apple Support Article, dated 21 December 2018. It appears that Apple have stopped distributing AMD graphics driver updates through Apple Software Update, and are now referring users to AMD's web site: Update AMD graphics drivers for Windows in Boot Camp - Apple Support
Update: Now Alex_12-984 in the Apple Support Communities thread I linked above reports that after "deleting and reinstalling bootcamp, the drivers updated just fine though Apple software update." I wonder what's going on. |
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greg
Junior Boot Camper
Posts: 10 
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Post by greg on May 18, 2019 0:09:27 GMT
Ok this is interesting. I noticed that the driver number revision version is 18.50 on the AMD website which they released on May 1, 2019. The driver we are using right now are version 19.3.3 Dated back in March. So which one is the correct ones and should we be using the official AMD ones or the ones we find here on Bootcamp Drivers? When I downloaded the correct one from my imac 2017 27 inch 5k it said to uninstall the 9.3.1 drivers or install 18.50 drivers. I didn't do it because now I am confused as to what version number they are actually using.
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Post by colonelblimp on May 18, 2019 2:38:56 GMT
I noticed that the driver number revision version is 18.50 on the AMD website which they released on May 1, 2019. The driver we are using right now are version 19.3.3 Dated back in March. AMD use two different version numbering schemes, one based on the year and month (e.g. 19.3.3 is the third update released in the third month of 2019) and another which they call the “Driver Packaging Version” (e.g. 18.50). Confusingly, AMD list most of their driver updates on their web site using the Y.M.x (Year.Month.release) version numbering scheme, but they list the official Boot Camp driver updates using the Driver Packaging Version. Both of these version numbering schemes are used within the Radeon Software itself. In Radeon Settings, if you click on the System tab and then on Overview, you’ll see the “Radeon Software Version” (which, at least in the red-branded Adrenalin Edition software, follows the Y.M.x version numbering scheme). If you then click on the Software tab, you’ll see the “Driver Packaging Version” with its different version numbering scheme. If you look again at the BootCampDrivers.com home page, you’ll see that both version numbers are reported there: Adrenalin 19.3.3 Driver Packaging Version: 18.50.27.09-190318a-340461E |
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greg
Junior Boot Camper
Posts: 10
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Post by greg on May 19, 2019 2:03:33 GMT
I noticed that the driver number revision version is 18.50 on the AMD website which they released on May 1, 2019. The driver we are using right now are version 19.3.3 Dated back in March. AMD use two different version numbering schemes, one based on the year and month (e.g. 19.3.3 is the third update released in the third month of 2019) and another which they call the “Driver Packaging Version” (e.g. 18.50). Confusingly, AMD list most of their driver updates on their web site using the Y.M.x (Year.Month.release) version numbering scheme, but they list the official Boot Camp driver updates using the Driver Packaging Version. Both of these version numbering schemes are used within the Radeon Software itself. In Radeon Settings, if you click on the System tab and then on Overview, you’ll see the “Radeon Software Version” (which, at least in the red-branded Adrenalin Edition software, follows the Y.M.x version numbering scheme). If you then click on the Software tab, you’ll see the “Driver Packaging Version” with its different version numbering scheme. If you look again at the BootCampDrivers.com home page, you’ll see that both version numbers are reported there: Adrenalin 19.3.3 Driver Packaging Version: 18.50.27.09-190318a-340461E
Well Here is the problem. When I go to install it says "uninstall current software Radeon Software 19.31.1" on the left side and "Install Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.50.24" So which one is it and is it safe to install the official drivers vs Bootcamp drivers? |
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Post by colonelblimp on May 20, 2019 2:18:53 GMT
Well Here is the problem. When I go to install it says "uninstall current software Radeon Software 19.31.1" on the left side and "Install Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.50.24" So which one is it and is it safe to install the official drivers vs Bootcamp drivers? Greg, first, I can’t guarantee what will be safe or even work best for you. (For one thing, I don’t have a 2017 iMac.) Your safest bet is to use Winclone to create a WIM backup of your Boot Camp partition and also create a restore point in Windows before any driver updates or changes, so that you can roll back to a previous working state in case things go haywire. Second, you say you have a 2017 iMac, but according to AMD’s web site, the latest official drivers for the 2017 iMac are v18.40. The v18.50 official drivers are for the iMac Pro and the 2019 iMac only (and there are different packages for each). If you want to install the official drivers, be certain you use the right package. As to whether you should use the official drivers instead of the BootCampDrivers.com drivers, you have a choice to make. The drivers here are released much more frequently and are usually months (often many months) newer than the official drivers, so they can support newer games that simply won’t run on the older, official drivers. Mat also adds some custom tweaks to improve performance in some games (though your mileage may vary, as they say). In theory, the official drivers should be more thoroughly tested and should offer better stability, but Mat and I both found that the official v18.10 drivers left our Radeon R9 M295X/M395X iMacs unable to change resolution back to 5120x2880 after playing certain games (e.g. Battlefield 1), which was a glaring, critical bug that should never, ever have made it past QA. For more detail about the differences between the official AMD drivers and the custom BootCampDrivers.com drivers, see this thread. |
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