AMD Releases Radeon Pro Software Enterprise Driver 17.Q4 WHQL: Unified Vega Pro Driver

Last Thursday, the fourth Thursday of Q4, AMD has released Radeon Pro Software Enterprise Driver 17.Q4 WHQL, one year after AMD launched the Enterprise Driver program with 16.Q4. 17.Q4 includes all the new features previewed in the summer and released first as Radeon Pro Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.10, namely the optional “Driver Options,” AMD Secure Processor support for Vega, and improved Radeon Pro ReLive. Succeeding both 17.10 and 17.10.1, 17.Q4 unifies support for all Vega professional products: Radeon Pro WX 9100, Radeon Pro SSG, and Radeon Vega Frontier Edition. As usual, 17.Q4 also supports select FirePro graphics and the rest of the Radeon Pro cards.

Update (11/17/17): AMD has released 17.Q4.1, fixing issues in PTC Cero, Solidworks, and more; see release notes for details.

To recap, AMD’s quarterly Radeon Pro Software Enterprise drivers are professional drivers and as such have ISV certification for a variety of workstation applications, as well as 24/7 Radeon Pro support. Enterprise customers receive additional Prioritized Support and may request “one driver” unified packages with support for both professional cards and select consumer Radeon products. Despite the “Enterprise” name, these drivers also apply to general professionals and supersede previous mid-quarterly Radeon Pro Software drivers.

As far as the new features go, “Driver Options” support (only available on Windows 10) has expanded to include all desktop Radeon Pro WX cards, as well as Vega FE. As only Vega-based Pro GPUs have a built-in AMD Secure Processor, the corresponding security features are now supported for WX 9100, SSG, and Vega FE. 17.Q4 also brings pass-through and MxGPU virtualization support for Citrix XenApp. Relatedly, 17.Q4 also offers technical preview support for VMware vSphere 6.5 Linked Clones.

Note that the SSG is currently only compatible with Windows 10, and that all three Vega-based professional cards do not currently support Windows 2016. Additionally, 17.Q4 does not support Multi-GPU Single Large Surface on Windows 10 on any hardware. For Linux support, details can be found in the release notes for Radeon Pro Software Enterprise Driver 17.Q4 for Linux.

Bug Fixes and Resolved Issues

17.Q4 has a number of bug fixes and identified issues, some of them specific to Vega or VDI. For resolved issues, AMD documents the following:

• [Vega] With 10-bit displays, users may encounter anomalies in display results.
• [Vega] Forced EDID Emulation may fail to be enabled.
• [Vega] Intermittently, only one display per GPU is selectable for setting Timing-Client.
• [Vega] User may experience anomalies with Radeon ReLive after switching to Gaming Mode from Professional Mode.
• [Vega] Corruption/Flickering may be observed on selecting grid in SideFX Houdini.
• [VDI] Unexpected hangs may be observed when reinstalling the driver on VM
• In Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS 2017 (SP3/SP4) with RealView enabled, a model in shaded mode may show lines and wireframe when rotated.
• Users may encounter Blu-ray playback issues on PowerDVD after switching to Gaming Mode.
• During sleep and resume, a user may experience a TDR when instant replay is enabled.
• Video recorded through Radeon Pro ReLive may only show a green image and cursor on Radeon Pro WX 7100.
• User may encounter display anomalies such as disabled display resolution field set at a fixed value after driver installation when connected using DP cable.
• Unexpected behavior with Siemens Solid Edge that may cause TDR and non-responsive states.
• Unexpected behavior with 3DMark Fire Strike and Cloud Gate.
• AMD Eyefinity tab may not be displayed in CNect on Windows 7.

Known Issues

• [Vega] Unexpected behavior when resume from sleep on Radeon Pro SSG.
• [Vega] Unexpected behavior in Adobe Premiere Pro CC 8K playback when resuming from sleep and hibernate on Radeon Pro SSG.
• [Vega] The uninstaller may not remove amdssg64.sys during uninstall on Radeon Pro SSG.
• [Vega] Warning messages may be observed during Radeon ProRender installation for Autodesk 3ds Max and SOLIDWORKS on Radeon Pro SSG.
• [Vega] The user may experience unexpected behavior creating 4x1 or 6x1 AMD Eyefinity display configurations with 5K displays.
• [Vega] Unexpected behavior with Packed Pixel with 10-bit support for Radeon Pro SSG.
• [Vega] Unexpected behavior with 6 4K display configuration while running 3DMark Fire Strike.
• [Vega] Application profiles may not be automatically created.
• [Vega] HBCC Memory Segment may not retain its applied value. (Resolved in 17.Q4.1)
• [VDI] Unexpected behavior may be observed when triggering a TDR in a virtual machine using VMware Horizon or Citrix XenDesktop.
• Unexpected display anomalies such as flickering and blank screen for SDI speed test.
• User may encounter missing/incorrect gaming driver version number when installing and switching between Gaming Mode and Professional Mode. (Resolved in 17.Q4.1)

ISV Certification Notes

• Due to Maya-MtoA software issue “Trac #3142,” some Viewport Draw modes for stand-ins draw an infinite line. Workaround is to toggle the Viewport Draw Mode of the stand-in in the Attribute Editor.
• Autodesk Maya 2017/2018 may show gray patch in playback in certain models due to Maya issue “Maya 41945.” Workaround is to click on a different frame on timeline or to click on first frame.

The updated drivers for AMD’s professional workstation GPUs are available online at the AMD’s professional graphics driver download page. More information on this update and further issues can be found in the Radeon Pro Software Enterprise Driver 17.Q4 release notes.

New Radeon Pro Software Enterprise Drivers are released on the fourth Thursday of the quarter. The next releases will follow on January 25^th 2018 and April 26^th 2018.