Display driver failed to start/Blackscreen

Question

This issue began recently, I can use my desktop freely however when I try to play a game my displays flicker and go black. I can still hear sounds and even talk on discord. I am unable to use the pc though requiring me to reboot the computer. I have tried a number of different solutions such as updating drivers, uninstalling drivers in safe mode and downloading previous and current drivers again. I have reinstalled windows two different times, once keeping my files the other doing a full wipe of my data. I reseated my graphic card, have tried to low my clock speeds on my card as well. I have tried Asus and Nvidia tech support still no fix. Current driver installed is the Nvidia 391.35. Bios Updated 3/18/2018. If you have any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Specs 

i7 6700k

Maximus Hero Viii

asus strix 980ti

EVGA 750 P2 PSU

16GB ddr4 ram (corsair vengeance lpx)

corsair h60 AIO

Answer 1

First, try restarting your graphics driver:

Press Windows key + Ctrl + Shift + B

If that does not work...

Press Windows key + X

Click Device Manager

Expand Display adapters

Right click the current display adapter

Click Properties

Click Driver tab

Click Rollback driver if the option is available

If not

Right click the current display adapter

Click Uninstall

Check the box that says, "Delete the driver software for this device.”

Exit Device Manager

Restart

Go to Start -> Settings -> Update & security, then Check for updates and install any available updates.

You might need to update the display driver from the manufacturer of your computers website.

If you have an nVidia, AMD ATI video card or Intel HD graphics installed, you can download the latest drivers from their website.

First, determine what type of graphics you have installed.

Press Windows key + X

Click Device Manager

Expand Display adapters

Once you have determined the graphics driver, go the vendors website and search for the driver in the download section:

nVidia - http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx

Some of these sites offer autodetect options.

If you recently upgraded to Windows 10 1803:

There seems to be some early adopter issues at this time with Windows 10 1803, if you can, I recommend you downgrade to your previous version until the Spring Creators Update matures with future cumulative updates.

Open Start > Settings > Update & security > Recovery > under Go back to my previous version of Windows 10, click Get started.

or

Press Control + Alt + Delete

Click Sign out

At the Sign In screen, hold down the shift key on your keyboard while clicking the Power button on the screen

Continue to hold down the shift key while clicking Restart

Continue to hold down the shift key until the Advanced Recovery Options menu appears

Click Troubleshoot

Click Advanced options

Click Go back to the previous version of Windows

Windows Update might attempt to upgrade to Windows 10 1803 again. See instructions how to block it:

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/block-windows-...

Answer 2

Not sure if you still having the same issue as been a few months. But for anyone else who may have this issue and you have the latest drivers installed and the card is good enough to play the games your playing (sick of people asking that) and the card is working it could be a power issue.

I had this exact problem with my pc after it had been running perfectly fine for a year. I was sure there was a problem with my GPU so contacted the seller who took it back for testing, however they benchmarked it for over 24hrs without issue so i had to take it back.

While the GPU was with the seller i was testing my pc with an older GPU which was working fine, however that card was too old to play any half decent games. But i started to get other issues with the  PC turning on. I then noticed that even with the main plug the pc was plugged into turned off there was still power going to the pc as all the lights was on. I know this happens sometimes, but i turned the plug off and went away for the weekend and when i returned the pc was still lit up. When i pulled the plug out of the wall there was quite a thud sound like electricity discharging. 

When my card was returned to me i set back up my pc and tried it again, same problem. So i used a long extension to plug the PC into a completely different socket. And the problem was solved. I have no idea what was happening but I didnt have the black screen again when gaming, i can only assume there was something dodgy with the power supply to the pc which was causing the issue.

Now the reason im here is because the problem started again a couple of days ago (its been about 6-9 months since the original problem). 

Ive tried changing plug socket incase the problem was the same, but didnt work, tried all the reinstalling drivers and even reinstalled windows but no luck. So i took the power supply out the pc to see if there was anything wrong with it. 

On this occasion i noticed there is a button on the power supply called ‘eco mode’ which was turned on. Not sure if this was always the case or if its been pressed by the rather messy wires, but ive turner this mode off and also tidied the wires up.

once again the problem is fixed, ive not had the black screen since. No idea what eco mode is (guess i could check the manual) but no other changes was made and the issue is fixed. 

So always consider your power supply may be the issue when you cant find any other software issues.

Answer 3

Thanks for your response, this is something I tried previously to this post. I ran DDU while in safe mode again and followed everything like you said, unfortunately I am getting the same errors. 

I do not have a backup for Windows 10 so i'm currently stuck on version 1803. If there is anything else you can think of that may help let me know. Only thing I can think of is waiting for some kind of update or luck that it works again. Thanks for the response.

Answer 4

Hello,

Please see the below options:

Option 1.Try Rolling back if you have an option:

Go to Device Manager by typing in Devmgmt.msc in Run dialog box.

Navigate to Display devices and right click ATI Radeon HD or Similar device you have. Choose Properties.

On the Driver tab, hit rollback Driver to go back to the previous version.

Option 2. Remove drivers completely and Install the the newest ones available from the OEM or the maker.

What you need to do:

1. Uninstall everything of Display driver using DDU

http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-dri...

2. Reboot.
3. Make sure your device manager shows Microsoft Basic Display adapter.
4. Download the driver from the OEM or the maker like AMD

5.Run the Setup and you should be good to go.

Answer 5

I am going to recommend you downgrade to Windows 10 1703.

Yes, not the best news you want to hear. These feature updates are not thoroughly engineered and are rushed mostly to meet deadlines. They have become highly unnecessary in some instances. My opinion, focus on the apps and less on having the latest version of Windows. If your apps are working fine and you are getting your work done, minimize your need to jump on the latest release.

Now, get ready to go back to your previous version. I recommend Windows 10 1703 because its the most stable and efficient release to date.

Step 1: Go to another working computer with Internet access, download Windows 10 1703 from the following link:

https://tb.rg-adguard.net/index.php?sid=74a7cf5...

Choose the following:

• Windows Final
• Windows 10, version 1703
• Windows 10 Pro + Home
• English
• x64 (64 bit) x32 (32 bit)

Step 2: create a bootable copy

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wik...

Step 3: perform a custom install

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki...

Step 4: how to recover your files from Windows.old:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

Windows Update might attempt to upgrade to Windows 10 1803 again. See instructions how to block it:

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/block-windows-...

Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.