Steam update destroys my Radeon Settings (host application error qt5core.dll)

[Regenbogenprinzessin]

Hi there

I just figured out that it seems, that one of the recent steam updates destroys my Radeon Settings which results in a host application error caused by q5tcore.dll.

First of all, yes, I'm running a fairly old system. amd fx8350, radeon rx480, 16gig ram, Windows 7, radeon adrenalin drivers 18.10.2.

I usually don't shut down my computer and always put it into sleep mode. Often it has an uptime of 20 days and more s a result of it. So this is the reason why I experienced this error fairly late.
But a few days ago I had to restart it after a longer uptime of several days and after this restart i couldn't open my radeon settings anymore where I can get into Wattman settings and where you can define properties for each listed game.
Not even a reinstall of the driver helped. The only way to gain control over it again was by restoring a system backup from july 8th.

Since I haven't changed anything on my own regarding to software updates, I started to check the few software that was allowed to update without my permission. I deninstalled my antivir which at first I had the suspicion to interfere with it. But it wasn't the case. After a restart of my computer the settings failed to load again.
Then I realiszed that I always was starting my steam client after I ran the backup (from july 8th) which then updated itself of course everytime.
So after restoring the backup once again I did NOT start my steam client so it couldn't update itself. As a result I was able to restart my computer several times and always was able to open my radeon settings without crashing.

soo.. is there any possibility how i can prevent my steam client from updating itself? I know you can stop automatic updates from games, but in this case i have to prevent the actual steam client fron updating itself until valve might fix this issue.

[Trollhammer]

You are creating your own issues, just upgrade to W10 or switch to linux, but using a computer with an unsupported OS is one of the worst idea you could have.

[Regenbogenprinzessin]

win 7 is still used by nearly 10% of steam windows users. I won't sound rude but this answer doesn't help me with my problem. I don't have plans to upgrade on win10 and since steam worked totally fine until one recent update I don't really see a problem why out of a sudden it should break my graphicsdriver UI.

[Trollhammer]

Less than 9% and it's mainly because of the high number of Chinese players using it.

And it's helping, using an OS which isn't supported anymore will only lead to many others issues. It already shows because it's very unlikely that a Steam update messed with your graphic card software...

There's absolutely no reason to stay with W7 when other options are available.

[Regenbogenprinzessin]

of course steam messes with my driver because if I do not let it update, the driver works totally fine and in offline mode the steam client also works totally fine. So it was a recent update that messed things up.

[Trollhammer]

Ok let's admit that it's Steam's fault and W7 isn't causing any issues... Why don't you at least update your drivers ? The last drivers for W7 are the Adrenalin 21.5.1.

[Regenbogenprinzessin]

I tried and the issue was actually gone. The problem is that it seems that AMD simply did not implement the frame limiter for the latest window 7 driver. They simply skratched it there. But the frame limiter is crucial for me.

[Trollhammer]

Settings/Graphics/Advanced/FRTC Or just use Chill by setting the same value for the min and max.

[Regenbogenprinzessin]

chill does not provide the same effect and results in stuttering
https://community.amd.com/t5/drivers-software/frame-rate-target-control-frtc-missing-in-adrenalin-2020-21-3-1/td-p/461041
no frtc available

[thenowhere]

riva tuner standalone has an even better frame limiter than AMD's, it's also included with MSI afterburner. so try that with AMD v21.5.2, which also fixed my issue.

this qt5core issue is common, even on win10 that previous replies seem to think solves everything. it can also occur on AMD v18,19,20, and early v21.

nice find that steam updates caused it, it's likely due to AMD's co-dependencies: .NET 4.5 or VCredist 2017. since steam, or any game/app you install automatically updates these when needed - i have .net 4.8 and VC2019 on mine, not much you can do about it as those games/apps won't run without the updates, and fully removing .net 4 is not advised, but i tried removing just it's updates and VC2019 to no avail.

[Regenbogenprinzessin]

my solution was to update to the latest windows 7 drivers and activate FRTC by adding neccessary entries in the registry which activated it again. Shame on AMD for deleting the feature on windows 7

[EASYJABBA]

I remember with Win7 that creating a GPU profile with Steam.exe and forcing Vsync fixed many dll crashes back in the day.

If you get screen tear on the Steam Client without GPU rendering active, ie scroll down the store page, then try this method.

[thenowhere]

the problem with AMD FRTC is it doesn't work properly on all games, as it's only a GPU based limiter.
riva tuner is a higher level CPU based frame limiter so works better on all games.

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

Trollhammer původně napsal:

You are creating your own issues, just upgrade to W10 or switch to linux, but using a computer with an unsupported OS is one of the worst idea you could have.

Trollhammer původně napsal:

Less than 9% and it's mainly because of the high number of Chinese players using it.

And it's helping, using an OS which isn't supported anymore will only lead to many others issues. It already shows because it's very unlikely that a Steam update messed with your graphic card software...

There's absolutely no reason to stay with W7 when other options are available.

Those other options you suggested are a newer, more resource-intensive (as well as zealously-updating) OS that OP would have to pay for, and an alternative that is free but has potentially many compatibility issues, specifically games that may not support it.

Changing OS just to use a mandatory game launcher is, while sadly pragmatic, still sad.

[Regenbogenprinzessin]

I don't play too many games and those I play work totally fine with FRTC. That's why I stick with it. I don't want to install another third party software like riva tuner. It can interfere with voltage settings (which I have modified) and also maybe interfere with fan settings.

[thenowhere]

fair enough, but it won't interfere unless you set those settings with it, just setting the limiter does not change other settings. something to keep in your toolbox for when app updates inevitably screw things again, since AMD won't update win7 drivers in future...