Unable to modify AVR's EDID (I could previously)

[ToastyX]

You're encountering the second driver bug that I was talking about. I don't have a setup affected by this issue, so I don't know what triggers it, but it's definitely an NVIDIA driver bug. Someone mentioned the last driver that worked for them was 528.02, but I started getting reports of this issue around 471.41. Also, installing an older driver without the problem and then upgrading the driver seems to work around the problem for some reason. Since the problem persists after using DDU, it could be triggered by some setting in Windows, such as the last resolution and refresh rate set before restarting, or the driver might be incorrectly expecting something that's not there anymore since reset-all.exe and DDU both clear all the display settings.

[ashlar]

(12-03-2023 08:20 PM)ToastyX Wrote:  You're encountering the second driver bug that I was talking about. I don't have a setup affected by this issue, so I don't know what triggers it, but it's definitely an NVIDIA driver bug. Someone mentioned the last driver that worked for them was 528.02, but I started getting reports of this issue around 471.41. Also, installing an older driver without the problem and then upgrading the driver seems to work around the problem for some reason. Since the problem persists after using DDU, it could be triggered by some setting in Windows, such as the last resolution and refresh rate set before restarting, or the driver might be incorrectly expecting something that's not there anymore since reset-all.exe and DDU both clear all the display settings.

Unfortunately the RTX 4070 needs a driver from 531.61 onwards. I have tried with that too, no change.

I attach the full registry entry for the display, in case you might notice something strange in there... I am stuck now, am I not? One frame drop every hour... meaning every movie I'll watch will have one minimum... and I always notice them, unfortunately.

There is no other way to create custom resolutions on Nvidia, as far as I'm aware. The built in function of their control panel is broken beyond repair. To the point where I wonder why the hell they are not simply removing it, it's shameful and it's been like that for years.

[ashlar]

I did one last test, out of desperation.

Had an old SSD on the machine, it contained a previous installation of Windows which I later migrated to the current NVME disk. I formatted the SSD, changed boot priority to it, installed Windows 10 from scratch on it. Booted, ran CRU, imported my settings, restart64.exe... black screen (it actually froze with a portion of the desktop visible... but the result did not change).

Why the hell it had been working for a whole afternoon and then, all of a sudden, stopped to, I cannot understand. I am so pissed off.

[ashlar]

Apparently it was 10 bit vs 8 bit. I always set the display at 10 bit as that's how my panel work. Probably I did not do it once I installed the new GPU, did all the fine tuning... set it at 10 bit and then I wanted to change something. From then on, at every reinstall I set the display at 10 bit. And that was it. Once I tried using CRU with the display set at 8 bit it worked. I finished the fine tuning, with several restarts of the driver... and only then I set the display at 10 bit.

This with latest Nvidia drivers available, 546.17.

[ashlar]

(12-04-2023 11:00 PM)ashlar Wrote:  Apparently it was 10 bit vs 8 bit. I always set the display at 10 bit as that's how my panel work. Probably I did not do it once I installed the new GPU, did all the fine tuning... set it at 10 bit and then I wanted to change something. From then on, at every reinstall I set the display at 10 bit. And that was it. Once I tried using CRU with the display set at 8 bit it worked. I finished the fine tuning, with several restarts of the driver... and only then I set the display at 10 bit.

This with latest Nvidia drivers available, 546.17.

Unfortunately it wasn't (or it wasn't just that, since when I switched to 8 bit before it worked instantly) and I've been kicking myself for the past two hours for my stupidity.

I should have created a system restore point when I had everything working. I didn't. Probably thinking "now I've got the secret recipe"...

I went to "play" with settings relevant to VRR and DLSS 3.5... ended up having the machine crash to black screen and... everything started acting up like it was doing before.

No matter the color bit settings, now I can't use CRU. No matter the driver version (tried the ones you suggested, tried others). I'm so f%$£ fed up with this crap (Nvidia's, I mean).

[ashlar]

Ok, crossing fingers, I should have solved my problem. I will list what I did, as a reminder to myself and for other users that might find it useful in the future. I have NO idea if the sequence of things I did is relevant or not. Nvidia drivers have bugs, that much is by now obvious to me, it could be random for all I know.

In any case. Starting from the regular, standard EDID after clean driver installation, I did the following.

1. Leave Output Color Depth in Nvidia control panel at default setting (Use default colour settings).
2. Opened CRU, deleted some useless resolutions (useless for me) from CTA-861 extension block. Saved and restarted the video driver (with CRU's restart64.exe). This time it restarted correctly.
3. Imported the settings I wanted for custom resolutions (remember, they used to work before the mishap with black screens upon restart of the video driver). Restarted the video driver. And... wow, it worked!
4. Set Output Color Depth in Nvidia control panel to Use Nvidia Settings. This doesn't change anything, theoretically, but it probably "saves" something somewhere. So you go from 8bit color depth to 8bit color depth. But that's apparently needed.
5. Restarted the machine.
6. Set Output Color Depth at 10bit. Apply. Done.
7. Create a restore point. I actually did it after #3 and redid it after #6.

Points 4 and 5... I tried to do that because I had already reached successfully #3 but when I went straight from "Use default colour settings" to Nvidia settings at 10 bit... it didn't like it. Black screens, need to reboot, etc.

Again, I stress... this is just what I did, no guarantee it's gonna work for anyone else but I thought it was worth reporting...
I now have 10 bit video playback both in Kodi and madVR (with correctly tuned refresh rates) and VRR and HDR are working for games.