AMD Adrenalin 26.6.1 Install Failure and Crash Fix June 2026

What is the AMD Adrenalin 26.6.1 Issue?

Adrenalin 26.6.1 (released June 11, 2026) is AMD's response to the wave of June game crashes — it ships fixes for Subnautica 2 and Marvel Rivals freezes on RX 9000 (RDNA 4), Enshrouded shader artifacts on RX 6000, and a new D3D12 work-graph regression in Civilization 7. But the driver itself has install and post-install issues on a non-trivial slice of systems: the installer hangs at 33% on "AMD Software Cleanup Utility," post-install BSOD WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR on first reboot, and a Radeon Settings crash loop after Windows 11 KB5094126.

If you are on 26.5.1 and the games you play work, you can wait for 26.6.2. If you are seeing crashes that 26.6.1's release notes claim to fix, install with care using the procedure below. If 26.6.1 broke you, the safe rollback target is 26.5.1 via DDU.

When does it occur?

• Installer hangs at 33% / 66% on "AMD Software Cleanup Utility" step
• WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR BSOD on first reboot after install
• Adrenalin window opens then closes immediately (crash loop)
• Black screen with amdkmdag.sys in Event Viewer after install
• Multi-monitor desktop flicker after wake from sleep
• D3D12 Removed: HUNG in Marvel Rivals on RX 9070 XT despite 26.6.1 claiming a fix
• Radeon Anti-Lag 2 disables itself silently

Common causes

• AMD Cleanup Utility race with Windows 11 KB5094126 servicing — Windows Update lock prevents cleanup from completing
• Stale AMD User Experience Program (UXP) service — leftover from 26.5.1 corrupts the install
• Secure Boot + new AMD signed bootkmd driver mismatch — triggers WHEA on first POST after install
• Smart Access Memory (Resizable BAR) re-toggle — 26.6.1 re-detects ReBAR and crashes if BIOS state changed
• Vanguard, RiotClient, or Easy Anti-Cheat services running during install hook the driver before signing completes
• MPO (Multi-Plane Overlay) re-enabled by 26.6.1 despite Microsoft's recommendation to disable for AMD
• AFMF2 enabled at a global level triggers post-install BSOD on first game launch

Step-by-step fixes

1. Decide: install, wait, or roll back — Install 26.6.1 if Subnautica 2, Marvel Rivals on RX 9070/9070 XT, or Civilization 7 are crashing for you. Wait for 26.6.2 if 26.5.1 is stable on your games. Roll back to 26.5.1 immediately if you already installed and hit BSOD / crash loop.

1. DDU clean install of 26.6.1 (recommended) — Download Adrenalin 26.6.1 from amd.com/en/support. Download DDU from guru3d.com. Disconnect from internet. Boot Safe Mode: Settings > Recovery > Advanced startup > Troubleshoot > Advanced > Startup Settings > F4. Run DDU > GPU > AMD > "Clean and restart." Then run the 26.6.1 installer in Custom mode. Reconnect only after.

1. Stop anti-cheat services before installing — Open services.msc, stop Vanguard, Riot Vanguard, Easy Anti-Cheat, and BattlEye Service. Also quit Steam, Epic, Battle.net. These hook into the kernel driver during signing and break the install.

1. Rollback to 26.5.1 via DDU — If 26.6.1 already broke you: download Adrenalin 26.5.1 from amd.com/en/support/previous-drivers. Boot Safe Mode > DDU > AMD > "Clean and shut down" (NOT restart). Boot back to Windows. Run 26.5.1 installer in Custom > Factory Reset. Pause Windows Updates 5 weeks so AMD's auto-driver doesn't reinstall 26.6.1.

1. Disable MPO — Open Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Dwm. Create DWORD OverlayTestMode, value 5 (decimal). Restart. MPO conflicts with AMD's compositor and is a known crash multiplier — Microsoft itself recommends this for AMD users.

1. Re-verify Resizable BAR in BIOS — Enter BIOS, check Advanced > PCI Subsystem Settings > Re-Size BAR Support = Enabled and Above 4G Decoding = Enabled. Save and reboot. If 26.6.1 detects mismatched state vs. previous driver it crashes Radeon Settings on launch.

1. Disable AFMF2 globally, enable per-game — Open Adrenalin > Gaming > Graphics > AMD Fluid Motion Frames > set to Off. Then enable only in specific game profiles. Global AFMF2 is implicated in the post-install BSOD on first game launch.

1. Reset Radeon settings if Adrenalin won't open — Press Win+R, run cmd as admin, execute taskkill /F /IM "RadeonSoftware.exe" and taskkill /F /IM "AMDRSServ.exe". Delete %localappdata%\AMD\CN. Restart Adrenalin. This clears the corrupted UXP profile from the upgrade.

If it still doesn't work

If the installer hangs repeatedly even after DDU, the AMD Cleanup Utility itself may be blocked. Download AMDCleanupUtility.exe separately from AMD's support site, boot Safe Mode, run it as admin, reboot in normal mode, then retry the 26.6.1 install. Check %temp%\AMD-Install-* log for the exact failure step.

If you hit WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR repeatedly even on 26.5.1, the issue may be on the Windows side after KB5094126 — see the related KB5089549 AMD driver freeze article for the EFI/MOK chain remediation, and uninstall KB5094126 with wusa /uninstall /kb:5094126. If only Marvel Rivals crashes with the same DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG on RX 9070 XT, file a report at community.amd.com with cbsCabBugs collected by dxdiag /t dxdiag.txt — AMD's regression team is tracking RX 9000 work-graph crashes as the #1 priority for 26.6.2.