Arc B580 Driver Issue: Black Background in ANSYS Workbench Mechanical

[yunqiwang]

CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 265K

GPU: Intel Arc B580

OS: Windows 11 64-bit 

Application: ANSYS Workbench (Mechanical Module)

Problematic Driver Version:101.8531

Working Driver Version:101.6881

After updating to the latest Arc GPU driver, I encountered a rendering bug in the ANSYS Workbench Mechanical module. The background of the 3D geometry interface turns completely black, which disrupts the engineering simulation workflow.

Steps to Reproduce:

Open ANSYS Workbench and launch the Mechanical module.

The background of the geometry viewport is entirely black upon loading.

If I rotate the 3D model/view, the background rendering temporarily returns to normal.

However, as soon as I single-click anywhere on the background again, it instantly turns black.

Troubleshooting Taken: Rolling back to the previous Arc graphics driver completely resolves the issue. The geometry interface renders perfectly without any black screen flashes. This indicates a clear regression or OpenGL compatibility issue in the newest driver update.

Could the driver development team please look into this OpenGL/graphics API compatibility issue with ANSYS? Thank you!

[VonM_Intel]

Hi yunqiwang,
Thank you for posting in our Community. That makes a huge difference when analyzing potential regressions. Based on what you described, this does appear to be a driver regression. Since ANSYS Mechanical relies heavily on OpenGL for viewport rendering, this could indeed be related to a graphics API compatibility change in the newer driver. Could you please confirm the following:

• Does the issue occur immediately on launching Mechanical, or only after loading a specific project file?
• Does this happen with all projects, including a brand-new blank Mechanical project?
• Are you running ANSYS in default graphics mode, or have you configured any specific OpenGL or hardware acceleration settings inside ANSYS?
• Does disabling Hardware Acceleration (if available in ANSYS settings) change the behavior?
• Are you using multiple monitors, and if so, does the issue persist when using a single display only?
• For possible replication of the issue, could you please share the link to where you downloaded this application? 

Additionally, I'd like to delve deeper and verify specifics like the graphics models, precise driver versions, and any system errors. Utilizing the Intel SSU tool will enable me to collect detailed information about your system setup, which could aid in identifying the underlying cause of this issue.

Have a nice day!

Best regards,

Von M.
Intel Customer Support Technician

[yunqiwang]

Hi Von M.,

Thank you for your response and support. Here are the details regarding the questions you asked:

When it occurs: The issue does not happen immediately upon launching Mechanical. It occurs right after importing a geometry file into the project.

Symptoms & Projects: Yes, it happens with all projects. Additionally, all the legend color bars appear completely black, which looks like a total rendering failure.

ANSYS Settings: I am running ANSYS with its default graphics settings. I cannot find any option to disable Hardware Acceleration within the software.

Monitor Setup: I have tested it with a single display, and the exact same issue persists.

Software Version: I am using ANSYS 2021 R2 (ANSYS 21R2), which was downloaded directly from the official ANSYS website.

The Core Issue: I want to emphasize that the older drivers work perfectly fine without any black background issues. This strongly confirms that it is a driver regression in the newer updates.

I will also run the Intel SSU tool and upload the detailed system report for your reference shortly.

Please let me know if you need any further information.

Best regards,
Yunqi Wang

[VonM_Intel]

Hello yunqiwang,

Thank you for your response. I will need to do further research on this matter and post the response on this thread once available.

Best regards,

Von M.
Intel Customer Support Technician

[BrenzL_Intel]

Hello yunqiwang,

Thank you for the continued cooperation. Please try the following recommendations for your reported concern:

1. Update BIOS to version E2.3D

Updating the BIOS may resolve stability issues and ensure full compatibility with the graphics hardware.

2. Perform a Clean Driver Re‑installation (DDU)

Please use DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) to completely remove the existing graphics driver.

After the system restarts, reinstall the latest graphics driver available for your setup.

3. Test Using Only the Integrated GPU (iGPU)

Please disable the B580 GPU and run the system using the integrated graphics only.

Check if the issue still persists under this configuration.

4. Reverse Test

Next, disable the iGPU and test using B580 only.

This helps isolate whether the problem is tied to the discrete GPU or the integrated GPU.

Once you have completed these recommendations, please let us know whether the issue is resolved or still occurring so we can proceed with further investigation and provide additional guidance.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Brenz L.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[VonM_Intel]

Hello yunqiwang,

Have you had a chance to review my previous response? Please let us know if you require any further assistance. I'm here to help.

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[yunqiwang]

Dear VonM,

Thank you for your suggestions. I have followed your recommendations and completed all the troubleshooting steps. Here are the results:

I have successfully updated my motherboard BIOS to version E2.3D.

I performed a clean driver uninstallation using DDU and then installed the latest WHQL driver.

During this entire process, my integrated GPU (iGPU) was disabled, and I was performing the reverse test using only the B580 discrete GPU.

Unfortunately, the black background issue in ANSYS Workbench Mechanical still persists.

Regarding your suggestion to test with only the iGPU, I had actually done this previously. I physically removed the Arc B580 from my system and ran it using only the integrated graphics. After reinstalling the drivers, ANSYS functioned perfectly normally without any black background issues. Therefore, based on my testing, I am completely certain that the issue is tied specifically to the B580 discrete GPU and its drivers.

Furthermore, I recently discovered another critical issue. The recent Arc drivers (specifically versions 8509 and 8531) have terrible compatibility with Adobe software. When using Adobe Lightroom, the software completely fails to detect the presence of the B580 graphics card.

Based on these two phenomena, I strongly suspect that there is a bug in the recent driver updates where the rendering interfaces or API hooks are missing or failing. The software (both ANSYS and Lightroom) simply cannot find the proper interface to communicate with the GPU for rendering, which leads to these visual glitches and recognition failures.

I hope these test results and observations can help the driver development team pinpoint the root cause. Please let me know if you need me to generate any specific system logs to further investigate this.

Looking forward to your reply.

Best regards,

yunqiwang

[VonM_Intel]

Hello yunqiwang,

Thank you for the detailed update and for taking the time to perform all the troubleshooting steps I previously suggested. At this point, I will need to conduct additional research on this issue and review the behavior further on my end. Once I have more information or an update from my side, I will make sure to post an update in this thread as soon as possible.

Regarding the new issue you discovered with Adobe Lightroom not detecting the Arc B580 on driver versions 8509 and 8531, thank you for bringing this to our attention. However, to keep the investigation organized and ensure each problem is properly tracked, we can accommodate only one community thread per case and focus on a single issue at a time. With that in mind, I would recommend creating a new community thread specifically for the Adobe Lightroom issue. This will allow our team to track and investigate that concern separately while we continue focusing on the ANSYS black background issue in this thread.

Thanks.

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[VonM_Intel]

Hello yunqiwang,

Thank you for your patience while I continue to investigate this matter. At this stage, I was actively working to reproduce the issue you’ve reported. Based on my initial testing, I was not able to observe the same behavior on our end. That said, I want to ensure we’re aligning as closely as possible with your exact setup.

In the meantime, I recommend trying the latest graphics driver version 32.0.101.8626 (WHQL Certified) from Intel.

Once installed, please let me know if the issue still persists. Additionally, if possible, could you share a sample project file or test case that reproduces the issue on your system? This would greatly help us validate the behavior more accurately and speed up my investigation.

Thanks.

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[VonM_Intel]

Hello yunqiwang,

Have you had a chance to review my previous response? Please let us know if you require any further assistance. I'm here to help.

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[yunqiwang]

Dear VonM,

I 've updated my the latest graphics driver version 32.0.101.8626 (WHQL Certified)  from Intel.After testing the workbench and lightroom,nothing 've changed. I think it's not such a complicated problem, because the old drive can perfectly handle this problem.I sincerely hope you can compare the Open GL part of different edition drive. I 'll very appreciated it.

Looking forward to your reply.

Best regards,

yunqiwang

[VonM_Intel]

Hello yunqiwang,

Thank you for the update and for sharing the details of your testing. I see the steps you’ve taken, and I will review this further on my end. To help me validate the behavior more accurately and investigate it more efficiently, could you kindly provide a sample project file or a test case that reproduces the issue on your system? This will greatly assist in comparing behavior across driver versions and narrowing down the root cause.

I appreciate your cooperation and will keep you posted once I have further findings.

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[VonM_Intel]

Hello yunqiwang,

Have you had a chance to review my previous response? Please let us know if you require any further assistance. I'm here to help.

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[JohnM_Intel]

Hello yunqiwang,

I have not heard back from you so I will close this inquiry now. If you need further assistance, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Best regards,

John M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[SRO]

I am too having the same issue. The only way to make use of Ansys is by applying a white background.