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Radeon Settings and Internet Access

Associate
Joined
29 Jan 2007
Posts
727
I haven't used AMD drivers in a while and found that the latest packages have no way of disabling internet access.

I've unticked all the internet based options under preferences (link, notifications, user experience program etc) and didn't see an option about automatically checking for updates during the install procedure which I think it used to give users in the past?

Every time I boot my PC, I get a firewall alert (I use software outbound protection) about RadeonSettings.exe and an outgoing connection. Sometimes it's to a cloud service provider (probably used by AMD) and the other an encrypted connection to google servers. Every time I open the Radeon Settings GUI it also tries to connect to the internet.

I've read online but no one seems to talk about this as I guess modern apps just assume internet access communication is now the norm and have removed options to disable this behaviour. I can easily block it using my software firewall, just thought I'd ask to see if anyone knew how to disable it in case I've missed something?
 

bru

bru

Soldato
Joined
21 Oct 2002
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kent
NOT A SERIOUS ANSWER.

Probably some form of secret AMD telemetry, that you are the first to discover. Of course telemetry will suddenly become ok, fine and not malware/bloatware as some have labelled it in the past.;)


Or of course the serious answer it is probably just checking for updates or the like.
 
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22 Jun 2018
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Doon the watah ... Scotland
I would agree with above - its likely just looking for updates. A lot of programs just assume that nowadays, and do the check on start up ... which is what appears to be what your machine is doing.

but just in case ... better get that tin-foil hat out ... you might need it. :p
 
Associate
OP
Joined
29 Jan 2007
Posts
727
Hahaha, I know I'm old school and can't get used to all this internet data sending used by all modern apps/programs so old habits die hard. Phones are the worst of course! Developers just take it for granted now and send data without options to disable it and I have noticed it's becoming much more common on the PC side as well as people have learnt to accept this as the norm. GDPR makes sure they're not opting us into anything suspicious however by default - well hopefully! ;)

I don't think it's sending anything without my permission it's probably just basic checks or pinging home for usage statistics and trust AMD of course, it's just I only use Radeon Settings to undervolt the GPU and if there was an option I'm missing (like they used to be in past drivers) it would have been nice to turn it off.
 
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