Thinkpads Forum

My screen flickers when using dual screen with the dock.

I have a T60 with ATI graphics and when I'm using the docking station with two external LCD's (one dvi one vga) both Dell 1905FP.

I just got the computer a few weeks ago and all drivers are up to date (I even updated the bios with the 11/20 update).

The analog monitor shows a constant slight flicker almost like it has a very low refresh rate but it's set to 60hz. Also it intermittently flashes to black and then back to normal for a split second.

I didn't have problems when I was using the built-in LCD in conjunction with the external vga monitor, only started when I got the dock.

After I noticed the problem I installed the drivers for the dell monitors but it made no difference.

I guess I'll call Lenovo but I wanted to chime in here and say ME TOO!

Thanks,

Sam

The problem is fixed under BIOS version 1.09, found here: http://www-3.ibm.com/pc/support/site.ws ... MIGR-63024 (scroll down near the bottom and look for BIOS 1.09a)

Earlier and later versions of the BIOS have the flickering problem, but I haven't tested version 2.03 which recently came out.

I'm having a similar flickering problem on my T6-2623-D6U. It has the ATI X1300, however I do not have the dock.

I have a Samsung 204T hooked up to the VGA port on the side of my laptop running at 1600x1200 @ 60Hz. I'm running the laptop screen as my primary screen at its native resolution of 1400x1050.

The Power Manager applet also flickers but that is it. I've also never seen this before prior to hooking up the monitor as my secondary monitor.

Also, the only update that ThinkVantage System Update says I require is PC-Doctor. Has anyone else seen this problem without the Dock being used?

The flicker is very in-frequent but occurs on both the external monitor and internal LCD. I think that it happens more on the external monitor but its hard to tell with the frequency so long between occurences. I've also never noticed this happening on the internal LCD when the external one is not connected. I had originally thought that the external monitor was about to die until I realized that it also happened on the internal LCD.

Unfortunately I installed the BIOS update that the update manager had a week or so ago, and because this only happens when the external monitor is connected, I have no idea if this is BIOS related or not.

EDIT: I forgot to mention I'm using bios 2.03 and Catalyst 1.2.2447.13670
Thanks for any help that you may be able to give.

RonS wrote: The flickering problem that I reported was solved with a past BIOS release. If you haven't updated to BIOS version 1.09 yet, you should do that. You can get it from this page http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-63024 and scroll down to the bottom. If you hae a dock, I'd avoid 1.10 for now, because you may have docking problems with that version.

So, if I flash 1.09 on my T60p, does it also include the 1.05b micro-controller code? I currently have 2.09 and it flickers. This is really irritating!

Howdy,
Flicker oddly doesn't bother me. Seems my brain compensates, treats it like a blink.

My info. (via PC-Doctor)
External 21" Samsung 214T.
Samsung stock DVI cable.
Advanced Mini Dock model 2504.
T60p 2.09 Bios
ATI 5250 512MB v9.012.001.012.022887
Catalyst v8.293.1.0

Flicker happens on both laptop and screen and looks like fonts are big but my brain "blinks" in step so must pay better attention next time.

Perhaps interesting note. This used to happen when I forced my T30 to run ATI drivers instead of IBM version. It only happened when I used DVI but it never seemed to when using analog. Both analog and DVI were with port replicator...same monitor 214T.

On project at the moment so need DVI's clarity but will test marathon session workload under Analog after deadline.

Only concerned if will gets worse with time. Sad to see there is little solid causal so far. I will watch this thread and try to add what I can.

It happens with the analog port as well as the DVI port for me. I've tried to get used to the flicker, but it's quite annoying. The worst is when I use the laptop for presentations, as the projector would also flicker.

Someone on another similar post http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=36417 said a reinstall of the video drivers helped them. While RonS has been happy with his BIOS downgrade to 1.09 from the current 2.09. I'll try reinstalling the Catalyst drivers first.

RonS also says keyword "Flicker" should find you many threads on this issue.