T60p screen flash/flicker

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edmicman · #1 Post by **edmicman** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:03 am

I just got a new T60p (non-widescreen) at work, and this week I've been getting it set up. They didn't wipe the drive clean before they gave it to me, so it's got a lot of the ThinkVantage stuff still on it.

I've got an external LCD monitor connected to it as a secondary display, and am extending my desktop with Ultramon. I don't have a dock, it's just connected to the VGA port on the laptop.

About every 10 minutes or so, both screens "flash" or something....it's really quick, but it's there. From browsing the net, it sounds like this is a fairly common thing with the laptop, but I haven't found any common line of solutions that work for sure.

I updated my BIOS to v2.09, and the ATI Mobility FireGL V5250 driver is the latest I could find - 8.293.1.0. But it's still doing it. Is there anything else that might cause this? Is there a known fix? Do I have to send the thing back after I finally got most everything up and working? Thanks for any info!

#2 Post by **RonS** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:26 am

This is a widely known problem. Search this forum for "Flicker" and you'll see what I mean.

BIOS version 1.09 seems to pretty much solve it for me. With 1.09, the flicker only happens once or twice a day. I haven't upgraded beyond 1.09 because others have reported that the flicker returned after that version.

edmicman · #3 Post by **edmicman** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:38 am

Are there any issues in downgrading from 2.09 to 1.09? Is the only real solution then to send the laptop back and get a replacement? Or is that not even an option? Does IBM recognize it as a problem and will they send a replacement laptop? Ideally, it'd be nice if they'd send a new laptop that I could put my hard drive in so I'd at least not have to rebuild the whole thing again!

cxls · #4 Post by **cxls** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:52 am

This happens to me as well. Luckily, with the extended desktop, it always flickers on the monitor that I'm not looking at at the time.

#5 Post by **RonS** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 10:41 am

I never heard of any problems downgrading BIOS versions. I've downgraded from 1.11 (I think) to 1.09, but I've never cross the "2.0" threshold.

I've used three T60p machines on my dock, and they all had the flicker problem. Chances are that you will not get IBM to recognize or fix this problem. If I were you, I'd try version 1.09 first.

zern · #6 Post by **zern** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:47 am

I seem to have fixed this on my T60p.

The flicker used to happen on an external CRT only (but not on the built-inLCD). Every 10-15 minutes or so.

I re-installed the Lenovo ATI drivers for the FireGL V5250 - the same version as what came preinstalled. And so far (2 hrs in) not a single flicker.

The Catalyst Control Centre reports this Driver Packaging Version in use:
8.293.1-060913a-036475C-Lenovo

Yay!

stephanpark · #7 Post by **stephanpark** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 10:45 am

edmicman wrote:...Ideally, it'd be nice if they'd send a new laptop that I could put my hard drive in so I'd at least not have to rebuild the whole thing again!

I remember an IBM Tech Support personnel (Atlanta Georgia) tell me I could remove the Hard Drive before I sent it in for repairs, so when establishing your case number, make sure you can and that it is noted as such in the case log. I don't have personal experience on this though and have run into some less than adequate tech support operators.

zern wrote:...re-installed the Lenovo ATI drivers for the FireGL V5250 - the same version as what came preinstalled. And so far (2 hrs in) not a single flicker.

The Catalyst Control Centre reports this Driver Packaging Version in use:
8.293.1-060913a-036475C-Lenovo

Hm, my default driver is the same dated 9/13/2006. I'll give it a shot.

BadAndy · #8 Post by **BadAndy** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 10:53 am

I've sent plenty of X31s and X32s to be repaired without a hard drive installed.

edmicman · #9 Post by **edmicman** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 10:54 am

zern wrote:I seem to have fixed this on my T60p.

The flicker used to happen on an external CRT only (but not on the built-inLCD). Every 10-15 minutes or so.

I re-installed the Lenovo ATI drivers for the FireGL V5250 - the same version as what came preinstalled. And so far (2 hrs in) not a single flicker.

The Catalyst Control Centre reports this Driver Packaging Version in use:
8.293.1-060913a-036475C-Lenovo

Yay!

Did you uninstall the old Catalyst stuff first, or just install over it? I swear I tried that, too, and it didn't fix mine (though, it was flickering on *both* screens....although, I don't think it ever flashes both at the same time). But maybe I'll try it again. :-/

Does anyone know if it makes a difference whether the laptop was formatted and WinXP installed from scratch as opposed to leaving the preinstalled stuff on? Mine's pretty much stock, I just uninstalled a bunch of the preloaded stuff as I see fit. I wonder if I wiped everything clean and installed XP from scratch if it would fix it?

BadAndy · #10 Post by **BadAndy** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 11:16 am

edmicman wrote:
zern wrote:I seem to have fixed this on my T60p.

The flicker used to happen on an external CRT only (but not on the built-inLCD). Every 10-15 minutes or so.

I re-installed the Lenovo ATI drivers for the FireGL V5250 - the same version as what came preinstalled. And so far (2 hrs in) not a single flicker.

The Catalyst Control Centre reports this Driver Packaging Version in use:
8.293.1-060913a-036475C-Lenovo

Yay!
Did you uninstall the old Catalyst stuff first, or just install over it? I swear I tried that, too, and it didn't fix mine (though, it was flickering on *both* screens....although, I don't think it ever flashes both at the same time). But maybe I'll try it again. :-/

Does anyone know if it makes a difference whether the laptop was formatted and WinXP installed from scratch as opposed to leaving the preinstalled stuff on? Mine's pretty much stock, I just uninstalled a bunch of the preloaded stuff as I see fit. I wonder if I wiped everything clean and installed XP from scratch if it would fix it?

I installed XP from scratch on my T60p and mine has never flickered when using it through out the day. Machine type 2623-D8U.

speedi · #11 Post by **speedi** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:22 pm

I have a T60p and it never flickers on the internal LCD, when not docked. I have only witnessed this when I am running a dual monitor configuration, docked, with the laptop closed. Once I do this, ONE of the TWO LCDs will flicker (this is actually a resolution change to, like, 640x480, and then back in a fraction of a second) cycling every 20 mins. I did have it happen at a 15 or 10 min interval a few times, but I call these events anomalies.

I have also tried just using a "1" external monitor configuration, docked, not using the internal LCD, and there was no flicker. I tried it using each external LCD... DVI and Analog... still no flickering.

What I have not tested was running the internal LCD with one external LCD for a dual monitor configuration.

zern · #12 Post by **zern** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 12:52 am

[quote]I re-installed the Lenovo ATI drivers for the FireGL V5250 - the same version as what came preinstalled. And so far (2 hrs in) not a single flicker. [/quote]

[quote]Did you uninstall the old Catalyst stuff first, or just install over it? I swear I tried that, too, and it didn't fix mine[/quote]

I just installed over the top of the existing Catalyst stuff.

stephanpark · #13 Post by **stephanpark** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 10:15 pm

Nope, reinstalling didn't do anything for me. Still flickers.

sveintore · #14 Post by **sveintore** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 2:21 am

Okay, just had a flicker, in Vista, so my other posting about not seeing any in Vista will be removed

Edit: Hmm, I guess that was in another thread..

zern · #15 Post by **zern** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:11 am

Try this:

1. Turn off (uncheck) Catalyst Control Centre/POWERPLAY/Allow refresh rate reduction.

2. Launch Power Manager. Click Edit to modify the power scheme you are using. Click Next. Where is says "Lower display refresh rate" set both Battery and AC to Never.

3. Install the Lenovo ATI driver again on top of the existing install.

#16 Post by **RonS** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:08 pm

zern,

I did exactly as you suggested.

My settings were already unchecked and "Never", but I toggled them anyway just to be sure. I installed the latest video driver over the current.

I still see the flicker.

edmicman · #17 Post by **edmicman** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:44 pm

RonS wrote:zern,

I did exactly as you suggested.

My settings were already unchecked and "Never", but I toggled them anyway just to be sure. I installed the latest video driver over the current.

I still see the flicker.

Same here. I'm pretty sure I tried all the suggestions I've found, to no avail. But I thought I'd try it again. Here's me waiting for *another* firmware or ATI driver update....

Miller88 · #18 Post by **Miller88** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 9:54 pm

My T60 did that for a while when I had the power settings on lowest and was running off of the battery.

I upped the power setting a little bit and I don't have a problem with it anymore.

#19 Post by **RonS** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 11:34 pm

Miller88 wrote:My T60 did that for a while when I had the power settings on lowest and was running off of the battery.

I upped the power setting a little bit and I don't have a problem with it anymore.

Which power setting are you referring to?

zern · #20 Post by **zern** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:18 am

Oooeeer ... the flickering came back - with a vengeance. One flicker every 20-30seconds or so. Yikes.

What happened was this - I powered off the external CRT for a few minutes (with the thinkpad on and desktop extended to the CRT). When I powered the CRT back on, it showed a cloned image of the thinkpad screen. This is odd as I had expected it to continue to be the extended desktop. I re-set the extended desktop using the Catalyst Command Center. All was well for about 10 minutes ... then the flickering started.

On reboot, everything is fine again. 10 minutes in, a fliecker every 20-30 seconds.

I have hibernated, stand-by-ed the thinkpad with the CRT attached; as well as used Fn-F3 which affects both monitors, with no problems. This was the first time I had powered off the CRT.

Does this shed any clues as to what could be happening?

I'll try reinstalling the drivers again and report back. This is getting on my nerves...

zern · #21 Post by **zern** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:59 am

So do you want the bad news or the (possibly) good news?

The bad news is - just after my last post above, i started getting the flickering on both screens! The same 10 - 20 minute non-regular gap between flickers.

But then, I spotted something interesting. In the umpteenth trip to the Catalyst Control Center, via the right-click context menu on the desktop: sometimes, there was a new Hydravision menu item at the top.

Hmmm... maybe it is THAT I thought.

I opened the Hydravision properties dialog, and clicked Unload Desktop Manager. So now I have both Desktop Manager and MultiDesk UNloaded. Not that I was using either before.

And guess what, the flickering stopped!

Can you please test to see if this fixes it for you also?

Miller88 · #22 Post by **Miller88** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:47 am

RonS wrote:
Miller88 wrote:My T60 did that for a while when I had the power settings on lowest and was running off of the battery.

I upped the power setting a little bit and I don't have a problem with it anymore.
Which power setting are you referring to?

Haven't looked at it in a while and I don't have the laptop out right now, but I believe power save - the one where the CPU is on the lowest setting along with the monitor.

stephanpark · #23 Post by **stephanpark** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:04 am

zern wrote:I opened the Hydravision properties dialog, and clicked Unload Desktop Manager. So now I have both Desktop Manager and MultiDesk UNloaded. Not that I was using either before.

And guess what, the flickering stopped!

To start, the attached flat panel still flickers. I've uninstalled Hydravision, and then Catalyst. I am only running off the drivers which was a fresh download from Lenovo (same driver version still).

I lost the ability to start the computer with my attached flat panel as the primary which is annoying...more because I don't know how to set is as primary because it used to do this automatically prior to uninstall.

So, basically slightly worse off than before. I tried reinstalling Catalyst which didn't fix the primary screen-on-dock problem. If anyone has a clue, I don't think this is worth another thread. Give this thread a jingle.

zern · #24 Post by **zern** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:35 am

Spoke too soon. An hour or so after my previous post, the flickering is back.

And now it occurs on both the LCD and the external CRT (at different times, not simultaneously).

But the time between flickers is longer now - 40+ minutes.

I give up. Let's see what the next driver update will (or won't) do.

speedi · #25 Post by **speedi** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 8:55 pm

Did anyone ever figure this out? It has been 9 months and the only thing I am doing as a work-around is to put the laptop to sleep (Fn-F4) and then awakening it -- this is, of course, after hooking the laptop up to my dual monitors (external) and not using the laptop LCD. This makes the flickering go away, but for a $3000 laptop, this is irritating -- I am tempted to box it up and send it in for "repair" at this point.

I learned of the workaround on this site, I believe.

edmicman · #26 Post by **edmicman** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 9:10 pm

speedi wrote:Did anyone ever figure this out? It has been 9 months and the only thing I am doing as a work-around is to put the laptop to sleep (Fn-F4) and then awakening it -- this is, of course, after hooking the laptop up to my dual monitors (external) and not using the laptop LCD. This makes the flickering go away, but for a $3000 laptop, this is irritating -- I am tempted to box it up and send it in for "repair" at this point.

I learned of the workaround on this site, I believe.

That's what I've been doing ever since I read about it here. Occasionally I'll check and see if there's a firmware or driver update, apply it, and still no chance. I don't disable the laptop LCD though. Hook it all up, boot up, Fn-F4, bring back, and it's better for the day. Sigh......it's obviously a software/firmware problem, why the heck don't they fix it?!?

Mortdk · #27 Post by **Mortdk** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:56 am

I've experienced the same problem on a monitor connected to the VGA port through an advanced mini dock.

The primary monitor is running through the DVI port in the advanced mini dock - I've never seen any flickering on this one.

The secondary monitor connected though the VGA port on the advanced mini dock sometimes flickers. There is no distinct pattern to the flickering. Sometimes it works perfectly for several days, even across system powerdowns and reboots, other times it will flicker ever 15-60 seconds.

My solution/workaround when the flickering starts, is to disable and re-enable the secondary monitor. This stops the flickering... not the best solution for something that should work out of the box, but it's better than watching the screen flicker.

I've never had a monitor connected through the VGA port withougt using the advanced mini dock, so I can't tell if that setup will produce flickering.

Specs:
T60 2007-63G
Bios 2.14
XP SP2

wbilancio · #28 Post by **wbilancio** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:11 pm

I installed the newest BIOS that has a date of 8-23-2007 and it seems to have fixed the flicker when I take the unit off AC.

edmicman · #29 Post by **edmicman** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:48 am

wbilancio wrote:I installed the newest BIOS that has a date of 8-23-2007 and it seems to have fixed the flicker when I take the unit off AC.

Do you run dual monitors while off AC power? I've never had a problem with it flickering while just using the laptop as-is, only when I try and use a second monitor connected to the VGA port....

It does seem to be a power/video driver or something.....

speedi · #30 Post by **speedi** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 1:48 pm

edmicman wrote:
wbilancio wrote:I installed the newest BIOS that has a date of 8-23-2007 and it seems to have fixed the flicker when I take the unit off AC.
Do you run dual monitors while off AC power? I've never had a problem with it flickering while just using the laptop as-is, only when I try and use a second monitor connected to the VGA port....

It does seem to be a power/video driver or something.....

My Laptop LCD never has the problem... just the external video. I am running dual monitors off the external doc with no laptop LCD functioning at the time it's occuring. It's actually a 'switching' of the video resolution, if you look closely at what's happening during the 'flicker'.

I, too, had been able to make the issue subside while disabling and re-enabling the external video, one monitor at a time on the dual configuration. I found this to be a pain in the neck and it was easier to just put it to sleep and then wake it back up. Seems to fix the problem until you cycle the laptop or undock/dock it back and begin using the dual monitors, again.

Lame.

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