x60t screen odd flicker problem - anyone experience this?

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minc3d · #1 Post by **minc3d** » Thu May 15, 2008 8:30 pm

Hello All,

I wanted to inquire with the rest of x60 tablet users here about an issue that doesn't seem to have been covered too widely on these forums (I searched before posting) but has been rampant to a certain extent on Lenovo's blogs:

http://lenovoblogs.com/insidethebox/?p=47

The issue I am having a problem with is in which my X60t has a very odd screen flicker, if there is no other name for it. The flicker occurs once about every ten minutes or so, and could either be where the screen image shifts a couple pixels in either left/right direction OR where the screen just "flickers" in brightness about 50% and comes back within a half a second. This very frustrating problem came up about two weeks ago and here are the various things that I have concluded:

1) The system board is not at fault as the unit just came back from warranty repair and has a brand new proc/mobo.
2) The screen is a Multiview. People with SXGA seem to have this problem too.
3) Drivers are not the cause. I have moved between 3 different driver versions in the last few weeks and all have the same symtpoms.
4) The problem occurs ONLY when unit is on battery power - plugged in the laptop screen does not flicker for hours upon hours.

First off I might ask... am I alone or has anyone else here had this problem? I love this tablet and its hard being seperated from it while it is away for repair and if it has to go in for a new screen, I will do it, but that will mean my $27 for my STOP security plate will go to waste....

If anyone has had this, are there are any successful fixes without needing to send it in? Any Windows settings? Any particular driver quirks? Any BIOS settings? I have the latest BIOS installed from Lenovo BTW - cant do BIOS comparisons since I updated the BIOS asap when I got this laptop from a seller on this forum.

Please, any help is appreciated. I experience much of what the users on the Lenovo blog above are posting to a certain extent.

Thanks in advance!

PS: My unit is a 6363-A41 X60 Tablet with 3GB memory, XP Pro Tablet SP3, and the 8 cell battery. The laptop works flawlessly otherwise.

EggsBenny · #2 Post by **EggsBenny** » Fri May 16, 2008 8:40 am

Greetings,

Having the same screen flicker problem with a twist. Screen seems to shift in the bat of an eye from right to left then back about every ten minutes on battery power. Now here's the twist; the screen goes black a short time after the flicker. In order to regain control of my X60s running XP pro, I have to F4 (sleep) then Fn to wake -- screen then reappears. Happened before and after SP3. Any thoughts welcome.

UPDATE: Running on latest BIOS. Think I've isolated the problem. No flicker/blank screen with my 4 cell battery. No flicker/blank screen on AC with battery pulled. Only seems to appear with my 8 cell. Since my original 8 cell battery was swapped out on a recall I've experienced nothing but gremlin-like behavior. Even short battery life that never approached my original run times. Have minimal use on the replacement battery too. Is there a chance I have an 8 cell replacement dud and it can be replaced under warranty?

UPDATE: Getting flicker with my 4 cell battery but no blank screen issue.

UPDATE: My 4 cell just went blank. Same symptoms as 8 cell. Flicker/blank black screen.

If you are lurking Lenovo, please provide a fix. Thank you.

minc3d · #3 Post by **minc3d** » Fri May 16, 2008 5:28 pm

I have the same symptom as the person above. Screen goes blank and the only way to get it back is turn off laptop and restart - I have not tried using Sleep mode but perhaps it will also work.

Last night I fiddled with a lot of BIOS settings related to power. The ones I changed were Display Brightness from HIGH to NORMAL on the screen, and also changed some of the power saving options for BALANCED performance. Seems to have solved the issue at least last night... will still be checking to see if this is around.

Anyone else on this same problem with an X60t or X61t?

732 · #4 Post by **732** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:16 am

minc3d wrote: The issue I am having a problem with is in which my X60t has a very odd screen flicker, if there is no other name for it. The flicker occurs once about every ten minutes or so, and could either be where the screen image shifts a couple pixels in either left/right direction OR where the screen just "flickers" in brightness about 50% and comes back within a half a second. This very frustrating problem came up about two weeks ago and here are the various things that I have concluded:

1) The system board is not at fault as the unit just came back from warranty repair and has a brand new proc/mobo.
2) The screen is a Multiview. People with SXGA seem to have this problem too.
3) Drivers are not the cause. I have moved between 3 different driver versions in the last few weeks and all have the same symtpoms.
4) The problem occurs ONLY when unit is on battery power - plugged in the laptop screen does not flicker for hours upon hours.

To me it sounds like power saving/refresh rate changing thing.

This would also explain why it only occurs while operating from battery. The laptop will lower the refresh rate after some time and this makes the screen flicker for a second. You can "fix it" when disabline the "lower refresh rate after xx minutes" option.

To ensure it's not a hardware problem, start the laptop and press F1 to enter BIOS. If the flicker doesn't occur there, it's caused by software behavior.

Pennstate · #5 Post by **Pennstate** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:14 am

try disabling igfxtray and igfxpers using msconfig. the intel video applets seems to be causing the flickering.

It seems to solve the problem on my x60s

rek · #6 Post by **rek** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 12:33 am

Pennstate wrote:try disabling igfxtray and igfxpers using msconfig. the intel video applets seems to be causing the flickering.

It seems to solve the problem on my x60s

I too have this occasional flicker of the bottom half of the screen every 10-30 minutes, on my SXGA+ X60t. No blank screen problem though. (Some further data points for X60s: I've had two X60s'es in the past, which didn't have either problem.)

I've disabled these items in msconfig, and hopefully it will go away (and if not, test the screen refresh hypothesis). Too early yet to know. I hope it is something in software and not hardware

I was getting worried that it was the start of the "scrambled bottom third" problem, the cause of which was (I think) a bad batch of LCD panels in early SXGA+ tablets.

The issue has never really bothered me, except for the paranoia in the back of the mind that one morning I'll wake up to a permanently garbled screen...

slogged · #7 Post by **slogged** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 3:17 am

Pennstate wrote:try disabling igfxtray and igfxpers using msconfig. the intel video applets seems to be causing the flickering.

It seems to solve the problem on my x60s

I've been having the same problem on my X60 tablet as described above, video flickers and when on battery power the screen may go blank. The only way to get the video back is to close the lid to suspend, and open it back up.

I'll try disabling igfxtray and igxpers and update on whether it continues to happen.

gunston · #8 Post by **gunston** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 8:37 am

any updates for the solution so far ????

CyberDude · #9 Post by **CyberDude** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:50 am

EggsBenny wrote:Greetings,

Having the same screen flicker problem with a twist. Screen seems to shift in the bat of an eye from right to left then back about every ten minutes on battery power. Now here's the twist; the screen goes black a short time after the flicker. In order to regain control of my X60s running XP pro, I have to F4 (sleep) then Fn to wake -- screen then reappears. Happened before and after SP3. Any thoughts welcome.

UPDATE: Running on latest BIOS. Think I've isolated the problem. No flicker/blank screen with my 4 cell battery. No flicker/blank screen on AC with battery pulled. Only seems to appear with my 8 cell. Since my original 8 cell battery was swapped out on a recall I've experienced nothing but gremlin-like behavior. Even short battery life that never approached my original run times. Have minimal use on the replacement battery too. Is there a chance I have an 8 cell replacement dud and it can be replaced under warranty?

UPDATE: Getting flicker with my 4 cell battery but no blank screen issue.

UPDATE: My 4 cell just went blank. Same symptoms as 8 cell. Flicker/blank black screen.

If you are lurking Lenovo, please provide a fix. Thank you.

I have exactly the same symptoms on my X60s. I thought it was perhaps my motherboard or battery packing up but after reading this thread I'm not so sure. I happens both with my tired 4 cell battery and a virtually new 8 cell battery.

I've already disabled igfxtray and igfxpers long before my problem occurred so it's not that.

The problem only started about 8 weeks ago. I think after I did a system update via the Lenovo update utility. I believe it's caused buy software although I've not been able to isolate it yet.

tadler · #10 Post by **tadler** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 4:56 am

i have the same problem with my x60s on battery (8 cell). no black screen, just flickering, but it happens more often than 10 minutes.

is there any known reason AND solution? this drives me mad...

thanks!

zodiac · #11 Post by **zodiac** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 2:10 pm

Same problem here. Still no solution?

My X60s, before I bought it, had been on factory repair for bad screen wiring. Maybe thats the issue? A wire gone loose or similar...

thermiGR · #12 Post by **thermiGR** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 5:41 pm

Same flickering problem on T60 running on battery.
Changed power manangment->global power settings->andvanced->power manangment cpu and pci from automatic to disable:

Flickering problem fixed.
I think that it is possible to make the same from bios.

But I think that the power is more now when laptop is idle. Now never have wattage less than 12w. Before change I had less than 9watts in idle

AFTER 2 DAYS : Again the same flicker problem....

AFTER 25 DAYS: The flickering problem disappeared for 25 days using the normal shutting down or the hibernation. After 25 days I used again the sleep mode and turning on again the laptop the problem is here again. After hibernation the problem disappeared again. So I will never use again the sleep mode...

x60t screen odd flicker problem - anyone experience this?

x60t screen odd flicker problem - anyone experience this?

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