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screen flashing upon plug/unplug power

X200/X201/X220 (including equivalent tablet models) and X300/X301 Series
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aag
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Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2007 9:24 pm
Location: Zurich, Switzerland

screen flashing upon plug/unplug power

#1 Post by aag » Thu Dec 09, 2010 12:32 pm

The screen of my X201 flashes briefly each time I plug or unplug the power supply. That is only mildly annoying, but one serious side effect is that all virtual machines (including VirtualXP) disconnect, and then try to reconnect, all devices since they "think" that the screen resolution has changed. As a consequence, I have to re-login to each machine etc - which is a major pain in the neck.

Can anybody tell me how to prevent the "screen flashing upon change charging status" issue from occurring? I have a hunch that there may be a suitable power option that might prevent this. Many, many thanks in advance!

aag
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Re: screen flashing upon plug/unplug power

#2 Post by aag » Sun Apr 24, 2011 2:48 am

BUMP! Really nobody has experienced the above?

Harryc
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Re: screen flashing upon plug/unplug power

#3 Post by Harryc » Sun Apr 24, 2011 5:09 am


aag
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Re: screen flashing upon plug/unplug power

#4 Post by aag » Mon Apr 25, 2011 2:30 pm

Thanks for this helpful suggestion. Most wickedly, however, the option to turn off the "display power saving technology" which is visible in the screenshot, is not available on the very same page of my Intel software! This is simply cruel - I apparently have no option to turn off the darn thing!!!

One reason why I am most desperate is that all my virtual machines lose connections everytime i plug/unplug as a result of the screen flash!

aag
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Re: screen flashing upon plug/unplug power

#5 Post by aag » Thu May 19, 2011 11:30 am

bump! Really nobody in this distinguished forum of experts can help on this one???

bananaman
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Re: screen flashing upon plug/unplug power

#6 Post by bananaman » Thu May 19, 2011 5:42 pm

It's the refresh rate changing from 60Hz to 50Hz. Set the refresh rate on AC to 50Hz.

aag
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Re: screen flashing upon plug/unplug power

#7 Post by aag » Fri May 20, 2011 12:39 am

bananaman wrote:It's the refresh rate changing from 60Hz to 50Hz. Set the refresh rate on AC to 50Hz.
Thanks for trying to help, and good idea in principle - but unfortunately incorrect :oops: . The Thinkpads, like all other notebooks, is not powered by AC, but by DC.

The black brick that sits between the mains and the notebook converts universal AC (125-220V) to lower-voltage DC (20V in the case of the current Thinkpad generation; 16V for earlier Thinkpads). There is no AC entering the computer!

Daniel Bakker
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Re: screen flashing upon plug/unplug power

#8 Post by Daniel Bakker » Fri May 20, 2011 1:47 am

there is no AC entering the Thinkpad, but mains power is generally referred to as AC in english. that's also how it is referred to in the power settings everywhere in your thinkpad. so, what bananaman means is: set the display refresh to 50Hz on mains power.

aag
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Location: Zurich, Switzerland

Re: screen flashing upon plug/unplug power

#9 Post by aag » Fri May 20, 2011 1:53 am

I did try toggling the resolution/refresh rate to 1280x800x50Hz and to 1280x800x60Hz. The flashing upon disconnecting/reconnecting external power persist in either settings. It was certainly worth a try though, and I appreciate the help.

My question, therefore, is: how to disable the "Intel Display Power Savings Technology"? In other threads it is stated that this can be done using the Intel Graphics popup, but my version of the popup - wickedly - does not offer the option to disable said technology.

emtee3511
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Re: screen flashing upon plug/unplug power

#10 Post by emtee3511 » Fri May 20, 2011 6:31 am

@ aag -- "option to turn off the "display power saving technology" which is visible in the screenshot, is not available"


First in Graphics Properties make sure under Power / Power Plan, you have selected Maximum Performance on both Plugged In and Battery.

Then check "Battery Setting" under Graphics Properties / Power / Power Features / Graphics Power Plan Settings. That's where my X200 has "Display Power Saving Technology".
emtee3511
X201 3680-AL6 + X200 7459-BW3 (Glossy)
+ X1 Carbon-Gen 6 20KH-002JUS + X1 Carbon-Gen 3 20BS-S22-A00
+ X1 Carbon-Gen 3 20BS-S22-A00 + X1 Carbon-Gen 3 20BS-S0Y-500
+ X1 Carbon-Gen 2 20A8-SOU-U00
+ W520-4276-37U + P51s 20JY-000AUS

aag
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Re: screen flashing upon plug/unplug power

#11 Post by aag » Sat May 21, 2011 4:16 am

I must humbly apologize to both Bananaman and David Bakker, since they are absolutely right - and I feel a bit stupid! Anyway, I have fully resolved the issue. Because this may be useful to others, here is the solution:

The issues occurs when the refresh rate in the scheme valid when the notebook is AC-powered, and the refresh rate in the scheme valid when the notebook is battery-powered are different from each other. For example, the refresh rate may be 50Hz when AC-powered but 60Hz when on battery power, or viceversa.

In such situations the screen will flash, and screen resolution/refresh will be reset, with all the negative consequences (such as losing network connections in any virtual machines that may be running).

Solution: set the same screen refresh rate for both AC-powered and battery powered schemes.

theLastBug
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Re: screen flashing upon plug/unplug power

#12 Post by theLastBug » Wed Jan 09, 2013 7:29 am

I have W520 / Win-7 Ultimate 64. Two months after a fresh install it started to have the same screen flashing issue.

I've noticed it started after Windows Update automatically updated the Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000 device driver and/or Control Panel. A new such icon showed up in the Quick Launch menu.

While searching this issue, I found the following:
1. my W520 4270-CTO has TWO graphic adapters:
- Nvidia Quadro 1000M
- Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000
The System Information of Win-7 only shows ONE graphic adapter. It used to show only the nVidia, and now it shows only the Intel. I am not sure why it changed but I think that its due to the that same Windows Update. Intel also took over managing displays when I dock it to multiple displays.

I convinced myself that the laptop has two different GPU-s by installing TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.6. It's a nice application! It detects and shows BOTH graphic adapters. For each, it shows GPU speed, temperature, bandwidth, power usage graphs etc.

So back to the 50 Hz problem. Both Nvidia and Intel adapters have lots of options, controlling anything from screen resolution to 3D. I finally found this thread regarding the Intel one. Thanks for all the useful directions. At first, the relevant option, "Disable Refresh Rate Switching" did not show up. So, following and summarizing the above advise here are the steps:

1. Open the Intel Graphics And Media Control Panel by selecting Graphics Properties at the Intel(R) HD Graphics quicklaunch icon).
2. select the Power tab.
3. Select the Plugged-In mode. Set it to Maximum Performance.
4.Select the Battery mode. Due to step 3, a few more options will now show up (hurray!!) called Power Conservation Features. Use the opportunity to uncheck all three options, not only the "Disable Refresh Rate Switching". I've read elsewhere that Display Power Saving Technology would tweak dynamically the brightness and contrast based on what's on the screen, etc other innovative power savings ideas ...) I did leave the Battery in the Balance mode, for whatever that means.

vassilis
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Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: screen flashing upon plug/unplug power

#13 Post by vassilis » Sat Aug 19, 2017 7:03 am

Had the same issue lately. It was fixed when I switched the display settings to maximum performance through the Intel Graphic Settings.

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