Screen turns off while switching battery-AC (vv)

[bylund]

I've tried to find an answer to this on the official Lenovo forums, but nobody there was able to find a solution. I've always had better experience with this forum, so I'm posting the same question.

Every time I switch between battery and AC power (either way, always the same result), it takes a second or two and then the screen turns off for 0.5-1 second before it is yet again turned on. There seems to be nothing affecting my programs or files and there are no errors reported in the logs, yet this is quite annoying. I have never seen this problem before, and obviously many others stand dumbfounded too.

I have located that the problem has something to do with the IGFX services running on the computer. As suggested by someone on the Lenovo forums, I tried killing those services and then unplugged the power cord - and the problem was there no more. Same thing when plugging in the power cord again. So I know it must have something to do with the Intel graphics, which is why I posted on the Intel forums as well (but no response... at all).

Any thoughts of what may be causing this? And, more importantly, how I can solve these problems. I doubt it should be the case that the screen turns absolutely black for a second when switching between power sources (it is not dimmed, it is turned off). I have a brand new X201i 3249CTO with LED screen and run Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. All the drivers are up to date, at least according to the version numbers posted on the Lenovo support site.

Many thanks for any suggestions you might have!

[penartur]

Just willing to share my experience: if you will disable intel services to prevent screen turn off or dimming etc, you will also lose automatic switch of resolution when connecting laptop to an external screen.

[bylund]

Thanks, penartur, that's good to know.

I take it nobody else is or has been experiencing this kind of problem. This doesn't make any sense to me - how can I have a problem with the Intel services turning the screen off (not dimming) when switching between power sources that nobody else has ever heard of? That can't be right. And since everything else (and I mean everything) is working perfectly, there shouldn't be a hardware problem or anything like that. So it should be a software problem with the Intel services - and thousands if not millions should use the same services. And nobody has this problem?! Unbelievable.

[penartur]

Thanks, penartur, that's good to know.

I take it nobody else is or has been experiencing this kind of problem. This doesn't make any sense to me - how can I have a problem with the Intel services turning the screen off (not dimming) when switching between power sources that nobody else has ever heard of? That can't be right. And since everything else (and I mean everything) is working perfectly, there shouldn't be a hardware problem or anything like that. So it should be a software problem with the Intel services - and thousands if not millions should use the same services. And nobody has this problem?! Unbelievable.

I believe that all such problems are caused either by intel's igfx utilities (which primary goal is to change resolutions automatically when another display is connected) or, less likely, by power manager. From your detailed description it seems that it is the bug in intel igfx utilities.
What is your graphics driver version? Usually there is a huge lag between Intel releasing new driver version and lenovo putting it on their website. It may even reach half a year or so.

[bylund]

I believe that all such problems are caused either by intel's igfx utilities (which primary goal is to change resolutions automatically when another display is connected) or, less likely, by power manager. From your detailed description it seems that it is the bug in intel igfx utilities.
What is your graphics driver version? Usually there is a huge lag between Intel releasing new driver version and lenovo putting it on their website. It may even reach half a year or so.

Right, I have noticed that Lenovo is sometimes extremely slow at approving (improving?) released drivers. I have the latest driver made availalable on Lenovo's web site, which is 8.15.10.2253. It was released by Lenovo on 12/28/2011.

The latest driver from Intel is 8.15.10.2321, so there should be no major differences. I am a bit reluctant to download and install it, however, due to potential incompatibility issues.

From the Intel Driver Update Utility:

Product Detected Intel® HD Graphics
Current Driver Installed 8.15.10.2253
A customized computer manufacturer driver is installed on your computer. The Intel Driver Update Utility is not able to update the driver. Installing a generic Intel driver instead of the customized computer manufacturer driver may cause technical issues. Contact your computer manufacturer for the latest driver for your computer.

[craigmontHunter]

try the intel version - download the .zip version, and manually update the drivers. if something happens and they don't work, then return to the lenovo version.

Another possiblity is that power manager is changing your refresh rate from 60hz to 50hz when you change power sources, which would cause the same flickering (my T41 used to do the same thing untill a driver update)

[bylund]

try the intel version - download the .zip version, and manually update the drivers. if something happens and they don't work, then return to the lenovo version.

I tried, but nowadays (in this modern day and age) we, the users, are not allowed to update drivers. At least, so it seems. I tried to install the driver from Intel.com but only get an error message: "The driver being installed is not validated for this computer. Please obtain the appropriate driver from the computer manufacturer. Setup will exit."

I guess it is a warranty issue?

Another possiblity is that power manager is changing your refresh rate from 60hz to 50hz when you change power sources, which would cause the same flickering (my T41 used to do the same thing untill a driver update)

I've checked power manager, and it does have settings to change from the set 60Hz to 50Hz after X minutes to save battery. I have set this setting to "never" but the problem is still there; AC and battery power plans are both set to 60Hz. (I tried at 50Hz too, but that doesn't change anything.)

[penartur]

I tried, but nowadays (in this modern day and age) we, the users, are not allowed to update drivers. At least, so it seems. I tried to install the driver from Intel.com but only get an error message: "The driver being installed is not validated for this computer. Please obtain the appropriate driver from the computer manufacturer. Setup will exit."

You should not run an .exe file from the archive.
Open the device manager (WinR, devmgmt.msc), then find your graphics adapter there, right-click, "update driver", "browse my computer", and give to it the folder where extracted files are located.

[bylund]

Suddenly, when shifting from AC to battery, I noticed that the problem is gone. I did install a new monitor driver as well as the new power management driver about a week ago, but that didn't make a difference. I've also installed a couple of applications, but nothing that should have any effect on the Intel graphics drivers. Also, I installed an updated driver for Thinkpad bluetooth with enhanced data rate and that turned on my bluetooth antenna (which was always off before).

Somehow the problem is gone now. I've tried to dis- and reconnect the power cord multiple times, even after restart, and it seems the screen works fine - it doesn't shut off. Turning on or off bluetooth radio doesn't have any effect.

It is a mystery. But I am very happy that this annoying screen shutoff is gone.