X60 6.14.10.4785 Video Driver Problems?

[adrian.chung]

I've got an X60 with 3GB (1x2GB and 1x1GB sticks) of RAM, running BIOS 2.10, and the latest power management and power manager software.

I recently installed the latest Intel GMA 950 driver (.4785) and now when I plug in then remove AC power my system goes nuts.

If I have both DIMMs installed when I unplug the AC adapter, my screen turns funny colours, the mouse pointer freezes and about 5 seconds later I get a bluescreen and a reboot with bugcheck 1000008e. Happens consistently everytime.

If I leave only a single DIMM installed, doesn't matter whether it's the 2GB or 1GB DIMM, when I unplug the adapter I get a constant screen flash, where the screen flickers once or twice a second between various states of on and black.

After tracking down the older .4693 driver and reinstalling that version, there are absolutely no problems anymore.

Anyone else have this problem? I see over in the T6x forums reports of a similar nature.

[tomh009]

Why do you need to run a generic Intel driver rather than the ThinkPad-specific one? And if generic Intel, why specifically the latest build?

[adrian.chung]

This is the Lenovo provided latest driver from Lenovo site. The Intel drivers have completely different versioning.

[Jackboot]

I had the exact same problem with my X60s. The screen would flash on/off when I unplugged/plugged in. It would also happen if I went from a full-screen movie to non-fullscreen.

I solved it by simply uninstalling the Intel video driver and then downloading the latest version direct from Intel's website. This was just yesterday. The newest version is .4820 with a release date of 4/20/2007 and this is what I have installed now. No problems anymore.

For some reason the "new" intel video driver that Lenovo prompts to install with system update is actually an old version - older than the most current version on Intel's website which is not exactly new (from 4/20/2007)!

[sugo]

Lenovo's driver is based on Intel's generic driver thus Lenovo is always behind.

Was there a compelling reason to change the working driver in the first place? I personally don't tend to mess with drivers, BIOS and firmwares unless there is a fix or new feature I need.

[tomh009]

Ah, sorry, I was looking at the Vista driver, which is version 7.14.10.1244 ... the OP didn't specify the operating system.

[Jackboot]

As far as I could tell when I trying to fix my problem the Intel drivers and the Lenovo drivers are the exact same. The one that I was prompted to install by Lenovo system update was just an older version of a version available directly from Intel.

Am I mistaken? Does Lenovo actually produce custom builds of these drivers?

[brovig]

I too have had this problem of flickering when I disconnect the AC. It was intermittent. I had to either reboot or put it in sleep mode and restart to get it back to normal. The driver version was .4785.

I've now installed the .4820 version directly from Intel and will see if that fixes the problem.

I have also experienced another problem which may be related to this video driver. When I connect an external monitor the image on this moinitor (but not the internal one) cycles between on and off. It blacks out every few seconds and it lasts another few seconds.

Have any of you experienced that?

I note that all but one of the posters on this thread are Canadians. is this a coincidence or are we part of a bad batch of Thinkpads?!

[brovig]

And one other thing... I note that the recent drivers have a refresh rate of 50Hz rather than the more standard 60Hz. There's no option for setting it to other than 50Hz.

I'm quite sure an earlier release of the driver had a rate of 60Hz.

I wonder if this can be the cause of the external monitor problem?

[Jackboot]

And one other thing... I note that the recent drivers have a refresh rate of 50Hz rather than the more standard 60Hz. There's no option for setting it to other than 50Hz.

I'm quite sure an earlier release of the driver had a rate of 60Hz.

I wonder if this can be the cause of the external monitor problem?

I have .4820 and no problems with the flicker anymore.

Also, I have 60Hz refresh rate.

This is on an X60s with XP.

[brovig]

Hmmm... that's strange. Mind you, you have the X60s vs my X60. But I see that poster in other threads also report 50Hz even with X60s and recent drivers. Strange...

Do you have a choice of 50 and 60Hz or is 60Hz the only option listed? And what monitor is yours set for?

Thanks...

[Jackboot]

"hide modes that this monitor cannot display" is checked
I only have an option of 60Hz.
My monitor is listed as "Thinkpad display 1024 x 768"
Driver date is 16/04/2007 and version 6.14.10.4820

[brovig]

I have the same version 6.14.10.4820 video driver as you, but what about your monitor driver? What version is that? I have 4.0.

[Jackboot]

I have the same version 6.14.10.4820 video driver as you, but what about your monitor driver? What version is that? I have 4.0.

Hrm weird I have version 3.0.0.0, dated 09/09/2005.

[brovig]

So perhaps that's the culprit. Which I think makes sense. My guess is that it's the monitor driver that determines what refesh rate it is capable of receiving.

The only problem with that theory: when I roll back the driver to v 3.0, I'm still left with 50Hz as the only refresh rate option!