Q: 24" LED Display with 2011 15" MPB

gekkonaut wrote:

 

Also, people who still have the issue - can you confirm your Boot ROM version is now MBP81.0047.B1E?

Yes Boot ROM version is MBP81.0047.B1E after firmware installation. And no it doesn't fix the issue with ACD 24".

iFrodo wrote:

And no it doesn't fix the issue with ACD 24".

bummer

I’m sure the NEXT firmware update will fix the issue. Or not.

Meanwhile I watch my flickering premium hardware ;-)

Mine got worse.

Is there a twitter hashtag for this? It is getting ridiculous

May I suggest #Thunderboltfail

Same here, seems it actually made it a bit worse. 6 months is enough now. They basically been lying to me about an update coming out. Will call them up again, then log a formal complaint.

I recently go an 11" air and also applied the latest firmware. They don't do anything. It wa merely a plug for the thunderbolt displays.  So it isn't a fix for us. 

I also have spoken with Apple extensively.  All the way up to the top.  Apple is again wanting me to return to the genius bar so they can again see what I am talking about.  If you are seeking resolution, seek it from outside sources that can force apple to act.  That's the point I've come to.  Apple would rather force customers to upgrade and make a few $$$ in the process. 

Really hate having to do this with apple.  After such a long time of great service. 

Another Thunderbolt related software update: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1451, on the OS side this time updating an impressive list of kexts, frameworks and other things.

Of course, this is still not solving the issue with ACD 24"...

Ok, I have an experiment for anyone who has the necessary adaptors to test.  Here's the deal, a blogger is uses his iMac 27" (2010 model w/ dispaly port) as a display with target display mode feature.  He coincidentally has a MacBook Pro 15" (2011 model with Thunderbolt) and his specific combination produced the intermittent display issues on the iMac27".

Note, he has other devices and only the MacBookPro 15" would cause this.  Video can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khm7XxDE5p8&feature=player_embedded

Now, according to him, he resolves this by simply plugging the MacBookPro into another display port monitor (non-iMac) so it resets and then plugs it back into his MacBookPro.  Quoting him directly:

"One final “glitch” that’s popped up seems to be relegated to a particular set of circumstances.On our 15” 2011 MacBook Pro when using a 2010 iMac as a display, we found that the video connection became unstable...The only solution that we’ve found at the moment is to hook the MacBook Pro up to a DisplayPort-equipped monitor (not an iMac) and let the video go through its connection there. Once it was reset, we were able to disconnect the MacBook Pro and reconnect it to the iMac."

So, to try something similar, if anyone has non-cinema display monitor to try with and then reconnect to cinema display it may resolve the matter. I know this is wishful thinking on who has an extra display port monitor, so perhaps using an adaptor such as the display port - HDMI or displayport to DVI to connect first and then change it back to the display port.

I feell this is the best chance at reaching a home remedy to the problem.  Please reply with your findings if you happen to have the necessary adaptors and/or extra display port monitor.

I often use my MBP 15" pluged in a LCD TV via DP>HDMI adapter and it works just fine there. But it didn't solve the problem. I've used my MBP with another display and it worked too. But the flickering and black outs continue...

If you're also following this thread for the Mac Mini, someone has gotten their flicker down to about 1 per week by simply extending the cables.  His theory is that the voltage output on the thunderbolt port is a little too high for the 24" ACD.  Extending it decreases the voltage enough to fix it.  So, I bought a 15' ACD extension cable to test.  I will report back.

I'm having the same issue.  I just got a brand new macbook pro 15" with the i7 quad core 2.3 GHz processor, 8 Gb of ram, etc. and it's flickering with my 24" LED CD.  I took it to the Apple store today and couldn't reproduce the issue and even did an update in the store with the "genius".  Now that I am home I plugged it in again and it's still having the same issue.  Getting very frustrated!!! I really hope Apple starts replacing the 24's with the 27" Thunderbolts for those of us that need it.

I bought a DisplayPort extension cable for my Macbook Pro17 + CinemaDisplay 24 and it didn’t work. The CD still has 1-5 black-outs a minute.

Just to consolidate things a bit. There appear to be two updates that may be potentially related to this (both release 14 Sept 2011)

EFI 2.2 update (MBP):

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1450

Thunderbolt Software Update:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1451

I've only installed the first one and so far I'm not seeing the issue .. but .. I'm on the particular display where this is less intermittent .. so quite likely you'll see me back on here in a few minutes cursing...

I'm going to try to install the second one as well..

I've already installed both of them... and it solves nothing. 4 black screens while wrinting this... 5... 6.

For the folks who have installed both updates where it hasn't fixed the issue...are you on Lion or Snow Leopard?