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Richhep Author

Level 1

8 points

Display flashes to solid black intermittently

I originally posted this in the wrong category for the MacBook Pro instead of the Monitor catagory. I am wondering if anyone else has the same problem. I posted the following last night.

*Still an unknown issue with Apple Tech Support*? After 2 calls to product specialists and apparently an undocumented issue by any customers contacting tech support this seems to be a widespread worldwide issue. In one form or another with no answer after several months of the computer release displays are blinking, flickering and flashing to name a few descriptions of this problem. Mine flashes solid black for a fraction of a second and comes right back on. I have had this issue in the power saving mode as well as the better performance mode so that kills that theory. To this point there has been no pattern that I have been able to detect. I can go for weeks without a blink and all of a sudden get 2 in 5 minutes. Usually I am pretty good at troubleshooting but this problem has no pattern and is so intermittent I think it's going to be a tough one and I truly believe Apple has no clue as of yet so they are not addressing it publicly or to individuals calling in with the problem. I purchased my computer November 29th. I used it for over a month without ever seeing the issue. When the new monitor came out I still did not experience any issues with either display in the area of blinking, flickering or flashing. There is a video on Youtube that I have located showing the exact same issue as mine. Though the person on Youtube has a non-apple display and mine is the new 24" Apple display and it is the exact same issue this rules out the problem being the external display. Well, I can check that off as well. This is the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-dQIgfIFsI Does anyone else have the exact same issue as mine? I am thinking maybe it is something in the 10.5.6 update. Who Knows?

*BTW this problem is not at all heat related.* It can happen during heavy use or very light use at low temps. I have purchased many newly released Apple Computers over the years and have actually had great luck with them. I hope this is not my first lemon.

MacBook Pro (late 2008) 2.53GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.6), Apple LED Cinema Display (24" flat panel)

Posted on Feb 10, 2009 11:35 PM

515 replies

Nov 20, 2010 12:34 PM in response to kcamp

I am also having this issue.

Mac Pro 2009 2.26GHz 8 Core, ATI Radeon HD 5770, 24 inch LED display

Is this happening with the new 27 inch?

Nov 26, 2010 12:06 PM in response to macguypersondude

For me it sometimes just blacks out every so often.I was able to buy one before they discontinued. I hope this issue does not get worse. I still cannot believe apple hasn't addressed this. They probably don't want to acknowledge it because then they will have to fix it, which is probably why they discontinued it in the first place.

sbudhram

Level 1

0 points

Nov 27, 2010 3:13 AM in response to Richhep

Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon, but I may have found a solution that works for me.

I'm using a 2nd Gen Macbook Air with a 30'' Cinema Display, and I was also having the black flash problem intermittently, about once every five minutes or so. I swapped out the surge protector I was using (a no-name, cheap one) with the high quality one I was using on my home theatre setup. I've been using my computer for a couple hours since and haven't had any flashing. Even changing resolutions seems to be ok (previously I was occasionally getting the pink/green issue).

I'll post again if it comes back, because this might be a false positive solution. This surge protector though, is specifically designed to remove line noise before it gets to your devices. The random flashing symptom fits with a power spiking issue, so hopefully this is a permanent fix for me.

I should also note that I've had this monitor for years, but I've only now started to see this problem since using it with my Macbook Air and a dual-link DVI adapter. This leads me to think the problem isn't with any one device, but a combination of all 3 (the computer, adapter, and monitor) not dealing with the power signal correctly.

Message was edited by: sbudhram

sbudhram

Level 1

0 points

Nov 27, 2010 2:20 PM in response to sbudhram

Yep, it was a false positive. Still happening.
It seemed ok though after I unplugged everything and plugged it in again though... it only started happening after the computer went to sleep and woke up again. Then 3 flashes within a minute.
Oh well.

Iksi

Level 1

0 points

Dec 1, 2010 3:36 AM in response to Iksi

Got the led panel replaced last week at an official Apple Reseller last week. Everything is working fine again.

Dec 21, 2010 8:20 AM in response to sbudhram

My 20" Cinema display finally started shutting down after intermittent black outs. I removed the LCD panel assm and tracked the problem down. If you google 1117-3.3SJ, you'll get a hit with a topic about Cinema Display. It is very informative.

There are are three points of failure in these monitors which most people have reported:

power brick or inverter board:
The power LED blinks a code. The main voltage reguator LM2676 weakens due to heat and cannot supply clean steady voltage to the inverter circuitry. Upgrading the power brick will only provide a temporary fix until the main voltage regulator fails. The inverter board must be replaced.

cable assembly: bending the cable too much can cause crimps in the wires. This is nasty to replace as there are cables bundles everywhere that have to be replaced. You cannot fix this problem since you cannot buy the cable assembly.

main board voltage regulators: there are two voltage regulators on the main board. The LM2676 supplies +12V, +5V, and 3.3V @ 3A. The other 1117-3.3SJ supplies 3.3V @ 800mA to the microcontroller that controls the monitor. The 1117-3.3SJ microcontroller was overheating and shutting down. When the thermal breaker trips, the microcontroller loses power and shuts off or "blinks" if the power loss is momentary.

The only way to fix the problem is to replace the voltage regulator with a higher amperage part to keep the heat down. If you want to attempt a repair, you can get a LM1086 3.3V @ 1.5A in a DPAK or DPAK2 package. That should lower the heat generated by the voltage regulator and prevent blinks or shutdowns.

The main culprit here is heat. The case is sealed so the heat can only be dissipated by the aluminum case. The high temperatures degrade the regulator over time until it fails. They also get more sensitive to heat and trip the thermal fuse more frequently before they fail.

Jan 8, 2011 4:52 PM in response to davidb367

We've checked the monitor inside and out. We replaced one of the voltage regulators. The monitor survived the transplant.

The longer the Mac is on, the more frequent the blackouts. I've rebooted the Mac with extensions off. I'm really starting to think this is a software problem.

fellow

Level 1

84 points

Jan 9, 2011 3:05 PM in response to sbudhram

I can confidently say that my problem, and yours, if it is the same, is caused by the mini-dvi (mini-displayport) to dual-link dvi adapter not getting enough power. I found two leads on an earlier thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1837465&start=90&tstart=0

Firmware v1.01 (found in About this Mac, more details, USB hub between CPU and 30-inch display)

The adapter (dongle) need more like 1Amp, not the 500mA on a laptop USB port.

Perhaps firmware 1.02 or 1.03 corrects the power demand, or maybe it is another issue. In my case, the external monitor would go black when the power supply was removed from the laptop. It often did it at random times too after working alright for the first year of use. The laptop was operating on the discrete (high performance) GPU.

To solve the problem, I connected an iPhone USB charger to an extension and plugged the mini-displayport (mini-dvi) to dual-link dvi adapter to that. This give more power than the laptop port. The monitor returned to normal immediately.

Apple is still sending me a replacement, and the senior tech said firmware v1.02 was the most recent. However, I've also read that this is not a solution.

I hope this helps others. Please ask apple to flag this as a KNOWN ISSUE. There have been more than 500 posts (386 on this thread alone) on this issue. It is also noted in the apple store reviews this may be apple's worst product.

Thanks,

fellow

Jan 10, 2011 7:06 AM in response to fellow

I was finally able to reproduce the problem at will. If I run Bejeweled3 (requires Flash) I can get the 20" Aluminum ACD monitor to shutdown after about 20 minutes of play. It is definitely something to do with the graphics driver and Flash makes the problem much worse.

The strange thing is that replacing the monitor with a different kind causes no problems.

I could not get the monitor to fail connected to a PC playing Bejeweled3. I'm going to update Flash and see if that helps. I'm also going to remove Flash and see what happens.

2008 MacBookPro 15" - Blinks and shuts off
2006 MacPro (88000GT) - Blinks and shuts off
AM2 PC (88000GT) - Works Fine

Jan 11, 2011 12:34 AM in response to Richhep

I advice people to report this bug directly to Apple aswell.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/

I choose Mac Pro feedback box.

FaDn

Level 1

0 points

Feb 5, 2011 10:43 AM in response to MazMacMan

Apologies if this has already been mentioned in the 24 prior pages of posts, which I haven't reviewed in detail.

This problem has occurred in three separate 30" Cinema Display monitors, and is easily fixed as follows:

1. When the monitor flashes to black (and back on again) repeatedly, unplug the power supply to the Cinema Display. It is important that the power to the power supply be turned off; disconnecting the cable between the power supply and the monitor won't work. Go for a walk, get coffee, smell the roses, meditate, whatever for 5 minutes. Then plug in the power supply to the Cinema Display. It will work fine for some hours (and so will you).

2. When you are not using the monitor for long periods (several hours to overnight), turn it off. This is done conveniently by, in System Preferences:Monitors:Cinema HD: Options, setting "Display Power Button" to "Turns the display on and off". Pulling the plug will work too.

Message was edited by: FaDn

Rahabib

Level 1

0 points

Feb 9, 2011 8:25 AM in response to FaDn

Just wanted to state this is likely an OSX issue, and not hardware related!

I run a triple boot system (Ubuntu 10.04, Win7, and of course OSX 10.6.4) all on my Macbook Pro 5,3. Win7 same adapter, monitor and everything - works fine. Ubuntu works just fine as well. Its just OSX thats flashing.

I booted into OSX for the first time in 6 months and find its still an issue - back to Linux I guess.

mgmhunt

Level 1

8 points

Mar 6, 2011 1:49 PM in response to Rahabib

Agreed. Bootcamp doesn't display this behaviour, normal boot into MacOS does (10.6.6). Video driver issue!

Mar 10, 2011 4:00 PM in response to Richhep

I have the same problem with my MBP... very annoying with video editing and movie watching...just about anything.

Mar 11, 2011 12:47 PM in response to Ghillie

I have a quad core i7 iMac with a 24" ACD and do have the problem.

Display flashes to solid black intermittently