Display flashes to solid black intermittently

the problem is, I am already on my 3rd adapter and the problem goes away in Windows and Ubuntu. So how is that a hardware problem?

It would appear that I have had the problem fixed. See my post on page 12 of the 'sister' discussion:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2765598?start=165&tstart=0

You mentioned the monitor not working with other machines, like a Mac Pro, so the "conditions" aren't exactly the same, even if other machines like the new Early 2011 MBP's weren't working with your ACD as well, it might be that it was just a bad ACD. If Apple had discovered a hardware fix like that, I'm sure they would have started accepting more of our monitors or contacting those of us with open cases to start that process.

Thanks for updating us though and glad to hear you're out of this nightmare!

I agree the conditions are not the same (ie Mac Pro rather than MBP; I don't know what they used back in the workshop), but the symptoms were identical to all the videos I have seen posted. I was surprised that a logic board change to my 24" ACD fixed the problem. To me, that would imply that there might be a 'bad' batch of 24" out there that have an issue with the latest Macs. My hunch on why Apple have not taken back all the monitors so far is that they are out of warranty (as mine was, but being in Australa, maybe there are a lot less people with the issue) and maybe the results take time to get back to Cupertino. In my specific case, I think Apple have been working hard to fix the problem. Obviously I can't say the same about everyone else.

Hope they fix your's soon.

As we've been discussing on the "sister thread," an official update is now released that specifically mentions external display + Thunderbolt support!!

Screenshot below:

Did this update resolve the issue for anyone? I actually never had any issues prior to the update, but AFTER I installed this update on my new MBP 2011 it is doing it and frequently.

I have installed that update on my 2010 MBKPro 17" I7 with the nvidia GT330M graphics card.

I bought the computer in June of 2010 and ocasionally get the intermittent flashes to black on my external monitor.

I still get them aftter this update and witha all software updates up to date. So, for me anyway, the issue still exists.

This update has not fixed the issue for me. My brand new Macbook Pro(15") is connected to my 24" LED monitor and this problem is still super annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!

I CAN NO LONGER BRAG ABOUT THE QUALITY OF APPLE HARDWARE. 😟

I've had the same problem. I have an eBay bought but near new Apple 24" Cinema Display, Mac Pro 3.1, ATI Radeon HD5770 video card, and two Dr Bott 6' extension cables. After some hours of mucking around I found that it is not electromagnetic interference, cable shielding doesn't help, and there's nothing wrong with the Apple hardware and software. In my case, I found that it was a simple problem of the Dr Bott miniDisplayPort connectors failing to make a good electrical connection with the Apple Cinema Display cable plug. By holding the plug and socket connection together by hand, I can make the display stay lit. If I let go, it blinks off and on at random intervals. I was lucky that it was happening not at all when the ACD was plugged directly into the Mac, thereby eliminating the Mac, software, screen and video cards as potential culprits. But when I plugged the extension cables in, it would flash every second or two, starting immediately. By putting some force axially on the extension cord miniDisplayPort plug and socket, to push them harder together, the display stopped flashing on and off and did not flash again. Only one of the plug / socket connections had this issue, the other was fine. I cable tied the connectors together to keep some mechanical load on them.

Duncan Quick

Electrical Engineer

Melbourne, Australia.

The update helped a bit. Its less frequently (now its every 20 minutes instead of every 5), but it still occurs. Good thing this thing can triple boot into two competent OSs.

I'm also having screen flickering/tearing and blacking out problems. I have a 24" ACD (16 months old software/firmware all up to date) a MacBook Air (2 years old) and a brand new (purchased today) 21.5" quad core i5 iMac. I had the black screen occur when using the ACD with my MacBook air about 2-3 times a day and a screen flicker/tear every now and then for the last 6 months or so. I put it down to the onboard graphics and shared memory not being able to cope and lived with it - it wasn't a major problem.

However, it's a lot worse with my iMac and started to get worse the longer it was plugged in (about 4 hours use). I also tried applying a slight pressure to the connector and found that I could increase the rate of and move the flickering/tearing a further 4 inches up the screen depending which direction I applied the pressure - the blackouts didn't occur at all during this time although it was only for a short amount of time. I tried unplugging the ACD and plugging it back in and ensuring the cables were not tangled or under any tension. As yet no flickering or blackouts for about 2 hours now.

FIngers crossed...

I've been using a 13" 1st gen unibody Macbook with a 24" ACD. Never had an issues. Two days ago, I got a new 15" MBP i7, and it's flickering so often, it's hard to get anything done.

I would be willing to wager that if people had bootcamp installed with windows 7 (or anything) their display would work fine. It seems I am the only one who has tested this, and its definately an Apple driver issue.

I have just seen the exact same behavior on a PC with a Nvidia 8400S graphics card and a Planar 17" LCD display. I have to concur that it is a graphics driver issue. Happens about twice a day when the graphics card starts getting hot and the fan speed has increased.

i've been having this problem as well. I read some of the posts here and unplugged the AC cord and used the battery for a bit then plugged the AC back in and it seems to work better. There is definitely a connection between the AC and Battery and the external monitor blinking.