Richhep

Q: 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

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Q: Display flashes to solid black intermittently

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  • by Experiment-626,

    Experiment-626 Experiment-626 Jul 31, 2009 5:15 AM in response to Richhep
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 31, 2009 5:15 AM in response to Richhep
    Just as another data point...
    This is not limited to the MBP. My MacBook Air also experiences this intermittent blackout.
  • by John566,

    John566 John566 Aug 4, 2009 7:34 AM in response to Experiment-626
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 4, 2009 7:34 AM in response to Experiment-626
    It is also doing it on my MacPro (Early 2008) with the new ATI 4870).
  • by janleeks.com,

    janleeks.com janleeks.com Aug 18, 2009 2:27 AM in response to Richhep
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 18, 2009 2:27 AM in response to Richhep
    me too, from the start of having my new mbp unibody and 24" LED.... Its very intermittent but started again today... i find a reboot normally gets rid of it for a while, but what a pain...!
  • by Mario Rasch,

    Mario Rasch Mario Rasch Aug 20, 2009 12:49 AM in response to Richhep
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 20, 2009 12:49 AM in response to Richhep
    I am having the same problem with my new Mac Pro 2,66 GHz Quad and a NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 on Mac OS 10.5.8. This issue definitely is not related to MacBooks or NVIDIA graphic cards solely.

    As posted on http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2057156&tstart=0, I often had this problem for a week or two right after I bought my Mac. Then, while I only got some few black screens in two to three months, things got worse after installing a Mini Displayport extension cable. In the end, I had to remove the extension cable.

    Perhaps, the new Mini Displayport is just too sensitive to interferences from other cables?
  • by nmook,

    nmook nmook Aug 24, 2009 12:37 PM in response to Richhep
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 24, 2009 12:37 PM in response to Richhep
    I'm seeing this issue too, with my new LED Cinema Display in the office and MacBook Pro (9400m). Interestingly, my LED Cinema Display at home display does NOT have this problem.

    Same laptop, two displays, one with the problem and one without.

    That indicates to me that it's a problem in the display, not the laptop or software. I'm going to take it into the Apple store later this week and see about getting a replacement.
  • by Matthew Hedstrom,

    Matthew Hedstrom Matthew Hedstrom Aug 25, 2009 9:37 AM in response to Richhep
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 25, 2009 9:37 AM in response to Richhep
    Just another echo - same issue. MacBook Pro 2.66, LED Display, both new. Apple Care was quite unhelpful; they suggested resetting the PRAM and a few other tweaks, none of which helped. I wonder if Snow Leopard might fix this? I'll install SL, and if that doesn't help, I'll look into replacing the monitor, though based on previous comments in this tread I am not sure that will necessarily help.
  • by Brian Haberman,

    Brian Haberman Brian Haberman Aug 26, 2009 10:16 AM in response to Richhep
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Aug 26, 2009 10:16 AM in response to Richhep
    Just adding myself to list. I just got a 2.8 MacBook Pro with the 24" LED display. I had it plugged in for a couple of days, and all was well. I then ran on battery yesterday, plugged it back in today, and noticed the screen go black for a second twice today already.

    Unfortunately, I don't have any answers... hope this gets resolved soon.
  • by titusm,

    titusm titusm Aug 26, 2009 11:06 PM in response to Richhep
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 26, 2009 11:06 PM in response to Richhep
    Apple 24" LED Cinema Display, bought early January 2009 worked just fine for eight months until yesterday when noticed interferences. These were vertical stripes flashing occasionally and short blackouts for half a second or so - as seen on at the end of my You-Tube Video. Can anybody confirm these vertical stripes as well?

    The display returned to normal behaviour the next time I switched it on after a 20 minutes break or so.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Q1BDsVp4Y
  • by P Pan,

    P Pan P Pan Aug 29, 2009 7:08 PM in response to Richhep
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 29, 2009 7:08 PM in response to Richhep
    hi, i have one or two blackout in a duration of 2-3 hours.
    i am using it with Mac Book Alu 2.4GHz
  • by Matthew Hedstrom,

    Matthew Hedstrom Matthew Hedstrom Aug 31, 2009 7:46 PM in response to Richhep
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 31, 2009 7:46 PM in response to Richhep
    Anyone installed Snow Leopard yet? Does it have any impact on this (maddening) issue? I just installed SL, but am away from my display for a couple days.
  • by janericster,

    janericster janericster Aug 31, 2009 7:52 PM in response to Matthew Hedstrom
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Aug 31, 2009 7:52 PM in response to Matthew Hedstrom
    I installed SL on Friday when it was released...and so far, for the past 3+ days I have not seen any blackouts. It could be a coincidence and I will definitely post again if the black screen returns. Hard to tell this early since I have gone a few days before without any blackouts. Keeping my fingers crossed.
  • by woofer2425,

    woofer2425 woofer2425 Sep 1, 2009 2:26 PM in response to Richhep
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 1, 2009 2:26 PM in response to Richhep
    Installed Snow Leopard yesterday. My LED Cinema display is blinking on and off as I type this response. I am using a MacBook...not a MacBookPro. Just purchased the LED display about a week ago. It does a beautiful job. Hope this blinking thing gets a good fix sometime soon.
  • by Matthew Hedstrom,

    Matthew Hedstrom Matthew Hedstrom Sep 1, 2009 2:31 PM in response to Richhep
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 1, 2009 2:31 PM in response to Richhep
    Sadly, me too. Installed Snow Leopard and the blinking continues. So I brought my display to the local Apple authorized service center. My guess is they'll give me a new one - but based on this thread, and I not certain it will be any better.
  • by Ira Perman,

    Ira Perman Ira Perman Sep 3, 2009 2:07 AM in response to Matthew Hedstrom
    Level 1 (80 points)
    Sep 3, 2009 2:07 AM in response to Matthew Hedstrom
    I don't think the problem is the display alone. Here's why: I have a 30" Cinema display that worked perfectly with a 15" MBP - the model before the unibody. I replaced the MBP with a new MBP unibody. This required purchase of a new adapter for the display. The blinking began at once with the new setup. It seems to be caused by some combination of the new adapter and the MBP unibody.

    It usually blinks once shortly after awaking from sleep and once or twice more over the course of a work day. Its not a real hassle but it should not happen.

    Making matters worse, I installed Snow Leopard and now have an added visual affectation: Upon waking (sometimes) I see the display picture divided into about 20 vertical fuzzy bars of green and pink hue. It takes a restart to clear this up.
  • by titusm,

    titusm titusm Sep 3, 2009 2:36 AM in response to Ira Perman
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 3, 2009 2:36 AM in response to Ira Perman
    {quote:title=Ira Perman wrote:It seems to be caused by some combination of the new adapter and the MBP unibody.}{quote}

    I use the 24" LED display mith unibody Macbook and don´t use the adaper. So, if we have the same problem here, its not the adapter.
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