9400m Nvidia screen flicker after snow leopard install

S H*IT! X Cache Out is useless, flicker appeared again.....
Sorry, but I think about to sell the MBP if the problem will nort resolved....

2006 MB white - LCD-Backlid flicker, 2 reps
2007 iMac - problems with firewire sleep
2008 MBP - Screenflicker

not good for a premium hardware seller and engineer....

The day after I installed Snow Leopard on my late '08 unibody Macbook Pro I began to notice my screen flickering. It started at the top 1/4 but it has since become full screen flashes. They are not so common or regular but they do happen and sometimes at much more regular intervals than others. I tried cacheoutx but it did nothing for me. The only thing i have seen to help (as was maybe suggested by someone earlier in the thread) was to reboot the computer. From a fresh start I do not see any flickering until I close the lid and put my computer to sleep. Upon waking I can almost undoubtedly expect to see some flickers. I hope there is an easy solution to this (ie: software problem and update) as I recently moved to Japan and I do not have sufficient Japanese ability to be able to talk to someone there about this problem. Hopefully there is English speaking staff on hand at the not so local apple store, but for the time being I am under the one year warranty so I am going to wait this out and hope for a fix. I am interested to hear if anyone else finds anything out or if apple addresses the problem.

I'm also experiencing the same flickering issue using the "better battery life" (9400M) option on my early 2009 15 inch MBP since installing 10.6. I run an external monitor in addition to the built-in LCD for about 8 hours a day using a mini-displayport-to-DVI adapter, but have never experienced any flicker on the external monitor, only on the built-in LCD. It happens very randomly, sometimes a few times a day, sometimes not at all on a particular day. I never shut down my laptop, only put it to sleep. Ever since switching to the "high performance" option (9600M GT), the flickering has gone away, though I'm missing the extra hour or two of battery life that I achieved with the integrated graphics.

Ok, so I finally got my flicker to stop. I will be your Hero if you follow these simple steps that I got from an Apple Technical Expert.
Do this while your late 2008 Unibody Macbook Pro is turned off:
Shift, command, and control, and your power button, press all at once. This I think power circles it or something, I couldn't hear the girl, but anyways, your Laptop shouldn't turn on.

Okay now as it is still off, turn the it on by pressing the power button, and then hold option, command, Letter "r" and Letter "p" as soon as you turn it on. It should do the famous Apple chime, it will go from black screens to whitened screens. Anyways, let it chime 3 or 4 times, this resets your video card, and this is what I've been told, so far I've gone a day and it hasn't flickered, even after I woke my Precious up from sleep, which is usually when it always happened. I hope this helped for all you guys, this is the first time I'm posting something to this forum, I've used it for help before, so Thanks for your time.
Jonathan H.

What they had you do is called "Resetting the SMC" and "Resetting the PRAM." Personally, I tried both of those things and they did not fix the problem. But that was under 10.5. Maybe it helps under 10.6?

I'm waiting to upgrade to Snow Leopard until this things really gets figured out. Maybe with the new update....

Question, for you then, my screen started flickering after I upgraded to 10.6.1, Snow Leopard, if you haven't upgraded to Snow Leopard, then why do you have this problem? Cause Leopard worked perfectly for me.

I have no idea. What I do know, though, is that the problem started a couple of months after I got my computer (in Oct 08), and it's happened for months now. All under Leopard. It's strange that some people never had the problem until they upgraded. And some people report that it got worse under 10.6. That's why I'm waiting, especially since 10.6 is hardly necessary at this point.

I got my logic board replaced two Thursdays ago, so it's been almost a week and a half. I don't want to jinx myself here, but I haven't seen any blinks since the new logic board...YET. I'm not convinced that it won't start up again, especially since it was a problem that didn't show up until a couple months went by when the computer was brand new. Time will tell. I'm also waiting to see if the 10.6.2 update clears up the problem for those of you with 10.6. If so, that would be great. THAT would be a reason to upgrade to 10.6. 🙂

Yeah, well that's good it hasn't blinked yet, I'm pretty sure mine doesn't anymore, except when snow leopard is glitchy sometimes in like an application, but I think my problem is solved, knock on wood. I'm really debating whether to get the AppleCare Protection Plan. I think I'll gamble it and not get it, I already paid enough for this computer as it is. Good luck to all you in the future with smooth operating Macs.

I totally understand your position about AppleCare, but I have to tell you that I think it is a worthwhile investment for these machines. A logic board replacement alone would run, what, $1000 or something? I agree that Applecare is very expensive, but I would suggest checking out ebay. You can usually find it for half the price, and it's totally legit. Just go with a seller who has 100% positive feedback.

Cheers.

Thanks so much, I just spent $150.00 USD on AppleCare from some guy in Japan, on Ebay, lol. Never would have thought to look on Ebay for AppleCare. Thanks a bunch.

My pleasure.

I hope you are getting it in the Apple box. There have been a number of scammers selling fake, computer generated AppleCare numbers. Apple has caught on to the scam.

No I got the code via email, only reason, all the feedback was from all other buyers who had bought AppleCare through him, all with Positive feedback, not one negative comment out of 400 so I was like, I'll risk $160.00, and it's confirmed, so I got coverage till November, 2011. I really don't think they can unconfirm it when I got the AppleCare Certificate. So I'm happy.

So I'm happy.

I hope you stay that way.