Q: New iMac 27inch screen flickering/tearing/shutoff

Guess What? No Update for the 21.5" !!!! Does that Surprise You? It doesn't surprise me! But I'm OK! Because So Far, my 21" does not have Flicker after 5 full days. Glad I exchanged my last 21" Yellow Flickerer. Because if I hadn't I'd still be Flickering. Now if I can only find something to clean that Yellow from the bottom & right side of my screen. Oh yea, that'll come next week. The Scrubber Update! But Guess What? It will only be for the 27" Screen.

Dennis Murphy wrote:
Yes, there is indeed new firmware - iMac Display Firmware.

Apply it. The flickering will go away.

Now, for those of you who have yellowing issues - that's a different problem altogether, I would surmise. But the flickering? It's GONE with this firmware update. Gone, gone, gone!

The URL to download it is here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL998

Dennis - you seem really certain - any reason for the abundance of confidence?

I also really hope this fix works (and would bet that it will); I'm just not sure where the absolute certainty is coming from.

I update it. Now it's even worse. Unusable.

My i7 iMac came with the previous firmware update already installed, so I really had no choice in the matter. However, with this one, I do have a choice, and I am really wondering if I should take a chance and install it. What if I install it and I end up getting the flicker . . . which I don't have right now, and have never had for that matter?

Some of you will recall that a few folks reported that prior to installing the first firmware update, they were flicker-free; but once they installed it, they were plagued by the flicker.

To add to my paranoia, consider what Apple's page says about this update. It contains the same warning as the previous firmware update:

*"If your screen remains black after applying the update, contact AppleCare or an Apple Authorized Service Provider. If you continue to experience image corruption or display flickering, make sure you have also installed the 27-inch iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0. If you are still having display issues after successfully completing both firmware updates, contact AppleCare or an Apple Authorized Service Provider."*

In other words, you might have problems if you install this update.

Go ahead you brave guinea pigs; install the update. Myself? I'll wait a bit and see what kind of reports start coming in here first.

So, I'm a chicken . . . but maybe I am being a SMART chicken.

Warren, it made User artiste's Flicker worse. Sorry artiste. Warren if it isn't beoke, then don't fix it. You have no Flicker. Nothing to Fix. It's certainly not going to take care of the Yellow. Only the Paranoid Survive! I'd rather be a Paranoid Chicken, than a Lion with a Flickering iMac.

Heh, glad I applied the update before reading your post. I'm not sure I would've gone with it if I had. Anyways, everything is OK so far, I used to experience 1/4 second flickers very remotely, being the control freak that I am it annoyed me to no end, I hope this fixes the flickers for good

Apple says:
If you continue to experience image corruption or display flickering, make sure you have also installed the 27-inch iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0.

Have you installed it artiste?

Update!

15 minutes after applying the update and guess what guys!

Everything is still OK!

Installed as well, but mine only flickers an hour into first startup. How often were you seeing the problem before?

hope this works

FWIW - I have a week 02 27" 2.8 i7 and I had only seen what I could call a flicker maybe twice. Only the 2" wide band across the screen for about 2 nano secs about a third of the way up. Other than that, nothing since unpacking on Jan 7th. I do have a very minor yellow haze in lower right corner, virtually unnoticeable. Anyway, I installed the update a few minutes ago and so far so good. If it will help, I will report back with the slightest change. Meantime, it seems like we may actually have a solution. Surprised? Not me. I have been a Mac addict from 85 and nothing would change that now. Waiting patiently for the fix wasn't that hard for me. Every time I used my school laptop (Dell) I remembered . . . but that's another thread. Anyone have any suggestions for something to try to see if I can "induce" a reaction? I'm all ears. Just a lazy tired old toad in VA. I love my iMac. . .

My machine as not flickered for over two weeks!
So I'm not a good test subject for the efficiency of this update.

But at least it did not make things worse.
Still not flickering!

Hearing from those who had frequent flickering before this update would be nice!

As anyone fixed there flickering problem with this update?

Anyone?

Quick background. I bought my iMac as soon as they shipped in Australia. (Pre-ordered on the day I was able to from the web page) So I'm very confident my machine was in the first rev of those to hit our shores.

I was reworking my computer room upstairs in my unit, so I un-packed and set it up downstairs and that's where it stayed. I left it there as my unit has air-con downstairs and you then walk up through a wall of heat (10 degrees + difference) as you go up. During the Australian summer it just seemed to me to be far more comfortable down then up.

During this time.. zero issues with regards to screen flicker. The first firmware patch came and went (I applied it), no change, Mac works flawlessly.

I then finish up my work upstairs and move the Mac. The heatwave of January hits, I'm working away on my Mac, when suddenly the screen goes black for a sec and comes back.. then it's screen flicker and occasional black out from then on till I turn it off an hour or so later. I tested it over the next few hours and the issue remained. So I'm thinking to myself that it's really awfully hot in my computer room, I drag it all back down into air-conditioned comfort and.... haven't seen a flicker or blip since. and that's going on 2 weeks now.

Two hundred and seventy one pages of complaints and hours after the update and only two people with problems have checked in?

Graham,

Many here have gone for days or even a week or two (like me) without seeing the flickering.
Also many here do not believe that heat is an issue since for many the problem appears just after startup. Did you apply the update that just came out 2 hours ago?