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Jan Sampermans

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

I have been experiencing some problems with the all new iMac 27inch display.
At non-fixed intervals i will get one of the following:

Screen distortion/flicker somewhere random in the screen (feels like it is more in the lower part) that looks like a horizontal bar of about 2-3inches just popping in and out of the screen.

Screen will go completely black for a second and then come back on. Sometimes 2-3 times in a row.

Somebody else already made some video-clips about these problems, I am experiencing exactly the same behaviour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjOxlxVz5Os
http://gallery.me.com/larzy#100025

Just to not that in the course of writing this post my screen has flickered 13 times and has gone black 2 times.

iMac 27inch 3Ghz 4GB 1TB ATI 4670, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Oct 27, 2009 3:56 AM

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

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  • by snowdog34,

    snowdog34 snowdog34 Feb 3, 2010 10:38 PM in response to mujanast
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 3, 2010 10:38 PM in response to mujanast
    i agree
  • by skullcat,

    skullcat skullcat Feb 3, 2010 10:50 PM in response to snowdog34
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 3, 2010 10:50 PM in response to snowdog34
    Well, I have not had any flickering/blackout or loud fan noises since the update, and of course I don't know for certain that I am "out of the woods" but I don't plan on following this forum any longer, as I am not experiencing any problems with my 27" imac. Hoo Ray! Best of luck to you all and I hope this is all over, and that all of our future experiences apple-wise are happy and satisfactory.
  • by kny75,

    kny75 kny75 Feb 4, 2010 12:35 AM in response to dxgriffiths
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Feb 4, 2010 12:35 AM in response to dxgriffiths
    dxgriffiths wrote:
    For any potential buyers reading, the quad is not worth it if you value silence. The quad-core iMac, for all the other problems, is not silent. And that's not even a glitch




    My quad core i5 is perfectly silent, just to make people aware that DO want to purchase one.
  • by kny75,

    kny75 kny75 Feb 4, 2010 12:39 AM in response to kny75
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Feb 4, 2010 12:39 AM in response to kny75
    May not be relevant seeing as I only bought my iMac 5 days ago (Apple Store Birmingham, UK), but my i5 is a week 51 build, haven't seen any flickering or yellowing in those 5 days, and I applied both recent patches - still have no problems.

    I appreciate that people really want to hear about those that ARE faulty, but just wanted to throw my build date in the mix just in case it helps anyone at all.
  • by robgb,

    robgb robgb Feb 4, 2010 4:17 AM in response to Jan Sampermans
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 4, 2010 4:17 AM in response to Jan Sampermans
    So, I've had my new (replacement) 27" quad iMac since December with no flickering issues whatsoever (unlike the first one I bought). So the question is, DO I DARE download and install the two patches?

    And if I don't, I'm getting tired of having to uncheck the firmware updates everytime I want to do another update. Is there any way to get rid of these updates once and for all, so I don't accidentally install them?
  • by Luckybob,

    Luckybob Luckybob Feb 4, 2010 4:40 AM in response to robgb
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Feb 4, 2010 4:40 AM in response to robgb
    Had my week 46 since Black Friday.....seems ok. Installed both updates and nothing to note from the latest one - However, only time will tell. I think this thread needs to be kept open for a couple of weeks to measure feedback.
    I have been monitoring this post from the start....and it has made some interesting reading.

    I love my iMac...I don't what they done in the last update but it didn't appear a large file.

    iPAD here I come
  • by Stephen Stark,

    Stephen Stark Stephen Stark Feb 4, 2010 4:44 AM in response to Luckybob
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Feb 4, 2010 4:44 AM in response to Luckybob
    How do you tell the build? I got mine when they first came out.

    Yesterday after updating, the screen was mostly stable, but there were a few flickers. Today, only one episode of a popping gray stripe, so after 3-4 hours of work, looking pretty good.
  • by UKOutpost,

    UKOutpost UKOutpost Feb 4, 2010 5:24 AM in response to kny75
    Level 1 (45 points)
    Feb 4, 2010 5:24 AM in response to kny75
    I'll second that ..... my i7 is very quiet.
  • by alwaysalwaysapple,

    alwaysalwaysapple alwaysalwaysapple Feb 4, 2010 5:29 AM in response to Jan Sampermans
    Level 1 (50 points)
    Feb 4, 2010 5:29 AM in response to Jan Sampermans
    FIXED

    Hey everyone, I had an idea. Since this thread is getting so long, and a bit tedious to read it all, I thought we could all start our posts from now on with a capital FIXED or NOT FIXED tag. That way, if we just want to skim the posts to see the ratio of people for whom it seems to have been fixed (so far) to those for whom it still flickers. I don't know... only an idea. I think it could make this thread even more useful. Tell me what you think!
  • by donkeys's,

    donkeys's donkeys's Feb 4, 2010 6:06 AM in response to alwaysalwaysapple
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 4, 2010 6:06 AM in response to alwaysalwaysapple
    FIXED after the patch!!! and SOOOOO quiet.
  • by Simon (UK),

    Simon (UK) Simon (UK) Feb 4, 2010 6:27 AM in response to robgb
    Level 4 (3,573 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 4, 2010 6:27 AM in response to robgb
    robgb wrote:

    I'm getting tired of having to uncheck the firmware updates everytime I want to do another update. Is there any way to get rid of these updates once and for all, so I don't accidentally install them?




    Just click on *Update/Ignore Update* in the menu bar





    Unlimited Free Image and File Hosting at MediaFire










    Unlimited Free Image and File Hosting at MediaFire
  • by robgb,

    robgb robgb Feb 4, 2010 6:52 AM in response to Simon (UK)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 4, 2010 6:52 AM in response to Simon (UK)
    Got it. Didn't see that nice little feature. THANKS.
  • by Warren Beasley,

    Warren Beasley Warren Beasley Feb 4, 2010 7:01 AM in response to Simon (UK)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 4, 2010 7:01 AM in response to Simon (UK)
    Simon (UK) wrote:
    robgb wrote:

    I'm getting tired of having to uncheck the firmware updates everytime I want to do another update. Is there any way to get rid of these updates once and for all, so I don't accidentally install them?




    Just click on *Update/Ignore Update* in the menu bar


    Before choosing to set your computer to ignore the aforementioned updates, I suggest that you download the various firmware updates in .dmg format and store them on your hard drive somewhere . . . just in case you need them at a later date.

    Here are direct links to them. You may not need the second one, depending on whether or not you run Windows 7 on your machine:



    01. 27-inch iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0

    Released December 21, 2009:

    Updates the graphics firmware on ATI Radeon HD 4670 and 4850 graphics cards.

    http://support.apple.com/downloads/DL984/en_US/iMacDisplayUpdate.dmg


    02. Graphics Firmware Update 1.0 (iMac and Mac Pro) compatibility with Windows 7

    Released January 19, 2010

    Use Graphics Firmware Update 1.0 if you run Windows 7 using Boot Camp on your iMac (with NVIDIA GeForce 7300 or 7600 GT) or Mac Pro (with NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT or Quadro FX 4500) computer.

    http://support.apple.com/downloads/DL978/en_US/GraphicsFirmwareUpdate.dmg


    03. 27-inch iMac Display Firmware Update 1.0

    Released February 1, 2010

    Updates the display firmware on 27-inch iMac systems to address issues that may cause intermittent display flickering. The 27-inch iMac Display Update will update the display firmware on your iMac. Do not disturb or shut off the power on your iMac during this update.

    http://support.apple.com/downloads/DL998/en_US/iMacDisplayUpdate.dmg
  • by Jacques LAPORTE,

    Jacques LAPORTE Jacques LAPORTE Feb 4, 2010 7:34 AM in response to Jan Sampermans
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 4, 2010 7:34 AM in response to Jan Sampermans
    My Imac 27" had a MTBF (mean time between flicker) very long. So I can't tell.
    But reading your posts it seems that Apple found a solution to this issue.
    I never doubted they would.
    See you on other threads.

    I wish you all the best,
    Jacques.
  • by Yicke,

    Yicke Yicke Feb 4, 2010 8:21 AM in response to kny75
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 4, 2010 8:21 AM in response to kny75
    I second that.

    week 48 and still perfect ever since it came out of it's box. I did install the two updates, just to see if it would make any difference.

    It's prefectly quiet as well, I hardly even hear it when I'm gaming for several hours straight and it must have gotten hot.
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