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2011 i5 2.5Ghz Mac mini screen flicker issue...

Hey all,


Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this issue. I have my 2011 Mac mini connected via HDMI to my TV, and each time I turn the TV on,- after about 5 minutes I get one single flicker where I lose picture and it comes back immediately. This never happened with my 2010 Mac mini connected the same way, which is why I'm surprised.


Again, this only happens once. After I turn the TV off and then back on, it will do the same thing again after 5 minutes. Very odd.


Thanks, guys.

Posted on Jul 31, 2011 7:28 PM

Reply
40 replies

Oct 26, 2011 9:12 AM in response to SRINATHSADDA

I can confirm that Apple is seriously working on this issue. I got the following response from Apple:


This is a follow up to the case "Mac Min (mid 2011) Graphics Flicker with 27" Thunderbolt Display." After further investigation it has been determined that this is a known issue, which is currently being investigated by engineering. This issue has been filed in our bug database under the original Bug ID# XXXXXXXX

Nov 2, 2011 7:12 AM in response to SRINATHSADDA

I installed the latest EFI firmware the other night for my brand new mac mini and no joy. If anything its worse. Its going back to the shop. I presume there should be no issues getting my money back, since its been less than 14 days.


But really annoyed at Apple. They must have known about this issue yet no one at the store or anywhere its advertised mentioned it.


I had sold my mac book pro to buy the mini. Which now means i will have no MAC!!! As a developer who relied on a MAC to earn a liviing this is really bad for me!!!!

Nov 2, 2011 7:50 AM in response to stewwwwwwwwwww

Well,


It's a known engineering issue. I suspect this related to "Thunderbolt Software Update v1.1 (for OS X Lion)", since the latest EFI firmware update v1.4 fixes the issue. But the same behaviour came back again after I installed the above mentioned Thunderbolt software update. I reinstalled the OS X Lion from Internet Recovery and didn't installed the software update again. I can confirm that this resolves the flickering issue for me.


When comes to returns,


You don't need to worry about 14 day return option. If you contact AppleCare or local Apple Store Genius regarding this or similar issue and if Apple didn't fix the issue in life time, you can safely return the product for full refund.

Nov 6, 2012 12:01 PM in response to WGrose

I have experienced the dreaded sreen flicker issue on 2 different Mac mini's now (2011 and 2012 versions). I may of found a fix so I'm posting here to hopefully help others.


Basically there appears to be an HDMI copyright handshake issue that is causing the problem. Both of my Mac Mini's would flicker every 5-6 seconds where the display would go black and then re-appear. After talking to Apple Support the fix appeared to be doing an SMC reset as well as a PRAM reset.


SMC reset

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964


PRAM reset

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379


This solution worked fine for my 2011 Mac Mini but not for the 2012 Mac mini. I found that I had to completely disconnect the HDMI cable, and THEN do the 2 above resets. THEN reconnect the HDMI cable.


Hope this helps others!



***My Mac Mini's are connected to a home theatre setup and my displays are a Sharp 80" (LC-80LE632U) and a Mitibushi FD630U Projector. After futher troubleshooting, Apple's HDMI handshake appears to have some issues with the Mitsubishi projector.

Nov 20, 2012 10:53 PM in response to WGrose

My mac mini started to flicker more than 5 to 6 times in a minute which was frustrating, I solved this problem 🙂.


The problem started when I kept my mac in vertical standing position which imposed stress on the cable, so the position of then mac may effect your cable.


What I did is first disconnected the cable from mac mini then removed my dvi cable from the adapter, then I straitened the cable so that it does have any twist and turns which might have occured earlier.




Then I connected back and voila no problems and flickering is gone. I guess for there are two problems which create flicker in macs one is the cable and second is the software.


Try this if you have problem, if this still does not solve, try with another cable and if the problem still persist then it might be the software one.

2011 i5 2.5Ghz Mac mini screen flicker issue...

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