Flickering Lines On External Display...

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Flickering Lines On External Display...

Im not 100% sure when it started but im pretty sure it was around the time of the 10.7.4 update, so within the last 3 weeks.

So before i go into the issue here are the specs of the machine i am using:

MacBook Pro 15-Inch, Mid 2009

Processor 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512 MB

Software Mac OS X Lion 10.7.4 (11E53)

The issue:

When i connect my external monitor (LG Flatron M227WDP) via the VGA to MiniDVI to my MacBook Pro i get lines going accross my screen and giving the impression of the screen tearing, i think i might have seen this on my MacBook monitor as well but im not sure if that was just my eyes playing tricks on me.

Since the issue is hard to discribe i did my best at taking a video of the problem to make it a little clearer....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK2BaOIp0a0

I used the Wikipedia site as a background as it has an image, text and white space in hope to pick up a stronger image of the problem. as you can see there is a lot of lines coming from the left most of the screen and effecting not only the sides but the middle of the screen as well, i've not noticed any on the right hand side.

I have replace the VGA cable twice and i have sent off my monitor to PCWorld where i purchaced it but they where unable to find a probem with it, i have requested they take it back again for more tests as the issue is still there and they will be coming to collect it tomorrow but if the issue ins't the montor they only thing i can think of is that its the MacBook Pro but i have search many forums and not found anything of this issue anywhere so thought i would ask on here in hope that someone might know what is wrong.

I have noticed that it happens intermitently and can last anywhere between 30 seconds and 3 minutes, but then after a rest period it happens again, to induce it i was playing Minecraft which gave me the video above but after closing all that i noticed that it was still happening while i was exporing the video and also while i was writing this post (although not as extreme as the other 2).

I hope that this is enough information for someone to work out what the problem is but if not i am happy to give more.

I have also used my AppleCare TechTool Deluxe which found no issues with any of the critiria of the Mac if that is of help also.

I thank you in advance for any replys.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4), Mid-2009

Posted on May 30, 2012 9:21 PM

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Answer 1

MonkeyBoy191 Author

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Jun 1, 2012 5:58 AM in response to MonkeyBoy191

Just a bit of a bump encase this post got over looked, i really need some help with this and i know how helpful people on this forum can be.

thank you

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Answer 2

MonkeyBoy191 Author

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Jun 6, 2012 4:47 PM in response to MonkeyBoy191

The KnowHow Team from PCWorld looked at my LG Monitor and have run a 5 hour test on it but found nothing wrong with it, this means that it has the be a Mac issue but im still not sure what the issue is so i can fix it.

Could someone please look at that video and give me some idea of what is wrong with it.

My closest AppleStore is a £15 train ticket and i would rather know that the issue is before spending that much to get there and find out that its a software issue.

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Answer 3

MonkeyBoy191 Author

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Jul 2, 2012 3:04 PM in response to MonkeyBoy191

Still really needing a reply on this, can anyone help me at all....anyone.

Its driving me crazy now and i just need to know what it could be so that i can look into fixing it.

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Answer 4

Jul 8, 2012 8:33 AM in response to MonkeyBoy191

Hello There,

I have exactly the same problem as you captured in the youtube video. And for me too it started after the 10.7.4 update, about 1 week ago.

I found a partial fix for it. Bizzarely, its via my monitor screen settings and has zilch to do with OSX display settings. I have no rational way of explaining why it works, just found that it reduced the severity of the problem.

First let me describe the symptoms here:

1) The situation of flicker worsens when running some GPU (Graphics PU) RAM hogging app, like Youtube videos, movies etc. I am an iOS developer, so it also becomes very severe whenever I am running Xcode simulator for iPhone and iPad.

2)I use dual displays. The flicker appears only and only in the monitor connected to the display-port via VGA-display-port adapter. Another monitor is hooked to the HDMI port and has no issues at all. If I switch the monitors, whichever monitor is hooked via mac-mini's display-port, shows flicker.

Partial Fix:

1) At frist I tried to reset the PRAM. Didn't work. You can try too. Just check for steps on google. Its very easy.

2) I have a Philips monitor. I goto its settings by clicking the on-monitor settings. Hit Reset. It apparently tries to re-sync the monitor refresh clocks (my assumption). This step of reset has lessened the severity and worked in my case. I have to say, flicker still persists, just has reduced in severity.

Still waiting for an update from Apple to fix this. This is certainly and issue related to any monitor hooked to display-port via displayPort-VGA adapter.

- Hope this helps.

Anshu

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Answer 5

Jul 8, 2012 10:48 AM in response to Mount Olympus

also.. MiniDisplayPort-VGA or MiniDP-DVI adapter issues are not new. They are a recurring theme. See this. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1756755?start=345&tstart=0. Here it was with MiniDP-DVI adapter. And using MiniDP-VGA adapter apparently solved it.

Perhaps the only permanent fix is to remove the MiniDP-VGA adapter (along with VGA cable) and instead get a new MiniDP-HDMI adapter + HDMI cable. Of course this will only work if the monitor supports HDMI. But most modern monitors do. I sure will be heading that way very soon. And of course, no one knows if a future update breaks MiniDP-HDMI, so keep that MiniDP-VGA adapter + VGA cable for the rainy day.

-Anshu

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Answer 6

MonkeyBoy191 Author

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Jul 9, 2012 6:05 AM in response to Mount Olympus

Thank you very much for the reply, nice to see im not the only one with this issue.....although would be even nicer if the issue wasn't there at all.

The symptoms yours discribing here are exacty the same....except i also noticed that when i plug my powered sub hub into my Macbook Pro with an external monitor connected it will flash black and this isn't only when i plug it in, its also just when i touch the USB port with the connector from the hub.

I've not tried it with a HDMI as i dont have a MiniDP - HDMI connector to try it out....but i dont know if thats the issue with mine because when im using a GPU intensive app without a minitor connected and just using my MacBook Pro screen like Minecraft i get a black cross hatch effect on the top of the window (so in the sky on minecraft)......i dont know if this is something to do with issue at all but it started around the same time.

Now im also pretty sure that its not just a 10.7.4 issue, i did a reformat of my computer and installed a passed version (i think it was 10.7.2) and i was still getting the issue when connected to the screen, i'm going to try it again with 10.7.3 tomorrow and see what the results are but i feel it will be be same more then likely.

The partial fix though didn't work sadly....i think it might have somewhat lessoned but im not sure as ther are times when its extremely bad to the point of being unable to watch it.

Thank you for the reply though, at least someone out there is offering some advice on how to fix it, much appressiated.

-MonkeyBoy

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Answer 7

Jul 9, 2012 1:28 PM in response to MonkeyBoy191

I mentioned the MiniDP-HDMI adapter fix as its working for me. I mentioned before that I have dual displays. The monitor hooked to my mac-mini's HDMI port works just fine irrespective of any GPU hogging apps. Only the one that is hooked via the VGA adapter shows flicker.

Anyways...waiting for apple to issue a firmware fix.

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Answer 8

di-wei

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Jul 21, 2012 10:42 PM in response to MonkeyBoy191

I have exactly the same flickering problem as in the video you showed. Very frustrating. None of the 'fixes' I googled worked.

I'm using the newest generation of macbook pro w/ retina display, a MiniDP to VGA adaptor, and a Dell monitor. The problem occurs when the GPU is somewhat busy, mostly when it is running Adobe flash player (YouTube HD, Facebook games, etc). The flickering appears only at the external monitor, and stops as soon as GPU-heavy processes are killed.

Beside this problem, the color depth on external monitor doesn't look right too, causing severe color banding. I had to reboot the laptop with the vga adaptor plugged in everytime to avoid this problem. But this is off the topic -- just that I didn't expect a new laptop would come with such fundamental problems. I sincerely hope this is not a hardware issue.

Did anyone try bringing this problem to Genius Bar? Did it help?

Edit: Justed wanted to add a little more information. My macbook mid2008 did not have the same problem ever, perhaps because it does not have a standalone GPU.

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Answer 9

MonkeyBoy191 Author

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Jul 29, 2012 5:06 AM in response to di-wei

I took my mac to Apple and they replaced the Logic board and all these issues are now fixed, the flickering lines have not shown up anymore and my laptop doesn't reach 103oC when watching Youtube....in fact even when im running high CPU and GPU games im not even getting that much heat from my system which is great.

If you are having these issues i would strongly suggest going to Apple and getting it fixed as it does seem like it s a hardware issue and not a software issue.

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