X200 Screen Flickering

I'm not sure if flickering is the right word, but screen is blinking constantly as if the desk lamp light is about to die.

I turned off all lights and changed my wallpaper to solid white to see whether if it was my eyes, but it's definitely the screen.

I rebooted my laptop as well but same problem remains.

Could this be the problem with loose display cable?

I realize tech support is closed now till Monday 3 am. Will this be okay in the meantime?

Thank you..

I posted the video link of this issue - not sure if it's visible in bare eyes but I tried my best -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWyQNDXNCa4

 

I havn't seen the video because it wont load, but you could be experiencing screen flicker due to the refresh rate being set at 50hz although your problem sounds like more than just that. You should however to set it to 60hz and see if it fixes it. You can do this by going to advance settings screen resolution in windows 7, and then going to the monitor tab.

Also as far as I'm aware they always reset to 50hz if you unplug them.

EDIT: I just watched your video and I'm pretty sure that 50hz is your problem.

 

Thank you for the reply. However, it was already set at 60hz (I'm pretty sure I switched to 60hz when I clean installed W7 back in January). I switched back to 50hz and 60hz to see if the problem recurs, but this issue remains...

 

Oh ok, that's sad. I don't really have a clue as to what it could be then.

 

I updated the latest Monitor INF driver and hotfix from Microsoft.

Okay, I think I found the problem.

The screen flickers when A/C adapter is plugged... is this possible?

It seems to be okay when A/C is unplugged.

Could this be a/c adapter problem? I guess I'll try another A/C adapter when one of my family member comes back home with their ThinkPad.

Or possibly Motherboard problem?

My 3-yr extended warranty ends in October so I would like to straighten things out asap if needed..

 

is this a three pronged earthed ac adapter?

 

I've left my X200 unplugged for awhile and this problem definitely only occurs with A/C adapter plugged.

It is the default A/C adapter that came with X200.

It says 65W 20V
P/N 92P1213
FRU PIN: 92P1214

REV 03

My family members have different A/C adapters though - so I suppose trying theirs out may solve problem if it's indeed A/C adapter problem.

If it's A/C adapter that's causing the problem, is this covered under extended warranty too?

By the way, does the brightness supposed to decrease without A/C? Both are set at 15 (max) but the brightness seems to decrease A/C unplugged.

This issue only arose today so I'm thinking it's more of hardware problem than software bugs (e.g. drivers)...

I'm guessing it's one of the four -
1) Loose display cable
2) Faulty A/C adapter
3) Faulty A/C adapter plug
4) Motherboard

 

the adapter's warranty is same as the laptop warranty, so if it is 3 years, then it will also be covered for three years.

is this a LED Panel or a CCFL backlight Panel?

 

CCFL backlight Panel.

Do you think it would be better to just ship it over to Lenovo since it's almost 3 years old anyway, so if there's any problem (in general), can be fixed?

I would like to use this as long as it lasts and pick up a Macbook Pro late this year to go along with X200.

 

Seems to be okay now with A/C plugged. Not sure what fixed the problem.. but I took out battery, sprayed compressed gas duster on A/C adapter plug and where batteries are plugged, pressed outside LCD (black part) and keyboard with hand..

I'm thinking something is loose.....? I will watch over the weekend but I guess it would be better to send it to Lenovo right?

 

you can try to send it over to Lenovo, they will run some test, but if they can't pick up any problem, then they would just ship the machine back unfixed.

 

It happened again. I took off A/C adapter and cleaned the port, stopped for awhile, then happened again.

I think something is really wrong. I guess I'll give them a call on Monday...

 

Now the screen flickers with and without A/C adapter... and I see several white lines blinking too as if the LCD display is about to crash.

Is it okay to use this computer in the meantime?

 

You can use it, but i would suggest you use another laptop or computer if you are going to do anything critical on it.

 

What if they don't catch the problem I have? It seems like screen doesn't flicker once it has not been used for awhile, then it starts to flicker about 20-30 minutes of use.

It even blacked out once.. I could not see anything even at max brightness.

When I ship my laptop out, do I state the symptom (like above) and what I would like to see changed?

I'm guessing it's one of these that are causing problem -

1) LCD Cable
2) Black part around LCD are loose (what do you call this part?) When I press down that black part [because it is not glued(?) tightly, screen flickers in black (after I somehow make screen not flicker).
3) A/C Adapter or A/C Adapter Port
4) Dirty fan? (Do they clean or replace fan based on how used up it is?) - I tried to clean with dried soft cotton tip but it doesn't work too well.
5) Motherboard

I also had this problem since the initial purchase - LCD ribbon cable pops out when it's opened 180 degrees. I posted here about that issue 2 1/2 yrs ago and I took it to local authorized center [because I didn't wanted to ship my laptop out] and they couldn't figure it out. Ribbon is straight as long as not it's 180 degrees open.

I noticed the part around battery (where battery and led indicator on the cover lid is) is really hot right now. It is as if you use your smartphone intensively for long time (such as playing game)..

---

How long does it usually take including shipping time? It looks like they usually send the box via UPS Next or 2nd day air, but the return shipment to Lenovo is UPS Air or Ground(?), I believe..

 

if i am you, i will tell them to run some graphic/CPU intensive test overnight, and you should give a clear description of the problem and when it usually occurs (so tell them that is problem usually comes up after xx hrs of use, etc).

Also, you should try to reproduce the problem and take pictures of the problems and put in a word document (and if possible put in the stepwise procedure on how you produce this error), then email the document to the Lenovo warranty customer support after you talk to them (obviously you would need to request the customer support officer's email). This will help depot to reproduce the problem and help you to reduce the number of days the laptop will spend at the depot.

The excessive heat may explain the flickering issue, there maybe some sort of short circuit that is going on. So note it down, and report them in the document.

 

This is what I did - I typed out a Word document (1 pg long outline), noting problems, how this occurs, how sometimes flickering does not happen when it has been shut down for some time, etc.

I also recorded and put two videos and stored them on my laptop so they could take a look at them. I thought video may explain better than pictures since this is constant thing that's going on..

Is it okay to just staple the printed sheet along with their form and the UPS box or do I have to e-mail them separately?

I think I'm at a point where this laptop is un-usable because it flickers too much now and also blacks out.

 

Called tech support as soon as they opened for the business. Tech asked it is most likely the LCD problem. He offered to ship out the parts but I didn't want to touch LCD component, so I asked them to send me a box, and they did.

Always pleasant talking to the tech support. Great service. I'm so glad I bought 3 year depot warranty for $129

 

they ship out the LCD for you to replace yourself? okay that sounds little bit weird if you are not a corporate customer with their own IT tech.

 

I'm not sure... He asked whether I wanted to replace the screen myself, but I wasn't sure if it's screen issue, so I wanted them to take a look at my laptop.

 

there is no point you replace the LCD, when you are not even sure what the root cause of the problem is.

Let them take the machine in and do the full diagnostic. Also, if you never done a screen replacement, it would take you a good couple of nerve racking hrs to do.

 

Is it normal for a turn-around time to be over 3 weeks? I'm going into 4th week without my X200. Not sure what they were doing with my laptop till last week, but when I e-mailed them last week Friday, this is what Lenovo had said:

Does this mean they're sending my machine somewhere else for parts replacement, not the other way around?

 

not sure what that means.

 

I called the support today and they are still not sure when the parts will be shipped to them. They're literally sitting my laptop on their shelf for the LCD part to arrive since mid July...

 

I'm speechless.

Hadn't I called today to check the ETA of the parts arrival, I would not have received my laptop until late September or early October.

They said the parts will be shipped to them on September 22...

This is pretty ridiculous. They received my laptop on July 16.

They escalated my case but that's still big if - if other places have parts available.

I start school next week and most likely I won't receive by then. I don't know how I am going to do programming on 7 years old XP laptop, barely running multiple tabs on Google Chrome with heavy fan noise...

 

Lenovo received my laptop on 7/16
Parts available on 9/22

They can't/won't do anything about it, other than wait.

Will ship it back to me by late September or early October.

Reason why? Tsunami in Japan.

If you need to fix your laptop, you might want to try fix it yourself first.

 

@strangesweet, i will ask someone at Lenovo forum to look at this for you.

Okay, the Lenovo staff member (Serge1410) have requested that you private message him on the Lenovo forum, and he will have a look into this problem for you.

http://forum.lenovo.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/117713

 

Thank you so much. I PMed Serge1410. Thank you again!

This is pretty devastating. I'm going into last two semesters of my undergrad and this sem. is programming intensive so I really need my laptop back...

 

Just wanted to say thank you. I received my laptop back earlier thanks to lead_org and Serge1410 from Lenovo Community!

By the way, one of the technicians must've been using Facebook on my laptop. He forgot to log-out. I logged out for him but I don't know why he would save his log-in information...

 

Well at least you know they tested the machine using some meaningful real world apps.

Glad that you got the laptop back.