iBook Screen flicker

Jump to First Reply
johnkornetjohnkornet
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I recently replaced my iBook's hard drive, and all went very smoothly (I thought). A few weeks after, I noticed a small flicker in the screen whenever a major screen update occurred. For example, a surefire way to make it happen is to just move a large window around in the finder. It is not a backlight flicker - the whole picture seems to scramble and then regain its composure.



It does not effect what is going on in the machine at all. It keeps doing what ever it was doing, as if nothing is wrong.



Another clue: if the machine goes to sleep, it wakes up with terrible screen flickers even when there is no movement at all on the screen. A restart makes it better again - back to only minor flickers on significant screen updates.



Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    if you mean that it gets slightly brighter and darker type flicker, get it looked at ASAP. I just bought my iBook that had screen flickering and it was the b eginning of the end of the screen. I lost backlighting after 3 weeks... just 1 week after Apple's DOA policy and had to wait 10 days to get it repaired.



    If its more of an apparent software problem, it could be that some graphics driver got corrupted somehow... try reinstalling OS X and see if it still works.



    Also, see if it happens is OS 9. A very useful tip to try and get kinks out of a Mac is to reset the PRAM. Hold it down FOUR times.. that is untill you hear the fourth retsart chime... then let it startup normally.Apple + Alt(or is that CTRL?) +P +R at restart 4 times.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 2 of 6
    johnkornetjohnkornet Posts: 3member
    It's not a slightly darker/lighter flicker. It stays at the same brightness. The screen jumbles, and comes back.



    Good suggestion re OS9! I didn't think of that. But it does the same thing there. 4 P-RAM resets have no effect, either.



    Thanks for the quick suggestions. Any other ideas, anyone?
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 3 of 6
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    umm, I don't know what else you can do. I would try calling Apple assistance and see what they say.



    It could have to do with ram maybe? Is it well seated? Is your power source well plugged in? Is your HD well seated?



    Maybe try and look at macfixit.com for some suggestions or other people that have had that problem.



    I don't know if it will actually do anything (seeing that the problem happens in OS 9 too) but you could try formatting your HD and reinstalling.



    It could be a hardware problem after all.



    Sorry I cant help anymore thann this. Good luck!
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 4 of 6
    altivec_2.0altivec_2.0 Posts: 995member
    Check your Ram. Could be bad. Bad ram in a computer,(iBook) will lead to monitor flicker and if not death. Not sure why ram would do anything of the sort. My PowerBook did the same thing. I replaced the ram. Poof. I'ts fixed.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 5 of 6
    logan calelogan cale Posts: 1,281member
    My iBook screen flickers. I'll take out the RAM today and see if it stops.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 6 of 6
    johnkornetjohnkornet Posts: 3member
    I've now swapped out my 256 MB RAM chip for the previous 64 MB one I had in there - no dice. The screen flicker remains. Guess it's not bad RAM.



    Guess I'm off to Apple support - I'll report back with results. Thanks for the responses, though!
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
Sign In or Register to comment.