ATI Needs to fix the flickering on DP!

[MEAHT]

Hey Johnny,
The main point of this is to get it working, I dont care whos wrong or whos right. I know what it feels like to have your beautiful setup marred by disgusting flicker. :twisted:

Ive never seen any active DP->DVI adapter work 100% for everyone, Ive searched on amazon, newegg, and various forums and there hasnt been a single one.
What I do see is various threads popping up with DP->VGA working for many more people.

Ive tried every single method to try to get eyefinity working flicker free and this is the one that has worked without a single hiccup since the second I installed it.

If I were U Id definitely give this a shot:
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF06c/A10-51210-64268-1844682-64268-3895841-3895842-3895844.html?jumpid=oc_R1002_USENC-001_HP%20DisplayPort%20To%20VGA%20Adapter&lang=en&cc=us

I know what you must be saying to yourself, "oh great not another method! :roll: "...Thats how I felt before I tried this adapter from HP. This one doesnt have a USB plug but still manages to be an active displayport adapter because there is a DAC inside the large plug. The video card is still outputting displayport signal, which is different from the adapter texastango used.

This is what I meant by making this a sticky, Im not saying to use the one texastango used, which is this one: a passive adapter


The one I used was this one, which is an active adapter as well



Just to be 100% clear, the flicker youre referring to is the one where your monitor goes black for half a second then goes back to normal then goes black again a few times in a row right?

[johnnyvd]

I'd say "Update that BIOS Johnnyvd" but....hmmm, that is the most up to date BIOS from techpowerup's database, bummer, as other brands seem to have newer BIOS.
http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/index.php?page=1&architecture=ATI&manufacturer=&model=HD+5970&interface=&memSize=0

I know, but is it possible to update the card with a generic higher BIOS version??

**EDIT** it seems the generic is the same date

It really seems like a drive strength issue..

[dmanna]

yeah I have the blinking active dp adapter, it has been happening since 10.4 and up. 10.3 eyefinity almost works perfectly - bc2 load times and a few other things that I dont mind to much. Why the hell can they figure the problem out with 10.3 and then let it come back the next driver and beyond... thats beyond me. I guess thats the price I pay for living close to the bleeding edge. So far 10.3 has been servicable but makes me worry abit about future driver releases and I never worried or complained much about drivers from ati/amd. I hope they figure this bs out, its annoying.

[johnnyvd]

Just to be 100% clear, the flicker youre referring to is the one where your monitor goes black for half a second then goes back to normal then goes black again a few times in a row right?

That's right.. These are the exact symptoms. Got everything working blink-free again. Did it by installing the Apple active adapter. I did not succeed in getting the ACCEL to work without blinking since 10.4

Concerning the HP adapter: i already got three adapters lying around and would love to try this one also, if i come around it for cheap i'll try! But for now no more cash-out on this. I still think it's a driver problem..

O yeah, my monitors only have DVI-I connections could this cause the DP-VGA problems i have?

yeah I have the blinking active dp adapter, it has been happening since 10.4 and up. 10.3 eyefinity almost works perfectly - bc2 load times and a few other things that I dont mind to much. Why the hell can they figure the problem out with 10.3 and then let it come back the next driver and beyond... thats beyond me. I guess thats the price I pay for living close to the bleeding edge. So far 10.3 has been servicable but makes me worry abit about future driver releases and I never worried or complained much about drivers from ati/amd. I hope they figure this bs out, its annoying.

What adapter are you using??

[Aix]

[quote]
Just to be 100% clear, the flicker youre referring to is the one where your monitor goes black for half a second then goes back to normal then goes black again a few times in a row right?

That's right.. These are the exact symptoms. Got everything working blink-free again. Did it by installing the Apple active adapter. I did not succeed in getting the ACCEL to work without blinking since 10.4

I bought the Apple adapter from the get-go last November and I have never experienced this flickering issue (3x DVI monitors). When I restart my computer I often need to click "detect" in the Windows screen resolution menu, but other than that I haven't had any problems, which is good because the Apple adapter cost about $100 so it had better f'ing work.

I'm using driver build 8.74, btw (the one that fixed the long BC2 load times for the 5xxxx series cards).

[dmanna]

yeah I have the blinking active dp adapter, it has been happening since 10.4 and up. 10.3 eyefinity almost works perfectly - bc2 load times and a few other things that I dont mind to much. Why the hell can they figure the problem out with 10.3 and then let it come back the next driver and beyond... thats beyond me. I guess thats the price I pay for living close to the bleeding edge. So far 10.3 has been servicable but makes me worry abit about future driver releases and I never worried or complained much about drivers from ati/amd. I hope they figure this bs out, its annoying.

What adapter are you using??

I am using the Dell/Bizlink/accell adapter. 10.3 driver works perfect no blinking at all. Its definatly a driver issue with my particular blinking. I tried all the recommended fixes but as soon as 10.3 released I thought I was pretty much golden... I was wrong. For now its ok because 10.3's are good drivers but what if thats the last driver that works with my setup without the blinking? That would suck. I reported this issue to amd via there little support thingy when cat 10.4 released.

[johnnyvd]

I am using the Dell/Bizlink/accell adapter. 10.3 driver works perfect no blinking at all. Its definatly a driver issue with my particular blinking. I tried all the recommended fixes but as soon as 10.3 released I thought I was pretty much golden... I was wrong. For now its ok because 10.3's are good drivers but what if thats the last driver that works with my setup without the blinking? That would suck. I reported this issue to amd via there little support thingy when cat 10.4 released.

OK, so we are 100% in the same boat.. At the moment the Apple adapter works just fine.
I also reported the flickering with 10.4 and 10.5 to AMD: i would recommend everyone to do this, because AMD really doesn't hear all our whining in the forums :lol:

Also contacted MSI for a BIOS update, they are checking with Taiwan (because i contacted Dutch support) to find out about this problem..

Could you maybe give us more details about your system? OS, Mobo-brand + BIOS, GPU-brand + BIOS etc..?

[dmanna]

[quote]I am using the Dell/Bizlink/accell adapter. 10.3 driver works perfect no blinking at all. Its definatly a driver issue with my particular blinking. I tried all the recommended fixes but as soon as 10.3 released I thought I was pretty much golden... I was wrong. For now its ok because 10.3's are good drivers but what if thats the last driver that works with my setup without the blinking? That would suck. I reported this issue to amd via there little support thingy when cat 10.4 released.

OK, so we are 100% in the same boat.. At the moment the Apple adapter works just fine.
I also reported the flickering with 10.4 and 10.5 to AMD: i would recommend everyone to do this, because AMD really doesn't hear all our whining in the forums :lol:

Also contacted MSI for a BIOS update, they are checking with Taiwan (because i contacted Dutch support) to find out about this problem..

Could you maybe give us more details about your system? OS, Mobo-brand + BIOS, GPU-brand + BIOS etc..?


I have an ASUS M4A79 Deluxe mobo flashed with a brand new bios that just released last week. I have 2 5870's XFX flashed with a bios Dave linked in another thread. When I first got my cards I was getting crazy blinking because it was happening for multiple reasons. One reason was fixed with the bios flash and the other reason was driver related which was fixed with 10.3.

I tried 10.4 and 5 just cant get it so it wont blink. It does seem to go stretches of time like maybe sometimes even an hour without blinking with 10.5, the problem is as soon as I change the resolution or go into 3d mode it can trigger the problem and it wont stop blinking which then drives me nuts and I revert back to 10.3 where everything is nice and rosy.. atleast for the time being... I didnt give 10.4 as much time because I noticed it kinda broke JC2 for me.

[johnnyvd]

I have an ASUS M4A79 Deluxe mobo flashed with a brand new bios that just released last week. I have 2 5870's XFX flashed with a bios Dave linked in another thread. When I first got my cards I was getting crazy blinking because it was happening for multiple reasons. One reason was fixed with the bios flash and the other reason was driver related which was fixed with 10.3.

I tried 10.4 and 5 just cant get it so it wont blink. It does seem to go stretches of time like maybe sometimes even an hour without blinking with 10.5, the problem is as soon as I change the resolution or go into 3d mode it can trigger the problem and it wont stop blinking which then drives me nuts and I revert back to 10.3 where everything is nice and rosy.. atleast for the time being... I didnt give 10.4 as much time because I noticed it kinda broke JC2 for me.

Like i said: problems are 100% the same, i also got long stretches of non-blinking as long as there were no resolution changes.

I have a ASUS Crosshair III with BIOS 1503 and my MSI 5970 has still the original BIOS. But from what i read on this forum i will give the BIOS update for my card a slim chance to get my ACCELL adapter working.. Something in catalysr 10.4-10.5 broke compatability with the Dell/Bizlink/accell adapter..

Did you already try a clean install of windows? ( i didn't), and again: everything works fine now with the Apple adapter..

[dmanna]

[quote]I have an ASUS M4A79 Deluxe mobo flashed with a brand new bios that just released last week. I have 2 5870's XFX flashed with a bios Dave linked in another thread. When I first got my cards I was getting crazy blinking because it was happening for multiple reasons. One reason was fixed with the bios flash and the other reason was driver related which was fixed with 10.3.

I tried 10.4 and 5 just cant get it so it wont blink. It does seem to go stretches of time like maybe sometimes even an hour without blinking with 10.5, the problem is as soon as I change the resolution or go into 3d mode it can trigger the problem and it wont stop blinking which then drives me nuts and I revert back to 10.3 where everything is nice and rosy.. atleast for the time being... I didnt give 10.4 as much time because I noticed it kinda broke JC2 for me.

Like i said: problems are 100% the same, i also got long stretches of non-blinking as long as there were no resolution changes.

I have a ASUS Crosshair III with BIOS 1503 and my MSI 5970 has still the original BIOS. But from what i read on this forum i will give the BIOS update for my card a slim chance to get my ACCELL adapter working.. Something in catalysr 10.4-10.5 broke compatability with the Dell/Bizlink/accell adapter..

Did you already try a clean install of windows? ( i didn't), and again: everything works fine now with the Apple adapter..

no and I really dont want to do that. I have so much music software and mixing creating stuff installed for my music hobby. It would really be a major endeavor for me to do a fresh install and honestly for the reason we are discussing.. I shouldnt f'ing have to. If 10.6 still blinks I will try the apple adapter.. the thing is I have heard alot of bad things about the apple adapter but maybe it was just because it was shortly after the eyefintiy thing hit the market.

[johnnyvd]

no and I really dont want to do that. I have so much music software and mixing creating stuff installed for my music hobby. It would really be a major endeavor for me to do a fresh install and honestly for the reason we are discussing.. I shouldnt f'ing have to. If 10.6 still blinks I will try the apple adapter.. the thing is I have heard alot of bad things about the apple adapter but maybe it was just because it was shortly after the eyefintiy thing hit the market.

You are right, you shouldn't have to.. That is why i'm trying to find out what is causing this problems.
I will try to do a clean install myself just to see if this problem isn't caused by some "artifacts" from the older driver packages.

Concerning the Apple adapter: i had big problems with it also when i started using it (10.1).. Losing resolution, blinking, etc. But since 10.4 it is working fine!

[MEAHT]

Im sorry if Im coming off as a pain but I really want to help you guys.

Again I will stress, GET THIS ADAPTER:
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF06c/A10-51210-64268-1844682-64268-3895841-3895842-3895844.html?jumpid=oc_R1002_USENC-001_HP%20DisplayPort%20To%20VGA%20Adapter&lang=en&cc=us

Its not the same type that you guys have purchased before. The problem we are all facing comes from having to use the USB ports, once you eliminate the use of USB power everything works perfectly. Like I mentioned in the opening post, BIOS updates will not work. Ive done it all!




Im telling you I havent had a SINGLE flicker. NOT ONE!
Please! Please! give this adapter a shot.

[johnnyvd]

Im telling you I havent had a SINGLE flicker. NOT ONE!
Please! Please! give this adapter a shot.

Thanks MEAHT, (i really mean it), just one thing i want to throw in: how about people with 30" monitors?
Don't these resolutions exceed the 1900x1080 res-max of the VGA adapter?

@ the moment i didn't have a single flicker with my Apple adapter :cheers

**EDIT** Guess maximum is 1920x1200:

Technical Specifications
Connectors DisplayPort and VGA connector
Adapter length 8 in (20 cm)
Adapter weight 0.1 lbs (0.06 kg)
Option kit contents HP DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, documentation
Maximum vertical refresh rate 85 Hz
Display support 162 MHz RAMDAC
Display max resolution 1600x1200
HP DisplayPort to VGA adapter display resolutions and refresh rates
NOTE: Other resolutions may be available but are not recommended as they may not have been tested and qualified by HP. Using the HP DisplayPort to VGA Adapter may require an update to the graphics driver installed on your system. To install the most up-to-date graphics driver go to: http://www.hp.com.
Resolution Max refresh rate
640x480 85
800x600 85
1024x768 85
1280x720 85
1280x1024 85
1440x900 75
1600x1200 60
1680x1050 60
1920x1080 60-R
1920x1200 60-R
NOTE: 60-R denotes reduced blanking timings are used. Not all monitors support reduced blanking timing.

WTF; just did some searching after reading "reduced blanking timing" in the HP spec..

Solutions: use reduced blanking
Reducing the DVI pixel clock makes it much easier to transmit the digital image through the cable. If you have a corrupted image then using reduced blanking reduces the pixel clock without reducing the screen resolution or refresh rate. LCD monitors usually support reduced blanking for modes which require pixel clocks anywhere close to the 165 MHz limit. There's really no point in not using reduced blanking all the time. Display drivers are usually pretty good about selecting reduced blanking automatically when it makes sense. If you're having a digital image quality problem then you can force reduced blanking to be sure. This page explains how to do that.

"Display drivers are usually pretty good about selecting reduced blanking automatically when it makes sense" anyone got a clue what this means? Can Catalyst have a say in this reduced blanking? (source: http://www.playtool.com/pages/dvitrouble/dvitrouble.html#reducedblanking)

[steakdinner]

Greetings,

New forum member here. I signed up primarly to enter the discussion involving these faulty eyefinity setups.
I'm running an i7-975 on an Asus P6T6 board with a Saphire Radeon 5800 series vid card (bios version 012.011.000.006 from 9/14/2009 and catalyst version 10.2).
Using (3) Asus VW246 with an Accel Dp to DVI adptor (part#B0878-002B) to complete the eyefinity setup.

I'm just another user who is suffering through the same blinking problem on the DP-DVI converted monitor. I get random blinking episodes throughout the day, id say on an average of 1 every 2.5 hours with the actual frequency of the episodes being completely random. Like everyone else, the problem is settled when the DP connector is removed from the back of the card and re-inserted.

A couple questions that I havent been able to figure out based on multiple forum readings...

Are the results worth upgrading the Sept 09 vid card bios to the updated current bios that supposedly resolves the blinking issue for some?

Is it worth it to ditch this $100 Accel adaptor :( for the Apple adaptor that seems to be having more success?

[dmanna]

Greetings,

New forum member here. I signed up primarly to enter the discussion involving these faulty eyefinity setups.
I'm running an i7-975 on an Asus P6T6 board with a Saphire Radeon 5800 series vid card (bios version 012.011.000.006 from 9/14/2009 and catalyst version 10.2).
Using (3) Asus VW246 with an Accel Dp to DVI adptor (part#B0878-002B) to complete the eyefinity setup.

I'm just another user who is suffering through the same blinking problem on the DP-DVI converted monitor. I get random blinking episodes throughout the day, id say on an average of 1 every 2.5 hours with the actual frequency of the episodes being completely random. Like everyone else, the problem is settled when the DP connector is removed from the back of the card and re-inserted.

A couple questions that I havent been able to figure out based on multiple forum readings...

Are the results worth upgrading the Sept 09 vid card bios to the updated current bios that supposedly resolves the blinking issue for some?

Is it worth it to ditch this $100 Accel adaptor :( for the Apple adaptor that seems to be having more success?

Its just funny becaues when I put together the parts for eyefinity.. everyone told me to stay away from Apple adapter because its rubbish with eyefinity. Now apparently thats the only one that works. I made the mistake of buying the Dell, Accel Adapter. with catalyst 10.4 + the blinking becomes unbearable when I switch resolutions. As soon as the power momentarily cuts out or switches resolutions, I get about 15 to 20 blinks per minute.

[S734L7H]

I have no flicker with using the Saphire Active Displayport adapter that sells at the Egg. I'm using the Catalyst 10.6 drivers. My center monitor is a Sony Trinitron FW-900 24" CRT, and the side monitors are V7 22" LCDs. All running 1680x1050 resolution with a display group res of 5040x1050 or when using bezel compensation its 5156x1050. I have one of the LCDs on the displayport to vga adapter, the other monitors are hooked to the dvi ports with vga adapters. I have no flicker problems. The LCDs run at 60hz and the CRT runs at 85hz, even in the eyefinity display group.

I could not run resolutions higher than 1280x1024 with my CRT if it was hooked up with the DisplayPort adapter. I'm not sure why this is, but my LCD runs fine at its native res of 1680x1050, so i keep it hooked up this way.

I edited my EDID on my FW-900 to match the physical screen size of my LCDs so that i could enable the Bezel compensation. (22.5" viewable on the CRT as apposed to the 22" on the LCDs). This worked great though.

Is it maybe just the DisplayPort to DVI adapters that are having blinking issues? Could hooking the monitor up through the VGA port on the monitor instead if available and then using a vga to dvi adapter on the displayport adapter possibly fix the problem?

[Tamlin]

So far, it seems that the error is related to which adapter you use and that some driver sets makes the issue less.

Sapphire's active DP -> DVI adapter and HP's DP->VGA adapter seems like the best options. I hope ATI reads this and checks to see what differed in the drivers, so they can do something about those who has adapter issues. :)

[S734L7H]

To note, i used the Saphire Active DisplayPort to VGA adapter, not DVI.

[Tamlin]

To note, i used the Saphire Active DisplayPort to VGA adapter, not DVI.

I didn't know they made one. :) Thats good!

[dmanna]

[quote]To note, i used the Saphire Active DisplayPort to VGA adapter, not DVI.

I didn't know they made one. :) Thats good!

Yeah I just purchased this at the egg... came to 30 bucks though.. add that on top of the 100+shipping and tax for active display port dvi adapter... now I am pushing 150 bucks on a stupid adapter. All I gotta say is that when this comes in on monday, it best be workin.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815310003

I am also worried that using analog is going to look blurry.