Inspiron 9400/ATI x1400/video flicker on external dual lcds

Message Edited by maaximuus on 09-08-200610:00 AM

Go, Maaximuus, go!! I'll stand by and wait for the results of your testing before I commit to a change. I did try installing non-Dell drivers prior to my HD crash, and managed to screw my machine up a bit. So I'll wait to hear from you after you've had a chance to test this for a couple of days.

Sounds hopeful...

Looking forward to Maaximuus' long term results too.

Meanwhile, before starting a new thread, here a question, as you have the same X1400 with Inspiron (9400 or similar).

I know our other (Dell) machines (with Windows XP) don't do this, and I haven't installed one piece of new software on this one.

Problem is:

After screensaver when coming back, after a couple of seconds there is an obnoxious redraw on both screens.  Takes long (a second or two), is obnoxious (black areas).  This isn't supposed to be that way.  Does e.g. Maaximuus observe that same problem?  Does it go away with any trick or upgrade?

After reading http://www.tweakguides.com/ATICAT_1.html I'm considering ATI Tray Tools http://www.guru3d.com/article/atitraytools/189/ but might just be conservative and live with it as it is.  After all, my biggest problems seems solved a while ago.

Suggest you check the screen saver you are using. If it is something that involves OpenGL, such as flying captions, it uses a lot of CPU cycles and memory. I just use the default WinXP logo or a blank screen. Don't have any issues coming back.

When testing, watch and see how much disk activity it is doing while reloading. This is a clue (it may be swapping a whole bunch of data).

No OpenGL or such.  Used Marquee, now also tried WinXP logo, problem persists.

Interestingly the problem (couple seconds after screensaver obnoxious redraw: black, slow, large areas) DOESN'T get triggered by the screensaver code, but by the PASSWORD locking code.

Proof:  First, if I move the mouse with the grace period before password locking (five seconds) it doesn't occur.  Second, if I turn off password locking it doesn't occur.

Hint:  I'm also (but not only) using savescrn.exe to test.  Problem existed before I used savescrn.exe to test.

And as I'm saying, we have a few quite similar machines here.  The one difference here is the ATI X1400.

What a painful experience.  I'm required to have the password on.  That flicker every time causes a reflex / fear "work data lost" until I consciously know it's ok.

Here is my status:  After I had it all working fine for many days (not sure whether one week or two) now I start getting flickering again.  Here at a client's office, where it is rather cold.

It read about ATI Tray Tools (by some guy, not by ATI) and about PowerStrip and I installed them both, but then uninstalled them again.  I read about PCI latency, but can't figure for sure whether it also would apply to PCI-E and can't figure for sure those tools would set it right.  What's most disconcerting about those tools is that they don't seem to get basic facts right, like internally 1920x1200 and externally 1600x1200, they tell me both 1600x1200, which tells me they look in the wrong place or report wrongly, so I don't trust them with other settings either.

Then (in the spirit of Dell wanting me to remove everything) I removed my Intel wireless 10.5 dirver (the one with the bad rep for memory leaking, Dell A04) and went back to Intel wireless 10.1, Dell A03.  Didn't fix it either.  You expected that, right?

One reason why I tend to think it is a problem specific to ATI X1400 is that we have another Inspiron 9400 and an Inspiron 9200 and I haven't installed anything on this problem machine that isn't on the other ones (which I installed myself too).  Of course Dell wants me to run the machine with everything off, but what am I supposed to work then, just sit there and wait an hour or longer, watching it, doing nothing?

This flicker is obnoxious!

While at it, what do you get if you go into Registry Editor (command line regedit) and look at

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ATI Technologies\CDS\0000\0\Memory

at value

Size

I have

629 MB (0x00000275)

My Inspiron 9400 has 4GB of RAM (667MHz) in it (found out I could do that in the manual that came with our first 9400).  Windows XP, BIOS etc only give me 3GB.  That's what I needed.  At least if the video card would get to use some of the rest that would make me feel better about what the cost was.  Up there above 3GB there are multiple use of addresses and such.

Fyi, these registry entries are "written out" by some piece of ATI code.  That doesn't mean if you change them something will change in the way things work.  That's one reason why some tools report different settings, depending on where they are looking.  Even that it says 629 MB doesn't mean the card really uses it.  Just curious anyway.

Message Edited by notebookvet on 09-14-200610:26 AM