276145 - Screen Blackout/Flickering

Status: VERIFIED DUPLICATE of bug 276144

(Thunderbird :: General, defect)

Description

[Jared]

(This is being cross-posted with
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=276144, as the behavior is almost
identical. I appologize if that's the wrong way to submit bugs, as I have never
submitted one before.)

I recently (in the past week) moved from the Mozilla suite to Firefox and
Thunderbird. However, I have been experiencing seemingly random screen blackouts
and flickering while using both pieces of software. While browsing, the entire
screen (not just Thunderbird) will go black, as if the monitor was attempting to
refresh after being turned on. The blackout will last only a second, but
multiple blackouts may occur for as long as a minute (at which point I gave up
and alt-F4-ed Thunderbird).

I am unable to specifically point to what causes the blackout, as it has
happened with anything from moving the mouse, switching focus to Thunderbird
from another application, or selecting an email or folder in Thunderbird. The
severity will range from a single screen refresh, after which Thunderbird seems
to work fine, to an unusuable system as the screen continues to refresh every
second or so, even when system focus is no longer on Thunderbird. This never
causes a *crash*, as Thunderbird seems to still be running somewhat properly,
and can be Alt-F4ed to exit.

In addition, after the flickering stops, sometimes the graphics in THunderbird
are obviously flawed. Folder icons may disapear, text may appear garbled, or the
cursor may become invisible. Again, none of these are consistent, other than I
know that if I open and use Thunderbird they will happen eventually.

I should note that I recently upgraded my videocard to an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700
Ultra. I realize this could potentially be causing the problems (as it's the
only thing, other than Firefox itself, that has recently changed on my
computer). However, no other software has been having similar issues (or any
problems at all), and the blackouts are limited to Firefox and Thunderbird. I
have tried multiple NVIDIA driver updates ( I've tried 56.72, 61.21, 66.74, and
66.93. None have prevented the screen flickering. I am currently using 66.74, as
it is the version recomended by my computer manufacturer), under all of which
Firefox and Thunderbird continue to expereince intermitend screen flickering and
blackouts. So, while I hope this isn't the case, it may be that this is not a
reproducable bug outside my specific hardware configuration.

I would appreciate any gelp or suggestions, as I very much enjoy Firefox and
Thunderbird, but have become afraid to check my email, lest the horrible
flickering attacks again...

I will also be contacting my computer manufacturer, as I am still under
warrenty. I will post what, if anything, they suggest.

-Jared

Comment 1

[Chris Blore]

This is very similar to bug 276144 as both Firefox and Thunderbird are mentioned
in each. Suggesting this is marked as DUPLICATE and INVALID.

Comment 2

[Matthias Versen [:Matti]]

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 276144 ***