Display flicker problem (irregular, sometimes erratic)

[Abdullah719]

Hello. My laptop is HP OMEN 17-an013tx. It's been in use for a couple of years.

For a few months, I've noticed this little bit of flickering at the bottom of the screen. Often, it's so subtle that you might think it's your eyes playing tricks. However, that's not the case. Recently, it's been getting worse and is now visible and proving to be troublesome at times. It happens very randomly. Sometimes, it won't happen for several days. Other times, it may happen for a few minutes a few times a day. Any ideas what the issue could be? Many thanks.

[The_Fossette · Accepted solution]

@Abdullah719

I reviewed your post and I understand that the display is flickering randomly.

Don’t worry, I assure you I will try my best to get this sorted.

I recommend you update the BIOS and the graphics driver from the below link and check whether the issue is resolved.

BIOS: https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp105501-106000/sp105686.exe

Intel: https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp92001-92500/sp92410.exe

Nvidia: https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp89001-89500/sp89051.exe

Let me know how it goes and you have a great day!

P.S: Welcome to the HP Support Community 😊

If you wish to show appreciation for my efforts, mark my post as Accept as Solution. Your feedback counts!

Cheers!

Stay Home – Stay Safe

[Abdullah719]

Hi. Thanks for the response. I already have the latest BIOS update. Additionally, for the NVIDIA drivers, I regularly keep them updated with GeForce Experience so I have newer ones than the ones provided by HP. The problem has been happening over a regular period – for the best part of a year.

Should I try uninstalling the other drivers and only using the ones provided by HP?

[Echo_Lake]

@Abdullah719

Thank you for posting back. 

Yes you can try uninstalling the drivers and use only HP drivers.

• When was the last time it worked without these issues?
• Have you checked the display on an external monitor?

And, also let’s try these steps to resolve the problem:

I recommend you attempt to access the BIOS screen by tapping on F10 while the computer is restarting, 

If the issue persists in the BIOS screen which is outside windows, it would confirm a hardware failure.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[Abdullah719]

Thanks, I'll look into the drivers and see how the results are.

I've had the laptop since July 2019, it was a used product so I'm not the original owner. It was fine for a couple of months if I recall correctly. However, the issue has been happening since then. As I said, sometimes it happens once in a couple of days for just a couple of seconds and other times it might happen 4-5 times in a day. I use external displays occasionally and I've never had a problem with those.

I am inclined to think there's a small hardware issue (since the issue has persisted after several different driver updates from NVIDIA), perhaps a loose cable somewhere, but I'll see what happens with the drivers. I am quite proficient at opening up the laptop for regular things like cleaning the fans, changing the RAM or HDDs but I'm not too sure about the display and its cables, otherwise I'd check that out directly.

[The_Fossette]

@Abdullah719

Thank you for keeping me posted.

Test the computer with HP drivers and let me know how it goes.

Cheers!

[Abdullah719]

An update on the situation:

I was quite busy with work so I didn't get around to changing the drivers initially. However, around 4 days ago, the flickering became really bad at one point. It kept happening for around 10 mins straight which hadn't happened before. I restarted the laptop and it was fine.

Nevertheless, I decided to go ahead with the default HP drivers for the graphics card. However, as soon as I installed them, Windows automatically updated it to the latest NVIDIA drivers. Hence, I made some changes to the registry to stop that from happening, since I couldn't seem to find any Windows Update options that would stop this (besides pausing updates altogether).

It's been around 3 days since then, and I haven't yet seen the screen flicker since I switched to the old drivers provided by HP. Hopefully, it proves to be a long-term solution!

[The_Fossette]

@Abdullah719

Perfect, I am really glad to hear that!

If any other questions arise, please feel free to write back to me.

If you wish to show appreciation for my efforts, mark my post as Accept as Solution. Your feedback counts!

Cheers!

Stay Home – Stay Safe

[Abdullah719]

I still have the old drivers installed, but unfortunately in the last day or two I've noticed a bit of flicker once again. It seems lesser than before, but even then, it's always been erratic.

Hopefully, it remains less, let's see. I am guessing there is some inherent problem with the hardware or maybe a connector is slightly loose somewhere.

[The_Fossette]

@Abdullah719

Test the computer and check if it resolved completely.

If you continue facing the issue, write back to me.

Cheers!