Screen flashes black in Chrome/Edge

[mindplay]

With Chrome or Edge open, I'm seeing an intermittent flash of black - the whole screen blacks out for a fraction of a second.

It's so brief that, for a while, I wasn't actually sure if the whole screen was blacking out, or just the browser window - I'm certain now that it's the whole screen.

I was running Windows 10 Pro, and the issue was happening there as well - about a week ago, I did a clean Windows 11 Pro reinstall, hoping this would fix the issue, but it still happens.

It seems to happen only when Chrome or Edge are open - it does not appear to happen while gaming, but the only game I have installed at the moment is Horizon Zero Dawn. It crashes or reboots every now and then, but this game is somewhat notorious for crashing a lot, so I'm not too worried about that.

I've never seen this black flash while playing though - which makes me wonder if whatever is causing the black flash could also be causing the game to crash? I have sometimes played with Chrome open in the background, so I wonder. Crashes happen sometimes after several hours though, so I can't say I've noticed a pattern.

I read a post somewhere from someone else with the same issue - they said they upgraded their BIOS and that fixed it. So I've upgraded my BIOS to the latest version, but it still happens.

I figured maybe there was a memory problem, so I've underclocked my memory from 6400 to 4800, but that also didn't help.

I'm on a week-old, fairly clean Win 11 Pro system - the only things I've installed are Epic Games and Horizon Zero Dawn. I also have Chrome, WSL 2 and VS Code, MS Powertoys and Stardock Start11, and not much else yet.

I've been having a few BSOD crashes from my Windows desktop as well, while browsing or working in VS Code. It doesn't seem to be related to what I'm doing.

I ran memtest86 earlier, for a whole day, with my memory still set to 6400 like it says on the sticker, so I'm fairly certain my RAM is good.

The system itself is fairly new - here's my configuration:

- Windows 11 Pro 10.0.22621 Build 22621
- MSI MAG B650M Mortar WiFi (model MS-7D76)
- AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (non-X, not-overclocked)
- RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 DDR5 2x16 GB, DIMM 288-pin, 6400 MHz / PC5-51200, unbuffered, CL32, 1.4 V, non-ECC
- BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends International, LLC. A.65, 02-08-2023 
- SMBIOS Version 3.5|
- BIOS Mode UEFI 
- HP X34 display at 3440 x 1440 and 165 hertz HDR10
- Arc Driver Version 31.0.101.4577
- Onboard graphics disabled

So it's a fairly clean and vanilla system, which might be helpful.

Please let me know if there's anything I can do or provide to help diagnose the issue.

[Andres_Intel]

Hello mindplay,

Thank you for your answer.

I understand this is frustrating for you, but as mentioned before for Intel® Arc™ A770 Graphics the 6-pin connection and the 8-pin are required for a proper functionality, without it may not work properly.

Let me know if you have further questions, I will be more than glad to answer them

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[mindplay]

I'm so sorry, it looks like I just misremembered!

There was a point where I thought I didn't have the required power leads - but it turned out, one of the 8-pin PCI-E terminals were detachable. It came apart into a 6-lead + 2-lead, and it worked out after all.

Sorry, I completely forgot about this.

As you can see in these photos, both PCI-E cables are connected. This looks correct, I hope?

[Andres_Intel]

Hello mindplay,

Thank you for your response, and for keeping me informed.

Based on the pictures you attached, it looks the cables are properly connected, just to make sure, after the cables connection is the graphics card working properly? Did the flashes issues disappear?

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[mindplay]

The cables were already properly connected - I misremembered, they were properly connected from the start.

And as explained, the flashing problem seemed to end with the driver update and/or Chrome updating itself.

My current problem is the BSOD, which still occurs daily.

[Andres_Intel]

Hello mindplay,

Thank you for your answer and clarification, it has been very helpful.

Since the main issue of this thread has been solved by updating the driver and Chrome itself, and also to keep this thread organized, please make a new post related to the BSOD issue.

Let me know if you agree with that or if you want to continue on this thread

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[mindplay]

Can we please stay on this thread? I've already provided a lot of context, most of it related to the BSOD.

As I said on August 13, the black flash had stopped, and so was only really an issue for the first couple of days of this thread.

Everything else in this thread has been about the BSOD.

[Andres_Intel]

Hello mindplay,

Thank you for your response, I will continue helping you on this thread, I will be more than glad to do it.

Please follow the steps below and let me know the results:

• Just for clarification in case we need to replicate the issue, the daily BSOD you mentioned on 08-25-2023, are you referring to the VS code BSOD and the game's BSOD?
• Last week we released a new graphics driver, update it to version 31.0.101.4669 to check if the behavior changes. For guidance, How to Install an Intel® Graphics Driver in Windows® 10 & Windows 11 (Method 2).

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician

[mindplay]

Yes, the DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE as described in the first and second post.

Here's a screenshot of recent crashes, latest just 5 minutes ago:

As explained, the crashes do not seem to be related to running specific apps - VS Code and Chrome were just examples.

And the BSOD only appears when it crashes from the desktop - if it crashes while playing Horizon Zero Dawn (the only game I have installed at the moment) it just reboots without any message or BSOD most times.

Thank you for your patience - it's late here, I will install the driver update tomorrow and get back to you with any results.

[Andres_Intel]

Hello mindplay,

Thank you for your answer and clarification. That helps a lot.

I will wait for the results of the graphics driver update to version 31.0.101.4669, before continuing with the next steps.

We appreciate your effort.

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician

[mindplay]

Had my first crash last night with the 4669 driver, which I installed according to the method 2 guidance you linked to.

Let me know what to do next.

[Andres_Intel]

Hello mindplay,

Thank you for your and for completing the steps.

Since the issue persists after the last recommendation, I will continue with the investigation, I will take a look at the screenshots you have attached, and as soon I have further details I will let you know.

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician

[mindplay]

It's been a week, any news?

As I've said previously, I am willing to experiment with the system registry (as explained in the pinned thread) to try to provide more data, if that would be helpful?

I'd prefer to do it soon though - if I end up having to reinstall again, it's no disaster, but I would prefer it be sooner rather than later, before I get too many things installed and set up.

Of course, if you already have the information you need, I'd prefer not to do it at all - but I'll do it if it's necessary.

[Andres_Intel]

Hello mindplay,

Thank you for your time and I am sorry that this is taking so long.

We still working really hard to find a solution, now we have a couple of questions before we continue with it:

• Have you tried rolling back to a previous driver? If so, which driver version have you rolled back to?
• If you did not roll back to a previous driver version before, we recently removed our older drivers from the Download Center, so is it possible to go back to a restore point?

Please let me know the results.

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[mindplay]

My oldest restore point is August 20.

I don't know which driver version I had installed then, but presumably the latest - I upgrade whenever prompted.

But this was a new system with a clean install around that time - so I would only be rolling back to a previous driver with the same problem. My system had this problem from the get-go.

Is it safe to roll back to an older driver? Now that the firmware has been upgraded? Would older drivers be compatible with newer firmware?

If you want me to test with a driver older than what I've already tried, you will have to procure a copy.

[Andres_Intel]

Hello mindplay,

Thank you for your reply, and for the clarification. 

Yes, it is safe to rollback to an older driver, in this case since you told me the latest restore point is from August 20th, let's rollback the system, let me know the graphics driver version you had installed a that moment, and also let me know the results.

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[mindplay]

Hey Andres,

My original system install date (according to systeminfo.exe) was august 5.

On my backup drive from before the installation, I found a copy of the drivers, which (according to the timestamp) was downloaded august 3, two days before I clean installed Win 11.

So this would be the driver the system was originally installed with.

The file name is: "gfx_win_101.4577.exe"

Would it be okay to install this, rather than doing a system restore?

I'd rather not perform a system restore, if I don't have to - in my experience, this messes up Windows Update, wipes out my personal preferences, and sometimes creates other problems... it's just never been a good experience.

If it's okay to try this version of the driver, let me know the procedure I should follow? (full DDU again or how?)

Thanks.

[Andres_Intel]

Hello mindplay,

Thank you for your response, good to hear that you have found the "gfx_win_101.4577.exe" in a backup drive.

Let's try this graphics driver version with full DDU again, just to check if the behavior is different.

Please keep me informed of the results.

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[mindplay]

Hi Andres,

Since the 31.0.101.4824 WHQL certified driver had just come out, I decided to give that a try first. It kept crashing.

So I used the DDU method and installed the older 101.4577 driver, as we had agreed. It also crashes.

I wasn't really expecting any different result - this is the driver I was using from the start, and it was always crashing.

What should I do next?

[Andres_Intel]

Hello mindplay,

Thank you for completing all the steps.

I will continue with the investigation, and we will start with the issue reproduction as soon I have the results I will let you know.

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician

[mindplay]

Side note: since I downgraded to the older driver, I've started seeing the "black flash" in Chrome again - and, for whatever it's worth, I am now certain it is the whole screen flashing black, I wasn't sure before it was just the window.

As mentioned, I was no longer seeing the "black flash", and only started seeing it again after downgrading.

So the good news is the later drivers seemed to fix that issue.

Just thought I'd let you know.

I'm going to DDU now, and will keep installing the latest beta drivers, so we can track whether any changes affect the BSOD issue.

[Andres_Intel]

Hello mindplay,

Thank you for keeping us informed. 

Just for clarification, the way the flashing issue got fixed was by updating the graphics driver to version 31.0.101.4824, is that correct?

Also, I want to clarify, does the BSOD issue persist after all the steps you followed?

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician