Surface Pro 4 - External screen keeps turning on/off (black flickering)

I have now verified that I'm running the latest BIOS version and that it must have been auto updated by the Windows Update system.

I have also found two articles describing all updates for Surface PRO 4 and Surface PRO (4 2017).

They clarify that the newest graphics drivers are 21.20.16.4647 for PRO 4 and 22.20.16.4749 for PRO 2017 which perfectly explains why only some of us have got the driver update.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4037238/surface-surface-pro-update-history        (pro 4 2017)

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4023489/surface-surface-pro-4-update-history    (pro 4)

22.20.16.4749  required to support Windows Mixed Reality features.   (Graphics 620 only)

21.20.16.4627  improves DX12 and power performance.

20.19.15.4463  improves system performance in some applications.

20.19.15.4409  improves the overall stability of the graphics driver, resolves screen flickering in several popular applications, and cases where the display does not reinitialize correctly after the device resumes from sleep or hibernation.

20.19.15.4364  improves display stability, system stability and battery life.

20.19.15.4326  improves display stability.

20.19.15.4308  addresses some display issues, including some scenarios that result in screen flickering.

@enady - that really sucks. Mine is total fixed. Here is a dump from my system info

[System Summary]

Item Value 

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise 

Version 10.0.17134 Build 17134 

Other OS Description  Not Available 

OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation 

System Name xxxxxxxxxxx

System Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation 

System Model Surface Pro 

System Type x64-based PC 

System SKU Surface_Pro_1796 

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7660U CPU @ 2.50GHz, 2496 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s) 

BIOS Version/Date Microsoft Corporation 233.2110.770, 1/30/2018 

SMBIOS Version 3.0 

Embedded Controller Version 255.255 

BIOS Mode UEFI 

BaseBoard Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation 

BaseBoard Model Not Available 

BaseBoard Name Base Board 

Platform Role Slate 

Secure Boot State On 

PCR7 Configuration Elevation Required to View 

Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS 

System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32 

Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2 

Locale United States 

Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.17134.1" 

User Name xxxxxxxxxxx 

Time Zone Central Daylight Time 

Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB 

Total Physical Memory 15.9 GB 

Available Physical Memory 9.64 GB 

Total Virtual Memory 18.3 GB 

Available Virtual Memory 12.0 GB 

Page File Space 2.38 GB 

Page File C:\pagefile.sys 

Kernel DMA Protection Off 

Virtualization-based security Not enabled 

Device Encryption Support Elevation Required to View 

Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes 

Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes 

Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware Yes 

Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes 

Hi Andy,

My system info differs as follows

Yours:

  System Model Surface Pro

  System SKU Surface_Pro_1796

  Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7660U CPU @ 2.50GHz, 2496 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

  BIOS Version/Date Microsoft Corporation 233.2110.770, 1/30/2018

  SMBIOS Version 3.0

Mine:

  System Model Surface Pro 4

  System SKU Surface_Pro_4

  Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6650U CPU @ 2.20GHz, 2208 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

  BIOS Version/Date Microsoft Corporation 108.1926.769, 06/12/2017

  SMBIOS Version 3.1

and there are also differences for boot device, locale, time zone plus smaller variations in memory allocation.

But recent posts have already revealed that a SP 2017 is not a SP4.

And they have also revealed that the issue still exists for both models.

I am now wondering about the bios version. I am not aware that I have ever updated the bios, but the version is newer than my purchase date (June 2016) and yours is newer than 2017 where the SP 2017 must have been released.

Anyone knows how the bios is updated? There is no info in my Windows Update history.

Best regards,

Ena

Thanks for clarifying, but just as Barb noted, the SP 2017 is not the SP4. And this thread is about the SP4.

Sounds like it is fixed for the SP 2017.

Are there any SP4 owners who have fixed the external screen flicker?

Unfortunately, it's not fixed with the SP 2017 SP4.  Mine was bought just over a month ago and I have the problem.  Iris 640 graphics and core i7 7660U cpu..   The windows 1803 update had no impact.  Driver date is 7-25-2017 and version 22.20.16.4749.  I'm scratching my head wondering how Microsoft hasn't had a driver update for nearly a year for their 640 graphics.

Screen blanks out most after a reboot for the day.  If I leave my surface running over night and turn off the monitor and then turn on just monitor the next day, it's not nearly as frequent.  Just bizarre.

It is strange that some of you got a newer driver with 1803. Do you also have an Intel Iris Graphics 540?

I don't have the 540 I have Iris Plus Graphics 640 (the top end i7 model). That could be the difference.

I bought the top of the line i7 Surface Pro 4 when it was released, special ordered with everything maxed out. I have a 540. WTF? When did they start adding 640s to the SP4? And why is this happening in the first place? It was broken, fixed, then broken again... 

If you bought an SP4 when launched, you have 6th Gen i7 skylake with the 540 GPU. In 2017, they launched a new SP4 with the 7th gen kaby lake and the 640 GPU. No WFT, this was published, but it was not significant enough to warrant SP5. A bit like the S version of an iPhone :-)

I have the 2017 with the gen 7 i7.

Check out the table Surface Pro Line on this wiki Surface on Wikipedia

Thanks for clarifying, but just as Barb noted, the SP 2017 is not the SP4. And this thread is about the SP4.

Sounds like it is fixed for the SP 2017.

Are there any SP4 owners who have fixed the external screen flicker?

the SP 2017 is NOT an SP4. While they didn't give it the SP5 designation, they

did not say it had anything to do with not being significant enough an upgrade

to get a version number bump. My opinion is that they were trying to emulate the

Apple folks who don't give version numbers to their Macbooks etc.

>In 2017, they launched a new SP4 with the 7th gen kaby lake and the 640 GPU. No WFT, this was published, but it was not significant enough to warrant SP5. A bit like the S version of an iPhone :-)