Screen goes black and then comes back on, while in use.

[scotty91]

Hello,

Recently my Air (2.13ghz Rev C) has been acting very strange, while I am using it the screen will sometimes randomly turn off (and music will stop playing in iTunes if playing) and then turn on again 2 or 3 seconds later. It doesn't happen all of the time, but it can happen in intervals 5 or 10 minutes apart. It is as if the machine is going to sleep randomly and then waking back up almost instantly?
I have just done a full format and reinstall of Snow Leopard and it is still happening.

Anyone had a similar issue or have any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[stoconnell]

Have you tried the standard troubleshooting steps of resetting the SMC and/or PRAM:

SMC == http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411
PRAM and NVRAM == http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

Are you seeing this issue while on battery or plugged in? Do you see anything in the system logs (/var/log/system.log) that looks suspicious prior to the events.

If the SMC/PRAM tricks don't help, it could be a hardware issue. Have you tried running the diagnostics on the machine? Or it might time to engage support.

 

[bigdreams]

Screen goes black and then comes back on, while in use.

I have a Macbook Air SSD and have this problem too. It's been happening since I got it in June. It happens constantly whether plugged in to the power source or using the battery. It often doesn't come back up without some action on my part.

I troubleshot the issue with an Apple Tier 2 Tech who thinks it's the Video Card. We reset the SMC and PRAM with no change. I haven't found any other solution online. If anyone else has please let me know so I don't have to change out the hardware.