Flashing

Tungsten_smooth

@lorna what's the GPU locking program? I think it will fix the problem if you lock your computer to use one card (maybe the onboard graphics).

Also, can you switch between the two? Does one not have the issue, if both of them have the issue, then I'm unable to help you. I don't have the level of expertise needed for this bug.

Edit: maybe I'll soon get there though
@thx01138 said:

though I saw multiple flux "color profiles" installed in the Displays->Color system preferences.

Could you post a screenshot, and let me know how many are listed? I'm not much of a mac user and haven't seen this problem (although when I had it in a VM I didn't see this). Maybe you could try deleting one of them and let me know if that fixes the problem.

masonjames

I'm experiencing a 'flashing' on my 2015 13" macbook pro internal display as well. It only occurs when I connect/disconnect the power source though. Really odd.

The 13" seems to only have a single GPU listed as "Intel Iris Graphics 6100".

I'm running OS X 10.11 El Capitan Beta 3. This has been happening since at least the first beta, but I don't believe it happened in Yosemite.

stalfos

The flashing in El Capitan is related to the backlight brightness being adjusted due to ambient light conditions. You can make it happen by adjusting brightness manually on the keyboard too.

So any time your display is trying to make a subtle brightness adjustment, flux seems to cut out momentarily.

kjmoon

Yep. That's exactly it.

That's beta software for you. I'm sure flux will come out with a fix sooner or later.

Although the question is, I don't think flux has an auto-updater (at least if it does, it doesn't work for me).

masonjames

@stalfos Yes. This is correct. I forgot to mention it. Super-obnoxious, but yeah, I know it's beta software. Just wanted to put it on someone's radar. Is there a repo to post issues/bugs?

herf

In El Capitan, if you go to System Preferences -> Displays you'll find a new setting called "Ambient Light Compensation". Turning this off fixes the problem.

This new feature seems to be adjusting the response curve in bright rooms (based on Ambient Light Sensor readings). Since f.lux does most of its work at night when most rooms are dark, it might be possible for us to disable this feature at night, but leave it on during the day.

I wonder if Apple will ship it on by default as they've done with the betas.

masonjames

Thanks @herf I don't see this option though :(

Am I missing something? I'm on a 2015 13" macbook pro with El Capitan.

Here's a screenshot of my system description and display options:
Evernote: OSX Screenshot

Any additional help or pointers would be greatly appreciated. I did a bit of searching and didn't see why this setting would/wouldn't show up.

Thanks again!

lloeki

Here I have a MBP Retina 13" Early 2013, El Cap developer beta 3, no adaptative brightness option is shown. Those flashes are burning my eyes :'-(

Interestingly enough, in daylight, when testing sunset or bedtime mode via flux preferences, manual brightness adjustment via dedicated keys does not trigger flashing, but moving to a room with closed curtains is a surefire way to trigger it.

Reported this to Apple via feedback app.

lorna

It should be under System Preferences > Displays. The behavior you're describing definitely sounds like that's what is happening. :( I see you have "automatically adjust brightness" checked in that screenshot, so try unchecking it.

OMCS

I am experiencing the same issue with f.lux 'flashing' (disabling for half a second might be a better description) when manually adjusting the brightness at night. I'm running a MacBook Air with an external monitor and the 10.11 public beta. I'm using a relatively old 24" Cinema Display and can't see any options relating to ambient brightness in System Preferences -> Displays.

Breezio

@lorna said:

It should be under System Preferences > Displays. The behavior you're describing definitely sounds like that's what is happening. :( I see you have "automatically adjust brightness" checked in that screenshot, so try unchecking it.

I don't have the setting either (and am experiencing the flashing). The auto-brightness setting doesn't fix the issue I'm afraid.

herf

The new Mac beta is working better when we write a color profile all the time. ("writeProfile")

Tungsten_smooth

@herf does that use more CPU power?

masonjames

@herf I'm not sure how to enable this "writeProfile" in a color profile, but happy to follow any steps and report back what I get from testing.

I can confirm that toggling the auto-brightness setting doesn't seem to have any affect on the flashing issue.

When I try to 'calibrate' my internal display the Display Calibrator crashes unexpectedly and I get an error report - not sure if that's related, points to an issue with apple or would provide anything helpful here, but happy to report if so.

Thanks again everyone.

wsmoak

I was happy to find this thread and disable the 'Automatically adjust brightness' setting but alas, the flashing continues. (As someone else mentioned, it's like Flux gets disabled for half a second. Repeatedly.)

I'm on a mid-2012 MacBook Pro and using both the laptop screen and a Dell U2713HM .

Is the Beta that the team members have mentioned available to the public?

-Wendy

lorna

@Breezio are you using more than one monitor? The Feature is named Ambient Light Compensation.

masonjames

@wsmoak I haven't seen an available beta. I emailed and asked if the software had an open-source license and a public repo but got no response as of yet. Would love to help with debugging and trying to figure out how best to do that :)

seajay

@lorna Not all macs have the option to toggle ambient light compensation. My 2013 Retina MBP doesn't have it as an option in the displays preference pane when using the built-in or external displays.

lorna

@seajay Can you describe exactly what's happening on your 2013 MBP? Is it new with El Cap? I'm thinking there are two different problems we're talking about.There are some problems with flashing when the GPUs switch, and that is a different (but similar) issue to the Ambient Brightness El Capitan problem. No publicly available beta yet but soon.

seajay

@lorna Yeah, absolutely. It's new with El Cap - been using flux for years on osx without issue before. The symptom presents itself when manually adjusting brightness using either the keyboard (f1/f2) controls or dragging the slider in System Preferences>Displays. Any manual change to brightness results in flux flashing off until the new brightness locks in, which is pretty jarring at night.