Panel flickering: Every minute the folder list disappear and come back

[ch90]

Hello,

I've a tough one.

Every minute or so, one on my two panels will 'flicker' i.e. the folder list will disappear (dark background since I am in dark mode) and come back 0.1s afterwards. Some of the text commands and icons (commands and drives) will also 'flicker' e.g. Commands or Help.

Sometimes it happens when I create a folder or rename a file and it 'ejects' me (like I was pressing ESC). Could it be my keyboard or a video driver?

So far I have not been able to identify if it is another program that is the culprit (I've tried with only TC running and the issue remains).

I've also tried uninstalling and re-installing, didn't work. Switching to normal mode did not help too.

I am using 9.51 RC2 and my OS is Windows 10 PRO 1909 18363.657.

Any ideas, apart from re-installing Windows I am not sure what to do

Cheers, Chris

[petermad]

Have you tried with 9.51 RC3 ?

[ghisler(Author)]

Not confirmed. Does it occur also with 9.50 or 9.22a?

[ch90]

Unfortunately, same issue with 9.50 and RC3

It is strange because it works fine on my laptop (same OS, same programs installed), but not on my desktop.

[Horst.Epp]

Unfortunately, same issue with 9.50 and RC3

It is strange because it works fine on my laptop (same OS, same programs installed), but not on my desktop.

I guess that you have installed one more program on your desktop
which updates files or dirs in the background. so TC gets dir changed messages.

[ghisler(Author)]

TC only reacts to file updates in the background if this is enabled in
Configuration - Options - Refresh (lower half).

This is disabled by default. Other reasons for a refresh could be a misbehaving USB device which disconnects and reconnects every minute, e.g. because it doesn't get enough power.

Try opening control panel - device manager. Does it also refresh every minute?

[ch90]

Hello, indeed I've Dropbox and OneDrive running but it is working fine on my laptop.

Configuration - Options - Refresh (lower half).

Nothing selected

Try opening control panel - device manager. Does it also refresh every minute?

Looks fine, not refresh

The "refresh" also affects other programs (outlook, word...) so I am more and more thinking about a clean install.

Thks for your support!

[betaspin]

Hello, I found this thread by searching the forum and signed up in order to report that I also have this problem.

Total Commander version 9.51 64 bit
Win 10 64 bit Professional, version 19041.450
New Start Menu in Windows 10 Version 2004 May 2020 Update enabled
4K monitor running on a GeForce RTX 2060
Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling enabled

The flickering associated with the disappearance and re-appearance of the folder list happens quite frequently and any other activity stops while this is taking place. In fact, it is not just the folder list, the whole TC window is re-drawn completely and relatively slowly. If I quit Total Commander, the flickering stops.

I normally have Total Commander on all the time, but now have to quit it if I need to write more than a couple of sentences, as the behaviour is disruptive. Switching background refresh on and off seems to have no effect. It would be good if this could be looked into and fixed, and I am happy to provide any additional information needed.

Best,
Peter

[Hacker]

betaspin,
Please try with a fresh .ini. You can either temporarily rename your existing wincmd.ini or run e.g.:

Code: Select all

totalcmd64.exe /i=c:\temp\wincmd.ini

Adjust as appropriate.

Roman

[betaspin]

Thanks, Hacker, I have tried running with a fresh .ini file and selecting all auto-refresh options except "Put added files...". This appears to have fixed to some extent the disappearance and re-appearance of the folder list (it still happens but has become less frequent and much faster). I can also still see some flickering at times as TC re-draws various elements within its window, but this has become faster, as well. I have also noticed that when TC starts, there is a refresh of all shortcut icons on the desktop, and this is not happening when starting other programs. So there is still some refreshing of various visual elements that is influenced by whether TC is running or not, but it is now more bearable.

[petermad]

I have also noticed that when TC starts, there is a refresh of all shortcut icons on the desktop, and this is not happening when starting other programs

Not quite true: viewtopic.php?p=341204#p341204

[betaspin]

Well, my testing was far from exhaustive but, looking for programs close to those on your list, I have

MPC-BE 1.55 (build 5274) beta x64
Skype 8.63.0.76 (application version 15.63.76.0)

Both of these do not cause desktop flicker when I start them. I read that thread and downloaded and ran testIconProblems.exe, no flicker whatsoever.

Btw, I have been using TC for about 25 years and cannot recall having this problem before.

[Hacker]

betaspin,
Perhaps you have some new icon overlays or some other unknown problem with icons? Try playing around with Configuration - Options - Icons, disabling everything and slowly enabling one by one if you see any difference.

Roman

[betaspin]

Try playing around with Configuration - Options - Icons, disabling everything and slowly enabling one by one if you see any difference.

Thanks, just tried selecting Configuration - Options - Icons - No icons and restarting TC. There was no refresh of the desktop icons. However, the quick refresh of various elements inside the TC window is still happening every minute or so. And the folder list disappearance and coming back is still taking place, but much more infrequently and somewhat faster.

[Hacker]

betaspin,
And you're currently using no content plugins?

Roman