Mac Mini 2011 screen flicker/black out

[Muetwo]

I have a 2011 Mac Mini hooked up to my Dell E196FP Monitor. I used a mini displayport to vga cable to do so. For a few years now, the cable has worked perfectly. However, recently the monitor has been cutting to a black screen for about 2 seconds, then the video will come back. I know it's not the monitor because I use this monitor for other devices and they don't have problems. I am trying to find out if the problem is with the mac or the mini displayport to vga cord. I opened up the console and when it flickered, I got this:

7/14/13 3:16:41.493 PM WindowServer[102]: Received display connect changed for display 0x2b283c0c
7/14/13 3:16:41.494 PM WindowServer[102]: No display devices are on-line. Switching to virtual display mode
7/14/13 3:16:41.494 PM WindowServer[102]: Received display connect changed for display 0x3f003d
7/14/13 3:16:41.495 PM WindowServer[102]: Received display connect changed for display 0x3f003e
7/14/13 3:16:42.196 PM WindowServer[102]: Received display connect changed for display 0x3f003c
7/14/13 3:16:42.205 PM WindowServer[102]: New display device coming on-line. Switching from virtual display mode
7/14/13 3:16:42.208 PM WindowServer[102]: Created shield window 0xc2 for display 0x2b283c0c
7/14/13 3:16:42.208 PM WindowServer[102]: handle_will_sleep_auth_and_shield_windows: no action for lock state 1
7/14/13 3:16:42.209 PM WindowServer[102]: Received display connect changed for display 0x3f003d
7/14/13 3:16:42.209 PM WindowServer[102]: Received display connect changed for display 0x3f003e
7/14/13 3:16:42.727 PM WindowServer[102]: Display 0x003f003e: GL mask 0x4; bounds (2304, 0)[1 x 1], 1 modes available
off-line, enabled, Vendor ffffffff, Model ffffffff, S/N ffffffff, Unit 2, Rotation 0
UUID 0xffffffffffffffffffffffff003f003e
7/14/13 3:16:42.728 PM WindowServer[102]: Display 0x003f003d: GL mask 0x2; bounds (2305, 0)[1 x 1], 1 modes available
off-line, enabled, Vendor ffffffff, Model ffffffff, S/N ffffffff, Unit 1, Rotation 0
UUID 0xffffffffffffffffffffffff003f003d
7/14/13 3:16:42.728 PM WindowServer[102]: Display 0x2b283c0c: GL mask 0x1; bounds (0, 0)[1280 x 1024], 15 modes available
Main, Active, on-line, enabled, boot, OpenGL-accel, Vendor 10ac, Model a015, S/N 3331394c, Unit 0, Rotation 0
UUID 0x000010ac0000a0153331394c00000000, ColorProfile { 3, "DELL E196FP"}
7/14/13 3:16:42.728 PM WindowServer[102]: GLCompositor: GL renderer id 0x01024301, GL mask 0x00000007, accelerator 0x0000322f, unit 0, caps QEX|QGL|MIPMAP, vram 323 MB
texture units 8, texture max 8192, viewport max {8192, 8192}, extensions FPRG|NPOT|GLSL|FLOAT
7/14/13 3:16:43.039 PM WindowServer[102]: Created shield window 0xc3 for display 0x003f003e
7/14/13 3:16:43.040 PM WindowServer[102]: Created shield window 0xc4 for display 0x003f003d
7/14/13 3:16:43.045 PM WindowServer[102]: Created shield window 0xc5 for display 0x2b283c0c
7/14/13 3:16:43.046 PM WindowServer[102]: Display 0x2b283c0c: MappedDisplay Unit 0: Startup Mode 1280 x 1024, CGSThirtytwoBitColor, Resolution 1, IOMode 0x80000001, IODepth 0x0, IOReturn 0x0
7/14/13 3:16:43.046 PM WindowServer[102]: Display added
7/14/13 3:16:43.046 PM WindowServer[102]: Display removed
7/14/13 3:16:43.048 PM WindowServer[102]: Display 0x2b283c0c: GL mask 0x1; bounds (0, 0)[1280 x 1024], 15 modes available
Main, Active, on-line, enabled, boot, OpenGL-accel, Vendor 10ac, Model a015, S/N 3331394c, Unit 0, Rotation 0
UUID 0x000010ac0000a0153331394c00000000, ColorProfile { 3, "DELL E196FP"}
7/14/13 3:16:43.049 PM WindowServer[102]: GLCompositor: GL renderer id 0x01024301, GL mask 0x00000007, accelerator 0x0000322f, unit 0, caps QEX|QGL|MIPMAP, vram 323 MB
texture units 8, texture max 8192, viewport max {8192, 8192}, extensions FPRG|NPOT|GLSL|FLOAT
7/14/13 3:16:43.049 PM WindowServer[102]: Display 0x003f003e: GL mask 0x4; bounds (2304, 0)[1 x 1], 1 modes available
off-line, enabled, Vendor ffffffff, Model ffffffff, S/N ffffffff, Unit 2, Rotation 0
UUID 0xffffffffffffffffffffffff003f003e
7/14/13 3:16:43.049 PM WindowServer[102]: Display 0x003f003d: GL mask 0x2; bounds (2305, 0)[1 x 1], 1 modes available
off-line, enabled, Vendor ffffffff, Model ffffffff, S/N ffffffff, Unit 1, Rotation 0
UUID 0xffffffffffffffffffffffff003f003d
7/14/13 3:16:44.210 PM WindowServer[102]: **DMPROXY** (2) Found `/System/Library/CoreServices/DMProxy'.
7/14/13 3:16:44.245 PM WindowServer[102]: Display 0x2b283c0c: MappedDisplay Unit 0; ColorProfile { 3, "DELL E196FP"}; TransferFormula (1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000)
7/14/13 3:16:44.261 PM WindowServer[102]: Display 0x2b283c0c: MappedDisplay Unit 0; ColorProfile { 3, "DELL E196FP"}; TransferFormula (1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000)
7/14/13 3:16:45.046 PM WindowServer[102]: **DMPROXY** (2) Found `/System/Library/CoreServices/DMProxy'.
7/14/13 3:16:45.078 PM WindowServer[102]: Display 0x2b283c0c: MappedDisplay Unit 0; ColorProfile { 3, "DELL E196FP"}; TransferFormula (1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000)
7/14/13 3:16:45.095 PM WindowServer[102]: Display 0x2b283c0c: MappedDisplay Unit 0; ColorProfile { 3, "DELL E196FP"}; TransferFormula (1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000)

I don't know what much of this means, can anyone help me tell whats wrong? Do i need a new cord, or is it the computer?

The audio does not cut out when the video does.

 

[Muetwo]

I brought the mini to apple and they did a software restore, which made the flickers much less common but I still get them. Should I buy the mini displayport to vga adapter that Apple makes because currently I am using a 3rd party mini displayport to vga cable without an adapter at all. Another thing I noticed is after the software reset, when the screen flickers, nothing shows up in the console anymore. I also noticed that the flickers seem to happen way more often late at night. I have tried all the solutions I could find like lowering the screen resolution and resetting the PRAM, but nothing is completely stopping it. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Edge]

If the monitor is fine with other sources, I'm going to guess that your hunch of a faulty adapter may be correct. A frayed or shorting wire inside the cable may be causing problems.