Talk:ThinkPad Dock II
Got it! Actually able to run six monitors without any conflicts. Life is good.
Hope I doing this right. Look up the definition of novice in the dictionary and you will find my picture. That said, I have an R52 ThinkPad, a ThinkPad Dock II with an ATI FireMV 2400 PCI 128M video card in the dock PCI slot. Card supports 4 monitors. Was told by a guy at work just plug it all in, install the card drivers, set up the configuration of the monitors in display properties and your good to go. Not so. Display properties only shows 2 monitors. None of the four outputs of the card have a signal. I want to ultimately be able to use 5 monitors, the four supported by the the ATI card and the display on the R-52. Got any ideas where I can get help with this? Thanks for any help anyone can give me.
Eddie
I just installed a Nvidia Quadro NVS 50 PCI card in an attempt to add an additional monitor to my laptop (T41), and get 1920 x 1200 digital on my 24" widescreen. The Nvidia is not a dual monitor card, but I thought I would be able to use it as well as the laptop's existing card (ATI Mobility Radeon 7500). However the ATI card shows up in the hardware manager with the message "This device cannot start. (Code 10)". I then tried to enable the AGP as the primary video device in the BIOS (PCI was enabled). The on-board adapter came up, and the device manager listed no conflict, but the Nvidia would not come up as I tried to extend my desktop in display props. I got the message that I did not have admin rights to select the Nvidia, followed by messages that my drivers were not compatible with the newer version of Windows. I have never tried to use two monitors before, so I am not sure if it is feasible to have two video cards running at the same time. If this is possible, please let me know what I need to do, if it is not possible then I need to return the card and get one of your recommended ones.
TIA! Tony
Hi Tony, can't help you much, i'm afraid. I have had a Radeon 9200 PCI card in the dock for a while, using it under Win. I think setting the AGP bus as the primary one in the BIOS is the way you should go. I had troubles with my Windows not booting up at all anymore when i changed it to PCI and was sure that it was the ATI driver having problems.
I would try to get the most recent drivers from the NVidia homepage. Best try uninstalling your drivers and reinstalling them. You might also check if your card is supported by the OMEGA drivers (http://www.omegadrivers.net).
Good luck, Wyrfel.
Contents
Modify for compatibility?
I have an X41 Tablet on the way and am very disappointed that the only "Dock" available is more like a glorified port replicator. While I'm sure the X41 Tablet wouldn't fit on the Dock II, do you think it would be possible to remove the docking port from the plastic and connect it to the X41, or is it a different style connector? I would really appreciate audio jacks and a PCI slot. ^
Who wrote this about the 1920 x 1200 on the dock II?
This is a very important subject to me since we used to buy a lot of T series Thinkpads but dont any longer because of the lack of support for the widescreen external DVI flat panels.
Who wrote this about the new driver from 8-11-05 - I have contacted IBM tech support (not Lenovo) and they have not heard such a thing and it is not listed - they have looked at the last video driver update to the T42p or T43p (I am looking for the 14" SXGA+ T42p model) with a dock II being able to drive externally 1920 x 1200 (UXGA+) WITHOUT an added PCI card. This would be NIRVANA for me.
Do you have anymore information about this driver and have you SEEN it work at all?
Thanks Dean
dean@sigma-usa.com
Hei Dean,
i do not have a 1920x1200 display, but i have a 1600x1200 one which was unsupported before as well. The newest driver (upgraded via IBM Software Installer) indeed doesn't have the problem anymore which it had before with that resolution (1280x1024 was supported max). The newest Presentation Director supports the higher resolution as well.
I actually switched back from OMEGA drivers to the newest IBM release and experienced some strange behaviour which was gone after a few reboots). I guess some parts of OMEGA were not properly uninstalled in one go.
IBM might not know about this if they just upgraded the underlying Catalyst drivers.
However, you might wanna get a confirmation from someone using 1920x1200 before you celebrate. ;-)
Wyrfel 01:16, 4 Oct 2005 (CEST)
BTW: I merged the information that was provided here on this issue into the Problem with DVI throughput page, since it was doubled in several places and belongs there. Wyrfel 01:48, 4 Oct 2005 (CEST)
newest drivers work with high resolution via DVI
The above is a true statement. I have in Nov 2005 installed 3 Thinkpad T's (T42p and T43p) with 128 megs of ATI video RAM (Fire 3200) and with the Think Dock II using the pass through DVI port, i am driving Dell 20" WSXGA+ (1600 x 1050 widescreen) and Sony WUXGA (1900 x 1200) 23" widescreen flat panels. They work OUT OF THE BOX without having to install special drivers. This is a new feature of the Thinkpad line (at least for the T series).
Low Profile PCI? IBM says Half size.
I don't think that LowProfile PCI-Cards will fit in the Dock II cause of the shorter mounting bracket. I just successfully plugged a standard PCI card with the dimension 17.5 cm (without brackets and vga connector) x 9,9 cm (without pci connector, 10,7 cm with pci connector) This seems to be the maximum dimensions possible...think the 'half size' written by ibm means the length of the card, not the width, as there are full size pci cards e.g. for video editing that reach all the way to the front through a standard tower case.
Z60 and T60
These machines are not supported by the legacy docks, you need to use the new Z60 range of port replicators and docking stations.
--Tonko 20:22, 11 Jan 2006 (CET)
T60 And Dual Monitors
Yes, you can drive dual monitors with the ThinkPad Advanced Mini-Dock. I am running it under Windows Vista and it is great! The thing you need to do is download the ATI drivers from Lenovo and use the Catalyst Control center to disable your laptop LCD and then enable your analog monitor. By default, the DVI is enabled if both monitors are plugged in.
--Paul317 22:30, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
So I can drive dual monitors with a T60 and an "THINKPAD ADVANCED MINI-DOCK"?
-- ryan 18:30, 18 April 2006 (CMT)
The docking solutions are listed here, and indeed that includes the ThinkPad Advanced Mini Dock which supports the T60.
I do not personally have this hardware, but you should be able to do any of the following:
- ThinkPad LCD + Analog external monitor (VGA)
- ThinkPad LCD + External TV (Svideo)
- ThinkPad LCD + Digital external monitor (DVI)
- Analog external monitor (VGA) + Digital external monitor (DVI)
- Analog external monitor (VGA) + External TV (Svideo)
DVI requires that you have a Dock or Port-Replicator for your ThinkPad with a DVI passthrough port on it. Also you cannot have both DVI and Svideo, since (at least historically, not sure with the new ThinkPads), the Svideo port on the ThinkPad has been blocked by the dock or port replicator and no passthrough function is provided.
Also, I am not sure DVI is supported on the entry T60 model with GMA950 graphics.
--Tonko 22:59, 19 April 2006 (CEST)
Eject mechanism on Dock II
I've just acquired a used Dock II, and the eject mechanism seems to be a bit different from other Thinkpad docks and port replicators I'm familiar with. In particular, my question concerns the the square plugs on the dock base that help eject the laptop when the eject button is pressed. On the original dock for the A and T series, the original Port Replicator, and the newer Mini-Dock, the plugs are normally flush with the base, and are pushed up when the user presses the eject button. On the Docking Station II that I have, the plugs are spring loaded, are extruded from the base when no laptop is present, and are not affected by pressing the the eject button. That is, on the Docking Station II, the plugs are always applying pressure pushing the laptop up, and the laptop is held in place by the locking mechanism that is released when the eject button is pressed. Is this normal for the Docking Station II, or is there some linkage in my unit that's broken?
TIA, Sanford
This is perfectly normal and maybe was an attempt from IBM to reduce the complex mechanics of the eject mechanism of the older docks.
--BDKMPSS 15:31, 11 July 2008 (CEST)
R30, R31, and R32 are not supported
According to Docking station, port replicator, and expansion - ThinkPad General R30, R31, and R32 are not supported by ThinkPad Dock II.
Replace/unplug the noisy fan of Dock II
In the information page, it is said some user might replace or unplug the noisy fan, I attempt to open the Dock II so that I could reach the fan and do something about it, does some one here knows the steps to disassemble it? The noise of the fan is really LOUD!
Thanks ahead.
