Advanced Dock Problems

Received an Advanced Dock 250310U (IBM logo)
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkPad_Advanced_Dock
I apologize if this isn't posted in the right place. Don't believe I've ever posted here before.
Since this Dock is specific to these models, I thought this was the best place to start.
Hoping against all hope that someone here will recognize this or be able to shed some badly needed light on it.
In almost 30 years of IT\Computer work, this is right near the top of the weirdest problems I've ever dealt with.
Testing with two [Integrated Graphics] T61s: a 14.1" XPPro & 15.x" Win7Pro and both have identical problems.
Everything EXCEPT it's Ultrabay (media bay) seems to work OK. But the problems with the ultrabay are extensive.
The only info I can find has to do with the video card & related headaches. I can't even get that far.
At first, I couldn't get the Ultrabay to work at all. Then, all of a sudden, it worked with a small 60GB Seagate hdd,
but would not work with my larger WD 320GB Scorpio or ANY optical drives whatsoever. Testing with numerous
CDRW-DVDROM & DVD Multi drives, there is no problem with any of these drives.
All drives (hdds & optical) read perfectly in both laptop bays. The problems are all with the Dock ultrabay.
After many hours of troubleshooting and reading as much as we could find on the Internet there was no change.
Then again, all of a sudden, it started reading even my larger 320GB Scorpio hdd. But still no optical drives.
More hours of troubleshooting and then - out of the blue - it started reading the optical drives.
But that's when it really started getting interesting. When it would read the hdd's ok, it would not read *any* optical drives
correctly. The rare times we got it to read the optical drives, it would not read *any* hdds. We have never been able to
get it to correctly read a hdd and then an optical drive or visa versa.
When it reads the hdds but no optical drives, the Combo drives would be recognized as "Removable disk" with or without a drive letter.
The DVD-Multi would just not show up (explorer) but shows up in DevMgr as "USB drive" with nothing in Computer.
No matter what after that, the optical drive types throw up a 'disk not formatted' warning and\or if you try to access the disk,
it demands that you insert a disk in the drive. Interestingly, the optical drives are incorrectly recognized as a USB hard drive in DevMgr
but in the rare case the optical drives are working, they are correctly recognized as Cdrom USB drives.
The mystery is how to get the OS to correctly recognize it and why does it change back and forth?! Why can't the bay
correctly read both types of drives at all times?!
When the hdds are working, they are correctly recognized as usb hdd in DevMgr. When they are not working, they have a
USB error in the DevMgr USB section. Removing and re-detecting does nothing to fix it, or any of the other problems.
I've tried every imaginable fix I could think of - including testing with a mass of Live disks (mostly built with WinPE).
I had the EXACT same problems with every single live cd\dvd as we did with the installed OS's.
I've cleaned out all unused and old USB entries and hidden devices that are able to be removed.
Both systems are 1000% clean and otherwise rock solid. Since they also exhibit exact same problems
with the live discs, the OS can't be the sole cause of this craziness. I've cleaned out the Dock with air as well.
I've made sure to secure the dock to the laptop with the key in every case. I've even installed clean OS's to check.
I'm at the point where I'm starting to suspect one of two things or both.
1. The Middleton bios - could be causing a problem with the interface somehow.
Could be causing incompatibility issues. Can anyone confirm usage of this dock with that bios?
Tried changing settings (Sata controller to "Compatible" -- USB Always on etc.) no go.
2. The dock itself is defective. Don't have another - unable to do a replacement troubleshoot.
I really wanted to get this working. I haven't even been able to get to the video card issue
but need to solve the ultrabay problems first.
I never imagined having problems like this with the ultrabay drives being so flaky.
I've taken numerous screen shots (in both XP and W7) of drive properties when they do work correctly
and when they don't work correctly. Screenshots are of DevMgr, Computer\Explorer, DiskMgr etc.
If anyone thinks that would help, I'll link or post them.
Lastly, I've figured out a workaround to getting the hdds to work in the bay.
I simply install them before booting\restarting and they seem to show up correctly 99% of the time. But then
none of the optical drives will work. Conversely, trying this method with the optical drives doesn't work at all.
Go figure. As of this time, I have absolutely no idea what makes the optical drives work.
Thanks in advance for any help on this!

Thank you very much for your input\response! I did clean the main interface\connector using Electo-Wash PX (Chemtronics) which did help. Before cleaning, it didn't read any drives at all. After cleaning it started reading but was very intermittent as described. I'm going to take a very close look at the connectors. Thanks again!

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I finally solved this by going back to an older set of SoundMAX drivers found in this thread:
http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=T_Series_Thinkpads&message.id=24566&query.id=180...
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Problem using DVD/CD drive with Thinkpad Advanced Dock -- drive gets "lost" on start-up

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Which HDD is compatible with HP 120W Advanced Docking station (NZ222AA)

Please tell me which HDD is compatible with integrated SATA upgrade bay of the HP 120W Advanced Docking Station (NZ222AA).. I can't find the info neither in user's manual nor at HP site. Thanks in advance.
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi,
Please check this:
While neither station can be upgraded, both feature an upgrade bay that allows you to install an extra hard drive. If you choose to install the extra drive, you will add additional gigabytes to your current laptop storage space. However, if you choose to take advantage of the extra space, a standard hard drive will not fit in the upgrade bay. HP offers a 500GB hard drive specifically designed for the upgrade bay on the 120W and 230W; you would need to order the upgrade hard drive through HP.
Source: http://www.ehow.com/info_12229020_120w-vs-230w-docking-stations.html
Regards.
BH
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User misplaced key after locking 2504 Advanced docking station

My company employs lots of remote users, one user in particular has locked her T60 notebook onto her type 2504 Advanced Docking Station and 'misplaced' her key. The machine won't boot now and I need to be able to get to the battery in order to begin to troubleshoot it. It won't power on if I have the power cord plugged into the docking station.
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The canned answer is order some new keys.
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I am here on my own time because I like fooling with PCs, especially Lenovo ones. ALL my posts are purely my personal opinion.

T60p docking problem

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There are reports that static buildup between the laptop and the dock, can cause unexpected crashes, there is an official remedy which you can obtain from Lenovo for free if the dock is still within warranty, or use aluminium foil in the place of these rubber caps.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-67382
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

No SPDIF (digital audio out) on Advanced dock with T60p/Vista

Hello,
Has anyone used the RCA jack on the back of the advanced dock to send digital audio to a home theater system? It's not working for me. Here are some of the particulars of my situation.
Windows Vista SP1 (but I had the same problem under XP; yesterday's upgrade to Vista was in hopes of solving this)
Windows Media Center setup wizard recognizes the presence of the SPDIF output
Windows audio setup recognizes the presence of the SPDIF output and claims it's working (screenshot below)
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No sound comes out no matter what I do
Here are a few screenshots.
http://spblat.googlepages.com/sound0.png
http://spblat.googlepages.com/sound1.png
http://spblat.googlepages.com/sound2.png
http://spblat.googlepages.com/sound3.png
There may be a clue in this last one. When I click "Test" my receiver "flaps" between displaying "Stereo" and "Dolby Digital" about twice per second, as though it's trying but failing to get a lock on the signal. Remember that the cable and receiver are tested good with another digital audio source.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance, this is driving me nuts!
Message Edited by spblat on 07-10-2008 05:55 PM

Hey!
I reverted back to the old drivers and got my SPDIF Port working again.
Link to the old version is here:
http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=T_Series_Thinkpads&message.id=2486&query.id=3945...
Make sure you install this before the drivers after you uninstall the old ones:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-65456.html
Please let me know if this works for you.
Cheers

T400 with Advanced Dock - Media bay not being recognized

I have a T400 plugged into an Advanced Dock. The media bay doesn't support the new SATA ultra bay devices, but I plugged in a DVDR drive from my old T60. It fits, but I can't get the T400 to recognize that it's there. Does anyone know how to make it work?
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Me too:
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Docking open T61p on the Advanced dock powers off the laptop

Hi,
I have noticed a weird problem with using the T61p with the advanced docking station. I undock the laptop and then close it, so that it goes into hibernate mode. Then a few hours later, if I open the laptop and work on it undocked. After that if I dock the laptop without going into hibernate, the laptop just powers off, i.e. as if the Power off button was kept pressed.
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ivanpais, welcome to the forum,
you can get the full story on this site;
Docking to a ThinkPad Advanced Mini Dock, ThinkPad Advanced Dock, or Essential Port Replicator, caus...
Andy ______________________________________
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T61P and Advanced Dock, not recognizing removable hard drive

Folks,
I am hoping to get some help with my T61p and Advanced Dock. The Ultra Bay in the advanced dock is not recognizing hard drives that are recognized although they do spin up. The light comes on and I can hear the drive spinning. The same ultrabay carrier works with the same hard drive when inserted into the T61p. If I insert a DVD/CD drive into the advanced dock, it does appear and I can see it to eject it. These drives were working in the advanced dock several months ago and no longer work. Is there a set of drivers for the advanced dock or somewhere I can check to see what is there? Any help or ideas are appreciated.
Thanks,
warren

So it looks like you do not have a hardware problem, since SeaTools sees the drive. Probably the 1.5 Gb/s jumper is not needed, though it's interesting to know that it might be if the drive is installed in the UltraBay (thanks globalkiwi!).
It seems to me that there must be a problem with the drive imaging/cloning. Another member is having a similar problem with their R400 and True Image. In that thread, ortegaluis suggested repeating the cloning process with your new drive installed on the internal SATA and the old drive connected via USB. Or is that how you did it the first time?
It might also help to download a trial of the latest True Image and give that a try... maybe Acronis has fixed some problems with SATA drives?
Please post back with your progress (and hopefully success). Good luck!
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T400 Win7/64 Advanced Dock -- External Monitor No Longer Comes When Booting

My configuration:
T400 (2767-14U)
Windows 7 64bit
256MB ATI Radeon 3470HD (switchable graphics running in "High Performance")
Advanced Dock (2503)
Lenovo D221 Monitor (using VGA cable)
I used the above configuration without issues for a year.
My problem:
I just replaced my hard drive, clean installed the OS and all applications, and updated all drivers and the BIOS using System Update. Since doing that, my external monitor no longer comes on when I boot my computer in the dock (lid closed). The only way I can get the external monitor to work is to boot my computer first, and then "hot dock" it.
As far as I know, all of my BIOS/Power/Graphics settings are the same as always.
Thanks in advance for any help!
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Maybe the BIOS setting for Default Display got switched back to ThinkPad LCD?
W520: i7-2720QM, Q2000M at 1080/688/1376, 21GB RAM, 500GB + 750GB HDD, FHD screen
X61T: L7500, 3GB RAM, 500GB HDD, XGA screen, Ultrabase
Y3P: 5Y70, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, QHD+ screen

PCI-e Graphics in Advanced Dock isn't worth the loss of the Undock Button !!

Greetings,
After using ATI Radeon X1300 in the advanced Dock with my W500 (4061-38U) for over a year, I'm in clear position to conclude, it isn't worth it. Here are the reasons why you should not have this setup :
- the complete loss of one of the TOP features of using a Docking Station : the possibility of fast dock/undock the system without restart.
- the use of PCI-e 1X is rubbish performance.
- the native 1900x1200 resolution of the 4061-38U , which is very frustrating to read. So this screen ends up not being used at all.
- the possibility to connect 2 screens : 1 using DVI, the other using VGA with very little quality loss depending on the screen, cable and resolution.
- the docking station operating in high fan noise (though I had this worked)
- eventually the dock becomes unstable due to power and heat issues
- the waist of time, thinking on how to continue being stubborn and approaching different setups to improve performance in thee issue :
->Lenovo USB DVI box, (Slow performance, USB Bandwidth consumer. CPU Consumer)
-> Other USB DVI products ( same issues)
-> Matrox Dual/triple Display (likely to be of slow performance, PCMCIA card is not part of the Laptop Docking procedure, don't know if it requires restart, overpriced in my point of view)
- lastly and not less important , the waist of space: it is possible to operate the laptop lid closed, and so arrange one of the LCD's to be over the Dock, VESA table mounted.
So as of yesterday, I got back to this simpler yet more efficient setup : W500 + Advanced Dock + 1 Viewsonic 22" LCD operating in landscape mode + 1 Viewsonic 22" LCD operating in portrait mode + backup disk in dock's UltraBay + external USB mouse and keyboard.
Pernalonga
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi ppl
After more than a year and i still maintain the same setup: mentioned in this topic. It's been performing very well, graphics wise.
Overall the W500 is a great laptop. It's been updated with a 256GB Samsung 830 SSD and nothing more.
4GB 32bitW7
All the best for You people
Pernalonga

T61 with Advanced Dock and PCI-e graphics card?

Purchased T61 laptop with NVidia Quadro NVS 140M graphics (Type: 7662-CTO).
Purchased ThinkPad Advanced Dock for use with PCI-e graphics card for multi-monitors. (Type: 2553)
OS = Vista Ultimate
Purchased PCI-e graphics card: NVidia Quadro NVS 440 1x
Purchased four Samsung SyncMaster 740bx monitors
Opened Advanced Dock. Installed Quadro NVS 440 card in PCI-e slot. Card fits perfectly.
Laptop using most recent BIOS v 1.26
Set BIOS config for PCI-e graphics and DVI default monitor.
Connected all four monitors via DVI.
Laptop in dock, turned on. BIOS screen displays correctly on external monitors. Microsoft Corp. screen displays with progress bar. Screen then goes blank and next step should be the Windows login. Login screen never displays, however. Boot-up of laptop halts at this point and never proceeds.
Removed PCI-e card from dock, and placed laptop back in dock. Laptop boots correctly to Windows.
Assumed faulty dock. Called Lenovo for replacement dock. Replacement dock also fails to boot with PCI-e graphics card.
Next assumed bad card. Tried different card. ATI FireMV 2400 1x. Card fits in dock perfectly. Laptop still fails to boot with card in dock.
Called Lenovo. Asked for a list of cards that will work in the dock. Tech support did not know. I asked if anyone at Lenovo has ever seen a T61 laptop work with the Advanced Dock and a PCI-e graphics card. Tech said no. Issue has been escalated to engineering. I still do not have an answer as to which PCI-e cards, if any, will work in the Advanced Dock.
Help please.
ThinkPad T61 (7662-CTO) Core2Duo 2.2GHz 2 Gig RAM 1 Gig Turbo Memory 160 Gig HD 5400 rpm
nVidia Quadro NVS 140M graphics Advanced Dock (2503)

subterFUSE wrote:
Excellent!
...snip...
I will look into these Matrox cards. Hopefully this will be the solution.
Message Edited by subterFUSE on 12-05-2007 02:55 PM
I spent some time surfing through product release letters and data sheets for the grafic cards offered by Lenovo, no where, as far as I could see, does it say that they are compatible with the advanced dock. What is also interesting, they say for PCs they are only tested for 2 screens, but you found the document MIGR-67464 where they show how to configure 4. [confused smiley]
It looks as though you and RBS have found possible solutions for 4 screens, congrats to all
However, I don't want to be the "party pooper" here, but why doesn't your T61 boot in the dock with graphics card? This is still puzzling me, and to be honest I haven't as yet been able to come up with a reason or probable cause as to why
Andy ______________________________________
Please remember to come back and mark the post that you feel solved your question as the solution, it earns the member + points
Did you find a post helpfull? You can thank the member by clicking on the star to the left awarding them Kudos Please add your type, model number and OS to your signature, it helps to help you. Forum Search Option T430 2347-G7U W8 x64, Yoga 10 HD+, Tablet 1838-2BG, T61p 6460-67G W7 x64, T43p 2668-G2G XP, T23 2647-9LG XP, plus a few more. FYI Unsolicited Personal Messages will be ignored.
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Z61p no longer boots to WinXP when on Advanced Dock

Any advice on how to troubleshoot this would be appreciated.
When NOT connected to the dock, the system boots fine.
When connected to the dock, the system will not boot past the Thinkpad screen comes up and the system hangs
I can't think of any specific event that occurred when this started happening. ie: I did not take it off of the dock, and then put it back on the dock, with that being an event that started this.
Current: Thinkpad Yoga S1 w/digitizer
Past: T500 2056-4SU, Advanced Dock, Ultrabay HDD carrier
Z61p 9452JRU. My first Lenovo/IBM stolen and in the hands of someone else now. Advanced Dock, Ultrabay HDD carrier
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Is the ultrabay hdd inserted in the dock? If so, what happens when you boot without it in the dock?
Do you have any usb drives attached to the dock? If you exclude all other devices, except for HDD0 from the boot order in bios, what happens?
Sorry for all the questions, but the answers may be relevant or help, I hope
Andy ______________________________________
Please remember to come back and mark the post that you feel solved your question as the solution, it earns the member + points
Did you find a post helpfull? You can thank the member by clicking on the star to the left awarding them Kudos Please add your type, model number and OS to your signature, it helps to help you. Forum Search Option T430 2347-G7U W8 x64, Yoga 10 HD+, Tablet 1838-2BG, T61p 6460-67G W7 x64, T43p 2668-G2G XP, T23 2647-9LG XP, plus a few more. FYI Unsolicited Personal Messages will be ignored.
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Advanced Dock Problems

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