W540 docking in linux

I have got Lenovo w540 and running Mint 16. When I dock the laptop into the docking station, everything freezes, including the laptop's own keyboard. How should I go along about finding out what is wrong?
Seems like it understands that it has been inserted into a ThinkPad Dock:
[ 537.648571] usb 3-9: Product: Lenovo ThinkPad Dock
[ 537.648577] usb 3-9: Manufacturer: LENOVO
[ 537.649402] hub 3-9:1.0: USB hub found
[ 537.649696] hub 3-9:1.0: 4 ports detected
[ 537.939319] usb 3-9.2: new full-speed USB device number 13 using xhci_hcd
[ 537.958157] usb 3-9.2: New USB device found, idVendor=046d, idProduct=c52b
[ 537.958168] usb 3-9.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 537.958175] usb 3-9.2: Product: USB Receiver
[ 537.958181] usb 3-9.2: Manufacturer: Logitech
[ 537.964487] thinkpad_acpi: EC reports that Thermal Table has changed
[ 537.965034] logitech-djreceiver 0003:046D:C52B.0010: hiddev0,hidraw1: USB HID v1.11 Device [Logitech USB Receiver] on usb-0000:00:14.0-9.2/input2
[ 537.967751] input: Logitech Unifying Device. Wireless PID:101a as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb3/3-9/3-9.2/3-9.2:1.2/0003:046D:C52B.0010/input/input17
[ 537.968177] logitech-djdevice 0003:046D:C52B.0011: input,hidraw2: USB HID v1.11 Mouse [Logitech Unifying Device. Wireless PID:101a] on usb-0000:00:14.0-9.2:1
[ 538.047113] usb 3-9.3: new full-speed USB device number 14 using xhci_hcd
[ 538.065951] usb 3-9.3: New USB device found, idVendor=046d, idProduct=c52b
[ 538.065953] usb 3-9.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 538.065954] usb 3-9.3: Product: USB Receiver
[ 538.065955] usb 3-9.3: Manufacturer: Logitech
[ 538.071609] logitech-djreceiver 0003:046D:C52B.0014: hiddev0,hidraw3: USB HID v1.11 Device [Logitech USB Receiver] on usb-0000:00:14.0-9.3/input2
[ 538.155070] usb 3-9.4: new high-speed USB device number 15 using xhci_hcd
[ 538.171156] usb 3-9.4: New USB device found, idVendor=17ef, idProduct=100f
[ 538.171158] usb 3-9.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[ 538.171160] usb 3-9.4: Product: Lenovo ThinkPad Dock
[ 538.171162] usb 3-9.4: Manufacturer: Lenovo
[ 538.171163] usb 3-9.4: SerialNumber: Rev1.2
[ 538.171636] hub 3-9.4:1.0: USB hub found
[ 538.171702] hub 3-9.4:1.0: 3 ports detected
[ 538.235051] systemd-udevd[2968]: failed to execute '/lib/udev/mtp-probe' 'mtp-probe /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb3/3-9/3-9.2 3 13': No such file or directory
[ 538.442637] usb 3-9.4.1: new full-speed USB device number 16 using xhci_hcd
[ 538.462367] usb 3-9.4.1: New USB device found, idVendor=046d, idProduct=c52b
[ 538.462369] usb 3-9.4.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 538.462371] usb 3-9.4.1: Product: USB Receiver
[ 538.462372] usb 3-9.4.1: Manufacturer: Logitech
[ 538.472456] logitech-djreceiver 0003:046D:C52B.0017: hiddev0,hidraw4: USB HID v1.11 Device [Logitech USB Receiver] on usb-0000:00:14.0-9.4.1/input2
[ 538.475604] input: Logitech Unifying Device. Wireless PID:4101 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb3/3-9/3-9.4/3-9.4.1/3-9.4.1:1.2/0003:046D:C52B.0017/input/input18
[ 538.475672] logitech-djdevice 0003:046D:C52B.0018: input,hidraw5: USB HID v1.11 Keyboard [Logitech Unifying Device. Wireless PID:4101] on usb-0000:00:14.0-9.4.1:1
[ 538.558533] usb 3-9.4.2: new low-speed USB device number 17 using xhci_hcd
[ 538.581353] usb 3-9.4.2: New USB device found, idVendor=04b3, idProduct=3025
[ 538.581355] usb 3-9.4.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 538.581356] usb 3-9.4.2: Product: USB NetVista Full Width Keyboard.
[ 538.581358] usb 3-9.4.2: Manufacturer: LITE-ON Technology
[ 538.581404] usb 3-9.4.2: ep 0x81 - rounding interval to 128 microframes, ep desc says 192 microframes
[ 538.586538] input: LITE-ON Technology USB NetVista Full Width Keyboard. as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb3/3-9/3-9.4/3-9.4.2/3-9.4.2:1.0/input/input19
[ 538.586588] hid-generic 0003:04B3:3025.0019: input,hidraw6: USB HID v1.10 Keyboard [LITE-ON Technology USB NetVista Full Width Keyboard.] on usb-0000:00:14.0-9.4.2/input0
[ 538.587115] systemd-udevd[3007]: failed to execute '/lib/udev/mtp-probe' 'mtp-probe /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb3/3-9/3-9.4/3-9.4.1 3 16': No such file or directory
[ 551.648577] usb 3-9: USB disconnect, device number 12
[ 551.648581] usb 3-9.2: USB disconnect, device number 13
[ 551.680410] usb 3-9.3: USB disconnect, device number 14
[ 551.682254] usb 3-9.4: USB disconnect, device number 15
[ 551.682265] usb 3-9.4.1: USB disconnect, device number 16
[ 551.784519] usb 3-9.4.2: USB disconnect, device number 17
[ 552.018950] usb 4-5: USB disconnect, device number 3
[ 552.225759] init: anacron main process (2859) killed by TERM signal
[ 552.251780] thinkpad_acpi: EC reports that Thermal Table has changed
[ 552.350775] thinkpad_acpi: undocked from hotplug port replicator
[ 554.844176] e1000e: eth0 NIC Link is Up 1000 Mbps Full Duplex, Flow Control: None

You might look into installing Bumblebee. I have it installed on my W530 with Ubuntu 14.04 and it allows me to switch Optimus on/off at will and even specify which apps should use discrete graphics and which should not. I don't know for certain that it will work on the W540, since it probably has a different graphics card than my W530 (I have the Nvidia K1000, I believe) but it is certainly worth a try.
Current: ThinkPad W530, ThinkPad x131e, ThinkPad T510, ThinkPad Tablet 2
Past: ThinkPad x120e, ThinkPad R50

Similar Messages

W540 + Dock + Dual U28D590 (UHD) monitors

Hi,
I have a W540 dock previously driving 2xDell U3011 monitors. It worked okay (there were problems with the U3011 going into a sleep-freeze-hell mode but from what I could gather it was more a problem with the U3011 firmware).
I've just upgraded (or tried to) to 2xSamsung U28D590 UHD monitors. This does not appear to work well at all. I've experienced the following symptoms in the following conditions:
(excuse bullet point formatting - cannot figure out how to nest bullet points)
One monitor plugged in - either monitor, on either display port - works fine. Monitor goes to native, laptop lcd goes to native.
Both monitors plugged in, Laptop open - I can drive ONE of the D590's to the native (3840x2160) resolution. The other monitor connects at 1024x768. Any attempt to change resolution on this one gives the ambiguous "Unable to save display settings" error.
Any attempt to disconnect the laptop screen in the screen configuration also gives the "Unable to save display settings" error.
Both monitors plugged in, laptop closed
Ths initial state here is glitchy. The screen config thinks both screens are on, but only one is actually showing anything. It is also periodically flickering (the screen goes dark, for maybe a tenth of a second) as if it is in a lower-power configuration, and as far as I can tell this is happening consistently at 1hz. I haven't run this for long because I am afraid it is doing damage to the monitor.
After some tinkering I can get both screens to show at 2560x1440. Any attempt to push either screen to native simply causes the screen to flicker and the "Do you want to keep these display settings?" prompt to come up - however the screens remain at 2560x1440.
Has anybody else had any experience with trying to drive 2 UHD monitors? I'm really hoping I haven't just wasted a lot of money.
I'm happy to not use the laptop LCD if that is necessary. I would try discrete only BIOS mode but this has been removed for reasons beyond my understanding.
My configuration:
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
W540
- 20BGCTO1WW.
- Bios version GNET60WW (2.08). I know the BIOS is old - the laptop originally shipped with 2.09 - but I had all manner of hellish problems getting my RAM to work (see http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/W-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/W540-with-G-Skill-F3-1866C10D-16GRSL/td-p/1459... and ended up downgrading. I've checked the BIOS changelog and nothing seems to relate to this issue so I have avoided upgrading for the moment to avoid the risk of bricking my laptop
- 2880x1620 LCD
- Quadro K2100M - drivers 9.18.13.1269
- Intel HD Graphics drivers 10.18.10.3910
Dock 40A20135AU (yes, the 135W dock - I was told on these forums this was okay, and indeed is the unit shipped/recommended for the W540 by Lenovo Australia).
- I believe I've upgraded the firmware available from here http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/pd028011 . I'm not 100% because after running it, it showed a progress box for flashing which disappeared and there was no confirmation prompt.

Colonel, just realised I didn't answer your previous question - yes, I am driving both monitors from display port cables.
I've updated the NVIDIA Drivers to 9.18.13.1269. Unfortunately this hasn't made a difference (well, it has broken wake from sleep again, but it has not helped)
I've also installed the monitor drivers but this also has not made a difference unfortunately.
ptdh thanks for the information. The fact that I was able to drive a single monitor at 3840x2160 makes me suspect something else is afoot. Not entirely sure if the Pro2840m drivers would work at all on my monitor or even a good idea - from what I understand they are different panels?
Maybe there's just better inherent support in Win8 because of the drive for retina level everything. At the moment unfortunately I don't have time to go and install Win8 on a test drive just to check this.
I have a suspicion it might be a problem more with the Intel side of things thanks to the convoluted optimus display. But sadly I cannot force discrete at a low level because in their infinite wisdom Lenovo have removed that option from the BIOS.
Also tried installing the Intel drivers (not sure if the correct ones - here https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=23764&lang=eng&ProdId=3319) but unfortunately due to the usual OEM/Vendor faffery they won't install on my system.
If anyone else has more input (any official comment from Lenovo rep? I have emailed support but it's been radio silence so far)

W540 + Ultra Dock on Linux

I have a W540 and it is running Ubuntu Linux (still going ever since the BIOS update). I want to get the docking station (the whole reason for buying a Lenovo) to have external keyboard mouse and monitor.
I am interested in the Ultra Dock:
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?...
I have read other posts about the Ultra Dock but the link to the compatibility chart is a dead link.
I see some of our T540 friends are having troubles with the Ultra Dock. It is not clear to me if those problems are also with the W540 models.
Has anyone with a W540 AND Linux been able to use the Ultra Dock with external monitors?

The keyboard and mouse seems to work fine with the dock. The dock behavior is quite inconsistent. My colleague has been able to project to two monitors and the screen by using Standard Mode (intel chip drives the dock outputs; in advanced mode nvidia drives the dock outputs) and then plugging one monitor into the vga output on the laptop, and the second monitor into the DVI output on the dock. He also has to do some weird unplugging and replugging ritual to get it all to work nice; it never works right on boot.
I am unable to replicate his success, however. He is even running on 12.04. I tried a bunch of things over the weekend: 12.04, 13.10, and even a daily build of 14.04 (which wouldn't even boot from the live cd). Right now I am running Linux Mint 16 (which is based on 13.10, I think). I would think a newer version would have more success. Another thing I notice is that when I open up restricted drivers, options to install the nvidia driver never shows up. However, doing an lspci | grep -i nvidia shows the nvidia driver, which means the system can see it (it even shows the model number: Quadro K1100M). It never shows up for me docked or undocked.
It's pretty disappointing because I would love to have two monitors. I think I can kind of make do with one monitor and the laptop screen for the time being, but it still sucks. What is frustrating also is that this laptop is supposed to be "Ubuntu certified", but in my experience it is anything but that.

W540 dock compatibility

We have three dock posibilities:
- basic dock
- pro dock
- ultra dock
They differentiate by the number of ports and by the power adapter supplied with them. I had an opurtunity to try my W540 on pro dock, which normally has 65W or 90W power adapter. The computer warned me about insufficient power, and did not charge on dock, everything else worked fine. The I disconnected 90W and connected my original 170W power supply to the doc. Everything is working normally since.
So, my question is: Since I don't need all the ports on the ultra dock, nor on the pro dock. Would basic dock work with W540 and 170W power adapter too?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

the basic dock with the 170 watt adapter will also work with your W540.
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

W540 Disable Optimus - Linux

I just got a W540. I've installed Linux (Ubuntu 14.04) and I'm trying to disable Optimus. On my old W520 there was a BIOS setting but there doesn't appear to be one on the W540. Is there any way to disable Optimus? I just want to use the Nvidia graphics card. I've managed to install the Nvidia drivers (I think) instead of the default Nouveau ones.
Thanks!
Eli

You might look into installing Bumblebee. I have it installed on my W530 with Ubuntu 14.04 and it allows me to switch Optimus on/off at will and even specify which apps should use discrete graphics and which should not. I don't know for certain that it will work on the W540, since it probably has a different graphics card than my W530 (I have the Nvidia K1000, I believe) but it is certainly worth a try.
Current: ThinkPad W530, ThinkPad x131e, ThinkPad T510, ThinkPad Tablet 2
Past: ThinkPad x120e, ThinkPad R50

W540 + Dock station (40A20170EU), Audio and HDMI problems - SOLVED

Hello,
I have recently bought your dock station (40A20170EU) and as soon as I started using it the problems began:
- Audio jack on the dock is not working and is emitting static.
- As soon as I connect a display via HDMI port (on the dock station) my laptop display starts flickering (the display was tested on the PC and works).
I have updated the dock firmware to 2.21.000, nothing changed.
PS. The second monitor running from the docking stations display port is working fine.
I need your help!
Thank you!

SOLVED.
1) Removed all display drivers.
2) In BIOS I changed the display setting from standard to advanced.
3) Reinstalled all the display drivers.
4) Reconnect the HDMI monitor and now it’s working.
5) WINNING J
Thanks anyway.

Running a "heavy" program from within a java class

Dear Java programmers,
I 'm trying to run a software called surflex from within a java class, using the following java command:
Runtime.getRuntime().exec( new String[ { "/bin/bash", "docking_script_2.bash"} );
For convenience I've created the following simple bash script but for some strange reason surflex is not executed:
#!/bin/bash
surflex-dock-v211-linux.exe proto drug.mol2 receptor_hydro.mol2 p1;
surflex-dock-v211-linux.exe dock drug.mol2 p1-protomol.mol2 receptor_hydro.mol2 >& 1OHR_A_output.txt;
Can anybody help me on that (ignore the arguments, they are correctly set)? I'll try to find another, more generic example, but so far I've noticed that the same thing happens with unix grep command.
thanks,
Tom

I think if you want to invoke a bash shell and give it a command to execute, you need to do
/bin/bash -c commandrather than
/bin/bash commandAccordingly, your call to exec should look like
exec( new String[ { "/bin/bash", "-c" "docking_script_2.bash"} );Beyond, that, I'd suggest the following as general debugging tips and best practices:
* As the first line of the bash script, include a line that does something simple, like touch a file, so you can see if the script is executing at all.
* In Java, call Process.waitFor(). Its return value is the process' exit value.
* Make sure you're gobbling stdout and stderr from the process, and giving stdin any input it needs. You'll have to do this for the process to run correctly, and you can also use what you read from stdout and stderr to debug the execution of the process. [http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-12-2000/jw-1229-traps.html]
* You may wan to look into ProcessBuilder, rather than Runtime.exec. I haven't used it myself yet, but apparently it's supposed to be the preferred way to execute external processes.

3 external monitors + built in LCD Problem

Hi Everyone first the setup:
W540 docked to the ultra docking station
has the nvidia K1100M card
Monitor 1: VGA to the back of the ultra docking station
Monitor 2: HDMI to the back of the ultra docking station
Monitor 3: DVI to the back of the ultra docking station
When I try to enable the built in LCD it will turn off one of the other monitors. There isn't a specific one just takes away from one of them.
Is there a way to get the Built in LCD to be active with the other three monitors?
All graphics drivers are up to date. Bios is updated and the Docking port Firmware is up to date.
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

dont think its possible:
I asked at bottom here....
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/W-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/Three-external-monitors-own-LCD-in-W540-with-n...
I found this myself in the W540 manual: "For the ThinkPad Ultra Dock, if you connect two displays to the DisplayPort connector and the DVI
connector, the DVI connector is inactive.
For the ThinkPad Ultra Dock, if you connect two displays to the DisplayPort connector and the HDMI
connector, the HDMI connector is inactive."
Kinda stupid the MiniDock allows it in their older models, but the newer UltraDock doesn't?
I've only been able to get 2 external monitors and the monitor display working.
Might be able to get daisy chaining working to get >3 monitors as I mentioned at bottom of thread, but seems much more expensive (cheapest is that eVGA hub but have to have DisplayPort monitors)

W540 Linux display issues

I am running a W540 with a K1100M and the hi-res display.
I have it dual booting linux (Opensuse 13.1 x64) and Windows 7.
I have been unable to get the NVidia drivers to install and work correctly, either with bumblebee or without.
At this point, I would be content to use the nvidia chip all the time and skip the power savings. When the OS installs it loads up the opensource driver and the intel driver. The internal display functions correctly, and I can connect two external monitors to it with no issues plugged into the thunderbolt and vga connectors. (Quite amazing, as I have never seen the nouveau driver work so well.)
The bad thing about the nouveau driver is the performance and power usage. It runs poorly, and uses lots of power for anything beyond normal desktop usage and youtube. Futher, using the default install, the monitors do not work when connected to the dock station. They are not seen.
Has anyone managed to get this machine work on either just the nvidia chip running all the time, or with bumblebee and multiple monitors?
Thanks!

fbrozovic wrote:
I connected the external monitor while the system was running. On the mDP port, the external monitor would automatically extend the desktop, so I assume that this would be the default when connecting one to the dock too.
The NVIDIA driver version is 319.82; as for the Intel one, I have no idea, as I think the driver for the HD4600 is in the i915 kernel module (not sure here though). (of course the xorg driver isn't in the kernel) the Intel one (xserver-xorg-video-intel) is 2.21.15-1+b2.
My BIOS LCD settings are the default ones:
Boot Display Device - ThinkPad LCD
Video Mode on Dock - Standard (also tried Advanced, didn't help, but external monitors run with the K2100M instead of the HD4600 under Windows)
Discrete GFX Perf Mode - High Performance
Looks like our driver versions aren't going to match up. Those are really old Nvidia drivers, I didn't think they supported the K2100m series. If it works though!
My intel drivers are xf86-video-intel-2.99.910-117.2.x86_64 which is based on 2.99.910 driver from here:http://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/driver/xf86-video-intel/
You said that the Advanced didn't help, did it hurt?
(I think mine is running that way now, and I am also running the high performance mode.)

A brand new W540 and the Ultra Dock humms, black out external screen, won't recognize mouse and some

Just received a W540 and an Ultra Dock. Here is my first impressions.
During setup ... tried to connect my speakers directly onto the laptop.... HUMMMMM! (really loud humming sound, until Windows loads ...sounds like a short somewhere ...). Ok, obviously sound is not the main focus of W540.
After a little while... boink! ... and the external screen goes black accompanied with the "Windows detected something disconnect"-sound. No matter what I clicked on the keyboard, or how much a moved the mouse, the external screen wouldn't turn on again. I had to flip up the screen on the laptop, and tada, Windows reported that something connected again, and the external screen turned on again. Turns out that I need to keep the laptop screen open at all times now, and now and then both screens disconnect and connect again. Not completely a showstopper, but somewhat annoying. Ok, how to fix - enter "lenovo ultra dock black screen" in Google and see that a bunch of people have experienced the same thing. After some reading, I found this official support page "LENOVO THINKPAD PRO DOCK AND THINKPAD ULTRA DOCK ARE CAUSING DISPLAY ISSUES ON EXTERNAL MONITORS" (http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/ht081248). Seems to fit my situation perfectly. Just download the fwdphb03.exe program and follow the instructions. But does fwdphb03.exe even start?!? NO!
Just a brief flicker and no application nor instructions to follow. In addition, I am Administrator on my machine. Please make applications that at least attempt to work....
I have an Aten mouse and keyboard switch (KVM) (CS-1784 to be precise), which have been working seamlessly for years on all other machines I have (VMWare images with different Windows versions, Raspberry Pi and Mac). Connecting the KVM with it's mouse and keyboard renders a working keyboard and a dead mouse (remember - switching to one of the other machines renders working keyboard and mouse instantly).... <rant on>pheeew, starting to get a bad feeling here. OBVIOUSLY we have a lot of cool hardware like USB 3 and DisplayPort and what not, but WHAT DOES THAT MATTER, when the Lenovo folks can't program this stuff properly?</rant off>
The W540 comes with a lot of Lenovo software. Much of it is really good and useful. But what happened when you try to log in to Windows? For some reason Lenovo want to inform you that the Num Lock is on when you see the standard login screen. The message something like "Num Lock is on - your password may be entered incorrectly". All in some black background, covering OVER the login field in Windows !!!! Hey, the laptop has a numeric keyboard, I don't need this message. Luckily others again have experience the same thing. At this page http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-and-newer-T-series/New-T540p-numlock-warning-at-login/td-p/142... I get the tip that I need to rename the tpnumlk.exe to something else. Gone was the stupid message.
My advice to Lenovo - don't include stuff that harvest a lot of complaints and that obviously is going to annoy your customers. Even if the machine was one with a small keyboard and no separate numeric keyboard, I would NEVER EVER want to have some ugly black box covering over the standard login field… I can’t even imagine that the developer of this tool, use it (nor like it)! That is exactly why bloatware gets its reputation.
I would of course understand all this if I were talking about cheap machines and some wacko docking station. But I am not.... This is state-of-the-art, 2014, expensive-style laptop from the same manufacturer.
PS! At the end of this session, Lenovo tells me that there is a problem with the powersystem, and that it want to reduce power to sustainable levels....

can you connect the device in _*recovery mode*_ ?
JGG

3 external monitors on W540 only connected to Ultra Dock

According to this document (http://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/options/tp_ultra_dock_sp40a02135.pdf) it should be possible to attach 3 (three) external monitors/displays to a docked Thinkpad.
It should also work with 1 Display in the DisplayPort , a second one in the other DisplayPort and the 3rd monitor in the VGA port, is that correct? (So all monitors connected to the dock, not to the Thinkpad)
This should definitely be possible with a Thinkpad W540 right?
Is it possible to use daisy-chaining (DisplayPort 1.2 MST) to get MORE than 3 external monitors running?
You should also definitely update this page http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-76617 or add a new one for the new docks and thinkpads where one can easily find out how many monitors one can connect and how.

*Update*
I now have 4 monitors running on my 2009 17" mid-2009 MBP. The MBP, 2 17" Dell monitors and a 24" Dell monitor. Mavericks allows multiple displays as seperate working environments.
As you can see in the image (excuse the clutter..cable management is under the desk and its a WIP at the moment)I have the upper left monitor working in excel, the middle larger monitor in iTunes, the left monitor is browsing via Firefox and I'm in Safari in this forum on the MBP.
I have run Photoshop, Protools, Safari and Dreamweaver in this set up over the last few hours also.
The only issues I'm working through now is trying to have my dock on all displays and keeping the display setting after the MBP is put to sleep. Any suggestions are helpful.
At this time I haven't put the MBP in my Bookendz docking station, but I just updgraded to a 250GB Samsung SSD, 8GBRAM and replaced the superdrive with the old 500GB HDD. I also store most of my audio and graphic files on an external HDD and iCloud.

W540 + Ultra docks = big serious issue

Hello everyone, We recently ordered 30+ x240s and w540 laptops using the ultradocks. Here's the prequel
1. initially they had the issue with monitors going blank, that has been fixed with a firmware update
2. there was a second firmware update ver 2.21 that fixes some issues with HP monitors. Ok , done.
Ok now all is well, we have the x240s on the docks and w540s with their docks + the 175w powersupply supplies etc.
Now we have users that wanted 27inch and some 30 inch monitors and a big big problem comes up.
The docks cannot drive anything higher then those 24inch monitors (1920x1200). the 27 inch (2560x1440) and the 30inch (2560x1600) does not work AT all.
it does not work with even ONE of those monitors hooked into the dock not speaking of the 2 that users wanted.
So w540+ultra dock + 1 27/30 inch monitor = nothing, blank screen, go to display settings and it detects a grey option
Now, the w540 without the ultra dock and hooked directly into a 27/30 inch monitor = no problem, we have full functionality.
We have tried every combination to try to get it to work and it's a no go.
Researched the dock's DVI port and see if we can possibly use that, nope, the DVI is only single link so our only option are the 2 display ports on the dock.
Of course those don't work at all. We have opened a ticket with lenovo and it's been escalated, awaiting responds.
This maybe a serious issue I am seeing here since we have 30+ docks and more coming. (yes we have tested on them all and their firmwares are 2.21)
Anyways, if anyone has run into this please confirm. Suggestions are welcome, but I am sure we have tried just about everything.
Thanks Everyone, J

I was able to connect a W540 to an Ultra Dock (170W) in "Standard" mode and then get an external monitor working at a resolution of 3840 x 2160. The monitor is a Samsung U28D590D connected via the DisplayPort on the docking station. Note that "Advanced" mode was very unstable, and often crashed within a few minutes. Standard mode works when connected via DisplayPort but would also crash instantly and repeatedly if connected via HDMI.
Tested with a variety of bios, firmware and driver versions. Including System BIOS v2.17 & v2.18. Docking station firmware v2.22 and multiple Intel and NVIDIA driver versions. None worked with HDMI or in Advanced mode. Hopefully this gets fixed at some point.

W540, Ultra Dock and 3840*2160

It took me some weeks to realize that the implementation of Nvidia is different from my W520 which was able to drive 3840*2160@30Hz natively through the built-in DP as well as the Dock's DP.
With the W540, I only get full Nvidia support (full means switching off Intel HD) when the W540 is connected to the dock. Before I buy a new dock (40A20135EU or 40A20170EU), I need to know whether the 4K resolution is working in this combination with my W540 with Nvidia Quattro 1100M.
With my w520 and ultra dock, the tech spec only mentioned resolutions up to 2560*1600 but 4K worked anyway at 30Hz with acceptable quality. Of course, I prefer to get 60Hz but with my Samsung 40' UHD and it's HDMi 2.0 interface I'm afraid that I will be stucked at 30Hz as there is no cable supportiing 60Hz with DP 1.2 output to an HDMI 2.0 input.
So; is anyone out there running the Ultra dock with W540 and 4K resolution successfully ?
Furthermore, like many others here in the forum, I experience the display switching off for some seconds randomly. I learned that running a 135W power supply could myke a difference, so I'm wondering wether buying the 0A20135EU 135W version is the better choice for my W540. I presume that the charging time will go up but are there other differences compared to the 170W version dock ?

I'm using a 4k screen in MST mode with the W540 and the ultra dock (170W power supply):
When using the dock in "normal mode" (= connected to the Intel chipset) the screen works - sort of. It will turn on and off quite a few times after plugging it in(Win 8.1) and then work for a few hours - at that point it switches off(you'll get some artifacts on screen warning you before it goes blank), which requires power-cycling screen and dock to get things working again.
If I set it to "advanced mode"(= connected to the NVidia chipset) the screen is detected but stays blank, presumably because the NVidia card doesn't like the "on-off" period. No 10-bit for me
If I plug the screen into the Thunderbolt port it works without any issues.
If anybody got things to work in "advanced mode", I would be interested as well...

W540 - 4k monitor at 60hz without dock possible?

Hi,
I am having issues using my Phillips 288p 4k monitor with my W540. It runs at 4k resolution, but only at 30hz. I have read a few threads on the forums which suggests it will display 4k at 60hz using the Ultra Dock, but I was wondering if there was a way to force the GPU to display it at 60hz without the dock?
Regards

IIRC, the W540 drives the onboard external ports with the Intel card instead of the NVIDIA card. Intel's notorious for locking out custom resolution and timing settings, so you're probably out of luck.
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

Linux copy the Mac Dock to make it looks like MAC! But what's Apple doing?

When I'm disappointed at PCs, it's not only because of Microsoft's Windows, but also millions of so-called different PCs only with the same Windows system inside. So I wanna to look for a new computer with unique features, I think Mac is the best choice I can never find. But now I'm annoyed that Linux are copying Mac from Mac Dock, and using some themes to make Linux look like a 'real' Mac!? Then what's Apple doing about it? Just standing by and making Linux themselves? Apple does not mind about it? Mac Dock isn't Apple's? If Linux are all with MAC OS X copying-features, then what's MAC OS X? Who will know, when millions of computer with a Mac Dock Linux, who will remenber that the DOCK is apple's? Maybe people will think: MAC OS X? just a Linux-outlook system! OH~GOD!! At that time what's the difference between MAC and Linux? And what's the difference between MAC and PC? Millions of computers with the same outlooking system as MAC? OH~NO!! I wanna Apple to give me a full answer about this!!
Message was edited by: Weida

If you are really worried about the looks of things like the dock being in linux vs mac, there is no type of Computing device that can save you.
Apple may have patents and trademarks, but even if someone made a window manager that cloned os x's gui completely, it would not have the underlying power that goes with it. Linux is similar to Darwin, but osx's implementation of a gui is nearly flawless in my opinion. I am a linux admin by trade. I used to run linux desktops. i struggled for years to find a gui that worked well on linux, because I needed the power that goes with it from the command line / mem usage etc. Then enter my first mac purchase with a macbook pro I bought on the whim last year. Wait.. can it be true? A powerfully flexible freebsdish system (darwin) underneath a gui that is fast, efficient, and actually works?! Plus hardware that knock on wood in my luck rarely goes bad, plus rarely crashes unless it's a third party tool? Gasp and egads.
That is why Apple does not have to worry. I love linux. I love os X. Linux is making breakthroughs with desktop goals, but until they redo Xorg to not be the suck it can be, I will stick with my os X. As will most of the other linux / bsd geeks in my office who are mac converts (bout 6 of us overall, theres only roughly 10 admins besides myself that are technical).
It's not that they don't care. It's that for intents and purposes, it doesn't need to.

W540 docking in linux

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