T61 Docking Problem

I got my new T61 and Advanced Mini-Dock here at work today but I am having some problems getting the two to play nice together.

Even with all peripherals disconnected from both the dock and the laptop, I get blue screened immediately after login if I am connected to my dock. The machine boots perfectly if it is not docked.

I can successfully connect to the dock if the computer has FULLY started up. If the sidebar (yes I'm running Vista) hasn't fully loaded and I connect to the dock, the machine will lock up. I have all of the latest drivers and haven't been able to find ANYTHING related to this online. Anyone have a similar experience? This one is really frustrating!

 

There appears to be a lot of blue screen issues when the laptop is first configured. Once you get it working, everything seems to be OK.

I had blue screens when first trying to get Vista setup. Now, it seems to be working ok.

I use mine with an advance dock and don't have any issues with it.

 

I plan on getting the mini-dock. Call tech support. Then tell us what fixed the issue.

 

I would check the Event Viewer and see what component is causing the crash. You can then have a better chance of resolving it.

 

Tried the event viewer, the only indication that anything happened is an EventLog with Event ID 6008 which says that the previous system shutdown was unexpected.

Also, this is probably unrelated, but boot (when it works) takes over 5 minutes, and shut down takes over 2 minutes. Jeez, I wonder if I got a lemon.

 

I'm having a problem with my T61 and Dock too. If I try to power on the T61 while docked via the dock power button, the computer freezes immediately and indefinitely on the Lenovo startup screen. There are no issues starting up normally. Anyone run into anything like this? Any advice? Looks like a call to Lenovo may be in order...

 

I have no issue regarding Mini dock and T61 in XP for sure

but when I was using Vista, I got blue screen all the time, so I didn't even bother to try the dock.

 

When connected to the Advanced Dock, mine will boot properly, but will not default to the native resolution of my external LCD. It wants to default to the native resolution of the laptop instead. After booting, I have to set the resolution to the correct one and then all my icons jump to new positions.

Shutting down is a whole new set of problems...

 

There is a thread about this on the thinkpad forums, it has to do with when the THinkpad and the Docking station meet, there is an error in the event viewer. It will be a simple driver fix once Lenovo gets around to it. No worries, nothing is wrong with your hardware.

 

Mine is a completely different docking issue which might actually be a hardware issue. It's not the dock, and it's not Vista (at least the initial problem isn't) While docked and powered off, I try to turn the laptop on via the dock and T61 and it just freezes immediately on the initial Thinkpad screen forever. It doesn't even get a chance to get to the OS. Its not the dock because I had 2 brand new docks in my possession to try, and both did the same. So the tech tells me its the system board and or the the dock connector on the system board.

 

Any USB devices attached?

At home I have a USB hub (with a power supply) with about 4 devices attached. My Fujitsu-Siemens would do the same thing as your TP with this hub attached. I have to disconnect the hub from the notebook to continue.

 

Hmmm, yeah... I had my Microsoft USB Wireless Keyboard Mouse Adapter and USB External Hard Drive plugged in at the time. I have a Belkin 4-port USB Thumb Hub, but didn't have it plugged in at the time.

Do you think that would cause the problem? If so, what the hell is the point of the dock if I can't leave USB devices plugged in?

I will try and see if thats causing a problem when I get home.

Did you have problems just plugging in other USB Devices? Come to think of it, my USB Hard Drive is externally powered and was on at the time I was trying all of this. Would that be an issue?

 

Hey everyone! GREAT NEWS!

After I got home I hooked my dock back up, and individually, 1 device at a time, hooked all my items into the Advanced Mini-Dock.

I THINK I found the problem!!! I got EVERYTHING to work perfectly... I even got my Belkin Thumb Mini Hub (Self Powered) to work! The ONLY thing that didn't work was when I booted the computer on WITH my external Seagate Hard Drive powered on before the Laptop was. If I turned it off before I booted the PC, everything works! In fact, if I tuned the Hard Drive off WHILE the Thinkpad screen was frozen, the laptop continued to boot! So basically the Hard Drive can stay plugged in on boot, it just cant be powered on. Based on someone else's issue with an externally powered USB drive also not working, I think we can safely come to a conclusion that the Advanced Mini-Hub does not like "powered" USB devices to be "on" while cold booting. For me, this is ok.. I can just turn my external Hard Drive off when needed as I use it for occasional backups... this might be a deal killer for others.

Im curious if maybe a stronger wattage/voltage AC Adapter would fix this issue, or if its something else all together?

Eitherway, I'm SOOO stoked that all is working well again. (Outside of my fan still needing to be fixed from rubbing up against a wire)

As an added Bonus, I'm also happy to say that I have Vista Ultimate installed on my T61 (with NVIDIA) and when I dock and undock the resolution outmatically goes back and forth between the 1440x900 native of my Thinkpad and the native 1680x1050 of my 22" External LCD! I couldn't be happier! I was seconds away from RMAing this machine... glad I took the time to test Too bad Lenovo support couldn't figure this out on their own... but thats a whole other joke...errr, I mean story.

Hope this is of help to many!