Laptop/Docking Station display problem

G

Guest

All,
I've got a nice Dell Precision Laptop (4-5 months old) and I just got a
docking station for it (direct from Dell). The laptop (XP Pro SP2) works
fantastically when you boot it up while in the dock or stand-alone, but
problems arise when you either dock it while it's powered on or undock it
while it's on.
Basically, while it's docked, you can either press the "undock" button on
the docking station or in the Start menu. It tells me it's ready to be
released from the dock, so I do so. After I pull the computer off, it has no
picture until I press Fn+F8 (much like you would do when hooking up to an
external monitor or projector). After that, it's all fine.
A similar problem happens when doing the opposite. While the computer is on
(but closed/standby or hibernating), I place it on the dock and press the
dock's power button to bring the laptop out of it's "sleep." The computer
sounds as though it is waking up and the lights on the dock indicate the
same, but no display on the external monitor is visible. I have to open the
computer (while on the dock) and press Fn+F8 again and that will display on
the external monitor.
I work with people who have a very similar setup (amost identical
hardware/software) and they have no problems. I've even replaced the dock
with a different one (again, direct from Dell). I'd love to hear someone's
input. Thanks in advance!
 
G

Guest

I should mention that I have flashed the BIOS to the latest revision and all
drivers are up to date.
 
M

Malke

DuaneTheConfused said:
I should mention that I have flashed the BIOS to the latest revision
and all drivers are up to date.

IIRC, you need docking software from Dell. It should have come with the
dock. Did you install it? If you can't find it, go to Dell's site for
your specific model laptop and docking station.

Malke
 
S

Steve N.

DuaneTheConfused said:
I should mention that I have flashed the BIOS to the latest revision and all
drivers are up to date.

:

Might be a corrupted hardware profile. Try this:

Shut down, un-dock, boot up, go into Hardare Profiles (rt-click My
computer, Hardware tab), delete the Docked profile, shut down, re-dock,
boot up and a new Docked profile will be created. You may need to reset
your display resolution afterwards.

Steve
 
A

Audrey

I have this same problem with a D630, and recreating the profile did not
help. Dell tells me it is an XP thing. Any ideas?
 
Joined
Feb 9, 2011
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
I have a similar problem with my office computer. It's an HP "Compaq 8510p" laptop with a docking station, running Windows XP Professional. In the office I use an external monitor with the laptop closed. When I get ready to leave the office in the evening I use Start/Standby to put the computer to sleep. Then I take it off the dock and take it home. At home I have no docking station or external monitor. I open the laptop and press the blinking power button to wake it up. Sometimes the display remains dark when I do this, even though the computer has "woken up." I know the computer is awake because the power light is solid on instead of blinking and I can hear the hard drive, but the display is dark. I asked my IT support guy at work about this, but he said he had not seen the problem. The only way I can get past it is to hold the power button down to power down the machine and then restart it. I never actually lose any work because I always saved whatever I was working on before going on standby, but I do lose track of what I was working on because all the formerly open windows are no longer open. This is a huge inconvenience.

The really weird thing about this is it's inconsistent. Most of the time, the display comes on when I wake the computer up at home, but once or twice a week it doesn't. I can't think of any reason why it behaves differently even though I follow the same steps each time. It always does come back up when I power down the machine and power it back up.

I just want to know if there's a way to make my laptop screen come back on without having to power it down and lose track of my work.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top