T60 shuts down when docking is attempted

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arnararn · #1 Post by **arnararn** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 5:28 am

Thinkpad T60 Type number 2007-WAW
Windows XP sp2 with all the latest drivers from "software installer"

This problem is occuring with our few T60 users now and then. They undock and when they return to dock, the laptop just turns off.

I am able to shut it down 1-4 times out of 20, just by dockin, with a dock that is not connected to the power supply, and the hard drive removed completely.

That case makes this not a issue with drivers or electrical supply.

Has this problem been observed elswhere ??

Anthony S · #2 Post by **Anthony S** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 2:18 pm

I had this problem at the beginning, but a BIOS update from 1.04 to 1.06 solved it.

tangel · #3 Post by **tangel** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:02 pm

I've experienced the same problem since my first week with my T60p and Advanced Dock. I estimate that the laptop turns off from a suspended state one out of six times I try to dock it. I'm fully updated to latest bios as of this posting (1.09).

This is very annoying. Anthony, how many suspended dockings have you done since your BIOS update? Which version of the BIOS are you using?

Cassirer · #4 Post by **Cassirer** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:13 pm

I am not sure, but in the advance power management window under global power settings an options to go into standby when docking... I am not sure if that might be the problem ... if not sorry

tangel · #5 Post by **tangel** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:17 pm

Cassirer wrote:I am not sure, but in the advance power management window under global power settings an options to go into standby when docking... I am not sure if that might be the problem ... if not sorry

Steve, the problem is that an already suspended laptop shuts off (the crescent moon indicator LED turns off) when you snap the laptop into the dock. Then, when you try to resume/turn-on the machine, it performs a cold boot. Thanks for trying to help though! =D

Anthony S · #6 Post by **Anthony S** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:59 pm

tangel wrote:Anthony, how many suspended dockings have you done since your BIOS update? Which version of the BIOS are you using?

I use BIOS 1.09. Since upgrading to 1.06 about 3 months ago I've had no shutdowns when docking my T60 in standby on the Advanced Mini Dock, which I do daily when I get to the office.

If you're still having this problem under BIOS 1.09, then I guess there are other factors involved.

jamies · #7 Post by **jamies** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:52 am

I've had this problem from day one with every BIOS and driver update included (including BIOS 1.09). Granted, it happens less now, but it happens.

I believe it to be a flaw in the hardware of the dock or the Thinkpad, or both.

I am so amazingly frustrated with Lenovo support and their inability to acknlowledge this as a problem that many people are having that I will never buy another Thinkpad.

Kamika007z · #8 Post by **Kamika007z** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 12:00 pm

The same thing happens to me, and I have it set to "do nothing" under gobal power management. The system just turns off entirely, having me do a cold reboot.

The newest BIOS verion (1.11) is installed. (Yes, a new BIOS just came out today

)

Any help would be great.

Thank you!

jamies · #9 Post by **jamies** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 12:37 pm

Has it happened with the new BIOS yet?

Kamika007z · #10 Post by **Kamika007z** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:06 pm

jamies wrote:Has it happened with the new BIOS yet?

I'm afraid to test it

I'm at work and I use it as a workstation, so I do not want to try it till after hours.

Will report back with the results.

Thanks

tschabo · #11 Post by **tschabo** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 11:33 am

Did anyone figure out what caused this problem? More recently, my T60 rebooted cold every morning when I docked it

alozier · #12 Post by **alozier** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 1:20 pm

Still Happens here with 2 of us as well

Kamika007z · #13 Post by **Kamika007z** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 1:21 am

You know... I haven't tried it yet.

Or actually it used to turn off when it had already been booting to Windows and I hot dock it then and there.

Did you all update to BIOS 2.01 in order to see if that solved the issue?

Kamika007z · #14 Post by **Kamika007z** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 12:45 am

Ok, well the system shut off. I called IBM tech support and they said "Yeah, don't do that. It doesn't like that"

So it's more of a feature, not a bug

chan_man · #15 Post by **chan_man** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 11:04 am

I have this problem, but it is not 100% of the time when redocking in the advanced minidock. I am on the latest bios and has done it with XP and Vista RC1.

taltek · #16 Post by **taltek** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:38 pm

Same problem here. Anyone else have the extended battery? I have the 2.01 Bios and all latest drivers. I will escalate through our Lenovo rep.

aheaton · #17 Post by **aheaton** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 2:21 pm

I have two T60p's doing the same thing. One of them does it every time you put it into the dock, the other one about 75% of the time.

I talked with IBM/Lenovo today and the support rep wants me to send in both units.

I didn't set up the send yet because I have to find out when my users can be without their computers.

I'll report back after I send them in as to whether or not they are repaired.

Kamika007z · #18 Post by **Kamika007z** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 11:05 am

Mine is the latter of two as you described.

It doesn't always happens, but it happens and one time is already enough.

Are both systems running the latest BIOS'es?

JohnDrake · #19 Post by **JohnDrake** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:42 am

Are there any older style parallel port attached devices attached to the Thinkpad...? There was a problem with this.....

Were the XP update modules from here:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-64133

...run locally on the system BEFORE running the software installer?

I would try that first....

taltek · #20 Post by **taltek** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 2:20 pm

Nope. USB, Lan, and Video are connected only. Our rep sent a new minidock to test. We'll see if we can reproduce the issue.

JohnDrake · #21 Post by **JohnDrake** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 12:02 am

Check also if it behaves this way with no USB devices connected...

If everything is ok without USB devices, you need a new dock. It will be fixed under warranty

#22 Post by **tomh009** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 9:20 am

JohnDrake wrote:Check also if it behaves this way with no USB devices connected...

If everything is ok without USB devices, you need a new dock. It will be fixed under warranty

My X31 is exhibiting the same symptoms -- about 25% of the time, it powers off cold when docking (I dock it while it is powered on, not standby) into the X3 media slice.

Now, this morning I was paying closer attention, and it powered off as soon as I inserted the front of the X31 into the two pins at the front of the dock -- before I pressed the back down to establish the data connection to the video and USB devices. To me this says (1) it has nothing to do with the devices, (2) it has nothing to do with the dock electronics, and (3) it has all to do with ThinkPad itself.

Does anyone know what the front pins do? Are they what the ThinkPad uses to detect that it's docked?

jeffsass · #23 Post by **jeffsass** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 1:53 am

Hi everyone,

Lenovo came to my office today to see this shutdown problem first hand. We narrowed it down to electronic static discharge. Being in Minnesota especially during this time of year as I undock it and take it to a meeting, there is quite a charge that builds up.

In my case I can reproduce it without booting into an OS. Just boot into the BIOS. That eliminated any OS power management setting or BIOS upgrade (I am at the latest as of today).

Two workarounds:
1) Hibernate the machine before docking it (nothing to shut down then)
2) Discharge the static buildup to the laptop before docking. Touch something metal with one hand and touch something metal on the laptop with the other hand.

Thanks,
Jeff

shanep · #24 Post by **shanep** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 6:46 pm

I just tried the static suggestion and it worked! I got shocked and then put my thinkpad on the replicator and it stayed running.

weird, but thanks

Also, I have a problem with it not charging while on the replicator. anyone seen that?

gav46 · #25 Post by **gav46** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 3:33 am

I have encountered this on a few of our T60's that we have

After many exhaustive tests, I thought that I had found the root cause being a battery of specific series, all manufactured by PANASONIC. In 3 cases so far, we have replaced the battery with a different series type, manufactured by SONY and for a few days all was OK.
Now, the users are saying that the same problem has reocurred.

Thinkvantage Power manager tool shows who the battery manufaturer is.

I will be contacting our local Lenovo reps here to discuss this further.

Any updates will be greatful...

steveg47 · #26 Post by **steveg47** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 7:57 am

gav46 wrote: In 3 cases so far, we have replaced the battery with a different series type, manufactured by SONY and for a few days all was OK

Keep a fire extinguisher handy

#27 Post by **tomh009** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:31 am

jeffsass wrote:Two workarounds:
1) Hibernate the machine before docking it (nothing to shut down then)
2) Discharge the static buildup to the laptop before docking. Touch something metal with one hand and touch something metal on the laptop with the other hand.

Excellent -- I will be doing a static discharge before docking from now on.

Thanks for the investigation, Jeff!

thinkpad_jeff · #28 Post by **thinkpad_jeff** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 2:03 am

We've validated the discharge explanation mentioned above (Thanks so much!) at my office. BIOS updates have not changed the behavior, beyond a placebo effect.

Touching the metal on the docking station before docking our T60p laptops, regardless of whether the laptops are running or in standby, has eliminated the problem.

Again, thanks very much for the explanation and the workaround!

dgannon · #29 Post by **dgannon** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 11:15 am

So this is a known issue. We've had it occuring on all of our Thinkpads. My call to lenovo ended with me slamming the phone down in disgust after the tech continued to make me run in circles. So stupid that the solution and problem are documented on a site not affiliated with Lenovo but when you call their tech support they claim to know nothing about the problem.

Anthony S · #30 Post by **Anthony S** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 12:07 pm

dgannon wrote:...the solution and problem are documented on a site not affiliated with Lenovo but when you call their tech support they claim to know nothing about the problem.

Welcome to the ThinkPads forum. You'll find much information and advice here that is not avaialble from Lenovo.

T60 shuts down when docking is attempted

T60 shuts down when docking is attempted

just a suggestion, perhaps

Re: just a suggestion, perhaps

Two T60p's doing the same thing.

T60p shuts down when docked

static it is

T60 shuts down when placing in docking

Re: T60 shuts down when placing in docking

Re: T60p shuts down when docked

Electrical Discharge

happening here also

Re: happening here also

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