T42 and Dock II, PCI cards not recognized? help!

[thenew3]

I have a T42 (2373-9ZU) and a Dock II. I'm trying to put a PCI card in the dock II, however the system does not recognize any PCI card I put in there. Is there something special that needs to be done for it to recognize a PCI card? Does it only work with a special list of PCI cards?

I've tried an ATI HDTV Wonder, Netger ethernet card, SB Live card, 3COM ethernet card. none of them seem to be recognized by the system.

Help! thanks!

[RonS]

My answer assumes that you're using Windows XP.

Nope - nothing special needs to be done. As long as the card physically fits, Windows should behave just like a new PCI card was installed in a normal desktop computer.

Do the other Dock II peripherals work correctly? LAN, USB, PCMCIA, etc. If these don't work, perhaps your system isn't seated all the way down on the dock connector. You need to push firmly on the left and right side of the top edge of the unit while docking. You should hear a nice, satisfying CLICK when it's seated correctly.

Here is another long shot: Did you re-format your hard drive? Check that you have all of the Thinkpad system software installed. The best way to do that is to run the Thinkpad software installer found here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-55386

Also try this: Right-click on "My Computer," select "Properties," then "Hardware," and finally click on "Hardware Profiles." Does the current profile indicate that you're docked? If not, perhaps there's a hardware problem with the docking connectors or some other similar problem.

[thenew3]

I've tried all those without any success. All other ports on the dock II work fine and the system does indicate it is docked. But it just won't recognize any hardware is installed in the PCI slot. I've tried 4 different PCI cards. scanned for new hardware changes, but it doesn't see anything.

any other suggestions?

[RonS]

I'd return that dock and get another. It sounds like you're doing everything right.

[jtreble]

thenew3,

a.) Is your O/S an IBM install/restore, or did you "roll your own"?
b.) Is "PCI-to-PCI bridge" one of your System Devices?

[thenew3]

Tried both, OS based on IBM restore CD, and an OS from fresh win xp load. neither works.

and under device manager it does show pci to pci bridge is working properly.

I've given up and ordered a replacement dock. we'll see what that does.

thanks