t43 won't boot up when out of docking station

[dbisho]

My laptop cannot be used without a docking station. If I try to travel with it the system will not boot up when I power on. The first screen with the Thinkpad logo comes up but never proceeds. If I dock the laptop and power on it comes up fine.

Any ideas?

[richk]

See if there is a related message in the event log. Is there anything plugged into the dock? (other than the power supply)

[rkawakami]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

After the Thinkpad splash screen is seen, are the LED status lights still active? If so, the system may be continuing to boot but the video signal has been transferred to the external video port. Try pressing the Fn+F7 key combination to see if that re-activates the LCD. Each time that Fn+F7 is pressed, control goes from LCD only, to external video only, then both active.

[mpcook]

Yes, I have had a similar problem. One simple way to check is just plug in a monitor (outside of the dock) directly into the laptop's video port, and see if an image comes up.

Mike

[dbisho]

See if there is a related message in the event log. Is there anything plugged into the dock? (other than the power supply)

Rich K, thanks for the response. Where would I find the event log? I'm not much of a techie. Yes, there are other items plugged into the dock including a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and a PDA cradle. It's been like that for years though so no new environment.

[dbisho]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

After the Thinkpad splash screen is seen, are the LED status lights still active? If so, the system may be continuing to boot but the video signal has been transferred to the external video port. Try pressing the Fn+F7 key combination to see if that re-activates the LCD. Each time that Fn+F7 is pressed, control goes from LCD only, to external video only, then both active.

Thanks for the response. Yes, two of the lights are active but the wireless light goes dark. I tried the Fn+F7 key strokes but nothing happened.

[dbisho]

Yes, I have had a similar problem. One simple way to check is just plug in a monitor (outside of the dock) directly into the laptop's video port, and see if an image comes up.

Mike

Thanks for the response Mike. I plugged in a monitor directly to the laptop but nothing happened. I then did Fn+F7 and selected the first choice and I see an image on the laptop and on the monitor. What does that tell me?

[rkawakami]

Event logs: we're assuming Windows XP (classic Windows interface) here....

- Start/Settings/Control Panel
- double click on Administrative Tools
- double click on Event Viewer
- click on Applications, Security, System entries one at a time to view the event logs. Look for a big red X in the log(s). Double click those entries and you will get a brief listing as to the nature of the error.

[dbisho]

Event logs: we're assuming Windows XP (classic Windows interface) here....

- Start/Settings/Control Panel
- double click on Administrative Tools
- double click on Event Viewer
- click on Applications, Security, System entries one at a time to view the event logs. Look for a big red X in the log(s). Double click those entries and you will get a brief listing as to the nature of the error.

Thanks, I was able to locate the event logs but there were no events regarding not booting up. The only red Xs I had were regarding AutoLogon to the Corporate network. Any other ideas?