T60 945GM + XP + Advanced Dock + X1300 PCI-E : Driver Issue

[dustyvideoinc]

While my first ThinkPad, an i 1410 (2611-410, P1 MMX, 256MB, 3.2GB IDE) is apart for repairs, I leapt into the 21st century with the purchase of a used T60.

Splurging an additional $41 (NIB, delivered) for an Advanced Dock 2503IOU, and another $12 for a used 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 PRO video card with cable (Dual-VGA or Dual-DVI, TV-out, passive heatsink, full height bracket) that came out of a Dell OptiPlex, I’m venturing into the world of multiple monitors (its an ADD thing).

I restored the XP Home (32-bit) SP2 to its March 2007 factory setting from disk partition (no issues) without external (internet) updates.

The X1300 PRO video card in the Advance Dock’s sole PCI-E slot is recognized by T60 as new hardware (Device Manager for Other Devices, Video Controller VGA Compatible, Video Controller) requiring drivers apparently not available internally to the Found New Hardware Wizard.

I did not let Found New Hardware Wizard search for drivers online; instead I manually downloaded the Lenovo driver package that “is customized for the X1300 to support the ThinkPad Advanced Dock. . .not recommended to use this driver if the X1300 graphics adapter is not installed in the Advanced Dock nor should it be used to install other ATI graphics adapters.”

This online Lenovo driver package (radeonx1300_8391.exe) “installs an updated version of the Microsoft Windows XP and 2000 device driver for the 256MB ATI X1300 Dual-VGA or Dual-DVI, TV-out, PCI-Express Graphics Adapter . . . adds support for using the adapter in a ThinkPad Advanced Dock . . . has been approved for use with the following graphics adapter: 256MB ATI X1300 Dual-VGA or Dual-DVI, TV-out, PCI-Express Graphics Adapter (p/n 41U5028)”.

This driver package downloaded ok and its ATI Setup starts, but the ATI Setup didn’t complete, and messaged:

“ATI Display Driver Setup did not find a driver compatible with your current hardware or operating system. Setup will now exit.”

Not very helpful, identifying a problem as either the hardware or operating system . . . .

Nevertheless, Lenovo specifically states on its p/n 41U5028 page:

“The 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Dual-VGA or Dual-DVI, TV-out PCI-Express Graphics Adapter is supported on the Advanced Dock (2503-10U) with the following ThinkPad systems:

• T60, T60p (type 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 2007, 2008, 2613, 2623) with Windows XP only

• T60, T60p Widescreen (type 6369, 6370, 6371, 6372, 6373, 6374, 8741, 8742, 8743, 8744, 8745) with Windows XP only

Installation in the Advanced Dock allows multiple monitors to be attached to the X1300 graphics adapter and the monitor ports on the Advanced Dock . . . .

The 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Dual-VGA or Dual-DVI, TV-out PCI-Express Graphics Adapter is compatible with:

• Windows® XP

• Note: Some configurations may not be compatible.”

My Questions:

1. Could my X1300 card have Dell OptiPlex-specific firmware causing it not to be recognized by the Lenovo driver package? Is there a test for this? Is there something special about the Lenovo’s X1300 (p/n 42U5028)?

2. Does the X1300 PRO need PRO-specific drivers? (The X1300 and X1300 PRO are both ATI Radeon DirectX 9.0c chip series R520 GPUs, with only a difference in core/memory clock rate, fill rate, and memory bandwidth from what I read.) In short, is Lenovo considering the PRO an “other” ATI graphics adapter wrt just the X1300?

3. Should I change the T60 display settings in my BIOS before installing a driver with ATI Setup?

· My BIOS Display Default Primary Video Device options toggle between “Internal” (current value) and “PCI Express”, with Help stating “When PCI Express video card is installed in dock, if ‘PCI Express’ is selected, PCI Express video card is used for the boot display device; if ‘Internal’ is selected, internal video device is used for the boot display device.”
· My BIOS Boot Display Device options toggle between “Thinkpad LCD” (current value), “VGA”, “VGA+LCD”, “DVI”, “DVI+LCD”, and “VGA+DVI”.

4. Considering my BIOS display options detailed above, is my T60 model with integrated chipset Intel 950 Graphics Media Accelerator (unlike the four discrete chipset T60 model options: 64MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1300, 128MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1400, 256MB ATI Mobility FireGL V5200, or 256MB ATI Mobility FireGL V5250) not compatible with an ATI X1300 (PRO) video card in my Advanced Dock’s PCI-E slot? In short, is the same driver required for both graphics cards when docking, and this is what the "Note: Some configurations may not be compatible" is all about?

Any guidance in response to this, my first computer forum post, would be most appreciated.

[Kasm279]

Try this driver and report back.