Thinkpads Forum

Very frustrated here. The lack of support on the digital audio port built into the (not inexpensive) advanced mini dock is very depressing. First, I was unable to use the digital audio port until I scoured the internet to find out that you need to downgrade to old drivers. Once I got it to actually output sound I discovered a fatal flaw in its implementation: when using it there appears to be no way to disable the internal speakers! This is kind of like plugging your headphones into your laptop and the regular speakers remaining active. I called Lenovo about both problems and no one there seems to have ANY clue about this feature. One tech asked me if it does the same thing when I use the digital audio output of my T61 itself (doesn't have one, of course.)

Can anyone help me figure out a way to disable the speakers when using the coax digital audio output??? Along with the DVI port, it is the only reason I bought the dock.

Thanks for any help!

Can't you disable the internal Speakers (High Definition Audio Device) in the list of all playback devices in the system?

I am using T60 (Vista 64-bit) with an advanced dock. I can easily switch between the internal Speakers and SPDIF (Digital output) output by simply setting either of them as the default device. I can disable and enable either of them without problem too.

Of course switching between the internal Speakers and SPDIF output won't take effect during playing back. The media player must be restarted.

I'm running XP and that option is not there. I loathe Vista, but I think I'll give it one more try...time to restore my T61 to the Vista it came with. Can you tell me where exactly that setting lives in Vista? Thanks for the reply.

In Vista go to Control Panel, find the Sound icon and double click it.

You will see two playback devices: Speakers and Digital Output Device (SPDIF). Right click either icon will give you the options: 'Set as default device' and 'disable/enable', etc. Only one device can be set as default device which is indicated by a small red tick icon.

Is it possible to automatically switch the default playback device when docked/undocked? Ideally, I would like to output to the SPDIF whenever it's docked, and the internal speakers when undocked. Obviously, I can switch manually, but it's a pain to do every time...

This was a problem with the T4x series also. You might want to search in that sub-forum to see if anyone was able to come up with a solution.

A low-tech solution to this (without having to upgrade to Vista) is to simply get a 1/8" jack (no wire) and plug it into the Thinkpad's (or the dock's) audio out port. That should turn the on-board speaker off.