Thinkpads Forum

Hello, I need a serial port for my T60 so I went to a SH store to buy a docking station. The problem is that the COM1 port appeared in Device Manager with a yellow dot. I've tried 2 different docking stations, on both I had the same problem. The serial port was activated in BIOS.

Am I missing something? Is it possible to have a hardware problem in my laptop?

Please don't tell me about usb->serial or pcmcia->serial, I know about them but they're not enough for my application. I need real, built-in serial port.

If I recall correctly there is an option in the T60 BIOS for disabling/enabling legacy devices in the dock. Look for that option.

CHANGES IN THIS RELEASE
Version 2.21
- A new entry added in BIOS Setup that switches serial/parallel ports
in a docking station enabling/disabling. A disabling will make a
ThinkPad free from hang up when an AC power cable is unplugged mistakenly.
Disabling will make those ports unusable.

Thank you for the answer, that option was enabled.

Any other ideas?

Check that the Serial Port is enabled in Device Manager, reload the driver.
If the laptop's Serial Port is not working/active, the dock's Serial Port does not work either!

RealBlackStuff wrote:If the laptop's Serial Port is not working/active, the dock's Serial Port does not work either!

T60's don't have a serial port....docking station only.

I know that.
That's why I said working/active.
Under Config in the BIOS is the setting for activating/enabling the Serial port.
If that's off, it doesn't work. Except for the physical port, the rest of the hardware is there!

Why was the Ultrabay I/O solution not an option? (Cheaper than a dock)

are you using the correct docking station?

I strongly recommend part 2504-10U for this application

wild_bill wrote:are you using the correct docking station?

I strongly recommend part 2504-10U for this application

The ones that I tested were: FRU 42W8299.

Radioguy wrote:Why was the Ultrabay I/O solution not an option? (Cheaper than a dock)

Can you please show me a link with the ultrabay?

RealBlackStuff wrote:Check that the Serial Port is enabled in Device Manager, reload the driver.
If the laptop's Serial Port is not working/active, the dock's Serial Port does not work either!

It was enabled in Device Manager, just showed up with a yellow mark. Tried also to reload the driver with no succes.

I know this sounds too simple, but I have seen this cause your same problem before, make sure you are turning on the computer via the dock, that way you are sure the dock is powered up. So in other words, don't use the computer's power button to turn on the system when docked, use the dock's power button.

I use the serial port on the dock all the time, and have used it with a T60. What are the settings in the BIOS? (ECC, bi-directional, etc)? I assume you know that the dock ports don't work when you are on battery.

BIOS settings such as ECC, bi-directional, etc only concern the parallel port, not the serial port.

the only relevant settings the OP needs to check in the BIOS are:

Legacy Devices on Mini Dock [Enabled]

Serial Port [Enabled]
Base I/O Address [3F8]
Interrupt [IRQ4]

(the base I/O address and Interrupt can be set differently if necessary and if you know what you are doing, but this is rare and only done in case of a conflict among devices for a certain interrupt etc. - unlikely to be your issue, but remotely possible, so I mention it)

cristimm wrote:Can you please show me a link with the ultrabay?

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Ultrabay_ ... rt_Adapter

Sorry about the previous answer about the serial port where I gave parallel port info. It was a brain short-circuit.

Radioguy wrote:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Ultrabay_ ... rt_Adapter

This ultrabay looks great, thanks for the info.

wild_bill wrote:I know this sounds too simple, but I have seen this cause your same problem before, make sure you are turning on the computer via the dock, that way you are sure the dock is powered up. So in other words, don't use the computer's power button to turn on the system when docked, use the dock's power button.

Will try that. Thanks.

richk wrote:I assume you know that the dock ports don't work when you are on battery.

No I didn't know that. Are you sure? In that case the docking station is useless to be because I want to be portable.

I know that the parallel and serial ports on my 2504 dock stop working when unplugged

I think between the A/C power being required and the fact that the dock must be powered up, we have likely found the reason his serial port is not working, if he needs portable operation with a serial port, he just needs to get on ebay and buy that Ultrabay serial port drawer.

I am closing this trouble ticket - lol

You were right, the serial port works only when plugged on.

The ultrabay is EOL and a little hard to find.

oh yeah, hard to find, but I decided to go ahead and invest the 6 seconds required of a seasoned ebay wizard to find it for ya

cgi.ebay.com/Lenovo-IBM-ThinkPad-Serial-Parallel-Port-Bay-Adapter-/110586320556

cheers!

There is also a USB-Serial/Parallel option and many 3rd party USB-Serial adapters.