Thinkpads Forum

Been using thinkpads for a long time but the first time with the Ultrabase dock. Can someone help me with a few simple questions?

1) When docking the computer, I find that I need to do FN+F7 to get the external monitor to work. Is that the right way? Or should the external monitor automatically come on?

2) After docking, can I close the lid of my X61 while still working with the external monitor/keyboard without the machine going standby? I'm currently doing this via the power settings that when the lid closes nothing happens. Normally my setting is to hibernate which is what I'm used this when out of the dock.

Thanks for your help.

boot into your BIOS and select Config > Display > Boot Display Device > Analog(VGA) to set the external display as the default.   when you are undocked it will automatically use your internal display so this setting won't need to be changed.

to prevent sleep when closing the lid, go into the power options control panel.   the exact method to changing this differs depending on your OS (XP or vista -- not sure what you have).

About the sleep when closing lid, do I have to re-enable it when I undock and repeat that every time I dock?

yes, you would.   you could set up a dock-specific power management profile to make it easier.