X61s hard shutdown when docked

[tjgraham]

I'm having an issue with my X61s that I hope someone can shed some light on. When I'm away from my docked laptop for some amount of time (haven't confirmed how much time, exactly.. seems like 10 minutes or so), I return to find the machine shut down. I've also seen it happen a few times. It's just an abrupt, sudden power-down, similar to what happens when you just hold the power button down for 10 secs or so. This only happens when docked.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

[Marc_G]

While I haven't seen this myself with a docked computer, I have had similar things happen with undocked laptops. Three of them, in fact, and the problem was always the same: a short in the power adaptor or it's cable. A short in the adaptor cable (between the adaptor and the laptop, not between the adaptor and mains AC) tends to cause a sudden power off, whether or not there is a battery installed. These shorts are usually transitory affairs, so the system can be booted back up immediately, leading to head scratching about what went wrong. The usual problem spot is where the cable meets the plug that goes into the laptop... where the flexible wire meets the rigid connector.

In the case of the docked laptop, perhaps there is a short happening somewhere along the power feed, either related to the adaptor, or inside the docking station somewhere, or something related to the docking connection itself.

That's what I would investigate if it is a sudden powering off without a windows-is-shutting-down notice.

Marc

[tjgraham]

Thanks for the reply, Marc. I appreciate your input.
If this were the problem, wouldn't it also happen in the course of normal operation? The only consistent thing I've seen is that it happens after a period of inactivity. That's led me to assume that it's somehow related to power management or some kind of overheating or something? I've kind of discounted overheating though because it doesn't happen if I'm actively using it, and it seems to me that if if were power management I'd find the box in either sleep or hibernate mode upon return.
I'm kind of at a loss and I've resigned myself to making sure I put it to sleep before walking away for any extended length of time, so it's a generally annoying pita symptom that is a big pain when I forget to do this.

[Marc_G]

It's interesting that so far it has only happened when inactive. It wouldn't surprise me if one day it happens while you are actively working with the machine.

I'm not sure, from a software perspective, what could cause the machine to go lights-out so abruptly. As you say, the software is designed to do some controlled shutdown/sleep/hibernate but I think the software is specifically designed to avoid the possibility of ending the session with extreme prejudice the way you describe.

I'm stumped. Perhaps someone with more knowledge will have a good thought.

Marc

[ambush]

Does anyone have a solution on this problem? I am experiencing the exact same issue with my X61s when it is docked. When it is idle for some time, it shutdown hard regardless of power settings in Vista. I have the latest BIOS and power mgmt drivers. It only happens when the machine is docked, is the ultrabase faulty or is it a bug in the Lenovo software/BIOS?

[tjgraham]

I'm back because it seems that this problem has gotten worse. Some time ago, I began noticing that the forced shutdown started happening when *not* docked. Same symptom - I return to the machine to find it powered-down after a hard shutdown. I tried to be vigilant about using sleep mode to avoid the problem, but today I saw it happen twice during active use. This is a new and different symptom, as it had only happened when unattended/inactive until now.
Does anyone have any idea how to fix this?