X200 Ultrabase and external monitor problem

[dliuzzi]

Hello everyone,

I am experiencing the problem described below with the following setup:

• ThinkPad X200, docked to X200 Ultrabase
• Dell 3008WFP connected via Display Port to the Ultrabase
• Windows 7 Professional 64bit, in Extended desktop mode
• 3008WFP at 2560x1600 as main display
• ThinkPad display at 1280x800 as secondary

The problem I have is when I undock, the display mode is not automatically changed to single display. It's just as if Windows thinks the Dell monitor is still there; I can move the mouse pointer into it, but obviously I can't see it. Since I use the ThinkPad display as secondary, I don't even have a taskbar. Right-clicking on the desktop and clicking on Screen resolution almost never helps, because by default the window opens up in the primary (i.e. invisible) display, so I am basically left with a useless desktop

Without a way of switching back to single display, I end up having to:

1. Dock again - Windows detects all devices attached to the Ultrabase, except the monitor which stays in standby.
2. Power monitor off and back on - Windows now detects the monitor. Every now and then it comes in a weird resolution like 640x480, etc. Other times it comes up with the right resolution, but it would seem like the red, green and blue components are slightly offset from each other, making the whole image look out of whack. When any of this happens, I have to repeat this step until I get back a proper display.
3. Power monitor off again - Windows detects this and switchs to single display automatically. Alternatively I can switch to single display manually via Windows, but I find doing that even more annoying.
4. Undock again - I am now (finally) ready to go... phew!

To workaround this, what I've beein doing so far is turning off the monitor before undocking, and turning it on after docking. Although it saves me the nightmare described above, having to remember this every time still is a pain.

Now a twist: Before I got the 3008WFP, I used to have a Samsung T260HD I used with almost the same setup. The only differences are that it ran at 1920x1200 instead of 2560x1600, and that it was connected to the Ultrabase via regular VGA cable instead of Display Port, everything else the same. This setup has always worked flawlessly; Windows would detect both docking, soft undocking and hard undocking with no problem, and would automatically switch between extended desktop and single display accordinglky, every time. I don't even remember having it come with funky resolutions like the Dell does sometimes. What gives?

BTW, I always do a "safe undock" (either by right-clicking on the traybar and the on Eject, or by pressing the undock button on the left side of the dock and waiting for the blinking red light to come solid green), but it doesn't help. I have also just upgraded the display adapter driver to the latest version (8.15.10.2057) from Lenovo, and it didn't help either.

Anybody has experienced this, or at the least have a clue why might this be happening?

TIA

[yak]

Don't have a solution for your problem but you could find a better way to switch to single monitor mode if you forget to turn off the external monitor before undocking.

Win+P key shortcut brings up a projector popup menu in Windows 7. This lets you choose screens which are enabled and desktop mode (clone/extended). This will pop up on the primary screen so you won't see it but you can easily select the single monitor mode blindly, using the keyboard only.

For example, if you were in extended mode when you undocked then pressing and holding the Windows key, pressing the P key three times and finally releasing the Windows key should get you the taskbar and disable the external display.

Just play with it.

[dliuzzi]

...pressing and holding the Windows key, pressing the P key three times and finally releasing the Windows key should get you the taskbar and disable the external display.

That is some terrific tip right there, yak. And very easy to remember too; Win+P three times to disconnect projector, Win+P three times again to go back to extended desktop. I now am so ashamed about my "workaround" LOL. It still would be great if I could get to the bottom of this issue. I have to play with it more to try and figure out if the problem is with the monitor, the Ultrabase, or the X200 itself. I'm thinking about trying with a VGA cable and see how that works.

Thanks again!

[yak]

I just accidentally found out that Win+P starts this file:

C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe

I tried running it manually from command prompt and as it turns out, it accepts a numerical argument which causes it to switch the display mode without popping the menu up. Possible values are 1, 2, 3 and 4. Each value represents respective mode as visible in the popup menu.

So in your case, you would have to run:

C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe 1

after undocking to turn off the external display.

You could use some tool to assign this to a single key shortcut or preferably call this automatically when undocking - if there's a tool to do that.

[dliuzzi]

Hey yak. Nice find. For now I think I will just stick with the triple-shortcut solution, which at this point is second nature to me hehe. I have been using it since the other day and it has worked perfectly.

It's good to know the path to the actual executable anyway. Thanks again!