T510-screen won't come back on after undock/redock

T400/410/420 and T500/510/520 series specific matters only
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hikerbuddy
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T510-screen won't come back on after undock/redock

#1 Post by hikerbuddy » Tue Jul 19, 2011 9:47 am

My office issued me a new T510 three weeks ago and when I plug in an external LCD to the VGA port (either directly or through the docking station), sometimes the laptop screen will shut off after removing the external screen and later plugging it back in. Fn+F7 doesn't help either, even though the laptop thinks the screen is on as I can move my mouse pointer from the external screen over into the dead space on the laptop screen and back onto the (working) external screen. The only way to get the laptop screen to come back on is to reboot the thing, which is a serious PITA if I happen to have a bunch of files open. Is this a known issue? How do I get it fixed? My IT dept is largely clueless even after installing some new video drivers.

REALLY frustrated.

Harryc
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Re: T510-screen won't come back on after undock/redock

#2 Post by Harryc » Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:46 pm

Why don't you just leave the external LCD plugged into the dock? What's with all of the plugging and unplugging?

hikerbuddy
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Re: T510-screen won't come back on after undock/redock

#3 Post by hikerbuddy » Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:20 pm

Harryc wrote:Why don't you just leave the external LCD plugged into the dock? What's with all of the plugging and unplugging?

It remains plugged in. I undock my laptop many times a day to take it to meetings and such. Laptops being mobile devices I wouldn't expect such flaky behavior like this. The problem occurs with the external screen plugged into the dock or directly; I mentioned this to take the dock out of the equation as a potential problem.

MBG0001
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Re: T510-screen won't come back on after undock/redock

#4 Post by MBG0001 » Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:21 pm

I'm experiencing the same problems; I have a work issued T510, docking station with monitors connected to DVI and DP, and once every 2 or 3 undocks, the screen goes black (powered black, with a slight back light, not no power black).

No combo of key press's I've tried has managed to resuscitate.

hikerbuddy
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Re: T510-screen won't come back on after undock/redock

#5 Post by hikerbuddy » Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:27 pm

MBG0001 wrote:I'm experiencing the same problems; I have a work issued T510, docking station with monitors connected to DVI and DP, and once every 2 or 3 undocks, the screen goes black (powered black, with a slight back light, not no power black).

No combo of key press's I've tried has managed to resuscitate.
MBG, this may or may not be worth looking into, but my IT dept ended up swapping in a new hard drive after finding tons of bad sectors on the one that came in mine from the factory. They claim our company is having to do this on a lot of recently issued T510s. Since the new drive install the issue has not reappeared.

Now, if I could only figure out how to get the 2nd external monitor (DVI) working along with the first external (serial), I'd be in heaven. Can't seem to get it working with XP Pro SP3.

Good luck.

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Re: T510-screen won't come back on after undock/redock

#6 Post by dr_st » Wed Jul 27, 2011 2:54 pm

I have somewhat intermittent issues with monitors when docking and undocking my T410. Sometimes I have to dock and undock like 5 times in a row, but eventually it works. Oh, and putting the computer to sleep and waking up sometimes helps too (this only takes a few seconds and does not lose any open work).
Current: X220 4291-4BG, T410 2537-R46, T60 1952-F76, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G
Collectibles: T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X32 (IPS Screen)
Retired: X61 7673-V2V, A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad
Past: Z61t 9440-A23, T60 2623-D3U, X32 2884-M5U

MBG0001
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Re: T510-screen won't come back on after undock/redock

#7 Post by MBG0001 » Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:39 am

Follow up;

Problem seems to have gone away. The only change I made was to remove the keys from the lock of the docking station. Anyone know if there is a sensor built in to tell if the key is present?

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