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Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

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Bondi
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Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#1 Post by Bondi » Fri Apr 05, 2019 9:18 am

I'm supposed to receive this docking station soon, but It does not have a CD-ROM installed. Do you, guys, have any idea what drives are compatible with it?
I heard it's some kind of non-standard 2/3 height drive or whatever. Is it IDE or SCSI? Any info will be very appreciated.
Thinkpads: 330C, 360CE, 560, 755CD, 760LD, 760EL, A21p, A31p, X60s, X230

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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#2 Post by fultontech » Fri Apr 05, 2019 9:26 am

It's SCSI. There is a HHM for it someplace.
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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#3 Post by Bondi » Fri Apr 05, 2019 9:52 am

fultontech wrote:
Fri Apr 05, 2019 9:26 am
It's SCSI. There is a HHM for it someplace.
Thank you!
The HMM lists several options
Enhanced Internal CD-ROM II Drive 61G1901
Internal CD-ROM I Drive 81F7930
Internal CD-ROM II Drive 92F0084

Are these proprietary drives with weird connectors? :)
Or there is a chance to fit there something more common?
Thinkpads: 330C, 360CE, 560, 755CD, 760LD, 760EL, A21p, A31p, X60s, X230

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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#4 Post by fultontech » Fri Apr 05, 2019 10:07 am

It's a SCSI controller, they are all SCSI drives. I don't recall if they are type I or II. It's not non-standard, it's just old SCSI. I would have to lookup the info later, but it may be that one of the ports on the back is for external SCSI devices (drives, scanner, etc.) There are drivers specific for the Dock I, you need to create the install floppy disk.
You can have 6-7 devices daisy chained off the one card.
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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#5 Post by Bondi » Fri Apr 05, 2019 10:25 am

I see.
Quote from Thinkwiki:
The internal SCSI is 50 pin but its width is half of standard SCSI connector. Also the external SCSI connector is a spceial 60 pin connector rarely found anymore. So its not useful.
Is there a half size standard SCSI connector? Or both connectors are non-standard?
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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#6 Post by fultontech » Fri Apr 05, 2019 10:53 am

The dock is from 1992, the word "standard" is being used instead of "common"

The SCSI standard was used. The older standard may or may not include which connector size was pulled out of the bin during the design phase. So there may be x number of drives made with the specific connector that fits the one on the cable.
This was not uncommon into the early 2000's for the same SCSI device to be sold with different connectors or adapters.
So even if it is/isn't standard, you will would most likely have better luck trying to find the part numbers in the HHM on ebay.
That on board SCSI controller is so old and slow, and the card slot is microchannel. You are limited to looking for 1991-1993 devices/cards
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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#7 Post by Bondi » Fri Apr 05, 2019 11:03 am

Googling FRUs did not help much...yet.
Are you sure it's microchanel(MCA)? Thinkwiki says it's ISA.
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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#8 Post by fultontech » Fri Apr 05, 2019 11:46 am

It may be ISA compatible, I don't recall off the top of my head. I know I had to hunt for a specific microchannel network card a year or so ago.
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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#9 Post by Bondi » Sat Apr 06, 2019 3:36 pm

Well, after some research I found a couple of workarounds to have a working CD drive in the dock. It's almost impossible to get the IBM SCSI cable with necessary connector. So the best way is to get an ISA sound card with integrated either SCSI or IDE controller. Creative used to produce both.
I've managed to find locally 1" Toshiba SCSI CD-ROM drive for very cheap, it fits in the dock perfectly, but I don't know if it works. If it does I'll go for a SB with SCSI controller. If this drive doesn't work I'll try to accomodate a slim IDE CD drive somehow togeter with a SB with IDE controller onboard.
Thinkpads: 330C, 360CE, 560, 755CD, 760LD, 760EL, A21p, A31p, X60s, X230

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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#10 Post by Bondi » Sun Apr 07, 2019 10:58 am

And there is another quetion. The dock has a Video-in connector. The HMM says that video signal from it goes directly to the LCD of the connected computer. But I don't really understand how that works. Does the laptop automaticaly dedect a video-in sigal and disable the buil-in video? UG does not give any details about this. Has anyone tried this or has any ideas?
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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#11 Post by fultontech » Sun Apr 07, 2019 1:46 pm

There is/was a TV Tuner option that went in the 750C/Cs The video in would route through that.
Come to think of it, there was a Y audio cable that came with the dock would plug into the laptop sound card jacks and pass through to the speakers. I don't remember how it routed inside the dock though.
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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#12 Post by Bondi » Sun Apr 07, 2019 2:06 pm

Yes, I've seen once that TV tuner NOS on ebay for just $40. Can't forgive myself for not buying it.
But looks like in case of the dock no additional hardware is necessary. Audio-in is more or less clear, the dock has a built in amplifier and speakers. But video-in route is not quite obvious as it conflicts with laptops' built in video output.
Thinkpads: 330C, 360CE, 560, 755CD, 760LD, 760EL, A21p, A31p, X60s, X230

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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#13 Post by Bondi » Fri May 31, 2019 9:21 am

Finally got my Docking station. It looks fine and is even working! I haven't experimented much with it yet. Will post all my discoveries later on here.
Thinkpads: 330C, 360CE, 560, 755CD, 760LD, 760EL, A21p, A31p, X60s, X230

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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#14 Post by Bondi » Fri May 31, 2019 12:59 pm

The first discovery is that sound is not working. Reseating connectors did not help. The only thing that comes to my mind is bad capacitors on sound board of the dock. There are plenty of them on it. Visually they are ok, but guess they die in time.
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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#15 Post by Bondi » Tue Jun 04, 2019 1:54 pm

The sound started working for some reason :)
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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#16 Post by Psyberducky » Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:45 pm

LONG time lurker, first time poster.

This dock is fairly unique, in that the sound volume is controlled by Fn+PgUp and Fn+PgDn on the laptop, NOT the hardware volume slider/knob above the keyboard. (I can confirm this applies to at least the 755CX and 760* laptops). Of course, there is also a hardware volume knob on the right side of the dock itself, so that will need to be turned up as well.

Also, the CD Drive for this dock is currently available at https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-NEVER-USED-I ... 1999205635
It's worth noting that this listing also includes the cable.

I have no affiliation with that listing, but am a very long-term collector that has a Dock I with an identical CD Drive in it.

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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#17 Post by Bondi » Sat Jul 27, 2019 3:33 am

Psyberducky wrote:
Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:45 pm
LONG time lurker, first time poster.
This dock is fairly unique, in that the sound volume is controlled by Fn+PgUp and Fn+PgDn on the laptop, NOT the hardware volume slider/knob above the keyboard. (I can confirm this applies to at least the 755CX and 760* laptops). Of course, there is also a hardware volume knob on the right side of the dock itself, so that will need to be turned up as well.
Hi and welcome!
I can confirm that Fn+PgUp/PgDn works also with 360CE, that has no hardware volume control at all.
But you mentioned "hardware volume knob on the right side of the dock itself". I checked mine dock- it has no volume knob. Are you sure yours does? Or am I missing something?
Also, the CD Drive for this dock is currently available at https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-NEVER-USED-I ... 1999205635
It's worth noting that this listing also includes the cable.
I have no affiliation with that listing, but am a very long-term collector that has a Dock I with an identical CD Drive in it.
Yeah, I got this drive already! It's on it's way to me. Bought it for $12, before it was relisted for $25 (which is also a very good price) :)
Thinkpads: 330C, 360CE, 560, 755CD, 760LD, 760EL, A21p, A31p, X60s, X230

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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#18 Post by Bondi » Fri Apr 28, 2023 1:34 am

Got anoter Dock 1 accidentally. Wasn't planning to buy it, the guy that was selling it just asked to test it.
It turned out to be in new(sic!) condition, not a single scratch on it. And the owner din't want much for it, so I grabbed
it. It had no key, and was locked in position 1. On my first dock the front lever cannot be released and one cannot
dock/undock the pc if it's locked. However on the new dock it's actually possible to release it and dock a laptop.
Maybe it's an early revision (the s/n is quite low), or it's modified somehow. But I did not find any signs of modification.
But it's still not possible to open the bottom cover. So I had to pick the lock. After fiddling with it for half an hour or so
I was actually able to pick the lock with a screwdriver as a tensioner and a wavely bent paper clip (thank you Lockpickinglawyer!).
The dock works fine, the sound is quite clean, better than my old one. It made a good pair with my like new TP 360CE that
still has the p/n sticker on the lid. I also installed the NOS CD-ROM for this dock that I had. So ended up with a perfect
docked thinkpad setup. Quite happy with it.
Image
Thinkpads: 330C, 360CE, 560, 755CD, 760LD, 760EL, A21p, A31p, X60s, X230

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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#19 Post by Bondi » Sat Apr 29, 2023 2:50 pm

Another oddity with the new dock is that the fan in it starts spinning and the green led turns on as soon as I plug it to the wall outlet. PC starts normally when I turn it on. When I turn it off the PC shuts dowwnm but the fan in the dock doesn't turn off. My first dock doesn't come to life untill I turn the PC on.
Is this the the way your docks work?
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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#20 Post by Psyberducky » Sun Apr 30, 2023 8:38 am

I've had a Dock I (with a ThinkPad 755CX in it) plugged in 24/7 for more than 10 years now. On mine, the fan definitely doesn't come on until the laptop is turned on, and it turns off with the laptop. It's worth noting that the LED in the upper-left is always lit, as long as the laptop is docked and the dock has power.

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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#21 Post by Psyberducky » Sun Apr 30, 2023 8:43 am

I should also mention that my previous post in this thread (from 2019) describing the Dock I having a hardware volume knob is incorrect. I was thinking of the Select-A-Dock/Select-A-Base that I have for my 770Z, so apologies for any confusion.

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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#22 Post by Bondi » Mon May 01, 2023 2:06 am

post_id=871607 wrote:
Sun Apr 30, 2023 8:38 am
I've had a Dock I (with a ThinkPad 755CX in it) plugged in 24/7 for more than 10 years now. On mine, the fan definitely doesn't come on until the laptop is turned on, and it turns off with the laptop. It's worth noting that the LED in the upper-left is always lit, as long as the laptop is docked and the dock has power.
Thanks for the info, Psyberducky. That really sounds like normal behavior. I guess it may be something wrong with the lock or the way it was opened on my dock. The lock is somehow connected to the power circuitry as it's possible to turn the laptop on with a turn of the key.

And I also have to correct myself, I mentioned that 360CE works with Fn+Pgup/Dn to control the volume. It's not actually the case. 760LD - however does work.
Thinkpads: 330C, 360CE, 560, 755CD, 760LD, 760EL, A21p, A31p, X60s, X230

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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#23 Post by Bondi » Mon May 01, 2023 5:46 am

Checked the manuals for the dock. Looks like nothing is wrong with the dock. If I had the key I'd fix it the fan operation.
Image
Image

I also removed the metal bracket on the bottom cover so that I could remove the cover with the lock in locked pisiotion 1.
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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#24 Post by Bondi » Thu May 04, 2023 1:32 pm

Found these curious pictures of Dock I. I didn't know there was an adapter to accomodate a CD drive that usually goes into the laptop. Also there is a picture of that 60 pin IDE adapter cable.
Image
Image
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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#25 Post by goldeneagle » Tue Aug 08, 2023 12:06 am

fultontech wrote:
Fri Apr 05, 2019 10:07 am
It's a SCSI controller, they are all SCSI drives. I don't recall if they are type I or II. It's not non-standard, it's just old SCSI. I would have to lookup the info later, but it may be that one of the ports on the back is for external SCSI devices (drives, scanner, etc.) There are drivers specific for the Dock I, you need to create the install floppy disk.
You can have 6-7 devices daisy chained off the one card.
It uses the same cabling (externally) as a PS/2. I believe it's a Trantor SCSI adapter. I think the Dock Ii uses an Adaptec 152x or something.
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Re: Question on IBM 3545-001 Dock I

#26 Post by Bondi » Mon Aug 14, 2023 5:09 am

Just a hint if you don't have the key for your dock. I could pick mine with some homemade tools but that took me long and it was more like a fluke. So I bought the cheapest picking set for like $4 and was able to pick the lock in no time with these tools. (Note I'm LPL's subscriber too :) )
Image
Thinkpads: 330C, 360CE, 560, 755CD, 760LD, 760EL, A21p, A31p, X60s, X230

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