Docking options for 360, 701 750, etc. generation Thinkpads

[Norway Pad]

While I was at work today, doing stuff I shouldn't do (Like search eBay for Thinkpad parts. Who does that kind of thing at work..) I found this guy for sale: http://www.ebay.com/itm/390813513535?ss ... 1423.l2649 By the time I got home, it was already sold, so I am out of luck on this one. I did a quick search, but couldn't find any similar ones for sale. The funny thing is that I'm not able to find any information about the Dock 3547-001 anywhere. Can it be a misinterpretation of some kind of SelectaDock? From the location of the docking plug, it seems to match the 360's location. For the 360 series, ThinkWiki only specifies the 3545 and the 3546 docking stations, which are listed as compatible with the 360, 750 and 760 series. The 3546 is also even compatible with the 701, through the use of a special adapter.

The reason that the 3546 and the 3547 caught my interest, is that I noticed a CD-ROM on the eBAy item, and in the description of the 3546 I see that this one has an internal 50-pin IDE connector. So I imagine how a CD-ROM or extra HDD can be useful. Not that I use these old laptops for much, so just as much a collector thing as plain usefulness.

Let me know if any of you have some more information about the docking alternatives that can fit the 360 and the 701. This will eventually turn into WTB post, as I would really like to have a docking with the mentioned IDE capabilities.

[Medessec]

$35?! Good lord!

Those old docks are pretty amazing. That one seems to have a PCI and ISA port as well, I would have loved to play with that...

I'm not exactly sure on the level of rarity these things qualify for, but you're not going to find much info on them because... well, they're beyond old. I've seen very few old docks like that go on ebay, but they're supposed to be the ultimate upgrade for Thinkpads it pairs with. Kinda like the Dock II for the A3x/T4x and 2503 for the T60/T61/T500.

That particular dock looks like a SelectaDock I. Which is pretty nice, but the SelectaDock II and III are far more desired docks for the era, because they provide nearly double the functionality and expandability. All three SelectaDocks also use the same docking interface, so they *should* work with all the Thinkpads that have that same interface.

The Thinkpad 701 I believe has a different docking interface, and it's only made to work with the puny port replicator that it's usually kitted with.

After some googling I found there is a "Dock II Adapter Kit" for the 701, which links the 701 to the almighty Dock II, another super-dock for the 760. It was made a bit earlier than the SelectaDocks, so the tech is older... but it would still be cool to couple a 701 to something that crazy.

[Saucey]

There was a 760 on sale in a nearby town for either $100 or $150 off of craigslist...
No response from the email.

The Selectadocks are interesting...
From looking at a ThinkPad brochure around that era, few models needed an extra interface before they were able to connect to the Selectadock.

[ilakast]

See if this helps

http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail. ... JJR-3PDMQ7 (HMM Volume 3 for 365 and SelectaDock I and II)

Admin edit: Removed <code> tags in order to convert URL to link.

[Norway Pad]

$35?! Good lord!

Those old docks are pretty amazing. That one seems to have a PCI and ISA port as well, I would have loved to play with that...

After some googling I found there is a "Dock II Adapter Kit" for the 701, which links the 701 to the almighty Dock II, another super-dock for the 760. It was made a bit earlier than the SelectaDocks, so the tech is older... but it would still be cool to couple a 701 to something that crazy.

Yes, sad that I missed the 3547. I later found a 760 for sale that came with one, so if anybody needs a 760.. I would love to have one of these to play around with. I am not sure if the built in CD-rom can be seen if you boot from a boot floppy, even with drivers. But if it can, you could theoretically install an OS from a CD on these older machines too.

For the Selectadocks I, II and III, it seems like most machines needs a port replicator with a pass-through port to connect to them. And the 701 is listed as being able to connect to the 3546 with an adapter, as you say. I later found this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IBM-3547001-T ... 461e02f709 and it seems like the 3547 might be a Selactadock of some kind. But these lack the top cover.

[axur-delmeria]

I am not sure if the built in CD-rom can be seen if you boot from a boot floppy, even with drivers. But if it can, you could theoretically install an OS from a CD on these older machines too.

I had a 760XD a looong time ago (my first encounter with Thinkpads), and ran Windows 95 and 98SE on it. The included CD drive was rather temperamental-- had problems reading CD-Rs, while original pressed CDs fared much better. I remember the config.sys file loading a thinkpad-specific cd driver, though I suspect the generic Microsoft CD driver works just as well.

AFAIK the 760 series can't boot from CDs directly, but you may be able to use special boot software (whether on floppies or installed on the HDD's boot sector) to do this.

I was dreaming of getting one of these docks because the 760's Cardbus controller had problems with most Cardbus USB2.0 controller chis, and I was desperate for USB connectivity.

[Medessec]

Yeah... the 760 can't boot CDs as far as I remember. I thought the 760X/XD could, but if you owned one and it never could... well crud.

The 760 will mount directly into a Selectadock with it's docking interface. Not too sure about other machines the dock is supposedly compatible with... but it's the same interface kept through all the SelectaDocks.

The 3547 is indeed a SelectaDock I, weird they don't have the cover on that one. The SelectaDock I is less desired because it only has the UltraBay Thick from the 760(that takes the CD-ROMs) and another 760 HDD interface as another HDD slot. The SelectaDocks II and III actually have desktop-standard IDE/SCSI device cages and connectors, so you can hook up a full-sized HDD and other devices, like a higher-speed CD-ROM, or possibly even a DVD-ROM. There's also more PCI and ISA slots on those docks.

[Norway Pad]

The 760 will mount directly into a Selectadock with it's docking interface. Not too sure about other machines the dock is supposedly compatible with... but it's the same interface kept through all the SelectaDocks.

The 3547 is indeed a SelectaDock I, weird they don't have the cover on that one. The SelectaDock I is less desired because it only has the UltraBay Thick from the 760(that takes the CD-ROMs) and another 760 HDD interface as another HDD slot. The SelectaDocks II and III actually have desktop-standard IDE/SCSI device cages and connectors, so you can hook up a full-sized HDD and other devices, like a higher-speed CD-ROM, or possibly even a DVD-ROM. There's also more PCI and ISA slots on those docks.

I have done some investigating today, and suspect that to be the case too. The 3547 I found is a SelectaDock I, while I later found a couple of SelectaDock II and III on eBay too. There is a SD III for sale on eBay in the UK, so I'm negotiating with the seller right now if he wants to ship it to Norway. I really wonder if the SDs really are compatible with the Thinkpad 360. The main docking plug has the same shape and location, but ThinkWiki only lists the SD I II III as compatible with the 600 and 760, 765 and 700 series through the use of various SelectaBases. These seems to be some kind of basic port replicator / pass-through adapters for that specific machine type, which outputs into the same plug as I find on the 360. So wonder if I should buy the SD III in the UK (if I can) and simply test my 360 with it. I hope nothing gets fried in case if doesn't work..

I also notice that the SelectaDock II is listed to have a 50 pin IDE, while the SelectaDock III only has SCSI. That is no big deal, though, as the SD III is listed to have a Ultrabay II slot. That is the same Ultrabay as for my 770Z, which means I can use the 770Z IDE HDD carrier and a T30 DVD reader there. The T30 one fits inside the 770Z Ultrabay optical unit "carrier", which is a *great* upgrade from the original 770Z DVD/CD ROM that only read 1 out of 5 CDs I tried. Probably the same issue as described by axur-delmeria:

The included CD drive was rather temperamental-- had problems reading CD-Rs, while original pressed CDs fared much better.

Looking forward to putting some work into this. And if it doesn't work, I can get a SelectaBase 770 and use it with the 770Z. Or simply keep it as a collectible from a time when a docking almost was a desktop computer in itself, minus the computing capabilities. The 2503 for the T60 is great on it's own, but if fades compared to these dinosaurs.

[Medessec]

You'll definitely have to keep me up to date on your endeavors. I've always wanted a SelectaDock II or III, and a very nice 760 to go with it. But I never get around to it because of my studies... and more pressing parts of my Thinkpadding(currently trying PCI video cards in the newer Dock II for T4x/A3x.)

[cadillacmike68]

We had hundreds of those Selectadocks back at IBMGN. I have no idea what happened to them though. I had one with my 760LD, but it died many years ago. The 760Ld isn't doing much better, although at least it turns on.
I still have my Dock Is & Dock IIs For T20 & T30, and advanced Docks for the T61s.

[pkiff]

FYI, from the SelectaDock III User's Guide:

Make sure that your ThinkPad is a PCI bus computer system.
The SelectaDock system supports only PCI bus computers. It does not support ISA bus
computers, even though the SelectaDock Base Model I supports both PCI and ISA bus
computers.
Supported ThinkPads are:
– ThinkPad 760E, 760ED, 760EL, 760ELD, 760XD, and 760XL
– ThinkPad 765D and 765L
– ThinkPad 770

In addition, the SelectaDock III also supports the 770E,ED,X,Z and the 600/E/X which were all released after the SelectaDock III was released. If the 360 does not appear in that list, it is because it is not compatible. Note that the mention of the SelectaDock Base Model I's support for Thinkpads with ISA bus may explain why some earlier Thinkpads are compatible with the SelectaDock BASE, but not compatible with the SelectaDock itself. I've personally used a SelectaDock III with a 760EL, a 770ED, 770Z, and 600X.

I'm not sure about the compatibility of earlier versions of the SelectaDock, but I think there was a slippage of terminology over the course of the life of the Dock/SelectaDock series. Originally, they were all called "Dock", as in Dock I and Dock II. Then later I think they retroactively renamed them SelectaDocks in time for the release of the SelectaDock III. So you will sometimes see a mix of the various names, when they actually refer to the same systems.

I also notice that the SelectaDock II is listed to have a 50 pin IDE, while the SelectaDock III only has SCSI.

I'm not sure what that reference to 50 pin IDE means: was there a 50-pin IDE? Is that a Thinkpad proprietary connector? I thought they were 40- and 80-pin? The SelectaDock III offers a standard IDE bay for any standard desktop IDE device. I think it actually has both 40- and 80-pin options for that device. And there was actually also a special bay you could install that would allow you to install TWO internal Thinkpad 760 hard drives (i.e. inside 760 drive caddys) into the single IDE bay - I had that working at one point, but never tried to use it with anything above a 760 because by then I was using UltraBay II for all my spare drives.

Oh yes, one more thing, if you are looking into adding a SelectaDock to a 770 series, then you may also be excited by the prospect of adding a VooDoo PCI video card. The full 3dfx PCI Voodoo series is compatible with the SelectaDock III and the 770 series. Here is an old list of compatible video cards:
http://thinkpads.kiff.ca/selectadock3/g ... _cards.htm