Port replicator II, internal speakers aren't disabled?

[alpuzz]

I have a T43 and just got a port replicator II. Everything seems to be working except that when I plug external speakers into the replicator, the internal speakers stay on. Is this normal and if so, is there any resolution?

--A;Thanks,

[wolfman]

I believe this is normal. I had a port replicator II and sent it back. The best I could figure out was to turn the volume down on the thinkpad using the buttons (but not mute). This will allow the external speakers to play at their own volume (powered speakers). A less attractive option (to me) is to plug the speakers into the headphone out on the thinkpad.

If anyone knows of a better way, I'd love to hear it. I wanted to have a docking station, monitor stand setup at home with a higher resolution flat panel for everyday use but love listening to music while working.

[alpuzz]

Interesting. with as much detail to design quality as is shown in these machines, I'm surprised that IBM would let something like that slip through the cracks. Does the same thing happen with the mini dock and dock II?



--Al

[wolfman]

I just found this which basically discusses a lot of what I was talking about above:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... l+speakers

It mentions the dock II as well.

[mattfromomaha]

Yeah, the internal speakers still work on my T30 when I drop it on the PRII.

[gcchatel]

same with the minidock, quite annoying but I have a hardware volume control for my speakers and just use that.

[Ted_E]

same with the minidock, quite annoying but I have a hardware volume control for my speakers and just use that.

I either use headphones or run a cord from the headphone jack to my stereo. The quality out of the headphone jack is excellent. Considering their size, the internal speakers do quite well but ...

Ted

[snife]

The difference is that the port on the dock/port rep is line-out (non amplified source) and the one of the ThinkPad is a headphone jack. Its not a design or quality fault - it is designed to work in this way, i can only imagine that maybe some people want to use headphones/internal speakers at the same time as external ones or possibly just to control them independantly when you external device isn't powered on or something.

As previously mentioned, the only way round it is to turn the sound right down to 0 but not mute it

[Ted_E]

[quote="snife"]The difference is that the port on the dock/port rep is line-out (non amplified source) and the one of the ThinkPad is a headphone jack.

There is not necessarily a big difference. Line outputs are usually in the 1 to 3V range. Headphone outputs can work well in that range provided they can deliver the necessary current. My Sony headphones are about 30 ohms per channel and my Koss are about 200 ohms per channel. The inputs to my stereo are, of course, rather higher. So there is no reason why the head phone output shouldn't work well with any of the three and, in fact, it does.

Ted

[fongj]

I asked IBM about this in December of 2002, after I got a port replicator (2k8668) for use with my A31p. Their response:

The Thinkpad Port Replicator is a pass-through device, which means it does not disable any of ports that are on the Thinkpad itself. The line out jack on the port rep does not disable the sound on the Thinkpad because the Stereo Headphone Jack on the side of the computer is not in use. Please use this port for your headphones in order to disable the internal speakers on the Thinkpad.

[sprior]

I think there is a little switch in the headphone socket which is physically tripped when a headphone is inserted. That means if you went to Radio Shack and bought a stereo plug from their parts section and didn't hook any wires to it, if you stuck it in the headphone jack when you docked your Thinkpad it would disable the internal speakers. haven't tried this myself and don't have reason to since I don't own a dock so I can't guarantee it won't blow up your system so the usual disclaimers apply...

[larrys]

I think there is a little switch in the headphone socket which is physically tripped when a headphone is inserted. That means if you went to Radio Shack and bought a stereo plug from their parts section and didn't hook any wires to it, if you stuck it in the headphone jack when you docked your Thinkpad it would disable the internal speakers. haven't tried this myself and don't have reason to since I don't own a dock so I can't guarantee it won't blow up your system so the usual disclaimers apply...

Or if you want to use external speakers, simply plug the external speakers into the headphone jack instead of into the port replicator. Then you don't need to plug in a stereo plug!