Docking Station for A31p and R50p -- res of 1600x1200 ?

[UpAndAway]

Is anybody using an IBM/Lenovo docking station for their A31p or R50p?

I have both computers and an L200p (20 inch, 1200x1600) external monitor, but the docking specs say they will only support up to 1280x1024 resolution thru a DVI pass-thru port.

Since the docking stations (Thinkpad Dock II and Thinkpad Mini Dock) work for both computers, I'd like to set up the monitor on the dock and just pop both Laptops in and out, as needed.

However, I'm concerned about the lower Resolution.

Both docks are on sale now, so I must make a decision.

Thanks for any input.

[UpAndAway]

Okay, I've found the answer myself and will post for other's reference.

Lenovo sales said they thought there was a tecnical way to to get 1600x1200 thru the Docking DVI port.

So I called Lenovo Tech support, but they say no, it is limited to 1280x1024 thru DVI, as stated in specs, but that I can hook up the monitor thru the external monitor port on the laptops and get the full 1600x1200.

This defeats the simplicity purpose, so I chose not to buy the docking port.

[mrpaulin]

I'm using 1600x1200 on DVI from both a Dock and a Dock II. It's just a matter of running the ATI "mobility modder" on the Radeon driver prior to the installation.

[tbessie]

Is this possible on an A31 (not A31p)?

- Tim

[UpAndAway]

mrpaulin,

Can you elaborate on how to run the ATI "mobility modder"? Should I run this prior to a driver installation or the dock installation?

[UpAndAway]

With Omega drivers, it can be done as explained in the following thread:

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_w ... throughput

[tbessie]

And, wonder of wonders, they seem to be giving me clean 1600x1200 DVI output! Hooray!

Question, though -- they don't seem to be active when Windows XP starts, but only after Windows starts up. I'm assuming this is because it takes loading of the Omega drivers (which happens after Windows starts up) in order to drive the DVI port?

- Tim

[UpAndAway]

Okay, I just bought a new, in the box, corporate surplus IBM ThinkPad Dock II 2877-10U for $99 on Ebay, no warranty, but it appears to work fine. ($399 from Lenovo -- so what a steal)

I have an a31p and a r50p, which both fit the dock.

I loaded the Omega Drivers onto the a31p, and it appears that I'm getting 1600 x 1200 resolution thru the Dock's DVI pass-thru to my IBM L200p monitor.

(i.e. when I right click the desktop for properties, it's showing 1600 x 1200 for the second monitor and the L200p is showing the full size Americas Map (on the desktop background), which will scale down to a smaller section of the map when I scale down the resolution in Properties.)

However, when I dock my r50p, I get the same results without the Omega Drivers yet loaded, so I'm doubting whether the above characteristics (1600x1200 in properties; full Americas Map) actually mean I'm getting full resolution.

Is there another way to confirm that I'm getting the full 1600 x 1200 on my DVI pass-thru?

[vital-analitix]

I normally check it with the windows desktop background but make sure that the "position" is not set to "stretch" but instead to "centre" or "tile".

You can scan a ruler and then measure how much of the ruler is visible under a known resolution and then you can calculate how much the resolution is when it is on the unknown screen (setting the "position" under "desktop" tab in "display properties" to "tile")

Marinus