Undocking T60p from docking station does not work

[mmo]

When I try to properly undock my TP T60p from the docking station by pressing the undock button I always first get an alert that Windows Explorer has crashed (oh well - again...) followed by an other alert telling me that "You cannot eject your computer because one of the devies in the docking station, 'HID compliant device' cannot be stopped because a program is still accessing it."

Of course - if I simply turn the key and rip out the device from the dock - then nothing severe ever happens other than some info bubble tries to explain to me how I am supposed to properly undock.

Any idea, what could cause this and how to avoid (or to diagnose) Window Explorer's crash and why this darn device cannot be stopped?

As I said: nothing severe, but of course annoying and slightly disturbing that this undocking never works properly as expected...

This is WinXP with all available fixes applied as well as all T60p drivers in their latest available versions (using Software Installer to remain up-to-date).

Michael

[johnp126]

Hi . is it the advanced mini dock or the full doc with a bay slot, if bay slot and you have a device in there like a disk drive that could be an issue, if its just the std advanced mini dock there should not be any issue, does this happen all the time? I have had other issues with some and have called to have them replaced, do you have another doc to try?

[mmo]

Sorry that I forgot to mention the exact specifics.

It is the "Advanced Docking Station" (the "big one" with an extra PCI-Express card slot, extra ultrabay slot, slots for CF and SD cards, DVI-connector, serial and parallel ports, etc.)

However, none of the extra slots are in use. I only have a couple of devices attached via USB so far (scanner, printer, mouse, external USB drive) and the network cable.

And - yes - it happens all the time, not just sporadically.

Michael

[mmo]

Seems I just found the culprit. I tried what I should have done in the first place, namely to unplug one device after the other and trying to undock after each. Turned out, it was my Wacom tablet that prevents the system from undocking.

Doesn't astound me, since the Wacom driver have already proven very buggy a couple of times...

So - I can now undock, or at least I know which device blocks the undocking if still attached.

Only the explorer crashes remain...

Michael

[Aszu]

Any differences seen if you remove the external USB drive before undock?

[mmo]

There is no difference if the USB drive is detached beforehand (or was not even attached in the first place).

The "Windows Explorer experienced a problem and needs to close..." message also comes so quick after pressing the "Undock" button, that I believe it can have nothing to do with drives (crashes caused by problems with the drives usually happen after some delay only during which the system apparently tries to access the drive(s) and then falls into some timeout. That's at least my experience with drive problems.)

I rather believe, that it has to do with some screen or resolution change, since the screen shortly flickers and immediately after that the popup appears. The flicker is similar to when I change resolution (which I occasionally do for presentations) or when I change some video profile (e.g. switching from internal only to internal AND external display). So I could imagine that the undocking goes through some routine to disable any screens possibly attached to the docking station's VGA or DVI connector (I haven't anything attached to them, though). But that just a guess, of course...

Michael