Difference between revisions of "ThinkPad X200 UltraBase"

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[[File:UltraBaseX200.jpg|200px|center]]
 
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== Lenovo X200 UltraBase ==
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== ThinkPad X200 UltraBase ==
Here is some basic info about X200 UltraBase: portable dock for the X200-series ThinkPads ({{X200}}, {{X200s}}, {{X200_Tablet}}) providing extra ports (notably DisplayPort), [[Ultrabay|Ultrabay Slim]] slot and an additional battery slot.
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Here is some basic info about X200 UltraBase: portable dock for the X20x-series ThinkPads, providing extra ports (notably DisplayPort), [[Ultrabay|Ultrabay Slim]] slot and an additional battery slot.
  
 
=== Features ===
 
=== Features ===
 
* Passthrough ports:
 
* Passthrough ports:
 
** Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45)
 
** Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45)
** [[VGA Port|VGA]]
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** [[VGA Port|VGA]] (supporting up to 2048x1536 according to Lenovo, tested up to 2048x1152)
 
** Microphone
 
** Microphone
 
** Headphone
 
** Headphone
 +
** Power supply
 
* Additional ports:
 
* Additional ports:
** 4 USB ports (1 on right side, 3 on back)
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** 4 USB ports (1 on the right side, 3 on the back)
** DisplayPort
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** [[DisplayPort]] (supporting up to 2560x1600), DP->DVI-adaptor is working (tested with Dell 2007FPb monitor)
* Battery slot
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* Battery charging connector
* [[Ultrabay|Serial Ultrabay Slim]]
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* [[Ultrabay|Serial Ultrabay Slim]] which accepts one of these [[Ultrabay_Devices#Serial_Ultrabay_Slim_Devices|Serial Ultrabay Slim devices]]
* Kensington security hole
 
  
 
===Pros & Cons===
 
===Pros & Cons===
* Positives: ease up of portability of laptop, digital video output, option for optical drive, allows effective use of second battery
+
Positives:
* Negatives: Reduces cooling capabilities (especially HDD)
+
* eases up portability of laptop
 +
* provides digital video output
 +
* provides option for optical drive
 +
* allows effective use of second battery
 +
* allows to connect 2 external monitors (one via DisplayPort, second via VGA)
 +
Negatives:
 +
* reduces cooling capabilities a bit (mainly HDD)
 +
* introduces some noise to VGA signal. This is something you should pay attention at when purchasing: we've got many of these ultrabases at my company and some of them introduce only a bit of noise while others much more.
  
 
===DisplayPort support in Linux===
 
===DisplayPort support in Linux===
  
Most Linux distributions still use 2.6.x version of Intel driver which does not have support for DisplayPort. This means that you will be able to use it only in low graphics mode with vesa driver.<br>
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Kernel support for DisplayPort in intel graphic chips using KMS (Kernel Mode Setting) was added by Keith Packard in version 2.6.31. On the userspace side driver version 2.7 or newer is required to use KMS. In order to activate it you need to pass {{bootparm|modeset|1}} parameter to i915 driver either at boot time or in your initramfs.
Support for DisplayPort is developed by Keith Packard in [http://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/driver/xf86-video-intel/log/?h=display-port display-port branch] and will be hopefully merged to master before 2.8 release. [http://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=19995 This freedesktop's bugzilla issue] tracks this work. Keith is also working on improving the support on the kernel side in his [http://cgit.freedesktop.org/~keithp/drm-intel/ private branch]. According to [http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NzMwMA this article] it will be hopefully included in 2.6.31 release.<br>
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Meanwhile several people reported to successfully build and use the driver from Keith's display-port branch. For Ubuntu Jaunty you can try [https://launchpad.net/~morgwai/+archive/intel-displayport this PPA].
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{{NOTE|When passing module parameter at boot time you need to precede it's name by module name followed by a dot so in this case you would need to add {{bootparm|i915.modeset|1}} to your boot command line.}}
 +
 
 +
{{HINT|To pass module parameter in initramfs simply add it to your modprobe configuration and update your initramfs with <code>update-initramfs</code> command.}}
 +
 
 +
=== Links ===
 +
* [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-70299 Product Overview]
 +
 
 +
===Supported with the following ThinkPads===
 +
* {{X200}}, {{X200s}}, {{X200_Tablet}}
 +
* {{X201}}, {{X201i}}, {{X201s}}, {{X201 Tablet}}

Revision as of 13:32, 9 January 2012

UltraBaseX200.jpg

ThinkPad X200 UltraBase

Here is some basic info about X200 UltraBase: portable dock for the X20x-series ThinkPads, providing extra ports (notably DisplayPort), Ultrabay Slim slot and an additional battery slot.

Features

  • Passthrough ports:
    • Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45)
    • VGA (supporting up to 2048x1536 according to Lenovo, tested up to 2048x1152)
    • Microphone
    • Headphone
    • Power supply
  • Additional ports:
    • 4 USB ports (1 on the right side, 3 on the back)
    • DisplayPort (supporting up to 2560x1600), DP->DVI-adaptor is working (tested with Dell 2007FPb monitor)
  • Battery charging connector
  • Serial Ultrabay Slim which accepts one of these Serial Ultrabay Slim devices

Pros & Cons

Positives:

  • eases up portability of laptop
  • provides digital video output
  • provides option for optical drive
  • allows effective use of second battery
  • allows to connect 2 external monitors (one via DisplayPort, second via VGA)

Negatives:

  • reduces cooling capabilities a bit (mainly HDD)
  • introduces some noise to VGA signal. This is something you should pay attention at when purchasing: we've got many of these ultrabases at my company and some of them introduce only a bit of noise while others much more.

DisplayPort support in Linux

Kernel support for DisplayPort in intel graphic chips using KMS (Kernel Mode Setting) was added by Keith Packard in version 2.6.31. On the userspace side driver version 2.7 or newer is required to use KMS. In order to activate it you need to pass modeset=1 parameter to i915 driver either at boot time or in your initramfs.

NOTE!
When passing module parameter at boot time you need to precede it's name by module name followed by a dot so in this case you would need to add i915.modeset=1 to your boot command line.
Hint:
To pass module parameter in initramfs simply add it to your modprobe configuration and update your initramfs with update-initramfs command.

Links

Supported with the following ThinkPads