ThinkWiki - User contributions [en]

Installation on ThinkPads without CD-ROM drive

2005-11-04T08:09:28Z

84.191.161.37:

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top;padding-right:20px;width:10px;white-space:nowrap;" | __TOC__
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Some ThinkPads (e.g. the whole X series) come without a CD-ROM drive by default. Even though there are options to buy a solution like the UltraBase, a full dock or simply an external CD-ROM drive{{footnote|1}}, this is not the cheapest option and might not always be neccessary. Also, with some external CD-ROMs the problem might arise that the ThinkPad is not able to boot from them. See our [[Supported Boot Devices|List of supported boot devices]] for various ThinkPads.

So the question arises how to get your system of choice onto that precious piece of hardware. This page should tell you about the possible solutions.

Since in most cases the installation base packages come on CD, you'll need a second computer, equipped with a CD-ROM drive, for all of those solutions.

Many older ThinkPads came with only a floppy drive and cannot boot from any CD drive at all. For those machines, booting from floppy is the only option. Then one can install from CD, over a network, or from the hard drive.
|}

==Installation from USB drive==
Note: Not all thinkpads have a BIOS that supports USB booting.

This is probably the most easy approach.
*Connect the USB drive{{footnote|2}} to the host and format it.
*Get a bootable system and all needed installation files onto the USB drive, i.e. by copying the complete filesystem from your installation CD-ROM to the USB drive. Of course if your USB drive is not big enough for that you'll have to make more sofisticated choices about what to copy and what to leave behind.
*Insert the USB drive into the USB port of your ThinkPad.
*Power on the ThinkPad an press F12 to get to the boot menu.
*Select the USB drive as boot media and boot.
*Follow the installation process.

==Installation via network boot==
Thinkpads support PXE to boot off another system that is connected via [[Ethernet]]. In this case the ThinkPad acts as a network boot client, the other system as server. The idea is to boot a system on the server that the ThinkPad can boot into then by loading all required data directly from that server.

For this to work you will have to either have both the server and the ThinkPad connected in the same subnet of your LAN, or have them connected directly via a crossed Ethernet cable.

===using [[:Category:Knoppix|Knoppix]] on the server side===
*Insert the Knoppix CD into the server and boot it up.
*Make sure to boot with the 2.6 kernel by giving the <code>kernel26</code> boot option.
*Once your KDE desktop is loaded, look in the K-Menu hierarchy for the link to the terminal server setup.
*Launch the Terminal Server and make it use the appropriate network device.
*Power on your ThinkPad and press F12 to get to the boot menu.
*Select the ThinkPads network adapter as the boot media.
*The ThinkPad should now boot from the Knoppix Terminal Server directly.

==Installation from the internal harddrive==
The idea here is to have all required files allready on the internal harddrive when you power up your ThinkPad for installation, including of course a minimal system to boot up and start the installation process.

Convenient, but how do you get the files there?
*One option is to copy them via network boot (see above).
*Some Linux distributions offer ways to download the installation files from a FTP server and to choose this directory as installation source instead of a CD-ROM.
*A second way, if you already have a 'working' copy of DOS or MS Windows installed, is to start the installer from loadlin or GRUB. This is detailed [http://marc.herbert.free.fr/linux/win2linstall.html here].
*Another one is to remove the harddrive from the ThinkPad and connect it to the other machine. Again, this can be achieved in several ways:
**putting the harddrive into an UltraBay secondary HDD adapter of a second ThinkPad
**putting the harddrive into an external casing and connect it to the second machine via USB, PCMCIA or whatever
**connecting the harddrive via a 2.5" (laptop) to 3.5" (desktop) harddrive adapter

Follow one of the following instructions.

===Installing [[:Category:Windows|Windows]] 2000 or XP===
*Attach the harddrive to the host computer and install a minimal bootable DOS system i.e. by booting a Win98 Emergency Boot Disk and performing the command "SYS X:" (where X = the laptop's harddrive).
*Copy FDISK.EXE to the laptop harddrive.
*Return the harddrive to the laptop and boot to DOS. (If you have Win98 installed by default, you can skip the first two steps and simply reboot in Windows to DOS.)
*Run FDISK and set up your new Windows system partition on this laptop. (If you do not do this on the laptop, after reboot you will receive the infamous "NTLDR IS MISSING" error.)
*Then return the drive to the host and format the drive as FAT32. (DO NOT format as NTFS.)
*Repeat the "SYS X:" step to make the new partition bootable.
*Get SMARTDRV.EXE from the internet and copy it to your Thinkpads harddrive.
*Also, from the Win2K or WinXP CD, copy the I386 folder to the harddrive.
*Return the laptop's harddrive to the Thinkpad one final time and boot to DOS.
*Run SMARTDRV.EXE first, then change directories to I386 and run WINNT.EXE, this will allow the installation to begin.
*During installation, choose NOT to format the destination partition, since it contains the installation files. If you want that filesystem to be NTFS you can convert it after installation from within Windows.

==Installation from Diskette==
===Installing from CD===
Many distributions have software on CD that will make a boot floppy that will allow you to install from an unbootable CD drive.

===Installing over a network===
Some distributions have a set of diskettes that will allow you to boot a machine, enable a network device and start installation over a network. For example, {{Slackware}} supports installing via an NFS mount. An unofficial add-on adds an option to install over FTP.

===Installing from floppy===
Some distributions did allow for a complete installation from diskette. As the size of distributions and the number of required diskettes has grown, and the ubiquity of optical storage increased, support for floppy installation has diminished.

However, there are still some Linux distributions that fit on as few as one diskette - with very limited functionality, of course.

==Installation from an ISO image==
Some distributions offer a way of installing directly from the downloadable ISO image, residing on your harddisk. Examples are VectorLinux 5.1 and {{SUSE}} 10. The individual distributions installation manuals will guide you through the process.

==External Sources==
*[http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/altinstall.xml Gentoo alternative installation method HOWTO]

{{footnotes|
#External CD-ROM drives typically are connected through USB or [[PCMCIA]]. Be aware that not all of these drives are [[Supported Boot Devices|capable of booting]]. USB connected drives are more likely to be bootable on a ThinkPad than PCMCIA connected ones.
#USB drive here means any kind of USB connected bootable data storage device, including external harddisk drives, memory card readers or memory sticks.
}}

[[Category:TransNote]] [[Category:560]] [[Category:560E]] [[Category:560X]] [[Category:560Z]] [[Category:570]] [[Category:570E]] [[Category:X20]] [[Category:X21]] [[Category:X22]] [[Category:X23]] [[Category:X24]] [[Category:X30]] [[Category:X31]] [[Category:X32]] [[Category:X40]] [[Category:X41]] [[Category:X41 Tablet]] [[Category:Knoppix]]

Talk:ThinkPad Dock II

2005-11-04T08:06:51Z

84.191.161.37: /* =newest drivers work with high resolution via DVI */

I just installed a Nvidia Quadro NVS 50 PCI card in an attempt to add an additional monitor to my laptop (T41), and get 1920 x 1200 digital on my 24" widescreen. The Nvidia is not a dual monitor card, but I thought I would be able to use it as well as the laptop's existing card (ATI Mobility Radeon 7500). However the ATI card shows up in the hardware manager with the message "This device cannot start. (Code 10)". I then tried to enable the AGP as the primary video device in the BIOS (PCI was enabled). The on-board adapter came up, and the device manager listed no conflict, but the Nvidia would not come up as I tried to extend my desktop in display props. I got the message that I did not have admin rights to select the Nvidia, followed by messages that my drivers were not compatible with the newer version of Windows. I have never tried to use two monitors before, so I am not sure if it is feasible to have two video cards running at the same time. If this is possible, please let me know what I need to do, if it is not possible then I need to return the card and get one of your recommended ones.

TIA!
Tony
----
Hi Tony, can't help you much, i'm afraid. I have had a Radeon 9200 PCI card in the dock for a while, using it under Win. I think setting the AGP bus as the primary one in the BIOS is the way you should go. I had troubles with my Windows not booting up at all anymore when i changed it to PCI and was sure that it was the ATI driver having problems.

I would try to get the most recent drivers from the NVidia homepage. Best try uninstalling your drivers and reinstalling them. You might also check if your card is supported by the OMEGA drivers (http://www.omegadrivers.net).

Good luck, Wyrfel.

== Modify for compatibility? ==

I have an X41 Tablet on the way and am very disappointed that the only "Dock" available is more like a glorified port replicator. While I'm sure the X41 Tablet wouldn't ''fit'' on the Dock II, do you think it would be possible to remove the docking port from the plastic and connect it to the X41, or is it a different style connector? I would really appreciate audio jacks and a PCI slot.
^

== Who wrote this about the 1920 x 1200 on the dock II? ==

This is a very important subject to me since we used to buy a lot of T series Thinkpads but dont any longer because of the lack of support for the widescreen external DVI flat panels.

Who wrote this about the new driver from 8-11-05 - I have contacted IBM tech support (not Lenovo) and they have not heard such a thing and it is not listed - they have looked at the last video driver update to the T42p or T43p (I am looking for the 14" SXGA+ T42p model) with a dock II being able to drive externally 1920 x 1200 (UXGA+) WITHOUT an added PCI card. This would be NIRVANA for me.

Do you have anymore information about this driver and have you SEEN it work at all?

Thanks
Dean

dean@sigma-usa.com
----
Hei Dean,

i do not have a 1920x1200 display, but i have a 1600x1200 one which was unsupported before as well. The newest driver (upgraded via IBM Software Installer) indeed doesn't have the problem anymore which it had before with that resolution (1280x1024 was supported max). The newest Presentation Director supports the higher resolution as well.

I actually switched back from OMEGA drivers to the newest IBM release and experienced some strange behaviour which was gone after a few reboots). I guess some parts of OMEGA were not properly uninstalled in one go.

IBM might not know about this if they just upgraded the underlying Catalyst drivers.

However, you might wanna get a confirmation from someone using 1920x1200 before you celebrate. ;-)

[[User:Wyrfel|Wyrfel]] 01:16, 4 Oct 2005 (CEST)
----

BTW: I merged the information that was provided here on this issue into the [[Problem with DVI throughput]] page, since it was doubled in several places and belongs there. [[User:Wyrfel|Wyrfel]] 01:48, 4 Oct 2005 (CEST)
----
====newest drivers work with high resolution via DVI====
The above is a true statement. I have in Nov 2005 installed 3 Thinkpad T's (T42p and T43p) with 128 megs of ATI video RAM (Fire 3200) and with the Think Dock II using the pass through DVI port, i am driving Dell 20" WSXGA+ (1600 x 1050 widescreen) and Sony WUXGA (1900 x 1200) 23" widescreen flat panels. They work OUT OF THE BOX without having to install special drivers. This is a new feature of the Thinkpad line (at least for the T series).
----

== Low Profile PCI? IBM says Half size. ==

I don't think that LowProfile PCI-Cards will fit in the Dock II cause of the shorter mounting bracket.
I just successfully plugged a standard PCI card with the dimension
17.5 cm (without brackets and vga connector) x 9,9 cm (without pci connector, 10,7 cm with pci connector)
This seems to be the maximum dimensions possible...think the 'half size' written by ibm means the length of the card, not the width, as there are full size pci cards e.g. for video editing that reach all the way to the front through a standard tower case.

Talk:ThinkPad Dock II

2005-11-04T08:06:40Z

84.191.161.37: /* Who wrote this about the 1920 x 1200 on the dock II? */ this is a personal remark that doesn't belong in the article

I just installed a Nvidia Quadro NVS 50 PCI card in an attempt to add an additional monitor to my laptop (T41), and get 1920 x 1200 digital on my 24" widescreen. The Nvidia is not a dual monitor card, but I thought I would be able to use it as well as the laptop's existing card (ATI Mobility Radeon 7500). However the ATI card shows up in the hardware manager with the message "This device cannot start. (Code 10)". I then tried to enable the AGP as the primary video device in the BIOS (PCI was enabled). The on-board adapter came up, and the device manager listed no conflict, but the Nvidia would not come up as I tried to extend my desktop in display props. I got the message that I did not have admin rights to select the Nvidia, followed by messages that my drivers were not compatible with the newer version of Windows. I have never tried to use two monitors before, so I am not sure if it is feasible to have two video cards running at the same time. If this is possible, please let me know what I need to do, if it is not possible then I need to return the card and get one of your recommended ones.

TIA!
Tony
----
Hi Tony, can't help you much, i'm afraid. I have had a Radeon 9200 PCI card in the dock for a while, using it under Win. I think setting the AGP bus as the primary one in the BIOS is the way you should go. I had troubles with my Windows not booting up at all anymore when i changed it to PCI and was sure that it was the ATI driver having problems.

I would try to get the most recent drivers from the NVidia homepage. Best try uninstalling your drivers and reinstalling them. You might also check if your card is supported by the OMEGA drivers (http://www.omegadrivers.net).

Good luck, Wyrfel.

== Modify for compatibility? ==

I have an X41 Tablet on the way and am very disappointed that the only "Dock" available is more like a glorified port replicator. While I'm sure the X41 Tablet wouldn't ''fit'' on the Dock II, do you think it would be possible to remove the docking port from the plastic and connect it to the X41, or is it a different style connector? I would really appreciate audio jacks and a PCI slot.
^

== Who wrote this about the 1920 x 1200 on the dock II? ==

This is a very important subject to me since we used to buy a lot of T series Thinkpads but dont any longer because of the lack of support for the widescreen external DVI flat panels.

Who wrote this about the new driver from 8-11-05 - I have contacted IBM tech support (not Lenovo) and they have not heard such a thing and it is not listed - they have looked at the last video driver update to the T42p or T43p (I am looking for the 14" SXGA+ T42p model) with a dock II being able to drive externally 1920 x 1200 (UXGA+) WITHOUT an added PCI card. This would be NIRVANA for me.

Do you have anymore information about this driver and have you SEEN it work at all?

Thanks
Dean

dean@sigma-usa.com
----
Hei Dean,

i do not have a 1920x1200 display, but i have a 1600x1200 one which was unsupported before as well. The newest driver (upgraded via IBM Software Installer) indeed doesn't have the problem anymore which it had before with that resolution (1280x1024 was supported max). The newest Presentation Director supports the higher resolution as well.

I actually switched back from OMEGA drivers to the newest IBM release and experienced some strange behaviour which was gone after a few reboots). I guess some parts of OMEGA were not properly uninstalled in one go.

IBM might not know about this if they just upgraded the underlying Catalyst drivers.

However, you might wanna get a confirmation from someone using 1920x1200 before you celebrate. ;-)

[[User:Wyrfel|Wyrfel]] 01:16, 4 Oct 2005 (CEST)
----

BTW: I merged the information that was provided here on this issue into the [[Problem with DVI throughput]] page, since it was doubled in several places and belongs there. [[User:Wyrfel|Wyrfel]] 01:48, 4 Oct 2005 (CEST)
----
====newest drivers work with high resolution via DVI===
The above is a true statement. I have in Nov 2005 installed 3 Thinkpad T's (T42p and T43p) with 128 megs of ATI video RAM (Fire 3200) and with the Think Dock II using the pass through DVI port, i am driving Dell 20" WSXGA+ (1600 x 1050 widescreen) and Sony WUXGA (1900 x 1200) 23" widescreen flat panels. They work OUT OF THE BOX without having to install special drivers. This is a new feature of the Thinkpad line (at least for the T series).
----

== Low Profile PCI? IBM says Half size. ==

I don't think that LowProfile PCI-Cards will fit in the Dock II cause of the shorter mounting bracket.
I just successfully plugged a standard PCI card with the dimension
17.5 cm (without brackets and vga connector) x 9,9 cm (without pci connector, 10,7 cm with pci connector)
This seems to be the maximum dimensions possible...think the 'half size' written by ibm means the length of the card, not the width, as there are full size pci cards e.g. for video editing that reach all the way to the front through a standard tower case.

ThinkPad Dock II

2005-11-04T08:04:26Z

84.191.161.37: /* Quality DVI & Widescreen support */

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" border="0"
| style="vertical-align:top;" | __TOC__
| style="vertical-align:top;" | <div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; padding: 0em 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#F8F8FF; align:right;">
== IBM ThinkPad Dock II ==
The IBM Dock II (Model 2877) is the most feature-packed dock IBM sells. In addition to supporting all the features of the [[ThinkPad Mini-Dock|Mini-Dock]], the expansion capability of the Dock II can transform a regular Thinkpad into a full blown workstation with multiple monitors (PCI video card), higher fidelity audio (PC Card audio), and additional storage [[UltraBay|Ultrabay 2000]]. These expansion features are not supported by all Thinkpads, therefore the Dock II does not support as many Thinkpads as the [[ThinkPad Port Replicator II|Port Replicator II]] or [[ThinkPad Mini-Dock|Mini-Dock]].

=== Features ===
* everything the [[ThinkPad Mini-Dock]] has
* 1x half-size PCI card slot
* 2x Type II (or 1x Type III) [[CardBus slot]]
* 1x [[UltraBay|Ultrabay 2000]] slot

===Pros & Cons===
* Positives: Expansion capability
* Negatives: Cost ($399), internal fan is loud, large, less compatible
* Compatibility: X20/30, T20/30/40, R50/R51 and A20/30 Series notebooks.(does not support the A21e/22e, R40/40e/50e/51e or X40/41).
* Warranty: One Year
</div>
* [http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=-840&langId=-1&storeId=1&partNumber=287710U IBM Website for Dock II]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/92p1836.pdf ThinkPad Docking Solutions HMM (February 2003)] (248,638 Bytes)
|}

==PCI Slot==
Note this is a Half Height, or 'low profile' slot. Separate brackets are required for low profile PCI cards. Normal cards will not fit.

Many use the half-size PCI slot for peripherals like secondary video cards, TV tuners, audio cards, etc. This is considered by many to be the highlight of the Dock II, and is a feature that few other docks have. The Dock II does not support AGP or PCI Express. The Ultrabay 2000 slot can be used to connect other IBM peripherals, such as second hard disks or CD/DVD drives.
Potential owners of the Dock II are often concerned about compatibility and recommendations of video cards. See the [[#Compatible Video Cards|compatible video cards]] list below for more information.

''Dock II owners: anybody tried to shoehorn a larger card in? What are the dimensions? Anyone have pictures?''

===Video Cards===
The PCI slot is most often used for installing video cards to allow for multiple monitors. This feature is especially useful for anyone that requires visualizing a large amount of information, including stock brokers, artists, etc. Due to the slow PCI bus, gaming is generally not improved much by external cards.
One of the chief concerns of low profile video cards is whether they support the monitor setup you desire. As more monitors these days are LCDs, quality DVI support is essential. Additional concerns include driver support, ability to hot-swap (add or remove the thinkpad without rebooting), and noise/heat.
====Quality DVI & Widescreen support====
One way to work around the [[Problem with DVI throughput|limitations]] of the docks DVI pass-through port is to use a PCI graphics card which features a PCI port. Note that while this probably will work, the performance of the PCI graphics accellerator will be poor because of the limitations of the interface.

Also the newest ATI video drivers for both Linux and Windows are known to not have limited resolution support on the external DVI port anymore.

====Hot Swapping====
'''It is unknown whether hot swapping is fully supported.'''
Check the [http://forums.thinkpads.com/ thinkpads.com forum] for more information.

====Noise/Heat====
Since the [[Dock II]] has been reported to be a bit noisy, some people have taken to unplugging the fan inside (or possibly replacing it). While this likely voids your warranty, it may be necessary if you really want it quiet. Adding a video card increases the heat inside the dock, and may likely have a fan on board as well, meaning it will increase the noise level. While adding one of the below video cards is likely well within the thermal limitations of the dock, you should take into consideration the noise and heat it may add.
<BR><BR>
'''Anybody care to add some anecdotal information about this here?'''
====TV Tuners====
ok

====Compatible Video Cards====
This is a list of the most popular low-profile PCI video cards used with the IBM ThinkPad Dock II.
{| cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0"
|- style="text-align:left;"
!Card !! Chipset !! RAM !! DVI Ports !! Max DVI Res !! TDMS !! Compatibility !! Price
|-
|[http://www.matrox.com/mga/workstation/audio/products/pseries/p650_low_profile.cfm Matrox Millennium P650 Low-Profile]
|P650
|64MB DDR
|2x
|1920x1200
|Unknown
|Unknown
|[http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321649&affiliate=yahoo $219.95]
|-
|[http://www.pny.com/products/quadro/nvs/280Nvspci.asp PNY Quadro NVS 280 PCI]
|Nvidia Quadro 280
|64MB DDR
|2x (reqs cable)
|Unknown
|Unknown
|Unknown
|[http://www.computerbrain.com/applications/search/itemdetails.asp?sku=VCQ4280NVSPCIBK&sc=frg $157.99]
|-
|Nvidia GeForce MX 4000
|GeForce 4 MX 4000
|64MB DDR
|1x
|Unknown
|Unknown
|Unknown
|
|-
|[http://www.naplestech.com/pages/xentera_gt2_pci-dvi.htm NTI Xentera GT2]
|ATI Radeon 9000
|64MB DDR
|2x
|Unknown
|Unknown
|Unknown
|[http://www.provantage.com/buy-7colc00h-xentera-2-pci-profile-screen-dvi-video-adapter-colorgraphic-communications-612532-shopping.htm $213.91]
|-
|[http://www.naplestech.com/pages/xentera_gt4_pci-dvi.htm NTI Xentera GT4]
|ATI Radeon 9000 x2
|64MB DDR x2
|4x
|Unknown
|Unknown
|Unknown
|[http://www.axiontech.com/prdt.php?src=FG&item=49218 $448.95]
|}

===Audio Cards===
===Other PCI Cards===

==Ultrabay 2000==
In contrast to the Full Dock I the Full Dock II has a full featured (= hotswap capable) [[UltraBay|UltraBay 2000]] slot.

Note to T4x owners: [[UltraBay|UltraBay 2000]] is an older Ultrabay technology, not compatible with the [[UltraBay|UltraBay Slim]] in the T40/T41/T42/T43 lineup. Many [[UltraBay|UltraBay 2000]] accessories are available on [http://search.ebay.com/ultrabay-2000 Ebay].

The docks IDE interface is a CMD 648, so you should enable the according kernel option (compile it into the kernel if loading as a module doesn't work), if you want to use anything else than a floppy in the docks UltraBay.
Note that the interface will most likely be ide2 and ide3 then, so the docks UltraBay drive will be hde.

==PC Card Slots==
{{Todo|...}}


==DVI pass-through==
LCD monitors are getting larger and higher-resolution. Currently, DVI based on 165MHz TDMS transmitters can only (officially) support 1600x1200x32 at 60Hz, which is the resolution of your average 20" non-widescreen LCD. IBM's driver support for this resolution through DVI ports on docks has been inconsistent. Also in Linux you might experience [[Problem with DVI throughput|problems]] even with this resolution and IBM officially states that the pass-through DVI port only supports resolutions up to 1280x1024. Read [[Problem with DVI throughput|our page]] of information on how to solve these troubles.

Please be aware that not all Thinkpad models will support DVI output with a Dock. Apparently, X and T2* models do not. Please add other models if you know about them to not support DVI.

== Supported ThinkPads ==
* {{A20m}}, {{A20p}}, {{A21m}}, {{A21p}}, {{A22m}}, {{A22p}}
* {{A30}}, {{A30p}}, {{A31}}, {{A31p}}
* {{R30}}, {{R31}}, {{R32}}
* {{R50}}, {{R50p}}, {{R51}}, {{R52}}
* {{T20}}, {{T21}}, {{T22}}, {{T23}}
* {{T30}}
* {{T40}}, {{T40p}}, {{T41}}, {{T41p}}, {{T42}}, {{T42p}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}}
* {{X20}}, {{X21}}, {{X22}}, {{X23}}, {{X24}}
* {{X30}}, {{X31}}, {{X32}}