ThinkPad docks

Related articles
Laptop/Lenovo
Docks
Business laptops manufactured by Lenovo and IBM under the ThinkPad brand have a proprietary connector at the bottom of the laptop that is used in junction with docking stations that enable the ThinkPad to be used as a desktop PC.
These docking stations can function in two ways:
Passive port replicators (no active components)
Active docks (active components such as USB hubs or USB 3.0 controllers)
Both of them are supported out-the-box by
GNOME
and
KDE
and should not require additional software. Otherwise you can
use dockd
.
Note
Some modern ThinkPads with exotic
NVIDIA
graphics like the Quadro M2200 might not work with
dockd
AUR
because the
NVIDIA
driver is buggy and causes a kernel crash. See
Issue #3
on Github
If you are using a different environment than
GNOME
or
KDE
and you are connecting the dock through a thunderbolt connector, you may have to authorize the use of the thunderbolt device before you can use the dock. You can use
bolt
or
tbt
AUR
to authorize devices. See
Thunderbolt
for more information.
Using dockd
To handle docks outside
KDE
and
GNOME
you will need to install a dock daemon that will auto-switch the monitors.
dockd
AUR
is a dock daemon that was developed for light desktops and will auto switch the monitor configuration.
Warning
dockd is not Coreboot/Libreboot compatible.
Installing
Install
the
dockd
AUR
package.
Note
If your current desktop environment switches the displays automatically you do
not
need this program.
The daemon needs to know your current display configuration when the laptop is docked and undocked, so we need to configure the daemon first before using it.
Insert your ThinkPad into the dock
Configure the display layouts and resolutions using your desktop environments interface or
xrandr
Write the profile when the ThinkPad is docked
# dockd --config docked
Remove the ThinkPad from the dock
Configure the internal panel resolution and refresh rates using your desktop environments interface or
xrandr
Write the profile when the ThinkPad is undocked
# dockd --config undocked
Start/enable
acpid.service
(see
acpid
if needed).
If you are using
i3
, you need to manual autostart dockd as
i3
is not XDG Autostart compatible
~/.config/i3/config
exec --no-startup-id dockd --daemon
Log out and log back in
The daemon should now be configured and ready to use. Insert the ThinkPad into the dock and observe if the daemon switches to your external display automatically.
Note
If it does not switch output modes automatically, that means your system or configuration is not supported. Please, open an issue on
GitHub
with your ThinkPad and dock model, as well as the
journalctl
output.
Warning
If you change your monitor setup or resolution, you
MUST
configure the daemon again.
Dock and undock hooks
As of dockd 1.21, you can define some hooks that run when the ThinkPad is docked and undocked.
For example, to disable Wi-Fi when docking and enable it when undocking:
Note
dockd runs as non-root, so these scripts have to be
executable
by the user.
/etc/dockd/dock.hook
nmcli radio wifi off
/etc/dockd/undock.hook
nmcli radio wifi on
Troubleshooting headset microphone on 4X10E52935 dock
This dock appears to use an
OMTP standard wiring
for the headset connector instead of the more common CTIA standard. Thus the pins (from tip to sleeve) are left channel, right channel, microphone, ground instead of left channel, right channel, ground, microphone. Adapters can be found by searching "3.5mm OMTP to CTIA adapter" on your favorite e-commerce site.
See also
dockd Documentation - ThinkPads.org
Docking Port - ThinkWiki