Gateway RQ5 Docking Station - Serial Port (RS232) doesn't work

[BillW50]

I got a docking station for my Gateway M465e because the power input
doesn't function (I purchased it used betting that I could fix it). And
I figure the easy fix would be getting a docking station. And then get
power through it. A gamble I guess, but it worked. <grin>

I really don't think the docking station has its own charging circuit or
anything. And if this is correct, it should be either the jack is bad or
a run somewhere on the motherboard to get that to work again, you think?

I also don't like to leave batteries in my laptops. Only when they are
in use or charging. Sadly, the trigger to lock the laptop in the docking
station presses on the battery. Without it, no lock. So I cut a piece of
wood in my work shop the same size and shape of the battery. And slid it
in and that works wonderfully. ;-)

Oddly enough, I can't get the serial port of the docking station to work
with my Palm IIIc. I tried with Windows XP Pro and Windows 7 RC and no
go. The Device Manager shows all is well. Used a serial to USB adapter
and it works that way. Although it would be nice if the serial port
worked too. I don't see any drivers you need to make it work. There
isn't any, is there? I have no idea if the parallel port works, but
everything else does.

Also supposedly you can remove the laptop from the docking port while it
is running. Yes that works, although the release gives a huge kick. My
event log shows bad sectors on the hard drive whenever I do that. So I
don't think that is a good idea to do.

I was also surprised to learn that if you remove power from the docking
station, the laptop battery powers both. As the docking station requires
a lot more power than just the laptop alone (120 watts vs 65 watts). And
I didn't see a big drain on the battery in this state. Interesting, no?

[Sjouke Burry]

Post by BillW50
I got a docking station for my Gateway M465e because the power input
doesn't function (I purchased it used betting that I could fix it). And
I figure the easy fix would be getting a docking station. And then get
power through it. A gamble I guess, but it worked. <grin>
I really don't think the docking station has its own charging circuit or
anything. And if this is correct, it should be either the jack is bad or
a run somewhere on the motherboard to get that to work again, you think?
I also don't like to leave batteries in my laptops. Only when they are
in use or charging. Sadly, the trigger to lock the laptop in the docking
station presses on the battery. Without it, no lock. So I cut a piece of
wood in my work shop the same size and shape of the battery. And slid it
in and that works wonderfully. ;-)
Oddly enough, I can't get the serial port of the docking station to work
with my Palm IIIc. I tried with Windows XP Pro and Windows 7 RC and no
go. The Device Manager shows all is well. Used a serial to USB adapter
and it works that way. Although it would be nice if the serial port
worked too. I don't see any drivers you need to make it work. There
isn't any, is there? I have no idea if the parallel port works, but
everything else does.
Also supposedly you can remove the laptop from the docking port while it
is running. Yes that works, although the release gives a huge kick. My
event log shows bad sectors on the hard drive whenever I do that. So I
don't think that is a good idea to do.
I was also surprised to learn that if you remove power from the docking
station, the laptop battery powers both. As the docking station requires
a lot more power than just the laptop alone (120 watts vs 65 watts). And
I didn't see a big drain on the battery in this state. Interesting, no?

The port might be disabled in the bios??
Or in a non-standard bios state?
That is certainly possible for the parallel port,
I am not sure about your serial port.

[BillW50]

Post by Sjouke Burry
The port might be disabled in the bios??
Or in a non-standard bios state?
That is certainly possible for the parallel port,
I am not sure about your serial port.

Thanks Sjouke! I was in there before and everything looked good. And I
just fired it up again and double checked. There are three settings:
Off, On, and Auto. The latter lets the BIOS and OS adjust the settings.
Basically Plug and Play. The On setting allows you manual control of the
serial port. It is currently set to auto.

The serial and parallel ports are there on or off of the docking
station. Although there is no serial or parallel ports on the laptop
itself. There are two ways of doing this. One that the ports are real
and are wired to the docking port. Or they do it through the USB.
Although drivers should be required for the latter, I would think. I
would think the former since the BIOS knows about it even without the
docking station.

[Sjouke Burry]

Post by BillW50

Post by Sjouke Burry
The port might be disabled in the bios??
Or in a non-standard bios state?
That is certainly possible for the parallel port,
I am not sure about your serial port.

Thanks Sjouke! I was in there before and everything looked good. And I
Off, On, and Auto. The latter lets the BIOS and OS adjust the settings.
Basically Plug and Play. The On setting allows you manual control of the
serial port. It is currently set to auto.
The serial and parallel ports are there on or off of the docking
station. Although there is no serial or parallel ports on the laptop
itself. There are two ways of doing this. One that the ports are real
and are wired to the docking port. Or they do it through the USB.
Although drivers should be required for the latter, I would think. I
would think the former since the BIOS knows about it even without the
docking station.

I dont know much about docking stations, but I expect the
laptop bios in the auto mode to disable them when outside the
docking station.
If you are not using shutdown, but sleep instead, I would expect
the laptop not to enable the ports, when you plug it back in.

Personally I would use the "On" setting in the bios, and the "standard"
option when available, but I dont know your bios well enough.

[Sjouke Burry]

Post by BillW50

Post by Sjouke Burry
The port might be disabled in the bios??
Or in a non-standard bios state?
That is certainly possible for the parallel port,
I am not sure about your serial port.

Thanks Sjouke! I was in there before and everything looked good. And I
Off, On, and Auto. The latter lets the BIOS and OS adjust the settings.
Basically Plug and Play. The On setting allows you manual control of the
serial port. It is currently set to auto.
The serial and parallel ports are there on or off of the docking
station. Although there is no serial or parallel ports on the laptop
itself. There are two ways of doing this. One that the ports are real
and are wired to the docking port. Or they do it through the USB.
Although drivers should be required for the latter, I would think. I
would think the former since the BIOS knows about it even without the
docking station.

Oh, and btw, the physical ports I think ARE on the laptop, it is just
that the connectors are on the docking station, with the wiring coming
from the multipin docking connector.