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Latitude E6520 Port Replicator Problems - HELP!!

Discussion in 'Dell Latitude, Vostro, and Precision' started by leippi, Feb 9, 2012.

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  1. leippi

    leippi Newbie

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    Equipment:
    Brand new Dell Latitude E6520
    Dell 2707WFP Monitor
    Dell Port Replicator Plus

    I used my port replicator up until recently with a Latitude E6500. It was dropped and replaced by Dell under their Complete Care warranty for free. I use this laptop with the firm I am with (I am self-employed and they are my partner firm, thus computing issues fall to me). I am required to use a hard drive encryption service that they choose to protect the client data in case of laptop theft. The service installed on the laptop is Pointsec, which if I am not mistaken, is made by Protocom.

    Anyway..... I got my new laptop with a 512 MB NVIDIA NVS 4200M video card (and what turns out is a second card that is an Intel HID card), the new i& Quad Core processor, 4GB Ram, a 320 GB hard drive (7200 rpm), the full Business version of Office Professional, and Windows 7 (32 bit version - as required by the firm - as 64 bit won't work with some older programs). I have BIOS A08.

    The problem: I drop my new laptop into the docking station with the laptop powered off and the lid closed, and I lock the laptop into place, and turn on the docking station power supply. The unit powers up, but instead of displaying on the big 27" Dell monitor that is hooked up to the docking station, it turns the laptop monitor on (yes, while the lid is closed). I have to open the lid and log into Pointsec with my username and password while the stupid thing is tucked away in a bookshelf across the room. At that point, because I have configured the settings properly in "Display" when Windows loads up to its username and password screen it then flips the display to the 27" monitor (through the docking station). I can the use my wireless keyboard and mouse and external monitor as normal. Yes, I have tried the "Function F8" trick in Pointsec, but to no avail. HELP!!! How do I get this thing to display on my external monitor the way the laptop did!?!?!?!?

    Some side info: Apparently the old laptop (E6500) only had one video card. This new one has two. According to Dell, if the stupid HID card wasn't there it would flip directly to the NVIDIA at startup, and I would have no problems. There appears to be no way to turn off the HID card. I disagree. We tried disabling the special NVIDIA software in BIOS (the only option it gives us) and that was an 800x600 disaster. There appears to be no option to make the NVIDIA card boot first in BIOS. Nothing. Na-da. Bupkiss. We did try taking the laptop to the conference room to use the "low-tech" VGI connection on the old projector to see if it would boot directly to the projector. No luck, BUT, it would let us use "Function F8" will at the Pointsec login screen, which it will not do when on the docking station. Go figure that?!?!?!

    Dell is out of ideas, except for hoping for a better BIOS to come out. I wondered about going to an older BIOS. The old E6500 uses BIOS revision A25, obviously a BIOS for that model of PC. Is there an older BIOS for my Latitude E6520 that will work to fix the boot sequence of the video cards, or no? Any other ideas? Related strings I can look at? Other web links? Anything? By the way, the new E 6520 has an HDMI connection. The current cable being used between the docking station and the 27" monitor is the DVI cable. I can't remember if the 27" monitor (Dell 2707WFP takes a HDMI or not). Either way, the docking station doesn't take an HDMI cable, and I'll be @#$%&! if I am gonna start connecting cables to my laptop seperately. That's what I bought a stupid docking station for. I really don't want to hurl my 27" monitor in the trash bin, or my port replicator, but if I have to turn myself into a pretzel every morning to enter in this stupid Pointsec username and password every morning I'm gonna scream.

    One last thing. I have no way of getting any support from Pointsec. That is a bureacratic black hole between the firm and Pointsec. No go there.

    Any ideas? I'm desperate???????
     
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