[ltp] ultrabase x2 warm-docking?

[Eric Jorgensen]

	I've got an X21 (2662-67U), and I've also acquired for it the Ultrabase X2
Media Slice, and the 6x/24x ultrabay 2000 dvd drive. I've got the latest bios
and embedded controller program flashed. Well, latest as of mid-February. 

	I'm running debian/woody on it, with a 2.4.17 kernel I built myself. I'm using
the xserver from the gatos project. I haven't yet attempted to do anything with
tpctl, haven't even built the thinkpad specific modules yet. I'm in the process
of learning what it can do for me. 

	When i boot up with the ultrabase, everything works great. I'm able to watch
DVDs easily with VLC (recommended - www.videolan.com). Floppy drive works too. 

	Somebody's website explaining how to use linux on an x20 or x21 advised that
all one needed to do was suspend the notebook before docking or undocking. also
included source for a program "scandvd" to rescan the 2nd ide port when the
notebook wakes up. 

	Problem is, it doesn't work that way. 

	If i suspend and resume with the ultrabase in place, everything still seems to
work. 

	If i suspend, remove the ultrabase, resume, and run "scandvd", scandvd
complains that it couldn't talk to the 2nd ide port. It would appear that when
the ultrabase is not present, the 2nd ide port is disabled / powered off. 

	If i then suspend, install the ultrabase, resume, and run "scandvd" again, it
happily informs me of my DVD drive, but it doesn't actually work. 

	If i then run vlc, and try to play a dvd, vlc just locks up, and can't be
killed. I have to reboot to notebook to get rid of the process. 

	What bothers me is that google turns up very little when i search for "linux"
and "ultrabase". It's as though not many people ever use them. I admit the
retail price is absurd, but some guy on eBay was getting rid of a large number
of them at $120/ea, so i grabbed one. And then found a used dvd drive for $60.
If I'd had to pay the, what, $540 total retail cost of these things, I'd never
have bought them. 

	There's plenty of people talking about how to warm-swap ultrabay devices, but,
in this case, the ultrabay itself is getting swapped out. 

	So I'm hoping someone on this list has worked with a similar configuration and
can give me some clues? I don't generally need the dvd or floppy drives, so it
would be great if i could shed the extra inch and extra 2+ pounds immediately
after each boot up, and be able to swap them back in later. I mean, that's the
whole point of having an X series thinkpad, isn't it? 

	Oh, by the way, am I the only person who wishes IBM had put keyboard-like
flip-up legs on the underside of the ultrabase? I got so used to the angle of
the keyboard when docked with the port replicator, typing with the ultrabase is
sort of annoying. 

 - Eric
	

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