Arch Linux

jlacroix

Member

Registered: 2009-08-16

Posts: 576

Docking Station With Dell Latitude E6410, Would it Work?

Hello everyone. I have a Dell Latitude E6410 laptop with integrated Intel graphics. I'm considering purchasing a docking station for it. Before I do, I'm wondering if it would work? If anyone else has one and can offer suggestions, please do. I previously had a Latitude D630 with NVIDIA graphics, and it worked with a docking station but I had to play around with xorg.conf to make it work.

Thankfully, the monitor I'd be using has the exact same resolution as the laptop does, so I think that will make it easier.

What I want to do is dock it with the lid closed and have the display on the external monitor, but when undocked go back to the laptop screen. Just thought I'd ask before purchasing this.

STiAT

Member

From: Vienna, Austria

Registered: 2004-12-23

Posts: 606

Re: Docking Station With Dell Latitude E6410, Would it Work?

Hi,

We tried that on a E6410 lately. I have a few hints on "what" you should do:
- Kernel 2.6.36+ (required for dualhead with docking station, otherwhise you'll have problems with screen recognition and "black" stripes).
- mesa 7.9 (REQUIRED, otherwhise compiz will have crashes here and there, and you'll have a lot of graphic glitches)
- xf86-video-intel 2.13.0 (works better)

In general, if you need something with good 3D performance, I can not recommend the intel graphics chipsets, they are by far slower than nvidia chipsets.

You will need to play around with the xorg.conf, see http://www.intellinuxgraphics.org/dualhead.html

Regards,
// STi

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Ability is nothing without opportunity.

jlacroix

Member

Registered: 2009-08-16

Posts: 576

Re: Docking Station With Dell Latitude E6410, Would it Work?

Hi,

We tried that on a E6410 lately. I have a few hints on "what" you should do:
- Kernel 2.6.36+ (required for dualhead with docking station, otherwhise you'll have problems with screen recognition and "black" stripes).
- mesa 7.9 (REQUIRED, otherwhise compiz will have crashes here and there, and you'll have a lot of graphic glitches)
- xf86-video-intel 2.13.0 (works better)

In general, if you need something with good 3D performance, I can not recommend the intel graphics chipsets, they are by far slower than nvidia chipsets.

You will need to play around with the xorg.conf, see http://www.intellinuxgraphics.org/dualhead.html

Regards,
// STi

Thanks. I don't need 3D performance, so that won't be an issue. All the laptops I've used with Nvidia graphics have always ran extremely hot, so I usually avoid them anyway.

It looks like I'll need to wait for Kernel 2.6.36, which I'm assuming is about a month away before it hits Arch stable?

Thanks again