Inspiron 8500 Power Question - Page 3

meddler · 04-15-2007, 04:18 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by shotgunefx

For shutting down, I just have it hibernate after x minutes on battery.

That's an interesting way of doing it. I never thought of that. How do you go about powering it back up?
I am just about to start bench testing the laptop I got with all the add ons I have. ie. FM radio, GPS, voice commands phone control etc.

shotgunefx · 04-15-2007, 09:13 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by meddler

That's an interesting way of doing it. I never thought of that. How do you go about powering it back up?
I am just about to start bench testing the laptop I got with all the add ons I have. ie. FM radio, GPS, voice commands phone control etc.

On the 8600 (not on all dells though), shorting the power button on the dock will cause it to start when power is applied. (My old Latitude CPTv would just reboot endlessly if you did this).

I just put in a NC spring switch inline yesterday so I can reset if need be, as with the button jumped, you can't power off with the button so you have to remove the laptop from the dock. I've only had to do it once or twice when I was working some kinks out of suspend2, but it's good to have.

So when I turn off the car (the laptop is powered with IGN), it's on battery so acpi takes care of the rest.

bangumandoo · 04-16-2007, 12:15 AM

how woudl you know what dells they work on. i have a 600m and would like to know if this method will work. oh yeah whats NC spring switch inline, IGN and acpi?

shotgunefx · 04-16-2007, 12:23 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by bangumandoo

how woudl you know what dells they work on. i have a 600m and would like to know if this method will work. oh yeah whats NC spring switch inline, IGN and acpi?

Sorry for all the abbreviations.

Well, if you have the doc, unplug the power, hold the power button in and turn the juice back on, if it starts up (still holding the button) and doesn't keep rebooting, it should work.

NC is normally closed, meaning when I push the switch, it opens and breaks the contact between the power button leads, IGN means Ignition as in, the circuit is only powered when the key is in the on position, so when I take out the key, it kills the auto-air adapter and the system is now running on battery.

ACPI is (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface), what most computers use for power management.

suspend2 is a linux thing that handles hibernation, etc.

meddler · 05-04-2007, 05:16 AM

hey shotgunefx,

I am looking at buying a docking adapter link but I am not sure if this will suit the inspiron 8600's. Do these laptops use a d docking port. I can't find the information anywhere. If is does, it's got a pci slot

Half decent sound card here we come.

shotgunefx · 05-04-2007, 05:32 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by meddler

hey shotgunefx,

I am looking at buying a docking adapter link but I am not sure if this will suit the inspiron 8600's. Do these laptops use a d docking port. I can't find the information anywhere. If is does, it's got a pci slot

Half decent sound card here we come.

AFAIK, The D-Docks work, as you can see from that page, there are a few docking products. I was originally going to get one with the PCI slot, but didn't due to the size. I'd double check with the seller, but I think it's the one. You are probably looking at near ~18" though front to back.

Double check the power requirements as well. Think they are >=90W

meddler · 05-04-2007, 05:34 AM

space isn't really an issue. i will end up removing the housing anyway. btw is there a power button on your docking port? I know you said there was one on the monitor stand, but I don't want to use a monitor stand.

shotgunefx · 05-04-2007, 05:41 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by meddler

space isn't really an issue. i will end up removing the housing anyway. btw is there a power button on your docking port? I know you said there was one on the monitor stand, but I don't want to use a monitor stand.

There is a power button on the APR, I cant' imagine the full dock doesn't have one. Never cracked these docks open btw. The main reason I used the monitor stand was to protect the laptop to a degree from stuff bouncing around the trunk (plus it makes a handy mount and has a built in shelf for my other crap)

meddler · 05-04-2007, 06:01 AM

true. I think I will give it a go. I have sent the guy an email and pictures to make sure that the connectors are the same.
I also just spent 1 hour on hold to dell (read waste of an hour) to see if the laptop had a D port connector or not. The guy on the phone said that it did, so hopefully I can use this. Then he gave me the phone number for the parts department and told me to check with them.

shotgunefx · 05-04-2007, 06:33 AM

Get a definitive answer...

http://www.motherboardpoint.com/t563...iron-8600.html

meddler · 05-04-2007, 06:53 AM

you are using the port replicator aren't you. Maybe it doesn't work and I should just get the APR just in case the D/Dock doesn't work

shotgunefx · 05-04-2007, 07:40 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by meddler

you are using the port replicator aren't you. Maybe it doesn't work and I should just get the APR just in case the D/Dock doesn't work

Hmm, something ate my post, anyway, some sellers on ebay list it as compatible with the 8600, so if Dell is dumb and can't answer the question, you could always buy from one of them and if it doesn't return it.

Yeah, I'm using the APR. I wanted a PCI slot, mainly for video, but right now, I'm running Dual heads and it's not a problem, nv-xconfig actually lists 3 (lcd, vga,dvi), so I think I could get tri-heads if I wanted to chop up the laptop (I don't

) there are also a few upgrades as far as video for the 8600s if you are interested.

meddler · 05-04-2007, 07:48 AM

yeah, I might stick with the APR and the audigy 2 ZS sound card for the time being. At least other people here are using the APR and it works

shotgunefx · 05-04-2007, 08:20 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by meddler

yeah, I might stick with the APR and the audigy 2 ZS sound card for the time being. At least other people here are using the APR and it works

That's the one thing that bugs me, usb sound support in linux isn't that great, not for my SB Live! 24 anyway. Though my built in laptop audio is fine for my tastes. (I'm not a huge audiophile)

meddler · 05-04-2007, 08:23 AM

I think the audio onboard is pretty crap. I would have liked the pci slot to be able to add a decent sound card.