All plugged in and problems with the connection.

Just received Docking station. Using it with my lap top and just just one monitor. 1) I cannot close the lap top without turning the monitor turning off. 2) the monitor turns off automatically sometimes. Help

Hi,

Thanks for posting! Sorry to know about the trouble you are having. I would like to help! We need the following information to figure out the next steps.

  1. What is the current version of OS on the laptop?

  2. Does the monitor also turn off when the laptop lid is open?

Once you post back with this information, we will figure out the next steps.

Regards,
Roze

Thank you for responding to my question so quickly, Roze,

I have a Dell 34 Vostro laptop using Windows Home Premium 32 bit. No, it does not go off when the laptop lid is open. I went into the Plugable UD 160 on the task bar and hit Advanced Configuration and changed the configuration to show Desktop inly on #2. The laptop screen went off and the desktop screen came on. When I tried to close the lap top even with the new config, it still went off, So now I just have my laptop sitting on the side open with a blank screen and am using the desktop. That was the best I could do.

Hi,

Thanks for the info! On Windows, by default, the system is configured to ‘sleep’ when the lid is closed. The monitor gets turned off because the system is going to sleep. If we make a change in the settings, we can get the monitor and the system to keep working when the lid is closed. Here is how to configure the settings on Windows 7-:

  1. Click on Start>Control panel and select ‘Hardware and Sound’

  2. Click on Power Options. You should be seeing something like this :

!](https://sslproxy.getsatisfaction.com/sslproxy/SWhAdDNLMG5zdGFuVGlWenar5LbrtG5uQdJhvnMZ-SujIWTcSz2OAdpzYOSIMvO5969nuTfkUZgZO2WmhFaR3uw2FZt1ifhhDHdZFOl8N60=.png)](http://plugable.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/LidAction.png)

  1. From the left pane click ‘Choose what closing the lid does’ .

  2. Select ‘Do nothing’ from the drop down lists next to ‘When I close the lid’. It should look similar to this-:
    !](https://sslproxy.getsatisfaction.com/sslproxy/SWhAdDNLMG5zdGFuVGlWenar5LbrtG5uQdJhvnMZ-SujIWTcSz2OAdpzYOSIMvO5969nuTfkUZgZO2WmhFaR3ghly_Oy0onuaVMYg1_tcec=.png)](http://plugable.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/LidAction2.png)

  3. Click on the ‘Save changes’ button at the bottom of the same window.

This should solve your issue. If it does not, do post back here or shoot us an email to support@plugable.com and let us know. We are here to help!

Regards,
Roze

Excellent. It works!!! Now how do I get the sound to come on? Do I need to get separate speakers to plug into the dock or can it still come throu the speakers on the laptop.

Hi,

By default, Windows 7 makes a new USB audio device the default — even if it doesn’t have any speakers attached! So if speakers are plugged into the dock you will definitely hear the audio. But if you do not have speakers, we can get the audio to play through the Laptop speakers by making it the default playback device. Here is how to configure the settings on Windows 7-:

  1. Click on Start>Control panel and select ‘Hardware and Sound’

  2. Click on ‘Sound’. This will bring up the list of available audio devices, one of which should be your USB audio device. You should be seeing something like this-:

!](https://sslproxy.getsatisfaction.com/sslproxy/SWhAdDNLMG5zdGFuVGlWenar5LbrtG5uQdJhvnMZ-SujIWTcSz2OAdpzYOSIMvO58sXbuh96upLPYRVNeksVgioLg1tGp7ShriPRHFje784i5EEdQpKQU4ft464qpoTtQXNAWAtFv7e9z6hGorZLKQ==.png)](http://plugable.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/win7-sound-control-panel-default.png)

  1. This is the place where, if you’re not actually using your USB or docking station audio, you can select a different audio output (e.g. your laptop’s built-in audio) and click “Set Default” to make it the default for sound output. Windows will persist this setting.

Once you change the default audio output device to the laptop speakers, all sound will be coming through it instead of going to the Docking Station’s Audio ports.

If you need any additional information, just let us know.

Regards,
Roze