Thinkpad T420 Owner's Thread

[junior21]

How would I go about hooking up my T420 to a TV? Will it work on any TV? How much am I looking at costwise considering I already have the laptop and TV.

[Hearst]

How would I go about hooking up my T420 to a TV? Will it work on any TV? How much am I looking at costwise considering I already have the laptop and TV.

You'll need a Displayport to HDMI adaptor and a HDMI cable (v1.3+ ideally) to hook up to the Television. It's also possible to get a cable that features both HDMI and DisplayPort connectors on each end. Be aware that certain adaptors or cable combinations may not pass audio to the TV so you may want to have a look at this thread to see which combination works.

Personally i'm using the NEET Displayport to HDMI adaptor along with a cheap HDMI cable and the setup works fine on my Sony BRAVIA television.

[JeremiahD]

I've got the same displayport issue. Went through that thread you had linked Hearst before ordering my adapter and made sure to get one that others had gotten working, however now that I have it in my possession I'm only getting video to come out of the TV.

My problem seems to stem from a lack of intel display audio devices in my sound device manager, only the Conexant one shows up. I tried the options to show hidden and disabled devices but it still will not show up.

Looking under my general devices manager tab both the Conexant and Intel Display Audio drivers show up, and both show as working properly. I just can't get the intel one to show up in my sound device manager window.

[Hearst]

I've got the same displayport issue. Went through that thread you had linked Hearst before ordering my adapter and made sure to get one that others had gotten working, however now that I have it in my possession I'm only getting video to come out of the TV.

My problem seems to stem from a lack of intel display audio devices in my sound device manager, only the Conexant one shows up. I tried the options to show hidden and disabled devices but it still will not show up.

Looking under my general devices manager tab both the Conexant and Intel Display Audio drivers show up, and both show as working properly. I just can't get the intel one to show up in my sound device manager window.

What cables or adaptors are you using? Have a look at the Sounds Properties instead of the Device Manager. This is what mine looks like when I connect my NEET Displayport to HDMI adaptor + HDMI cable to my ThinkPad T420.



See if your Television is listed under the Sound Properties, you may need to restart the system with the cable in to ensure the system is aware of the connection.

[JeremiahD]

Thanks for the reply.

Im using

BYTECC AP-DPHDMI-005 DisplayPort to HDMI Cable Adapter 0.5ft (6") w/IC


and

Nippon Labs Premium High Performance HDMI Cable 6 ft. HDMI TO HDMI Cable A/V Gold Plated for 1080P cable HDTV Cable PS3 Cable and Xbox 360 Cable

The adapter was suggested in post #19 and #30 on the thread you linked earlier, so I had hoped it would work. Most were through Amazon, it was the only one through newegg which I was already ordering from.

As for my sound properties the only one showing up is the Conexant driver, even when connected into the TV(Video works perfectly), and after restarting with the hdmi cord/adapter still attached.

[Hearst]

The adapter was suggested in post #19 and #30 on the thread you linked earlier, so I had hoped it would work. Most were through Amazon, it was the only one through newegg which I was already ordering from.

As for my sound properties the only one showing up is the Conexant driver, even when connected into the TV(Video works perfectly), and after restarting with the hdmi cord/adapter still attached.

I'm scratching my head on this one as my NEET adaptor is very similar to your BYTECC adaptor, right down to the end packaging. Do you have a spare HDMI cable that you could test with? I tried to verify the HDMI standards Nippon Labs used but I can't seem to find this information. My HDMI cable while cheap, is using the latest HDMI standards v1.4 so maybe a change of cable could turn things around?

BTW under the Sound Properties have your right click and enabled "Show Disconnected/Disabled Devices"? Does it also list other devices alongside with the Conexant speakers?

[JeremiahD]

Just tried the hdmi cable that came with my hd cable box, same results. Yes I did check both boxes and still the only option is the conexant speakers.

[TheNew007]

Hey guys, the ultranav software doesn't auto start after booting. Is there any way to fix this??

[Ctrl-Z]

Just tried the hdmi cable that came with my hd cable box, same results. Yes I did check both boxes and still the only option is the conexant speakers.

I really don't want to be reading about your problem because it is precisely what happened to me with my T410 and a known working Displayport - HDMI adapter. I have just ordered a T420 and it certainly looks like this issue is still around. In my case the adapter worked with audio until NVidia/Lenovo issued new graphics drivers and after that Sound Properties stopped showing the TV as a possible playback device. Sadly, nothing I could do, including changing video drivers, could fix it.

[Hearst]

It's difficult to pinpoint the problem as there are many configurations and combinations people used to have video and audio on the Displayport, things like:

Does the T420 have NVIDIA or Intel GPU?
Are you using factory installation or clean installation?
What Audio/Video drivers you're using?
What Adaptors or Cable combination used in the process?
What Television make? Is it compatible? Need Special Settings?

I think it be useful if people can list out what they use and done to get the Displayport to fully output video and audio so we can try to narrow it down to see whether its a hardware issue (adaptors, cables) or software issue (drivers, OS configuration). I will list out mine below:

Does the T420 have NVIDIA or Intel GPU?
Intel GPU

Have you managed to get Displayport working?
Yes

Are you using factory installation or clean installation?
Custom clean installation of Windows 7 Home Premium x64.

What Audio/Video drivers you're using?
- Stock Microsoft High Definition Audio Device Drivers v6.1.7601.17514 (Not Conexant)
- Intel Graphics Driver 8.15.10.2418

What Adaptors or Cable combination used in the process?
- NEET Displayport to HDMI Adaptor (from Amazon UK)
- Xenta Flat HDMI Cable v1.4 (from eBuyer UK)

What Television make? Is it compatible? Need Special Settings?
Sony BRAVIA KDL-32EX401, works straightaway. No special settings required.

Hey guys, the ultranav software doesn't auto start after booting. Is there any way to fix this??

Is it listed in the Startup list? Check MSConfig, Startup tab and ensure the Ultranav software is not disabled.