Raspberry PI Laptop (no custom cables)

Hey All,
About 6 weeks ago after buying my first Raspberry PI I started trolling the internet for a better way to Dev with it, rather than fighting my family for the TV. It was clear to me that I needed to get a Motorola Lapdock. So I found one on my local craigslist and started looking for solutions to go from the Male micro USB and Male Micro HDMI to the Raspberry PI. As it turns out I could really only get the adapters and cables I needed online although you might be able to find the Female micro USB to two Micro Male USB cable at your local cell phone supplier as it is a Blackberry cable.


Here is what it looked like when I was done, no custom built cables.


http://www.amazon.com/AT-Laptop-Dock-Motorola-ATRIX/dp/B004M17D62

Below I have listed the cable and adapter options that will not require any major cable mods. I purchased mine from DX.com, it took a few weeks but I did get them. The same adapters and cables appear to be available on Amazon and ebay. The only mod I had to make was scrapping some of the plastic off to make the micro USB and micro HDMI adapters fit, so be careful with this part and watch your fingers!

HDMI Male to Micro HDMI Female Adapter -
The most important piece and most difficult to find. There are other options but I preferred this one for my application,

http://dx.com/p/hdmi-male-to-micro-hdmi-female-adapter-66079

Micro USB Female to Micro Male + Female Adapter Cable for Blackberry 9900 -
This is needed to plug in the lapdock to the Raspberry PI. It will supply power, Keyboard control, sound and an extra two USB inputs. To get this cable to work I had to use the short part for the power and the longer one for the USB, which evidently also seems to power the Raspberry PI through the regular USB.

http://dx.com/p/micro-usb-female-to-micro-male-female-adapter-cable-for-blackberry-9900-black-30cm-107901?rt=1&p=2&m=2&r=3&k=1&t=1&s=66079&u=107901

Micro USB Female to USB Male Adapter -
Needed to plug in to the Rasberry USB.

http://dx.com/p/micro-usb-female-to-usb-male-adapter-black-172524?rt=1&p=2&m=2&r=3&k=1&t=1&s=107901&u=172524

Micro HDMI Female to HDMI Female Adapter-
This is an alternative option. I got one of these to make it easier to plug in my Xbox to the Lapdock.

http://dx.com/p/micro-hdmi-female-to-hdmi-female-adapter-black-176085

A variation on this, using different cables (no custom cables either), for a v1.1 or v2.0 Pi:

[img]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-kwgOp_JYfuQ/UI_75rQQ4cI/AAAAAAAAA0w/W4QzQMRrHeU/s640/blogger-image--446056953.jpg[/url]

And for a v1.0 Pi:


That way you dont put undue pressure on the hdmi connector.

Here are more pictures and detail:
http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/search/label/motorola

The white case is good to show the Pi clearly on the pictures, but that was back in september/october last year. Since then I've switched to a modmypi surprise case, red and black. Fits pretty good, color wise.

Francois

A variation on this, using different cables (no custom cables either), for a v1.1 or v2.0 Pi:



And for a v1.0 Pi:


That way you dont put undue pressure on the hdmi connector.

Here are more pictures and detail:
http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/search/label/motorola

The white case is good to show the Pi clearly on the pictures, but that was back in september/october last year. Since then I've switched to a modmypi surprise case, red and black. Fits pretty good, color wise.

Francois

impressive,

does that give you keyboard input as well as use of the screen?
how do you power the pi? still via a mains charger or from the laptop dock somehow?

what image are you using?

... does that give you keyboard input as well as use of the screen?
how do you power the pi? still via a mains charger or from the laptop dock somehow?

Lapdock's Micro USB plug next to its Micro HDMI plug provides power for RasPi as well as USB data lines for talking to the keyboard and track pad. There's a summary of Lapdock connections at the RasPi Hardware Wiki: http://elinux.org/RPi_Screens#Motorola_Atrix_Lapdock

A variation on this, using different cables (no custom cables either), for a v1.1 or v2.0 Pi:

Nice, thanks for sharing! I like the idea of the raspberry not putting pressure on the micro HDMI connector.

... does that give you keyboard input as well as use of the screen?
how do you power the pi? still via a mains charger or from the laptop dock somehow?

Lapdock's Micro USB plug next to its Micro HDMI plug provides power for RasPi as well as USB data lines for talking to the keyboard and track pad. There's a summary of Lapdock connections at the RasPi Hardware Wiki: http://elinux.org/RPi_Screens#Motorola_Atrix_Lapdock

This is only on V1.1 and V2.0 model B. On the V1.0, you need a third cable, that goes from the USB port of the lapdock to the microusb power in of the Raspberry Pi:



http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/2012/10/risc-laptop-cables-cabos.html

Francois