Raspberry PI Laptop (no custom cables)

[Rh3d]

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-Mo ... 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 ... pter-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-mic ... 9&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 ... 1&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-hd ... ack-176085

[fdion]

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



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

Here are more pictures and detail:
http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/se ... l/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

[fdion]

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/se ... l/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

[CarsnGadgets]

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?

[johnbeetem]

... 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

[Rh3d]

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.

[fdion]

... 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/20 ... cabos.html

Francois

[freebirds]

You didn't say which pi version you had. You recommended a "Micro USB Female to Micro Male + Female Adapter Cable for Blackberry 9900." Which models is the Y cable necessary for?

[freebirds]

Since I didn't receive a reply to my question, I will rephrase it. I have a model B rev2 pi. I returned my 100 lapdock and purchased an Atrix lapdock. Other pi users and tutorials recommended purchasing a micro male USB to micro female USB cable and a micro female to A male USB adapter. However, my touchpad and keyboard don't work. If a blackberry Y data cable is required to make the touchpad and keyboard functional, why are there recommendations to use a regular micro USB cable? I special ordered the micro USB cable and it is too late to return it. Apparently, now it looks like I will have to research where to buy a Blackberry Y cable and special order it. In the meantime, the deadlines to test my pi and lapdock before the return deadline are ticking and I cannot use them without a Y cable.

The link to the Blackberry Y cable in this thread is no longer available:
http://dx.com/p/micro-usb-female-to-mic ... 9&u=107901

[mumikejohnson]

This setup will work with the lapdock 100 as well. I've found both the atrix lapdock and the lapdock 100 work better if you don't use NOOBS.

[eddebaby]

You can get the Y cable (although in white) from dx here: http://dx.com/p/micro-usb-female-to-two ... ite-221147

Also if you search for "micro usb female" (including the quotes) on ebay (worldwide) there should be quite a few results if you look through.

[Loonhaunt]

This setup will work with the lapdock 100 as well. I've found both the atrix lapdock and the lapdock 100 work better if you don't use NOOBS.

I am sorry for the interuption but what do I use other than NOOBS?

Dave
I have a Lapdock 100 and it isn't working with my Rev B (Fresh One)

[joebear]

I'm using the Atrix Lapdock and the Rev B Pi but after I use the lapdock for about an hour with my Pi, I lose the functions of tthe keyboard and mouse. Is anyone else running into this problem? I'm using the Blackberry Y cable. Is that cable under too much stress after an hour?

[Mr. Pi]

I'm using the Atrix Lapdock and the Rev B Pi but after I use the lapdock for about an hour with my Pi, I lose the functions of tthe keyboard and mouse. Is anyone else running into this problem? I'm using the Blackberry Y cable. Is that cable under too much stress after an hour?

Hello,

I know quite a bit about this project kind, and plan to do it myself, the reason why you lose the functions is because once you wire the 2 cables required (video and power) theres a cable missing, in other words a 3rd cable. The third cable is USB to USB connectors, and then the KeyBoard and Mouse should work together for more than an Hour.

Hope this helps!

[blackcorvo]

I have a Raspberry Pi 2, and recently I purchased this lapdock with the idea of having a stand-alone screen+keys+mouse module, because the only HDMI monitor in my home is the living room TV, which is always in use by someone watching the news or something like that.
It's been a hassle to get the adapters I need locally (specially the micro HDMI one), but I managed to find them online.

I was thinking about using this little guy for the USB connection:



Of course, I'd need to modify it to fit properly alongside the HDMI adapter, and move the male micro-USB connector to the side so it matches the RasPi 2 layout, but I think it's possible to do. I could even merge the two adapters into a single unit if I really want to.
This would reduce the cables to one male-male-USB, it being the one that connects to the female USB in the adapter and then goes to one of the RasPi's USB inputs for the keys+mouse.

Do you think this could work?

[blackcorvo]

Do you think this could work?

I'll answer my own question: No, it doesn't work.

The adapter's outter shell is made of rubber, but the insides are coated in a harder rubber, almost feels like plastic.
You can't work on the thing without destroying all wires, and potentially the connectors as well. I ended up trashing both female and male micro-usb connectors.

I'll be trying the "custom cable" way instead, since I can't find the "micro usb splitter" cable anywhere in my country.