I made a Raspberry PI Laptop

[btesser]

Got a new microhdmi cable. Problem solved. Anyone get two finger scrolling in raspbian

[JonB]

Got a new microhdmi cable. Problem solved. Anyone get two finger scrolling in raspbian

I think the Atrix Lapdock doesn't support 2 finger scrolling as it isn't multitouch (or so I read here). Certainly mine doesn't (in any Linux version), which spoils the experience for me. There are some other docks that do, though - not sure which.

[Lob0426]

There seems to have been some progress made with the USB issues. This progress is also helping withe Lapdock WiFi issues.
If you are using the Wheezy/Raspian hard float.
And you have used rpi-update to come up to kernel 3.2.27 preempt #24.
And you add the following to /boot/cmdline.txt

Code: Select all

dwc_otg.microframe_schedule=1

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewt ... 39#p154539

You should not have problems with your Ethernet fighting your WiFi. I added this last night and it works very well. I can use either wired or wired without unplugging the WiFi or wireless without disabling the Ethernet. As a matter of fact it works with both at the same time. Of course it defaults to wired when available.

There is still a problem with low speed USB devices in conjunction with high speed devices. They are still looking into that. Since I have all high speed devices attached to my Lapdock I do not see that issue.
My current Lapdock setup is.
RasPi booting from a 512MB micro SD in an adapter.
Rootfs on a seagate 640GB GoFlex USB HDD. 22GB partition with a 512MB swap partition. The rest of the drive is unallocated at present.
Linksys WiFi adapter WUSB54GC.
I use network-manager-gnome to manage the Wireless. It works in and out of LXDE.
Good luck with the new setup!

[Deicist]

Hi, hope this doesn't get shot down with 'read the thread' type posts, since I have actually read through the thread and there's diffirent people saying different things about which cables are required....

If I'm after the simplest (ie: no splicing cables / soldering if at all possible) way of connecting my pi to my lapdock, which cables do I need?

Reading the thread has led me to believe I just need:

The blackberry usb Y cable.
some form of converter for that cable to connect it to the lapdock.
An hdmi cable
a converter for the hdmi cable to connect it to the lapdock.

Is that about it? Have I missed anything? Is anyone currently, or planning on, selling a bundle of these cables in the UK for a reasonable markup?

[Jim Manley]

If I'm after the simplest (ie: no splicing cables / soldering if at all possible) way of connecting my pi to my lapdock, which cables do I need? The blackberry usb Y cable,
some form of converter for that cable to connect it to the lapdock. an hdmi cable, and a converter for the hdmi cable to connect it to the lapdock.

Is anyone currently, or planning on, selling a bundle of these cables in the UK for a reasonable markup?

The Blackberry Y cable connects direcfly to the male micro-USB plug on the lapdock swing- up docking cradle. You need an adaptor with a female micro- USB connector and a male full- size USB-A connector that is used to connect the Blackberry Y cable male data connector to one of the Pi USB sockets. The Blackberry power micro-USB male connector is plugged directly into the Pi female micro-USB power input port. Note that some adapters advertised as having a female micro-USB connector actually have a female mini-USB connector and there's no way to tell from the lo-res photos on ePrey, etc.

Depending on what you buy, the micro-HDMI female connector is attached directly to the lapdock cradle male micro-HDMI plug, and the other end of that cable/adaptor combo needs to be a full-sized male HDMI connector that plugs into the Pi HDMI socket. There are several choices for the HDMI cable/adapter combo, but, beware that some female micro-HDMI adapters may need to be trimmed to fit onto the cradle plug and adjacent to the micro-USB connection for the Blackberry Y cable.

I plan to offer the right combo of cables/adaptors and a direct cable set (no adaptors needed) with a few days delivery time by post/mail to the US, UK, and most other countries. What do you think is "a reasonable markup", keeping in mind the cost of international First Class / Air Mail postage?

[Nigel Day]

Reading the thread has led me to believe I just need:

The blackberry usb Y cable.
some form of converter for that cable to connect it to the lapdock.
An hdmi cable
a converter for the hdmi cable to connect it to the lapdock.

I use

• a blackberry cable ($3 from DealExtreme, http://dx.com/s/107901)
• a micro-USB to USB adaptor (£4.60, http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0018Z0N1M) plus a USB coupler I already had (similar to this one for £1: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0012XXX2Q)
• a micro-hdmi coupler ($6, http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0761232832), plus a micro- to full size USB adaptor (similar to this £2 one, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230791671885) and an Amazon Basics HDMI cable that I had already.

That comes to under £14, postage included/'free', for everything but the HDMI cable - which you probably will have lying around anyway. The longest wait was for the micro HDMI coupler, which came from China.
(Jim: if I could have got something equivalent to this plus a short HDMI cable from one place with shortish delivery times for, say £20, then I would have done so. If you do put together a kit, make sure it is not tied just to the Raspi: I use my lapdock as a second screen + secondary input device for my hdmi-equipped tablet and notebook, and a monitor/playback device for my camcorder, so having it as a kit of parts is useful.)
(By the way, where can I get a short - one to two foot, say - HDMI cable?)

[kyelo]

Nigel Day said:

By the way, where can I get a short - one to two foot, say - HDMI cable?

I have this one (8 inches) on order, so I can't give a 'satisfactory' or 'unsatisfactory' verdict yet:

http://www.amazon.com/Inch-Hdmi-Port-Sa ... port+saver

The down side is that the complementary adapter is fairly expensive.

http://www.amazon.com/Micro-Female-Conv ... cro+female

I think there is a less expensive HDMI male to micro HDMI female adapter available on eBay, but (just a personal preference) if there is a a choice I generally use Amazon.com.

[Deicist]

Thanks Nigel, that was exactly what I was looking for.

I'll chime in on the 'I'd be willing to pay £20 or so for all this stuff in one package' thing as well, I'm looking to order this lot around the start of the month, if anyone has such a kit available by then I'd definitely go for one to save me the hassle of ordering from different places and waiting for delivery.

[Nigel Day]

Nigel Day said:

By the way, where can I get a short - one to two foot, say - HDMI cable?

I have this one (8 inches) on order, so I can't give a 'satisfactory' or 'unsatisfactory' verdict yet:
http://www.amazon.com/Inch-Hdmi-Port-Sa ... port+saver
The down side is that the complementary adapter is fairly expensive.
http://www.amazon.com/Micro-Female-Conv ... cro+female

That adaptor looks rather bulky - I wonder if it will get in the way of something connecting to the micro-USB plug?

(Looking further on Amazon.co.uk, I've found half-metre HDMI cables for about £1.50 - also, for those who don't already have a micro HDMI adaptor, I found a micro-HDMI male to HDMI male lead for £5 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004M5NR3Q. Shorter leads than this seem to be more expensive!)

[ComputerXplorer]

This all sounds so complicated!

If you like I made a post on how to make a pc/laptop http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewt ... 41&t=15692

ComputerXplorer

[tekmanro]

Just wanted to let you know that the Atrix is on sale again for $50 shipped at 1saleaday.com (flash daily deal). I'm not affiliated with that site, but that's where I got my Atrix and it seems to be an awfully good price for it; it arrived new in sealed box, in about 2 weeks.

[edd247]

just ordered a lapdock and had a quick question.
is it neccessary to power the RasPi using the lapdock micro usb, with the "Y" cable?
or can i use one of the usb ports from the lapdock hub?
i would like for the RasPi to power off when the screen is closed, so would that work in this case?

[Lob0426]

just ordered a lapdock and had a quick question.
is it neccessary to power the RasPi using the lapdock micro usb, with the "Y" cable?
or can i use one of the usb ports from the lapdock hub?
i would like for the RasPi to power off when the screen is closed, so would that work in this case?

For the Lapdock to work you must connect to the micro B USB female connector. You must also connect to the Micr HDMI connector. No power goes to the hub until you connecto to both.

[edd247]

just ordered a lapdock and had a quick question.
is it neccessary to power the RasPi using the lapdock micro usb, with the "Y" cable?
or can i use one of the usb ports from the lapdock hub?
i would like for the RasPi to power off when the screen is closed, so would that work in this case?

For the Lapdock to work you must connect to the micro B USB female connector. You must also connect to the Micr HDMI connector. No power goes to the hub until you connecto to both.

I was planning on connecting the lapdock micro B USB female connector directly to the RasPi full size usb, along with the micro HDMI directly to the RasPi HDMI (with adapters of course). If I do this, can I then use the hub to get power? Also, is it neccessary to cut the red 5v wire going from the lapdock micro usb to the Raspi usb port?
thanks

[King]

just ordered a lapdock and had a quick question.
is it neccessary to power the RasPi using the lapdock micro usb, with the "Y" cable?
or can i use one of the usb ports from the lapdock hub?
i would like for the RasPi to power off when the screen is closed, so would that work in this case?

For the Lapdock to work you must connect to the micro B USB female connector. You must also connect to the Micr HDMI connector. No power goes to the hub until you connecto to both.

I was planning on connecting the lapdock micro B USB female connector directly to the RasPi full size usb, along with the micro HDMI directly to the RasPi HDMI (with adapters of course). If I do this, can I then use the hub to get power? Also, is it neccessary to cut the red 5v wire going from the lapdock micro usb to the Raspi usb port?
thanks

I just tried this out and it works, using a cable with the 5v cut. I can't speak for Lob0426's lapdock but my screen, speakers and rear USB ports (power) work fine without anything connected to the micro USB connector.

[edd247]

I just tried this out and it works, using a cable with the 5v cut. I can't speak for Lob0426's lapdock but my screen, speakers and rear USB ports (power) work fine without anything connected to the micro USB connector.

Cool, thanks for the info. Just wondering, why does the 5v cable need to be cut?

[Vindicator]

You can back power the Raspi that way, I had miscellaneous problem with this approach when using the on-board Ethernet but it seems to work with a WiFi adapter being powered off the lapdock itself.

When using the Ethernet with it back powered through the Raspi, I would get keyboard repeats and system resets for no reason so I power mine with the microusb and send only data through the standard USB.

I you have one of the newer boards that have 0 ohm resistors instead of poly fuses this may solve the conditions I was experiencing.

[Lob0426]

just ordered a lapdock and had a quick question.
is it neccessary to power the RasPi using the lapdock micro usb, with the "Y" cable?
or can i use one of the usb ports from the lapdock hub?
i would like for the RasPi to power off when the screen is closed, so would that work in this case?

For the Lapdock to work you must connect to the micro B USB female connector. You must also connect to the Micr HDMI connector. No power goes to the hub until you connecto to both.

I was planning on connecting the lapdock micro B USB female connector directly to the RasPi full size usb, along with the micro HDMI directly to the RasPi HDMI (with adapters of course). If I do this, can I then use the hub to get power? Also, is it neccessary to cut the red 5v wire going from the lapdock micro usb to the Raspi usb port?
thanks

If you have the new Raspi with 0ohm resistors, instead of polfuses, it will probably work. If you have the 140ma polyfuses it will reset time after time. I have been working on Backpowering a RasPi through its USB. Having some success at it also.

You will not need the hub for power if it does not start resetting on you. If it runs with a single cable from the Micro connector on the Lapdock to the USB A port on the RasPi, you will not need to build an adapter cable at all. It all depends on whether you you have fuses or resistors!

[Lob0426]

You can back power the Raspi that way, I had miscellaneous problem with this approach when using the on-board Ethernet but it seems to work with a WiFi adapter being powered off the lapdock itself.

When using the Ethernet with it back powered through the Raspi, I would get keyboard repeats and system resets for no reason so I power mine with the microusb and send only data through the standard USB.

I you have one of the newer boards that have 0 ohm resistors instead of poly fuses this may solve the conditions I was experiencing.

Thats because you are a "LOSER" Vindicator. Your brother Lob0426 has it under control!

[Vindicator]

Just remember who built your first cable when you were fooling around in Oregon. and played with your lapdock first LOL..

[Lob0426]

@King: Mine would not turn on the USB ports without a connection to the Micro USB. Guess mine is developmentally disabled. (retarded)
If you cut the red wire then where are you getting your power from?
what @edd247; wants to know is if he can use a single cable, with appropriate adapters to power and connect to the Lapdock, instead of building an adapter cable. If he has 0ohm resistor he probably can!

The Micro connector is the best place to connect the RasPi to the Lapdock. This leaves you with TWO USB ports rather than just one. The Micro Connector also can turn out more than 500ma. So then you can also use the other USB on the RasPi without problem. Now you have three USB ports to use. To use one of the USB hub ports, to power the RasPi, will leave you with one, possibly two USB ports not three. The micro USB is an upstream port. after modifying my USB fuses I was able to power a WiFi adapter from the RasPi USB. I now use that USB as my hot plug port for memory sticks.

Edit: I'll be d@#$ed The USB ports do power without the micro USB connected. I guess I wasn't paying attention!

[Jim Manley]

Here's another data point for everyone. I was up until my normal 2 ~ 3 AM working on Pi-Finity! and other things on the Pi and I passed out from exhaustion, as usual. I awoke to the all-too-early dawn fuzziness of a foggy Monterey morning light from yonder window broke, only to see the lapdock screen blacked out. This meant that I had forgotten to plug in the AC adapter to keep the lapdock powered up since sometime the previous evening. It also meant that when I did plug in the lapdock AC adapter, the display would be showing the Pi boot sequence and whatever I had been working on when I conked out would have been lost since the last save.

Wrong! When I plugged in the AC adapter and rotated the lapdock display forward to plug the cable into the back of the lapdock, I noticed that the power LED on the Pi was glowing brightly. When I plugged the power cable into the lapdock, lo and behold, the display came on ... and I was greeted with the prompt still in the directory I was working in sometime after 2 AM! The Pi had remained powered up on the lapdock battery for at least 6 ~ 7 hours, possibly as many as 11 hours, but, the lapdock display had powered down, which is a much higher-power draw than the Pi, alone. Holy moly, Batman - we have standby mode ... sort of! I was only in the command prompt, not X, I wasn't running anything on the GPU, and didn't have any other USB devices or the network hooked up, so only background Raspbian processes were running.

I'll set it up from a full charge and have a timer program writing to a bunch of files round-robin every second and pull the power cable out of the lapdock so that I can tell precisely how long the Pi can stay powered up after the display goes off, in case I'm asleep when it finally runs out of power (I'll write to multiple files in case the last one written to gets corrupted when the power goes out).

I really need to get more of these babies for easy transportation and setup at our Jams and other events without having to drag around keyboards, displays, mice/trackpads, a powered USB hub, etc., not to mention all of that fantastic built-in battery power!

[itimpi]

Blanking the screen on inactivity seems to be standard even when not using the Lapdock. As you mention, blanking the screen is likely to significantly extend how long the Lapdock can power the Pi.

[adafruit]

ok! we made a tutorial to help folks out, enjoy!

http://youtu.be/yZkz_a52I6s

[kongorilla]

Well, adafruit is a day late for me. I was up late soldering a cable and doing updates (to get wifi to work while using the dock) and now we have a nice pi-top at our house. Thanks to everybody in this thread, I wouldn't have been able to get it all sorted without you.

Has anyone figured out how to adjust audio via the keyboard? Failing that, how do I adjust audio levels via the pi? I'd rather not resort to taping over the speaker grills. I thought I had read that someone found keys that worked (not the speaker keys), but scanning this thread again hasn't refreshed my memory (but it has made me doubt my memory).

Thanks again!