I agree i also think there is no reason to believe it’s uncompatible.
Why is it a problem that it’s buspowered?
I want to have the GUI because i want to use the librem 5 like a desktop computer.
Edit:
I think i should give it a try.
If nobody chims in during the next 10 hours or so with good reason why it wont work i think i will order it and just give it a try.
If someone knows a similar adapter (providing vga and usb) that can be powered externaly let me know.
Because it means that the Librem 5 is powering the dock, rather than the other way round, while at the same time tying up the one means for getting more charge into the Librem 5 (the USB-C port). So you would get a period of run-time for configuring the Librem 5 and then you would have to disconnect the Librem 5 and connect it to its charger for a period of time, and then repeat the cycle.
So this might be the answer?
More like it.
But you may need a suitable “laptop’s USB-C power adapter”. In theory you could try using the Librem 5’s existing power adapter but without knowing how many Watts the dock and its peripherals will themselves consume you couldn’t guarantee that the existing power adapter provides enough power. If you are only connecting the VGA port and one USB port, you may get away with it.
You might want to check this topic as well:
A Humble Librem 5 Daily User Review - Librem / Phones (Librem 5) - Purism community
I am suffering by the same issue. Also in Germany.
I have a Lenovo ThinkPad 250 EUR docking station which does not deliver video signal from Librem 5 to the external monitor.
And I have a 40 EUR dockings station that delivers the video (and I currently use) but suffers from:
So the correct choice of perfect docking station for Librem 5 is not easy.
The forum user Quarnero (also in Germany) has good experience with AENZR AZ2406. But it seems that it charges the Librem 5 with only 1,5 A, while I would love to find a solution that delivers to Librem 5 up to 3A or as close are possible to up to 3A.
I have bought Vention Multi-function USB-C 9-in-1 for Librem 5. It works with Librem 5 when powered from Librem 5 reliably. When powered from Librem 5 accompanying power supply, then there sometimes issues. When powered the first and then Librem 5 is connected to USB C tail then it works. When Librem 5 is connected (on or off) and supply is connected and phone then started or running then there are sometimes issues then Ethernet port is not recognized sometimes. Sometimes there are reported overheat from battery NTC and red diode blinking and errors reported from BQ25895.
But generally I consider setup as working and I am satosfied. Charging is slower than if power supply is connected directly to Librem 5 but it is possible. So I am generally satisfied with a function.
As for the charging, as I understand and have seen in device tree or somewhere else, charging is limited to 5 VDC only on USB-C. The actual Librem 5 adapter can deliver/negotiate higher voltages but there is no significant increase of the power. The maximal current is almost directly proportional to voltage. I do not have numbers or device before me now… So 5 VDC charging is reasonable for this setup. May it be that there is reserve on BQ25895 for faster charging but it is question if it would not shorten battery life and from my side time is OK, acceptable.
But for another power adapter there could be significant win to use higher supply voltage negotiated over USB-C power delivery standard, because notebooks adapters are probably optimized to deliver lower current on higher voltages and 5 VDC selection means that power watts are limited and there is not enough current to power Librem 5 and battery charging.
I have looked into Librem 5 design when arrived in November and I have doubts if higher PD voltage can be negotiated without risk of its damage. There is BQ25895 battery charger chip. It seems to be clever and elegant so it can accept even voltage higher than 5 VDC from VBUS input (datasheet states Optimize for High Voltage Input (9 V to 12 V)). It then ensures to power rail common for battery and system which is intended for 3.4 to 4.3 VDC on Librem 5. Great. Same choke L46 is used for system power rail energy delivery from USB-C in buck charge mode and even for up conversion in boost mode (blocking step up design) to deliver 5 VDC for USB-C connected peripherals without own power supply which are connected to Librem 5. Nice elegant design and reuse of the same mass of choke… The step up conversion uses internal FET transistor as active rectifier of boost voltage to 5 VDC PMID (it is out voltage labeled DCDC_5V_OUT). But there is Schottky diode D5 from the choke switched end to PMID as well. probably for protection… This means that when choke end is is connected to USB_VBUS_IN (USB-C voltage connected to that point over TPS65982 during charging) then DCDC_5V_OUT cannot have lower voltage due to the D5 presence…
But DCDC_5V_OUT is connected to the PP_5V0 which are power input to pass to USB devices through TPS65982. But it datasheet states max 6 VDC for PP_5V0 pins in 7.1 Absolute Maximum Ratings section.
This means that when higher voltage is negotiated for charging by TPS65982 and passed over USB_VBUS_IN to BQ25895 charger than at the moment when it pass value to the choke then PMID (DCDC_5V_OUT, PP_5V0) voltage level will be (allmost) the same over D5 and TPS65982 maximum ratings will be violated. If that fact and design has not been consulted with Ti and it was not confirmed that high voltage (i.e. 12 VDC) are not problem on pin PP_5V0 when other end of the internal MOSFETs is at the 12 VDC already (pin VBUS) then enabling and negotiation of higher voltage with USB-C power supply will damage the device.
So this 5 VDC limit for power sources has to be taken in account and it is possible that there is no chance to liberate it by software without HW design changes or at least removing D5 which can have probably other consequences, some uncontrolled switching spikes???
Generally, the this part of power distribution, flow switching and conversions is complex and demanding and number of functions which has to be solved is really huge. USB-C has allowed these higher power and faster battery charging etc… It is quite possible that specialized chips used on mass production phones are not available for own projects and are tightly couple to mobile SoCs and firmware. So it was probably hard to build required functionality from available chips which are more intended for docking stations, monitor and other devices…
May it be, Purism HW expert @ekuzmenko can provide some feedback.
So i just bought this docking station and a couple cables:
I hope it will work.
I will try it out after everything including my librem 5 usa arrived.
If it should not work would be using this (reported working with librem 5)
@ppisa, I added your info to the Tested Accessories page.
Can you please use the lsusb command to get the hub’s USB ID, so I can add it to the wiki?
The Vention Multi-function USB-C 9-in-1 is compound device with HDMI output over USB3.0 and USB 2.0 hub and ETHERNET. I have used it with FullHD monitor, keyboard, mouse and ETHERNET on Librem 5. I have not tested/needed card reader and audio. There is list of USB devices which appear when it is connected to the GNU/Linux computer
Bus 001 Device 010: ID 2109:2815 VIA Labs, Inc.
Bus 001 Device 011: ID 1a40:0801 Terminus Technology Inc.
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 2109:0815 VIA Labs, Inc.
Bus 002 Device 005: ID 0bda:8153 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet AdapterPlease tell us if you see 9636|ALGOLTEK, INC. line (easily should be present one, related to AG9321MCQ) over there? Thanks for the already given update!
It is somehow important to me that you understand that every charging negotiation above 0.47A is positive charging negotiation (in context here related and IMHO), if and when accepted from the Librem 5, as otherwise there will be almost no charging happening (with or without screen on, although red LED light on) and Librem 5 will discharge its battery in approximately 1:1 time-frame (ratio), while and when Librem 5 in usage, when connected as host to some docking station and, for example, if it consumes 0.9A (4.5W) in average during certain time/application in usage we are able to count that when connected power supply provides improperly negotiated 0.47A and BPP-L503 battery still discharges (although with PD pass-through port connected, yet provided current, related to 5V, settled down to 0.47A) at rate of 0.45A. Only when docking station provides ample current of more than 1.5A (related post battery was already at 81%, and in its uprising capacity stage toward 100%).
As above and therefore, @Hristo, I’ve just send you PM on which power supply you can get directly in/from Berlin (as worth to be tested from your side).
Meanwhile i got my librem 5 usa and the following stuff:
The good news is the docking station works in terms of i managed to connect the librem 5 to a monitor, keyboard and mouse.
The bad news however:
1.The charging does not work through the docking station using this charger:
2.The active usb-c extension cable is straight up not working.
I connected it between the librem 5 and docking station. Nothing.
I also tried to connect it between the librem 5 and charger and it’s also not working.
Is the cable maybe defective or what do i have to look out for when buying an extension? (Which i need)
Check out this thread.
We got tons of comments and tests on this non-trivial topic:
Are you sure it can’t be a problem with the charger or configuration?
Because my dockstation https://eu.targus.com/products/usb-c-dp-alt-mode-single-video-4k-hdmi-vga-docking-station-dock419euz
Claims:
It supports up to 100W (20V/5A) charging max.
Why? Would it be possible to extend the outputs of the dock, rather than extending the USB-C? Obviously we don’t have a full picture of your setup.
The USB-C between dock and phone is performing 3 roles
Maybe confirm with the seller of the USB-C extension that it purports to support all 3 roles, and all 3 roles simultaneously.
Does the extension cable work in any scenario? e.g. just a computer connected to a keyboard? or e.g. a computer connected to a USB-C peripheral that supplies its own power? or e.g. a computer connected to a USB-C monitor (directly or indirectly)?
If I had to take a guess, as the extension cable appears to have no external power source, it probably doesn’t handle the “power” side of USB-C adequately but may handle data and may handle video.
The thing about USB-C is that it negotiates what to use.
So if I am not mistaken, you have:
Librem 5 always negotiates 5V between itself and the docking station. The maximum is 5V 3A. I have seen 5V 3A, 5V 2A, 5V 1,5A, 5V 0,5A and 5V 0,1A depending on docking station, power supply and used cables.
Your setup only makes sense in my opinion when you reach at least the 5V 1,5A negotiation because with the 0,5A your battery will discharge when you use Librem 5 in convergence mode.
So Librem 5 will never get 20V regardless of what is written on your docking station.
First cornerstone is the controller of the docking station that is used for negotiating the connection between Librem 5 and the docking station. As far as I understand this controller will not only matter for the quality of power supply, but also for the quality of your video signal to your external monitor. So it is important to be high quality.
Second cornerstone is the power supply. Interestingly both me and Quarnero got good results with a more “stupid” power supply. Since yesterday I use an old Samsung phone charger 5V 2A USB-A to USB-C and I get 5V 2A negotiated to the Librem 5.
The more “intelligent” power supplies did not work for me for any of the small docking hubs as the one you use.
I tested one big expensive Lenovo notebook docking station and it was the only one that managed to make a chain 5V 3A to Librem 5 and 20V 5A between the docking station and the power supply. BUT! It was useless, because with it the video signal was not working 
🤦🏻
So when you are done with the power topic, the next party is the video signal. Many docking stations don’t really transmit the video when you use Linux. And many docking stations write 120Hz while at the end managing only 30Hz in the real world. And there is also the flickering and instability issues with some of the docking stations. It is sufficient to read some reviews under docking stations on Amazon to see that this problem exists. It is again a matter of the used controller for the video signal in the docking station (in combination with the controller for the connection to the Librem 5 in the docking station).
My Tipp. Grab the command for checking the negotiated power supply from the other topic.
Grab an old Phone Charger 5V 2A.
Do the test with your docking station.
It you only get 5V 0,5A, then consider returning the docking station if you are still in the window that allows return.
Recently I saw this device on the Internet that might deliver everything. But I have not tested it so you have no guarantees whatsoever that it will do the job:
https://www.linuxlaptop.be/USB3-docking-station-for-linux-compatible-portreplicator
Or take one of the AENZRs that Quarnero recommends as I did yesterday.
It is funny that the EU wants to enforce USB-C as a standard while at the same time USB-C can vary so much that the consumer might end up with a pile of USB-C devices and cables with mysterious compatibility between each other.
As and when the Librem 5 connected as host, over its USB-C port, to the compliant docking station we need to provide to it up to 15W (5V/3A). If and when negotiated less than 2.5W (as within docking station built-in pass-through charging controller just do not like to “talk” properly with your carefully chosen “most expensive” PD3.0 power supply with up to the 100W per USB-PD port).
Each USB-PD port, as shown below, might be usable … (but let us focus, please, on what needs to be ensured, for this topic purpose):
I just bought one.
I only found these on banggoods
Where they are out of stock.
Can i get them somewhere else?
Wouldn’t be this one sold by purism the best choice?
https://shop.puri.sm/shop/usb-c-hub/
or am i missing something?
I would assume so. I had no idea they sold a hub.
Edit: don’t see any display out, though.
