This was precisely my problem. I had a 250€ Lenovo docking station from my work. Charging, keyboard and mouse worked, but video didn’t. Companies apparently know that the majority of people are going to use the devices with Windows and don’t care about proper Linux support. They have tested it with Lenovo notebooks on Windows and released it on the market.
No video works with the docking station. But if i put my extension cable between the phone and docking station, video does not work despite the cable description says it should work:
Someone knows a working extension cable for power, data and video and all at the same time?
Today i recieved my docking station from purism and EVERYTHING (charging, ethernet, keyboard, mouse & monitor) works!
https://shop.puri.sm/shop/usb-c-hub/
I use it in conjunction with this hdmi to vga adapter and power supply:
https://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/Dell-HDMI-Adapter-HDMI-Stecker-auf-VGA-15pol-Buchse-Schwarz-schraubbar_1054284.html
https://www.artwizz.com/smartphone-zubehoer/technik/powerplug-usb-c-cable_28424_15853/
BUT i also bought this usb c extension cable (the third one)
https://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/Club3D-Kabel-USB-3-2-Typ-C-2m-Verlaengerung-5Gbps-St-Bu-retail_1438690.html
When i connect it between the phone and the hub however the video/screen signal does not get transmitted to my monitor.
(Despite the monitor being recognized in the librem 5 settings)
Without using the extension it works great, though.
I already tried these three and non of them actually works:
https://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/Club3D-Kabel-USB-3-2-Typ-C-2m-Verlaengerung-5Gbps-St-Bu-retail_1438690.html
Thank you very much for this recommendation.
But is 0.8m the longest possible? I would rather have something like 2m if possible.
Would this one also work?
Could get that way faster than ordering from china.
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Yes, YIWENTEC #1000180 should work as advised from its manufacturer. But I’m tired now to proof anything, especially related to the similar USB4 extension cable video transmission, so please wait until tomorrow (need to proof very same thing for myself as well, with some problematic docking … actually two of them).
Just to make sure before testing: you are about to extend USB-C male connector (from some docking station) toward the host (connecting the host) and this host name is Librem 5? Oh, yes, I already have your answer:
Yes that’s correct.
0.8m is the max. possible extension length? It’s not possible to extend for 2m or even more?
If so i will order exactly this: https://www.amazon.de/YIWENTEC-Thunderbolt-Compatible-Extension-Charging/dp/B09SZ7WDL5/
Why don’t you just buy a longer cable?
If you can tell me one that’s guaranteed working i do that. I already tried 3 cables and none of them worked. (See my second last post)
Those are all extensions. I mean just a longer USB cable, seems like it’d be a simpler solution to me.
What would you connect that with? I don’t understand what you’re suggesting me to do.
What i’m trying to do is placing the librem 5 as far away from the docking station as possible.
Well 0.8m is OK, i can live with that, but 2m or even 3m would be better.
Edit:
I think what you’re suggesting is using a usb cable and connect it with the librem 5 and an usb port from the docking station?
I don’t know if that would work.
Aren’t you supposed to use the short usb c cable from the docking station for connecting the phone?
Not necessarily. As long as the cable has the correct ends and can deliver data, you’re good.
This might help you-
Unfortunately not since there is only 1 usb c port on the purism docking station and that is used for charging.
There are 2 usb a 3 ports which of one i do not need, though.
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OK…
In short, general and exclusively related toward USB4 extension cable (it works, even if used twice 
):
I’m noticing other issues (perhaps software related, the one that is still in development) with my non-… external convergence equipment, but still hope that my answer somewhat helps (as toward your question related).
I’do not know much about at this point of time (but will look around based on …, but shorter data cables we are considering as the ones that are more reliable/quicker (video signal related …).
EDIT: @Michael24, please take a look at this link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000369786129.html, in order to get there … as quite more reliable solution (another setup idea of mine that includes connection to the above linked HDMI adapter from DELL, before you decide to buy anything new, and going to search for something else as well, yet this HDMI extension cable setup I’m already warmly suggesting, and even manufacturer is the known one or the one that I should recommend here).
EDIT II: Now after another short test I do not think (not any more) and almost sure that using USB4 extension cable is something not to be recommended at all (as possibility of getting the HSYNC and VSYNC blanking intervals on your external screen/monitor is relatively high), therefore please stick toward buying of adequate (in quality/length) HDMI extension cable (as my primary advice, while all my writing up to this point was actually based on your intention to use USB3.2 Gen 2 extension cable or USB4 extension cable with the here related docking station, or any other).
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Unfortunately it is not that simple. For this application it needs to be able to deliver all of
a) power (in the direction from dock to phone)
b) video
c) data
Sure if it’s just a passive cable taking all the conductors through, it could work but it also needs to meet other conditions in order to do the job.
Docks tend to be highly asymmetric i.e. not all the USB-C ports / connectors are created equal. Usually exactly one USB-C port supports power-in to the dock (and will be marked as such) and exactly one USB-C port supports the three functions necessary to connect to the host device, be it a laptop or the Librem 5, and will be hard-wired in.
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“Data” meant generically, as in “electrons not meant to power the device.” I consider video data, although yes there are data cables that don’t deliver video.
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Delock 87298 must be quite a decent device, as MST hub,
even if VGA 15 pin female connector not used. -
IADAP USB31-DOCK from Italy.
Since this is similar and still a problem for me I’ll ask folks to check out my questions over in this thread…
I know about the “tested devices” page out there but, it’s incomplete based on what I find in other posts, out of date, and a lot of those devices are no longer available. Further, it takes hours of reading and searching to see what works for different people and what issues they’ve had. I’m burning a lot of brain cells and $$ trying to find the right combination for this.
I know your pain. Unfortunately I don’t know how to help you in debugging your set-up.
For that reason I am a very strong proponent of putting a second USB-C (or maybe even a micro HDMI port) to future versions of Librem 5 in order to simply avoid the need of a docking station for as many people and as many use cases as possible.
The idea of reducing the number of ports on notebooks and devices like Librem 5 and then ending up with people carrying docks around is just plain ridiculous. I see it all the time. Notebooks with docks/hubs next to them.
Why? Why Why? It is just plain stupid. If people need to have USB ports and HDMI ports, then just include them in the notebook. I know that for Librem 5 it is more difficult than for a notebook, but as mentioned earlier, if my Nokia e7 had a mini HDMI port, then Librem 5 could definitely have at least a second USB-C.
My current set up is the following. I use a 3 tier approach.
-
Librem 5 + a tiny USB-C to USB-A adapter for just in case + a compact Bluetooth keyboard. No monitor, no mouse, no dock. Most travel friendly set-up.
-
Librem 5 + USB-C portable monitor + a compact Bluetooth keyboard. No mouse. No dock.
The Librem 5 gets charged through the USB-C monitor and the video signal is perfect (USB-C to USB-C - no HDMI). I can’t use additional USB devices with this set-up (please add a second UBS-C in the future).
This is the set-up that includes a monitor, but obviously here we are carrying around as much stuff as a notebook and a notebook would have been more convenient. (don’t forget the power bank that one also needs to carry around) -
Librem 5 + the Aenzr dock that Quarnero uses above.
This is the set-up when I need to use more USB devices. Works with wired mouse and wired keyboard. The downside is that the video signal with this set-up is not perfectly stable. It is reasonably OK, but not perfect. I tend to not carry around this set-up often.
So I don’t have a perfect solution. I pick one of the 3 set-ups according to the situation and none of them is perfect.
Hi there! I have the DOCK419USZ model, and I had that working fine on my L13. While I can apparently get power through the hub, I can’t get Ethernet working. I tried installing the drivers, but I can’t compile them for some reason. I’m hoping there’s a simpler path out there. Thanks in advance!
For the record, there’s no such thing as a spec-complaint USB-C extension cable. Those are explicitly forbidden by the spec and can be pretty dangerous, so it’s not surprising that they may cause issues at all.