I’d like to use the USB-C (data only) port of my Librem 15 for an Ethernet cable connection. To convert RJ45 to USB-C I am using an i-tec Thunderbolt 3 Dock. The dock works perfectly with both my MacBook Pro and my Dell Precision 7510. With my Librem 15, it does not work.
This does not seem to be a driver issue, because when I connect my iPhone with a USB-C cable to my Librem 15, it detects a cable connection and the Librem 15 uses the Internet connection of my iPhone.
I am aware that the Librem 15 does not support Thunderbolt 3, but only USB. But is this the reason? If so, there should be adapters that convert Thunderbolt 3 to USB (with the same USB-C connector). I did not find such adapters.
i-tec does not answer my support question - maybe I have more luck here. I’d like to know
if I can make my Thunderbolt 3 dock work with my Librem 15, potentially by buying an additional adapter between the two devices, or
if this is not possible, what do i have to buy to convert RJ45 to USB-C so my Librem 15 will recognize a connection just as it does when being connected to my iPhone. This second solution is sub-optimal, because each time I switch my working laptop I would have to disconnect the RJ45 cable from the dock and plug it into the special adapter required for the Librem 15.
I would guess that the problem is that this dock wants to use USB-C in “alternate mode”, specifically Thunderbolt alternate mode and that is not supported on the Librem 15 - for the same reason that you can’t use the USB-C port in DisplayPort alternate mode.
In that case it could be confusing to describe the USB-C port as “data only”. It might be more accurate to describe it as “USB only”.
Thank you very much for your expert answer, that‘s exactly what I wanted to know
Just as a side note: In fact I usually contacted Purism support via email when I had questions about my Librem 15. Most of then were answered very professional. Although the Librem 15 has some flaws I find the concept convincing and I am hoping there will be a v5
