Need Help to Trick-out L5

Hardware Librem 5
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Thanks to the seller, and the great team here at Puri, it seems I have a L5 soon to be on it’s way in a few days.
I’ve read a bit about dockers, but not enough.

Can I connect the cell with a docker that will let me view the cell either cell>monitor or cell>desktop+>monitor?

Is there a set docker(?) that Puri recommends for the L5 Evergreen? The desktop is PureO/S

Hobbyists - suggestions? This, will be *our first digital phone. I say “our” because James and I will share it for a spell. It will be his - after I play with it too :slight_smile: I’m curious.

Thanks to @joao.azevedo @irvinewade @Quarnero @amarok and @twilight_paradox for your patience and time.

~s
Please don’t ask why I waited so long to ask :crazy_face: I also read privacy policies.

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In addition to the official Purism documentation for the L5, I found the Community based Wiki to be really helpful. https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki

there are FAQ’s, and Tips and Tricks as well as a running list of hardware and apps that work well with the L5.

And of course, this forum has been really helpful. There are lots of good answers to questions in the forum, but it might take some patience and searching prowess to find them.

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Looks like this thread has some info on docking stations that might help you:

That thread also lead me to this page on the wiki, which lists some docking stations:

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I don’t think the second is an option i.e. not through a desktop (or laptop) - even though it could be useful and is probably theoretically doable with some hardware and is discussed in this forum. In a conventional dock arrangement, the phone has a direct connection to the monitor or a connection to the monitor through a dock.

For a dock, there are two options.

  1. Via a regular dock.
  2. Via a lapdock.

Existing links are mostly directed to the former - and care is definitely recommended in choosing a dock i.e. for whether it works well with the Librem 5.

A choice of dock would be influenced by what you need. e.g. do you need ethernet? do you need a card reader? how many USB ports do you need and what type of USB port? But most importantly influenced by what works well.

A lapdock effectively integrates the monitor, the keyboard, the mouse and the dock in a single unit, which looks fairly like a laptop (but isn’t). Obviously a lapdock costs more than a dock.

For lapdocks, there are two makes around that have been tested by community members with the Librem 5 viz. NexDock and UPERFECT. I think both work satisfactorily. Both have topics and discussion in here. However, reportedly, charging is less than stellar with the UPERFECT, so the choice would be influenced by whether you wanted to spend a lot of time docked but off the grid.

Well Purism sells one - so you would hope that that one works well with the Librem 5 and is therefore in a sense recommended.

PS “docker” is actually something completely different in IT i.e. different from a “dock”. So best to call the thing being discussed here a “dock”.

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Honestly the best experience I have at the moment is with the combo:
Librem 5 + a USB-C to USB-C cable to connect to a Display that accepts USB-C as input + Bluetooth keyboard.

For me such set-up works more stable than anything that has HDMI in the path.
And the Display charges the Librem 5. The only thing lacking is additional USB slots.

So if you don’t need to use several USB dongles with the Librem 5, this might be a good solution.

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You took my words. :smiley: I was also confused by the wording.

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Thanks @kms for that. It’s why I asked the “hobbyist” suggestions. Mile long pages of stuff is usually far removed for actually experiencing a product. Thanks for answering the question.

Thanks - I will definitely make the time to read what others say is a good station.

Thank you @Hristo, it shall be done :slight_smile: As soon as I get confirmation that phone is on it’s way, I’m getting the cable you suggest. I’m also going to do the “lapdock” thing suggested by one of the resident kahunas @irvinewade.

I aim to please :slight_smile:

OK, I’m going to check that Puri received instructions to ship to me yet, then to the Puri Products pages again. I must have scrolled right past the ‘dock’ that. At first I wasn’t getting it for me. It was a gift but now… I’m thinking - gift it to me. Added the USB-C>USB-C on my shopping list.

Goal is to make the L5 a part of the network so I can access the device and to use the Bluetooth +monitor, +mouse to any necessary refinement, updates to O/S etcetera.

Thanks everyone… and Puri.
~s

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But how do I ask wiki for it’s advice on what works for it? I’ve read about the parts but

Thanks for the suggestion - I bookmarked it for future use - once the L5 shows up but I was hoping to also buy from Puri what ever I need to make my goal work sans all the icing on the cake. There is no notice yet when the boxed-ready-to-ship L5 will be shipped so I was hoping to add the extras II’ll need outbound to the box.

IMO - Buying a car is easier. Now, I go to read another novel :woozy_face:

~s

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:slight_smile: I hear you! Right, the wiki is just info, not recommendations. Recommendations come into play when you take the wiki info and cross-reference it with your own personal requirements, needs, wishes, constraints, etc.

For instance, will this be a device that

  • supports your work needs, ie mission critical. You need to have batteries ready, can’t miss a phone call, etc.
  • Do you want this device to be a replacement for an existing laptop? So, you can get rid of the laptop?

These are the types of questions, none of us in the forum or the wiki can answer. What I can suggest is my perspectives:
-buy the docking station from Purism: https://shop.puri.sm/shop/usb-c-hub/ I like it, and has the right ports and needs for me. There are definitely others out there, but since Purism is selling it, I trusted them. Now, if that dock, doesn’t have the video connections you need for the monitors you have, then no point in getting it. And you could buy the monitors from Purism, but I find, that you can get some great ones, at competitive prices that will meet your monitor needs from anyplace also.
-I also bought a privacy screen. Not that I’m doing anything secretive, I thought it would serve as a good screen protector (ie designed for the L5 dimensions)… This has been good, but I notice that it could cause you to set the screen brightness higher, because of how it works, unless you are looking straight at it, it can dim the screen a bit. This could affect battery.
-I also bought a spare battery. Bottom line, is the L5 battery performance is still a big work in progress. Having a spare, charged and ready when you are on the road, or having one for when the one that ships with it dies, could be really handy. Again, not expensive (like the dock). And, you get shipping for free with these accessory purchases, so that is nice to take advantage of now while you have the free shipping.

One thing I didn’t do is buy the purism openpgp key because I already had the librem key. I think I regret this now, as I would have preferred getting one. Although, it is a tradeoff. I’m not sure if the L5 is really ready to leverage it yet? Others could chime in on this point. But, again, this will be up to you, because its a personal choice. Is your lifestyle such that having a pgp key with the L5 works for they way you plan on using the device?

I also didn’t buy a SD memory card. Those are easy to get, and they evolve so quickly you can get the one you want, when you need it.

these are some of my thoughts. I do think you are approaching this thoughtfully. take advantage of the free shipping and get what you need now. And, put some good thought now into what and how this new device is going to serve your needs!

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Thanks @kms I think once I get thew feel of a cell phone (never had nor wanted one). The L5 was already ordered by a person in Australia who change their mind. I don’t even know what is in the package because at the price, even after conversion, I save a few $s. It is intended as a gift for a friend who has been outstanding sharing his time. He knows. He sent his money because it was easier. I git the gist he wouldn’t be interested. So I’ll get him a Etch-a-Sketch and keep the phone :thinking:

If I dive right in and get the dock, docker - which ever, and other hardware, then L5 will most likely stay with me.

Regarding “constraints”. I can see me using the wiki a lot once the decisions is made to go big with it.

I did put what I might do into a post, somewhere, but in short, I want to be able to set the phone into something, and using a keyboard, mouse and monitor, poke around as well as sync. No laptops are involved. Just towers Windows and other 3 Linux flavours.

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Yes, that works for me too. However you need to consider whether you are in an office doing that (mains power is available) or off grid.

If off grid then it’s more complicated because if the monitor takes power from the Librem 5 then the Librem 5 will be flat in no time. So then you are looking at the choice of portable monitor (monitor itself has a battery and won’t be wholly dependent on the Librem 5) or other configurations.

I gather (perhaps incorrectly) that what you have is a mains-powered monitor - so no off grid operation.

(As an aside, one quirky configuration that worked for me is as follows. Portable monitor with choice of HDMI input and USB-C input. USB-C input connected to charger, keeping the monitor’s battery charged. HDMI input connected to USB-C to HDMI adapter connected to Librem 5. So the Librem 5 will go flat slowly, as it would anyway, but it at least is not powering / charging the monitor.

The monitor won’t charge the Librem 5 adequately if connected directly via USB-C. So this particular monitor is not well-suited to the Librem 5.)

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I have a monitor that has 2 USB-C ports and an HDMI port.
I never power this monitor from the Librem 5 battery.
What I do is to power the monitor through the one USB-C port from the power grid.
And with an USB-C to USB-C cable from the Librem 5 to the monitor, Librem 5 delivers data and at the same time the monitor delivers power to the Librem 5.
The power that Librem 5 gets is around 1A and depending on the load on the Librem 5, this is sometimes enough to charge the Librem 5, or sometimes Librem 5 slowly discharges while under load.

If you are talking about the cable - you get one included with the Librem 5.
And USB-C capable monitors would often come with one included as well.

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Good thing you asked. I don’t know what is coming with the L5. I don’t know when the L5 will me sent, only that it’s marked to be shipped.
I’ll ask the person that sold it to me if they have a list of what was to be sent.
~s

Thanks for that heads up,
~s

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If you have bought someone’s place in the queue then

  • most likely no optional accessories will be included - it is up to you to arrange with Purism to add any such accessories to your order, if you want any
  • most likely the seller won’t know what standard accessories will be included - because the seller has never seen the phone.

From memory, the standard accessories are:

  • the Purism-supplied USB-C charger, with a choice of AC plugs covering a fair few countries but not all countries
  • the Purism-supplied USB-C to USB-C cable (that connects the charger to the phone)
  • ear buds

(and of course there is one Purism-supplied battery installed inside the phone)

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(Contents of box, November 2020:)

@Sharon, be aware that adding accessories and peripherals to your order could delay shipment if, e.g., Purism doesn’t have an item on the shelf and ready to go. But then, if you order items separate from the initial shipment, you’ll have to pay for shipping.

Note also that shipping spare batteries can be problematic to impossible due to safety regulations, so best get one with the initial shipment if possible.
https://shop.puri.sm/shop/librem-5-evergreen-battery/
Quoting: “NOTE for customers outside US: We will not be able to ship any orders that contain ONLY batteries, without containing a laptop and/or phone, due to regulations. Any such order will be cancelled and refunded. If you already have an order for a laptop or a phone, order for the battery will be combined with that order.”

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Depending on where you are. If air transport is involved, it can be particularly problematic. Otherwise it might be OK.

Generally though, yes, if you are going to get a spare battery at all then order it with the original Librem 5.

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I bought this one and had it shipped with my L5 when it came available.

It does what I want it to do, which is display the phone interface on a full HDMI monitor. There are settings for using dual screen, but I have tried those out.

First time it worked exactly as expected. All the other times I have to do a dance about setting it to one screen and that screen is my 24" monitor. Not a problem now I have figured out how to go through it.

There was some odd behaviour once or twice where it showed just the settings screen I had up but nothing else. In that case I discovered I could click the left mouse button and drag it around the screen. It trailed the background behind it and then the setup realized how big the screen was and filled it as it should have done, or something along those lines.

No problems at all with the mouse and keyboard.

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Are the L5 batteries only available in the US and are the batteries proprietary to Purism/Librem?

Thanks Amarok

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Apparently not but “yes and no”. See e.g. Bought broken batteries for Librem 5 so caveat emptor.

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What I leaned from that very long read, is to only buy from Purism, and can’t cause Purism doesn’t/can’t ship outside USA.
I shall use the phone extremely rarely. Only in emergencies. I know why Jim didn’t want it. Yes, not Puri’s fault, your’e right “caveat emptor”
I already kicked myself quiet severely, and will just add this to that pile.

Thanks anyway,
~s