Just got my new NexDock and (unsurprisingly) things aren’t working.
I’ve got the latest OS updates from the PureOS store. I’ve tried multiple USB-C cables. The one that came with the NexDock for the phone connection gets the L5 to recognize the other display, but the NexDock screen just blinks out and back to the NexDock logo. Keyboard and trackpad seem to be also not working along with plugging in an old wired USB-A mouse which didn’t register.
I don’t even know what to look at from here. any pointers?
Is this the new NexDock model (named “NexDock 2025”) they started shipping this month from NexDock directly? They were out of stock for a few months and were taking pre-orders starting a few months ago. This could be a new NexDock model that is not compatible with the Librem 5 right now.
Yes, it is. I was hoping the hardware would be similar enough, but perhaps I jumped too soon. Looking around now for a phone that is compatible with it to make sure the unit itself isn’t defective. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the folks behind phosh-mobile-settings will grab one and work on an update so it works.
So to be clear … you are using some kind of USB-C to USB-A adapter to plug a USB-A device directly into the Librem 5, right? If doing that, I would try a USB-A keyboard. This should work fine and is a useful basic test.
I would use the lsusb command to confirm whether your phone is recognising that a USB device is appearing i.e. lsusb before, plug in, lsusb after, look for anything new that appeared.
No, I was referring to plugging the mouse into the NexDock. That, was plugged into the L5USA via the USB-C cable that came with the NexDock.
Looking at lsusb output it seems like the L5USA only sees a new usb hub when connected to the NexDock and not the keyboard, screen, or trackpad. I don’t think I have the proper tools to do further digging into this. Is there any software on the L5 that gives more details about what it “sees” when I connect the NexDock? Or any tools to manually probe that hardware from the phone?
Fair enough. Fault isolation would suggest that you ought to plug the mouse direct into the phone. That would demonstrate that the USB port and mouse are basically functional, individually and together. But I would still try a keyboard rather than a mouse.
Another tool would be any system event / log messages (e.g. as revealed by dmesg or journalctl) that arise in response to plugging in the lapdock.
Even just using lsusb I would be looking to see whether the device number on the bus is increasing without unplugging the USB device i.e. would suggest some kind of failure and automatic reconnect.
Disclaimer though … I don’t own a NexDock, much less this year’s model.
Understood. And thank you @irvinewade for giving it some thought. I wasn’t really worried about the mouse so much as just seeing if anything on the NexDock was working. So far, the L5 just recognizes another hub, but not the screen, keyboard, or trackpad. I just wish I were more skilled with hardware / driver stuff to know where to turn next. Hopefully someone smarter than me with an L5 will buy one and figure it out.
I have used my Nexdock360 to connect to an old midrange Samsung phone that had a cracked screen. It did not have Dex capabilities, but I was still able to use the Nexdock trackpad and keyboard.
Do you have another device to test with? At the very least to see if anything on your new Nexdock works.
Yep @Sarcasmo220 I wondered about that too and luckily we did have a fairly recent Samsung model that works with it as expected, so we ruled out the NexDock unit was defective.
Have you tried opening a help ticket with Nexdock? I have the older XL and it works well. And I’ve had to get some help from them in the past that has been helpful.
Actually no, @zks1 that had not occurred to me. You think they would help troubleshoot driver issues on the L5? I would expect them to tell me to contact Purism support. Which, I haven’t done either yet.
well you are right on their expected response I haven’t found them to always be the most helpful. If you can frame the question in a way to understand how the nexdock device works, they might be helpful. For instance, I had an issue with a bluetooth connected device not seeing the bluetooth?! And there is so little info about how the device works, I didn’t know how to trouble shoot. Well, it turns out there is a way to do a hard reset on the device?! who knew.
Now, given your situation where it seems like the dock is working with one device and not another, it is most likely something about the L5 as you mention. But, also, as you are trying to work through this posting, is understanding what tools or mechanisms the nexdock uses to establish it’s connections to devices. Nexdock doesn’t always seem nice about helping their, but maybe the more we work with them, the more they might be willing to provide some info on how to work with their devices.
Does this dock have bluetooth capabilities? If so you might start with that for the keyboard and mouse at least. The usb, must be related to some sort of driver or something. But, if you can narrow it down the problem areas that might help in the diagnostic process.
Actually, on that note, I’ve noticed my XL can be tempermental or sensitive to the sequence of the connection. Make sure the dock is turned on first, and finished booting up. Then connect devices. Also, the smartphone should be already unlocked, before connecting it. but, you could try playing around with connecting them together, before powering on, or unlocking the smartphone, etc. see if any combinations like that might work?
I haven’t found them to always be the most helpful. If you can frame the question in a way to understand how the nexdock device works, they might be helpful. For instance, I had an issue with a bluetooth connected device not seeing the bluetooth?! And there is so little info about how the device works, I didn’t know how to trouble shoot. Well, it turns out there is a way to do a hard reset on the device?! who knew.