If I remember well, the Motorola lapdock uses a HDMI plug to connect with the Atrix.
GS3 doesn't have one, you should get a MHL/HDMI convertor. Don't know if it'll work as a native HDMI plug will do.
If someone have both, it could be intereting to see if that work
GS3 doesn't have one, you should get a MHL/HDMI convertor. Don't know if it'll work as a native HDMI plug will do.
If someone have both, it could be intereting to see if that work
So I'm going to dust this thread off a bit because this is the project I'm looking to work on -
I've ordered an Atrix Lapdock for my Bionic (very simple mod to dock the bionic) but as my personal phone is an S3, I'd like to use the lapdock with it primarily while still having the option to dock the bionic while on the go (I carry both phones). (While I'm at it, I'll probably look to get an hdmi micro extension cable and usb-micro-male to usb-A-male extension and try and use the lapdock as the base station for the Samsung Slate 7 PC i barely use since the interface is so poor)
Here's what I've gathered by reading various threads.
Lapdock:
The Lapdock will work with any HDMI source as seen in other threads (ie connecting to a PS3 via hdmi female micro to hdmi male standard adapter, $4 part from dealextreme). Others have posted how they can use the lapdock as a self powered hdmi external monitor with their laptop (very cool usage btw considering it's size)
Droid Bionic:
easily docks to the Atrix version of the lapdock by simply rotating the hdmi/micro usb connectors 180degrees in their sockets since they're piped in with short cables.
Galaxy SIII / S3 (mine is the T999):
here's where it gets tricky.
As I've gathered about the 11pin micro usb port (on the S3 and shared by the Note 2):
the original 5 pin MHL standard was ditched in favor of the 11pin MHL type connection. this in theory would allow the use of hdmi output with simultaneous usb otg and charging capabilities.
reviewing this thread here: (showthread.php?t=1953061&page=2) one can see that an OTG cable was modded with a simple resistor to allow for charging - member triff (the OP) was able to get this going and noted the log he got when the cable was plugged in reported 'hdmi fail' which leans to failing to initiate an hdmi connection... later in the thread member MRBR7 alludes to having an hdd running to view while charging on the OTG cable - his post is a bit vague as to whether he did the mod on an OTG cable or an HDMI cable.... i'll have to follow up.
finally, the posts in this thread (first 12 pages are a quick read showthread.php?t=1741583&page=12) provide resistor values and some close ups of the boards for the 11 to 5 pin adapter as well as what I thought was a list of pins for the 5 pin MHL.
I'm really trying to be purposefully clear in this thread as to my findings because it seems there are too many vague threads out there regarding the functionality; simply missing a letter or punctuation in a thread can turn a sure thing into a vague post...
another avenue is the official samsung galaxy note 2 "smart dock" which has 3 usb ports, in additon to an hdmi output and charging input - since this is sold out in the US (and due to PAL vs NTSC Standard I am hesitant to order from germany) it'll be a while before I can personally buy and test one (unless i can find one locally somehow). this seems like the best bet for a dock which can be hacked or adapted to interface the s3 with the lapdock.
my ideal final outcome of this thread would be to have a small cable or interface box which i can plug into the s3 to enable hdmi output + usb otg + charging. that trifecta would connect via a single micro-usb to the device (11 pin) and have an output of a female usb (A or micro, either can be adapted) and either a male or female standard hdmi (again, both of which can be adapted). this cable could enable the phone to be used as an impromptu desktop, carputer, lapdock brain etc...
I've ordered an Atrix Lapdock for my Bionic (very simple mod to dock the bionic) but as my personal phone is an S3, I'd like to use the lapdock with it primarily while still having the option to dock the bionic while on the go (I carry both phones). (While I'm at it, I'll probably look to get an hdmi micro extension cable and usb-micro-male to usb-A-male extension and try and use the lapdock as the base station for the Samsung Slate 7 PC i barely use since the interface is so poor)
Here's what I've gathered by reading various threads.
Lapdock:
The Lapdock will work with any HDMI source as seen in other threads (ie connecting to a PS3 via hdmi female micro to hdmi male standard adapter, $4 part from dealextreme). Others have posted how they can use the lapdock as a self powered hdmi external monitor with their laptop (very cool usage btw considering it's size)
Droid Bionic:
easily docks to the Atrix version of the lapdock by simply rotating the hdmi/micro usb connectors 180degrees in their sockets since they're piped in with short cables.
Galaxy SIII / S3 (mine is the T999):
here's where it gets tricky.
As I've gathered about the 11pin micro usb port (on the S3 and shared by the Note 2):
the original 5 pin MHL standard was ditched in favor of the 11pin MHL type connection. this in theory would allow the use of hdmi output with simultaneous usb otg and charging capabilities.
reviewing this thread here: (showthread.php?t=1953061&page=2) one can see that an OTG cable was modded with a simple resistor to allow for charging - member triff (the OP) was able to get this going and noted the log he got when the cable was plugged in reported 'hdmi fail' which leans to failing to initiate an hdmi connection... later in the thread member MRBR7 alludes to having an hdd running to view while charging on the OTG cable - his post is a bit vague as to whether he did the mod on an OTG cable or an HDMI cable.... i'll have to follow up.
finally, the posts in this thread (first 12 pages are a quick read showthread.php?t=1741583&page=12) provide resistor values and some close ups of the boards for the 11 to 5 pin adapter as well as what I thought was a list of pins for the 5 pin MHL.
I'm really trying to be purposefully clear in this thread as to my findings because it seems there are too many vague threads out there regarding the functionality; simply missing a letter or punctuation in a thread can turn a sure thing into a vague post...
another avenue is the official samsung galaxy note 2 "smart dock" which has 3 usb ports, in additon to an hdmi output and charging input - since this is sold out in the US (and due to PAL vs NTSC Standard I am hesitant to order from germany) it'll be a while before I can personally buy and test one (unless i can find one locally somehow). this seems like the best bet for a dock which can be hacked or adapted to interface the s3 with the lapdock.
my ideal final outcome of this thread would be to have a small cable or interface box which i can plug into the s3 to enable hdmi output + usb otg + charging. that trifecta would connect via a single micro-usb to the device (11 pin) and have an output of a female usb (A or micro, either can be adapted) and either a male or female standard hdmi (again, both of which can be adapted). this cable could enable the phone to be used as an impromptu desktop, carputer, lapdock brain etc...
What do you mean by that?
The Atrix Lapdock is internally nothing but an 1366x768 HDMI LCD monitor with (rather poor) speakers and an USB-Hub on which a keyboard/touchpad and two free USB-ports are connected to. The monitor and the USB-hub have to be simply attached to any device which supports HDMI-output and USB-OTG via (slightly uncommon) HDMI- and USB-OTG-plugs.
There is no software running on the Lapdock (it is actually completely dumb) and there is no need for any specific SW on the connected device (might be nice to have something like webtop running but it is not necessary).
The S3 works flawlessly with the keyboard/touchpad/USB-hub using a USB-OTG-Adapter and with the HDMI-monitor via an MHL/HDMI adapter cable. The tricky part is only to get both simultaneously and possibly even charge the S3 from the Lapdock. For that purpose I use as long as there is no combined MHL-HDMI/USB-OTG-adapter/dock available (as described in the thread and page already indicated above: showthread.php?t=1741583&page=12 ) the allshare cast dongle and a cheap OTG adapter. You can use office apps, watch videos, play games etc. without any problem. You can check out
ecx . images-amazon . com/images/I/712%2BAbT1u3L.png
(no links for me yet)
to see how that looks like...
Interesting..especially for the 89$ price tag. Long as one can deal with S3 not charging its a simple setup no ?
Well, I got the Lapdock for less than 70 Euros and I think that is really great value since it is very well build and versatile... the allshare cast dongle is a bit overpriced (currently it is about 55Euros here) for an adapter-replacement but if you need it for different use cases (I mainly have it for a small LED-beamer) it might be worth it.
You can charge the S3 from one of the USB-ports of the Lapdock using a micro-USB cable (as long as the dongle or any other device is connected to the Lapdocks HDMI-plug - that is what signals the Lapdock to power up), but you can not simultaneously use the MHL/USB-OTG then. So it is nice for watching movies from your S3 on the Lapdock-screen (btw. the sound works fine as well) while re-charging the S3 but for "office" work with kb/touchpad you have to replug the OTG-cable. Actually I'm quite impressed with the relatively low power consumption of the allshare cast connection - so that is not a real problem IMHO. There might be people out there to solder the right resistors into OTG-adapter cables to allow both...
One disadvantage is obviously that you have this "bulky" (it is actually lightweight but still bigger than a simple adapter) dongle on the Lapdock. The big advantage over a dock is that you can more or less freely move around the S3 while using this combination.
you obviously don't know anything about the lapdock, so please, hang around, do some searching and learn about what it is before posting vague comments that ruin the integrity of a factual thread.
google 'bens outlet' (a 1saleaday company) and you can pick one up for as little as $50usd! assuming it actually ships out, but worth it for a spare monitor project at the very least... - and yes, not a hard setup at all - the first use in my mind would be just to have a full size screen on the go, however to have a cable capable of mhl/hdmi + usb otg + charging would turn the dock into a powerhouse android laptop using 4g internet etc... (it'll give the chromebook a run for it's money)
what's this LED beamer? (i'm just intrigued)
all very cool - I'm thinking of ordering the allshare dongle just to try this out until the smartdock gets back in stock to hack it apart .. I'll probably order an 11pin mhl in the meantime too. I have a 5pin mhl, not sure what I can do with it without the adapter (i'll probably bundle it with my galaxy nexus and sell it all)
@a32: on a side note, i broke down and bought a Note 2 yesterday haha, so I'll probably be continuing this project with the Note2, (tmo just happened to have some in stock haha) I'm putting my week old S3 up for sale soon, but this project is still on my radar!
The S3 would need the lapdock .apk for certain functionality... calm down, I've owned enough Motorola Android devices to know what I'm saying...
Thats all... Ben's Outlet would be good plus All4Cellular sells it with the extenders...
Its out of stock now but you can get the extenders separately at a hefty price:
www.all4cellular.com/motorola-atrix-4g-laptop-dock-hdmi-upgrade-kit.html
The hefty priced cables are below, but it is worth the cost:
www.all4cellular.com/motorola-atrix-4g-upgrade-kit.html
Sorry to snap, but if you've been on enough forums, you begin to notice that comments like yours are just add to confusion when unsubstantiated.
Any phone without a 'web top' mode or apk would obviously not work similar to the webtop mode that Motorola intended, however it'll still work, perfectly in fact, because this connection project is akin to hooking up your phone to a tv or monitor and using a usb mouse and keyboard to control it, albeit it's portable, like the padphone.
If you have any ideas as to how one could hookup both mhl/hdmi and usb/otg with charging I'm all ears (the real breakthrough would easily be seeing a US version T999 or similar running with the Smart Dock for the Note 2
Another thought to throw out there is whether this finished product could look similar to the padphone concept: a pocket for the phone to slip into, docking connector inside, basically self contained
As for those extension cables posted, places like monoprice and dealextreme have much better prices and selection, granted I'm just going those links on my phone - i don't understand how those are considered 'adapters' when all they do is extend the port
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Silly question but why would you need software when your using it as a monitor, keyboard, mouse, usb hub & charging?
You don't.
... that's what we posted already. The webtop SW on some Motorola devices starts a specific desktop and window-manager on your phone when connecting to the lapdock. It may facilitate the use of the apps on the phone via the Lapdock (resolution/size/... of apps in windows etc.) but you do not need it to work with the S3 on the Lapdock.
awesome! im very tempted to get one but in the UK they are still expensive
A bit off-topic: It is an ACER C20 I own for nearly 2 years now. Like this one:
ecx . images-amazon . com/images/I/41aXbNerVoL._SL500_.jpg
It is out of stock anyway, but I could "partly" recommend it:
It has the size of a phone, a built-in battery and - most important - lots of inputs (mini HDMI (HDCP), D-Sub (24-pin Universal), Composite Video/Audio (2.5mm 4-pin mini jack), micro USB (Typ AB), micro SD Card (SDHC)) + Audio out & speaker. It plays media from internal storage/SD card but that internal media-player is crap. It is however extremely mobile and together with movie players on modern phones like the S3+cast-dongle - or any tablet with HDMI-out or a device with Composite A/V out (e.g. old Nokias) - a nice device e.g. to entertain kids on travel or showing pictures while visiting the grandparents or alike. On the other hand, it is not really bright at all (actually you have to be in a very, very dark room to use larger screen areas) and the battery lasts often only 1/2 hour (but you can charge it with 5V from USBs or use it while on the mains adapter).
It works really nice with the S3 + allshare cast dongle (that's what I bought the dongle for in the first place), has a descent image quality (848x480 pixel) and accepts up to 1080i HD over HDMI as input signal for downscaling but for the dongle the input is of course limited 720p. It does NOT work with the S3 using the cheap (chinese) USB-MHL/HDMI-adapter with the long red cables (somewhere discussed here as well) since that one provides 1080p30Hz (at least to my TV - on which it works) and the projector obviously can't sync to that.
Back to the topic: that cheap HDMI-adapter for S3 works not very well with the Atrix Lapdock; you get an image but it is vertically squeezed. Again: the Lapdock and the S3 + cast dongle go together extremely well.
That led projector sounds pretty cool, I've waffle'd on buying one various times but can't say I've had a particular need other than for the fun of it hah
I wonder if that behavior is present with the official adapter...
So to return to the method of the allshare dongle, does it look like image 1 as i posted?
I recall you mentioned the dongle's hdmi signal is what triggers the docks micro usb port for kb/mouse control and charging, so for clarity i drew the wiring method up.
The next two wiring diagrams are what I'd expect to do as i finalize what the connection should/could look like...
I'm always in for feedback on streamlining the connections - the simple yet two part method will be just having the official smart dock, assuming it works with the s3, powered with one usb port, hdmi to hdmi mini and usb micro to the usb port, though maybe modify the output to delete charging power from the kb/m micro usb port...
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
So I'm guessing you've tested this, but with the hdmi cable and the screen rotation turned on, the device still shows up in portrait? Unless I'm reading that wrong and you mean it's width wise video but looks like a 4:3 video on a 16:9 widescreen?
I wonder if that behavior is present with the official adapter...
So to return to the method of the allshare dongle, does it look like image 1 as i posted?
I recall you mentioned the dongle's hdmi signal is what triggers the docks micro usb port for kb/mouse control and charging, so for clarity i drew the wiring method up.
The next two wiring diagrams are what I'd expect to do as i finalize what the connection should/could look like...
I'm always in for feedback on streamlining the connections - the simple yet two part method will be just having the official smart dock, assuming it works with the s3, powered with one usb port, hdmi to hdmi mini and usb micro to the usb port, though maybe modify the output to delete charging power from the kb/m micro usb port...
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app
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Sorry, don't have much time and will have a look at your drawings later... The presence(!) of a device connected to the HDMI is detected by checking for a "Ground"-connection of one of the HDMI-pins (from googling I remember it to be HDMI-DDC/CEC) - that's what powers up the Lapdock (and activates the USB-Ports). No need for an already powered device on that HDMI port. The problem is however that there are many HDMI adapters/extension cables out there which do not pass that specific wire/connection and then the Lapdock will not react when using those. There is however no need to buy these overexpensive Motorola cable sets (those prices are unbelievable!)... my adapters & cables cost in total about 9 Euros.
+5V on the OTG-USB cable from the peripheral device (=Lapdock) to the host is not "liked" by most hosts (the S3 did not really react on it but it is probably not a good idea anyhow) so I cut the 5V red wire of the micro-USB(female)-to-micro-USB(male)-cable. On the latter you need something to signal the S3 the OTG mode (pin 4 grounded to 5). I do that quite stupidly using additional USB->OTG-adapters but you would have to take care of that in your MHL/OTC combi adapter with resistors etc. anyhow.
The "chinese" Adapter is vertically squeezed. The S3 goes into the correct HDMI-out mode including the (stock) homescreen to be usable in landscape mode - that is not a problem. Probably the 1080p30Hz mode is not well understood by the Lapdock and/or the adapter does not correctly "negotiate" the right resolution-/display ratio with the display or the quality of the sync signal from the adapter is really bad. That chinese adapter is not too bad for Full-HD TV sets but unusable for anything else. I did not try the official one. The Lapdock works however well with the dongle.
This info is much appreciated. I took the dive and ordered a lapdock from bensoutlet.com for $50 to play with. The regular one is $60 - but the keyboard that adds Hebrew letters was $10 cheaper. I figure the lettering doesn't hurt anything so I'd rather save the $10.
If anybody figures out how to simplify the connections, or perhaps someday enable MHL out + USB host with this thing - please post back.
Right now - I spent an additional $6 on dealextreme.com to get a microHDMI (female) to HDMI male adapter, and a micro usb female to male adapter so I can try to use the keyboard.
The result is going to be pretty cluttered, but I figure $50 is cheap for a portable, self powered HDMI monitor that could also power stuff from it's ports.
If anybody figures out how to simplify the connections, or perhaps someday enable MHL out + USB host with this thing - please post back.
Right now - I spent an additional $6 on dealextreme.com to get a microHDMI (female) to HDMI male adapter, and a micro usb female to male adapter so I can try to use the keyboard.
The result is going to be pretty cluttered, but I figure $50 is cheap for a portable, self powered HDMI monitor that could also power stuff from it's ports.
Your drawing No 1 is what I use (see below). No 2 is how it should be indeed (but where is the "modded cable" coming from?). While No 3 will not help you since only the presence of a shortened HDMI-CEC pin (+ opening the display a bit) will power ALL the USB-ports including U1+U2 (that activity mode of the Lapdock is indicated by a small white LED next to the touchpad) - so there is no "pre-power" available. But (again) anything that provides that ground contact on the HDMI-plug will do the trick... I actually have one 90degree HDMI-adapter (don't know how to call it in English), which does exactly that and shortens those pin(s) and simulates to the Lapdock the presence of a device (I assume that is NOT on purpose but it works with a second, identical adapter as well). Don't take me wrong you do not need that one if you conect a device (any) directly to the microHDMI-to-HDMI adapter but it is needed when you use HDMI extension cables (etc.) that do not pass all wires to the HDMI device.
I attached some pics how I wire that thing. Pic 1: the micro HDMI plug on the Lapdock is turned by me by 180deg just to make a bit more room for the microHDMI(fem)toHDMI(male)-adapter. You may directly attach the dongle to it (it is relatively stable and easy to carry around - pic 2). That's what one could call "entertainment mode" since you may want to watch videos etc. this way. But than you have not enough space for the microUSB-cable for kb/mouse. That is what I use the 90deg-adapter for. This adapter alone signals already the Lapdock to power up (no other HDMI-cable or adapter I own does this). Back to pic 1: The microUSB(fem)-to-microUSB(male)-cable has the red 5V wire cut. The microUSB-to-USB + USB-microUSB-OTG(!) adapter is there only to signal the OTG-host mode for the S3. The stuff on the right are things you may use on the free USB-port.
That strange device with the mobile speaker attached to its headphone jack has to be explained: it is a (5 Euro) "USB sound card". That is a bit odd... the Lapdock has stereo speakers which are working well (but not great) and the audio-output via HDMI(cast) to the Lapdock works perfectly (sound is ok and in sync when watching videos & you can control volume etc. from the S3 or the Lapdock keyboard) but the allshare cast SW on the S3 does not allow you to plug in a headphone or connect a bluetooth audio-device to the S3 for output of the video(!)-sound. You can use headphones for mp3-player music while using an HDMI display etc. but when you switch on a video you have to remove headphones otherwise the allshare connection stops. There might be two reasons 1: HDCP, 2: there is a small lag in video display from the wireless transfer protocol and the audio stream is equally lagged on purpose to be well in sync with the video stream. You may want to bypass that artificial restriction because the Lapdock has NO headphone jack ... and you can by using such a "soundcard" which is fully supported by the S3 but the sound is then indeed a bit "in advance" of the video stream.
Less exotic devices you can attach are external disks/pen drives or even game controllers (all of them work)... Pic 3 shows you how I wire it for "productivity mode"
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Thank you. 50$ ! When they are as cheap go and get some (or better get many)! The Lapdock is really, really useful and works with many devices.
I originally bought it for the Raspberry Pi but I use it as well with an Archos A80G9 android tablet (not so often since the tablet is big enough anyhow) which has seperated (mini)HDMI and USB-OTG connectors (as it should have been done for all mobile devices including the S3) and used it for my "old" Nokia N8 (miniHDMI as well). In that case USB-OTG does not work since the N8 does not support USB hubs but you can chrge it and watch movies on the Lapdock display with it (in the train ...). The RasPi is powered via the same cable that is used for kb/mouse. In that cable I did obviously not cut the 5V wire. The power the Lapdock provides this way is sufficient to operate the RasPi (+ wifi dongle) ... about 1A is needed for that. So it should be possible to use that power via that OTG microUSB port for the S3 as well ...
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What abot the EDD-S20E dock won´t that work with the lapdock ???
Problem is the dock is useless for my next device in 2 - 3 Years....
The allshare cast dongle might stay usefull even with the next gen of android phones....
Problem is the dock is useless for my next device in 2 - 3 Years....
The allshare cast dongle might stay usefull even with the next gen of android phones....