About 1.5 months into the LibreM laptop and I still like it a lot.
The main downside is that I haven't figured out a way to do 2 external monitors. I'm making do with one external monitor and the laptop screen. Otherwise it's been a really good experience for me and I would recommend it if you can afford it.
But yeah, I think "nobody"[0] really does video over USB signal, it's just that USB-C cables support a video signal ... but a hub wouldn't forward that.
[0] except those patented proprietary docks with Windows drivers and maybe Linux drivers if they happen to support your Linux
> Devices are just as problematic too when it comes to support for “Alternate Modes” and non-USB protocols. These include DisplayPort, MHL, HDMI, Ethernet, and audio functionality provided over the connector, all of which rely on the connected devices and cables to support them. These are not a compulsory part of the specification, as the capabilities and needs clearly vary from device to device. A USB battery pack doesn’t need to support HDMI, for example.
> The problem with this is that certain functionality that a user might expect in a product isn’t necessarily provided. Consumers may assume HDMI or Ethernet are supported over a USB Type-C port if a laptop is missing the regular ports, but that might not be the case. Even more frustratingly, functionality might only be restricted to certain Type-C ports on the device, so you might have 3 ports but only one that offers the functions you want.
/via https://identi.ca/avadiax/note/M9j-dk3BRNaH2Z_WK56VXg
@cwebber have you tried daisy-chaining? If your monitors support DisplayPort 1.4+ it should be possible.
I.e. single output, two screens
@notclacke @cwebber dang, okay .. one of the major advantages of DisplayPort/Thunderbolt over HDMI, really 🙁
On top of that the Intel card (or possibly it was CPU-integrated graphics) in the laptop wouldn't support the laptop screen at the same time, because it was limited to three screens only.
@notclacke @cwebber This DELL does it pleasantly well: http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-24-ultrasharp-monitor-u2415/apd/210-agsu/monitors-monitor-accessories
Has two sets of DP/mDP ports for exactly that purpose.
@notclacke @cwebber And yes, pretty much all internal Intel cards only support up to 2 external screens to my knowledge, 3 if you turn off the laptop screen. It's a GPU bound limitation.
To my dismay, it still seems that most lower-range (~ 500 USD) laptops have HDMI only. The one I recently bought, for example. I want everything to be DisplayPort years ago already. But I realize I contributed to the problem by buying it ...
@notclacke @cwebber A solution here would be Thunderbolt (which most USB-C ports on laptops are capable of these days) to mDP or DP .. but that's only available IF the laptop supports Thunderbolt obviously 🙁
Either way, low-range laptops wouldn't have TB ports either.
I'll reinterpret what you said and twist in into this: USB-C allows manufacturers to add a DP port without adding more port real estate in the chassis, and it would be great if they found that worthwhile.
@notclacke @cwebber Thoroughly support your notion here, I hope that's going to turn into a reality in 2018.
And now I was going to reiterate that I think TB, HDMI and DP support for your USB port are all orthogonal, and supporting TB doesn't imply anything about the others, but apparently TB2 really does have video as part of the TB protocol proper, not just DP running on TB wiring.
And apparently TB3 means TB-over-USB-C plus double bandwidth and halved power consumption compared to TB2. TIL. Thanks for teaching me!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_%28interface%29#Thunderbolt_3
So if you want to send video over a USB-C cable you could now use either of HDMI, DVI, DP, TB3 using Alternate Mode, or you could even use the old proprietary video-over-USB, and whatever you do, both ends obviously need to support it, and there's no minimal requirement which will be guaranteed to be supported, and on top of that the USB-C cable market is a tire fire, sometimes literally on fire.
And *still*, at least having a common physical port does seem like progress over what we had for the last 40 years. :-D
So ... is TB3 what laptop manufacturers *should* use for video over USB-C, or will that limit options as to what screens you can connect? I guess there are active adapters for all monitor plugs though.
@notclacke @cwebber you would be correct, TB3 is supposed to adapt to pretty much any configuration, and the video output isn’t really a concern unless you’re going for widely unusual resolutions (i.e 3x4k etc), since the throughput is limited in „adaptive“ or „legacy“ mode.
Not sure if/how different protocol extensions are handled (e.g. DP 1.4), but given that TB(3) is supposed to be electrically and mechanically compatible to DP I wouldn’t be worrying too much.
@notclacke @cwebber Now there only need to be monitor manufacturers adapting native TB3 interfaces and we’d be hitting two birds with one stone (data transfer extension - think USB hubs at full speed integrated into your monitor - and screen estate)
@notclacke @cwebber TB3 is essentially incorporating DP, but using USB-C lanes as a transport; and yes, there are plenty of adapters available. I’d wager USB-C to mDP or DP would be fully compatible and supported by any monitor.
@cwebber I’ve been eyeing it for months. Almost ready to smash the buy button. Are you using pureOS? If so, how is it?
@levlaz I'm running GuixSD, which is running really nicely on it.
I did do the PureOS install and tried it, just to see what it's like. It's basically Debian, set up to go. The LibreM boots into the installer where you just need to enter an encryption passphrase and etc for it, so you don't have to be an experienced GNU/Linux user to get a good setup.
But I wanted Guix, and I'm happy to say GuixSD is working great with no extra effort than doing the Guix install.
I tried getting a second external monitor working via a usb-c dock and then just a usb-c to vga adaptor. Neither worked, and it looks like others haven't had success with that either. https://forums.puri.sm/t/please-recommend-a-port-replicator-docking-station/1115/3?u=krad