Cables & Adapters for the Atrix Raspberry Pi Laptop

You asked, here it is! The sources for the hodgepodge of cables and adapters I used to make the Raspberry Pi laptop from an Atrix 4G Laptop Dock. I’ll tell you what I searched for and what I found, as I’m sure some of these sources are subject to change.

What you’ll need:

  • MicroUSB extension cable
  • Standard USB A (m) cable end
  • Female-female micro HDMI coupler
  • Micro HDMI (m) to regular HDMI (f) adapter and a regular HDMI cable OR Micro HDMI (m) to regular HDMI (m) cable

Micro USB extension cable – I purchased it bundled with a micro HDMI extension cable from All4cellular – Motorola Atrix 4G Upgrade Kit. The micro HDMI extension cable can come in handy in this project by distancing the chain of HDMI adapters from the angled port on the lapdock, but it’s not absolutely necessary.

I cut a standard USB A (m) cable end from an old broken mouse. A note from Drew Fustini: “A tip for those with “fresher” Raspberry Pi’s: if you don’t have the F1/F2 polyfuses, then no USB cable modifications are needed. You can just plug and play” More info on his element14 forum post.

The hardest part to find was the female-female micro HDMI coupler. I found mine on eBay and had to wait for direct shipping from China.

I already had a standard HDMI cable so I just picked up a micro HDMI to regular HDMI adapter on Monoprice, but you might like to get a micro to regular HDMI cable if you don’t have either.

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3 Comments

  1. I couldn’t find all the cords/adapters for this project in one place so here are some links to items I found on eBay that I ordered. Don’t have them yet so I can’t speak to how well they work but was able to cut out an adapter (in theory) and most of these cords are short if you are intrested in making it look cleaner.

    Micro HDMI male to female 30cm – http://www.ebay.com/itm/160870552683?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_4527wt_905

    Micro HDMI female to HDMI Male – http://www.ebay.com/itm/271026874792?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

    USB micro male to female 30cm – http://www.ebay.com/itm/230843840502?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_2832wt_1139

    Other cords and Adapters that I ordered

    Micro Female to Micro Female HDMI – http://www.ebay.com/itm/280761232832?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_2827wt_905

    Micro HDMI 90° to HDMI male 50cm – http://www.ebay.com/itm/390461748708?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_2804wt_1139

    Finally – Retractable HDMI cord – http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-4-Ft-HDMI-to-Micro-HDMI-Retractable-Cable-Male-Type-A-to-Male-Type-D-/261073244103?pt=US_Video_Cables_Adapters&hash=item3cc92d8fc7#ht_3025wt_808

    All are direct from China except the retractable HDMI cord.

    I’ll update once I get them & try them out.

  2. Great!! Thanks for the info, both of you! =D

  3. I learned a couple tricks at my hackerspace for avoiding the power hiccup when the atrix lapdock lid closes. Someone added a super capacitor to their Pi to keep it running. Another approach is to add a small USB battery pack. Details: http://www.element14.com/community/groups/raspberry-pi/blog/2012/09/11/raspberry-pi-lapdock-tricks

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