Re: OT: Questions about (buying and) using a laptop docking station
rhkramer@gmail.com wrote:
> Asking this OT question here because this is my go to list for questions,
> especially ones for which I don't belong to a list that might be more specific
> to this subject.
>
> Background: I've installed Buster on an old laptop (my newest laptop, a Dell
> Inspiron 1501) and I'm working on installing other software (gcc+, make, git,
> Python and such) so that I can take the laptop to various meetings where I
> hope to get help on some software I'm trying to write (in C/C++ and Python).
>
> I'm thinking about buying a laptop docking station to make it easier to
> disconnect the laptop to take it to meetings.
>
> I get the idea (or I am jumping to the conclusion?) that there is some
> hardware in the docking station (like graphics and audio chips) which I'm
> assuming would need to be supported by Buster.
>
> Is that correct?
Mostly, no.
If this is an Inspiron 1501 from 2006 -- AMD pre-Xen low-end
CPU -- it doesn't have any support for the ports that a generic
laptop dock would handle, and it also doesn't have a proprietary
Dell docking port.
You could get a USB hub that could connect some peripherals --
keyboard, mouse, printer, USB sticks... but nothing that will
handle video or power connections.
The generic laptop docks rely on high-bandwidth, high-power USB3
ports, and laptop support for alternate video modes sent over
the USB3 ports.
-dsr-
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