HDMI - Screen mirroring / Andromium

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Hello Forum!

I’d like to use my Fairphone 2 (Android 6.x.x) as a replacement for my netbook. In my case that means, connecting it to an hdmi display / keyboard / mouse (OTG or bluetooth) and use it for text editing.

Since all the standards went down the gutter (e.g. MHL and the like), the only way I see is Chromecast / Miracast. The only problem I have, is, that I don’t have a router at all. Even though there are posts around the web that state, it is possible to connect as guest now without router, I found plenty others that deny that.

Does someone here have experience with that or see other ways to connect the phone to a full HD display? I don’t want to go down the road and use an older Android that still supports MHL.

Or could someone with a Chromecast test if it is possible to run Andromium without Router by mirroring?

I am living quite uncivilized and far off these days, otherwise I’d go and get one myself and test it. Ideas appreciated!

Thanks

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Hi !
I bought a HDMI wireless dongle with a button to switch between two modes: Miracast and DLNA. I plugged it on a TV, then connected my FP2 to it remotely and it was working fine :slight_smile: No need of router for me…

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Hey Oli. These are great news. Can you give me a link to the product or the name of it?

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It was like this one, but in black color :wink:

EDIT: I tested it successfully on Android/LineageOS, however it was not compatible with UbuntuTouch (I wanted to test the “Convergence” :wink: ). If you ever want to try Ubuntu Touch in the future, perhaps go for a UT-compatible device…

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Miracast uses a P2P connection (Wi-Fi Direct), so definitely no need for an access point.

Chromecast needs an AP, but there is a workaround: Use the phone itself as an AP (Wi-Fi tethering). The initial setup is kind of tricky, though.

Both solutions have a noticeable delay which can get annoying when doing “real work”. Miracast is a bit faster than Chromecast. But the best solution for working is a wired connection. Search the forum for DisplayLink, some people are using that successfully with the FP2.

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Ah, one of those :wink: Thanks for the link. Yeah, I backed the ubuntu phone back then, and start to miss it now years later…but now I want to stick with my FP2. So it either works or I’ll forget about the usage as a netbook.

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Those are some nice hints.

There seem to be several DisplayLink adapters out there. But I end up on the thread about OTG and ACA, which you probably can recall. Which leaves me on the power front and surely would be a bummer, and the struggle with compiling my own kernel with my little netbook and a limited 4G blows the rest out of this project.

Or did you ever dig deeper into the ACA hustle?

A P2P dongle together with a bluetooth keyboard seems the way to go, and hoping for reasonable lag…enough to write some texts.

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Sorry … What?
I bought this DisplayLink adapter …

… installed the DisplayLink Desktop App on the phone and it just works :wink: .
Edit: That particular adapter can be powered via an extra micro USB power input if you want to play it safe.

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Hej AnotherElk. I see, that message was a bit cryptic for others. I was talking about the lack of the possibility to use the OTG function and charge at the same time (which goes under ACA), and I couldn’t imagine to run such an adapter for more than 2-3 hours.

I guess the phone won’t get charged while using the adapter. How long can you run your setup before you drain the battery?

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Ah, I see your point.
Can’t say that I know … I don’t use it for convergence, I just got it

  • as a backup solution for a quick presentation in case my workplace’s notebook breaks
  • in case my phone’s screen breaks and I still want to navigate my phone for emergency measures.

… and I have an additional battery and an external battery charger.

Hmm … looking at that post again right now, how about MyPhoneExplorer’s screen mirroring? The phone must be connected to the PC via USB for that, and I just checked … it charges while MyPhoneExplorer mirrors the screen.
Might lag a tiny bit, but for mainly editing text it should be ok.

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I totally forgot about the ACA issue, but I remember now. I haven’t looked into this since 2016, but I think back then I came to the same conclusion: It won’t work without a kernel mod. That’s a bummer. Not sure what the status quo is, though. I never actually bought any hardware to test this because it seemed futile. Maybe it could be enabled in LineageOS?

If you’re into hardware hacking you can use the expansion port on the back for charging. That doesn’t require any software modifications.

I’ve used the FP2 with at least four different Miracast receivers. It works and it’s nice for viewing photos or some web surfing, but I couldn’t do any real work with it (especially text editing). The lag is just too annoying. But I guess you’ll just have to try for yourself.

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That is an interesting point. I didn’t dig deeper into it to figure out how they mirror the screen, but if you did that with an OTG adapter, it would actually mean that it is possible to overcome that software hurdle with an according OTG cable that allows charging. To the reasons why I didn’t dig deeper more in the next post.

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With that hint about the expansion port you just gave me a fruitful new mindset. I haven’t had that on the radar at all and had to make a few tests yesterday. Quickly connected some cables according to the pin guide by dirkvl and there you go, charging possible with ~<=500 mA while watching a movie from a thumb drive hanging on the OTG cable. Maybe that would be enough already to keep the battery level with a DisplayLink adapter that is powered separetely. What a twist, that insight gives the project a new level and hope.

I don’t know which road I will take from here. Suddenly there are plenty more crossroads. Maybe give the dongles a try and see how bad the lag is, or just go straight to a DisplayLink adapter and create either a QI charging possibility or just create a simple self made docking station by “sacrificing” an old cover with two deepened connectors somewhere on the back. The QI seems more appealing, if there wouldn’t be the hurdles that come with QI in general. But plenty of stuff to read on the forum. Either way I would end up having what I am looking for: a docking station that mirros and at least lasts for some time. And then there is still the LineageOS backup if the hardware trails fail.

Thanks a lot guys, a pleasure to have a forum with people like you around! I will post my insights as soon as they can be called that.

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@footar I’ve just came across your thread as I’m searching for an all-in-one docking station solution connecting with the my Fairphone 2, the Xiaomi Mi 5s and my future APU computer.
As I will get quite an antique desk what will be my future office desk I searching for something decent. As the Fairphone is properly the biggest hurdle to take, I started searching in the fairphone forum and found some other interesting posts as well.
It seems that either DisplayLink or Slimport (via expansion port) could be an alternative.
May you want to list all possible solution in you starting post?

My sources:

Continuing the discussion from Upgrade potential: MHL?:

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SlimPort seems to be pretty much dead, like MHL. Both require dedicated hardware in the phone (unlike DisplayLink, Miracast and Chromecast). Phone manufacturers seem to avoid that.

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Thx
So there is only DisplayLink

Le mardi 14 août 2018, ChuckMorris noreply@fairphone.com a écrit :

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@PackElend I just stumbled over some new hurds, my display suffers ghost touches and dead zones. But I came to test several things.

As @ChuckMorris stated, those two are somewhat dead.

But I can confirm, that it is easily possible to connect it with an HDMI dongle (e.g. this cheap one called anycast in MiraCast mode (WiFi on, then screen cast, maybe a problem when you need WiFi for internet, not sure though, you would need to Google that one, since a only use 3G/4G).

There is a lag though. So, it was ok to write a text, but mouse lag is somewhat annoying. ChuckMorris nailed it quite in a previous post. It is ok, for text writing only even quite good in my eyes, but as soon as you want to do serious work, you get slowed down by the lag.

Further I tested the already mentioned Targus DisplayLink docking station. That one is amazing considering the options and performance. I powered the targus with a micro USB cable, otherwise you can watch the battery drain on the Fairphone. But still, you need around 500-700 mA to keep the battery level on a fully dimmed Fairphone display. There was no visible lag whatever I tried. Youtube videos, writing, surfing, so that one is definitely the way to go. Together with Sentio Desktop a somewhat Netbook. Even though the apps are not yet developed enough. Meaning the browser doesn’t allow zoom. So I preferred Chrome. The Text-Editor is too simple for real stuff. So I used Word.

Keyboard and Mice were connected by Bluetooth, no problem there at all.

Conclusion: Wireless ok for simple stuff.

Wired: Fully useable simple netbook. Software not yet ready, Sentio ok as a start, maybe this will get enhanced in the future. Otherwise you can allow the Google Now Launcher to rotate the Home screen. Then you can easily work with Chrome when used in Desktop View. Word worked nicely as normal app as well.

So far I’m not sure what to do. The display problem is a bummer. I either look for an USB-C phone, which should take away the power problem, or I try to solve the power problem differently (see here).

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I want to finish this thread as well and sadly I have to say, that I didn’t find a solution to the power issue. Either charging by expansion port as well as charging the battery directly didn’t work out successfully. It was too less or scrambled the battery load state within Android respectively.

I sticked to an HDMI dongle and a Bluetooth keyboard with touchpad though. Simple surfing and text writing are ok, and better as nothing. I can recommend the Logitech K830 keyboard with touchpad. The “special keys” work great, A mouse with lag is not nice, but needed for surfing, and as it is not a real mouse, it doesn’t hurt so much :wink: The keyboard seems to be more prepared for the task than the rest of the setup…but maybe one day! :slight_smile:

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Did you try MyPhoneExplorer’s screen mirroring feature?
Needs a Windows computer, though.

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No, I never tried that one. I have a setup here with a little 11" screen for my satellite radio and TV, and my goal was to use this screen together with my Fairphone as a netbook replacement. Hence I never gave it a try.

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