External display question
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I've been trying to use FP4 in both phone and "desktop" mode, but I see weird issues to start with. I have a DELL 4k monitor with usb-c connector which normally provides to the connected device: display, charging, and mouse/keyboard hooked via the integrated usb hub. Unfortunately this phone connects only as display out. I have to use Bluetooth mouse/keyboard. Further, it chooses a weird resolution 1920x2160x60Hz. I can't find if it's software issue or hardware limitation. Maybe it cannot drive 4k. I would prefer it to choose Full-HD resolution so the monitor would use the whole screen estate (now I have wide black bars on both sides) but I don't even know where to start looking to configure that. I've redirected dmesg logging into a file, but I don't see any logs related to display connection, nor resolution negotiation.
On the other hand, be it, I can just buy a native Full-HD display. Preferably with a keyboard. Can anyone recommend one of these displays (laptop-like docking stations) for Samsung DeX which works well with FP4? Ideally everything should work with just one cable connection, without additional pairing via BT.
Also, a minor thing, It would be nice to be able to turn off the internal display completely as it makes the device quite hot for no reason. Alternatively dimming it to the minimum brightness also works.
Final thought, if this is the usb port limitation, does FP5 have better one? I know that FP6 has only basic port for charging so it's definitely ruled out.
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@fair An FHD 1080p would be the safest bet but I think it really depends on what resolutions the monitor supports and presents to UT. At the moment, UT doesn't have a setting to select the resolution and I'm not aware of any workaround or manual way to do it. My 4K TV for example sometimes defaults to 4096x2160@24hz or sometimes 1440p@120Hz and obviously the former is kind of unusable
I think the dock/adapter also have an impact although in my tests, I can't reliably make it go to a certain resolution regardless of which adapter/dock I use so I guess there's some randonness on whatever the TV and the UT device handshakes to 
As for the USB device like keyboard and mouse, in my experience with my adapters, the result depends on when I plugged in the HDMI and the power. I can't remember which one needs to be first. I have no idea if this is also true with your monitor or if it's an issue with the FP4 or just in general.
In any case, I think it's hard to recommend doing this to be honest. There are a few major issues when using an external display that makes it quite a bad experience. Plugging and replugging isn't stable and would sometimes just show a black screen or a nonresponsive device. Launcher sometimes gets messed up upon connection. And the biggest thing in my opinion is that mouse scrolling is broken. The hope is that all these will be fixed in Noble.
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Thanks, I dug out a usb-c to display port cable from my stash. This connection makes it choose 2560x1440x60Hz, not bad.
Somewhat I expected the update to Noble in June, either it got delayed or I misinterpreted something.
For me the desktop works good enough so far. Indeed some native UT apps don't accept mouse scroll, but it's ok to just click and drag the scrollbar.
I haven't experienced any launcher issues. When disconnecting the monitor it takes about 1-2 min to make the phone react. Sometimes it asks if I'd prefer to reconnect or potentially loose unsaved data from apps listed on the popup. The only launcher issue I have is with waydroid apps showing up in the drawer. I would prefer this to show only one icon to start android, the android apps should be managed only by android launcher.
So overall it looks very promising. If only I could find a dock which would let me connect everything via one cable.
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@fair You can hide the Android icons using the Waydroid Helper app.
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@fair I just tried plugging my FP4 into the pinebook docking station from Pine64 and it worked "out of the box". Recognises external keyboard (when OSK is disabled) and mouse and charges the battery while working, all via USB C, no display port or other adaptor needed. The dock is connected to a monitor/keyboard switch so I can toggle between desktop and FP4 on the same monitor/keyboard/mouse. The only thing not working is the Numpad.
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Thanks a ton for both tips!
I'm just curious, how did you disable OSK? Maybe mine doesn't give me the option because it doesn't detect the external keyboard
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@fair OSK will be disabled by default when an external keyboard is detectedm You can only force enable the OSK in this case but you can't force disable it.
