From e69d2473dc52eb6e595679f365a168c6b6029d76 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: DevomB Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2026 07:48:59 -0700 Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Docks on a USB4 port: their monitors may stay dark The guide said many docks fall back to plain USB-C. On a Thunderbolt or USB4 port, as on the ZBook, a Thunderbolt or USB4 dock connects as USB4 instead, and its DisplayPort is a tunnel that only the unbuilt Thunderbolt driver sets up, so its monitors may stay dark as well as its USB ports and Ethernet. The guide now says so, and that such a dock on a plain USB-C port, or the monitor on the laptop, is the way through; status.md's gap says the same, and the hardware row asks which port the dock was on. --- docs/hardware.md | 2 +- docs/status.md | 4 +++- docs/user-guide.md | 9 +++++++-- 3 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/docs/hardware.md b/docs/hardware.md index 9c7dac6c..4b080a40 100644 --- a/docs/hardware.md +++ b/docs/hardware.md @@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ let the row's note name what did not work: | an external monitor on HDMI or DisplayPort, plugged in while the desktop runs | the desktop reaches it within seconds, and `kryptik display` lists it with its scale | | an external monitor on a laptop with two GPUs, an AMD one beside the built-in | it shows the desktop, whose frames wlroots copies to the second GPU's ports; dark, the row's note names both, as the listing's `display` line does | | a laptop with NVIDIA's graphics beside Intel's or AMD's | the desktop shows on the built-in screen; a monitor on a port the NVIDIA chip drives stays dark, as 1.0 drives none, and the listing's `gpu` line says whether that chip stayed powered | -| a USB-C or Thunderbolt dock: its monitor, its USB ports and its Ethernet | the monitor shows where the laptop drives USB-C itself; a Thunderbolt or USB4 dock's own USB ports and Ethernet stay dark, as 1.0 builds no Thunderbolt driver, and the row's note says which worked | +| a USB-C or Thunderbolt dock: its monitor, its USB ports and its Ethernet | the monitor shows where the laptop drives USB-C itself; a Thunderbolt or USB4 dock's own USB ports and Ethernet stay dark, as 1.0 builds no Thunderbolt driver, and on a Thunderbolt or USB4 port its monitors may too; the row's note says which worked, and on which port | | closed on its dock, then the dock unplugged | it sleeps within seconds, as a lid closed undocked does | | the state passphrase at boot, typed on the built-in keyboard | it unlocks, whether the keyboard is on PS/2 or on I2C behind Intel's LPSS or AMD's DesignWare controller; the row's note names which (`/proc/bus/input/devices`). One that types nothing there is among those status.md lists, and a plain USB keyboard is the way through | | `k` and a zone's number in the menu, then a program there that records video | a USB camera records; one the listing's `camera` line puts behind an IPU does not, as 1.0 drives none | diff --git a/docs/status.md b/docs/status.md index c1d3c722..d724391a 100644 --- a/docs/status.md +++ b/docs/status.md @@ -57,7 +57,9 @@ media it tested. USB ports and Ethernet, behind its own PCIe controllers, stay dark; a USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 dock's USB devices run at USB 2's speed, which needs no tunnel. A monitor over USB-C works where the laptop's controller drives - it. Building them comes with a policy for which plugged devices are let in. + it; on a USB4 port, a USB4 or Thunderbolt dock's monitors may stay dark, + as nothing sets up the DisplayPort it tunnels. Building them comes with a + policy for which plugged devices are let in. - The state passphrase is asked in sysinit, before eudev loads any module, so only a keyboard whose drivers are built in types it: PS/2 (atkbd), a USB keyboard the generic HID driver takes, and HID over I2C behind diff --git a/docs/user-guide.md b/docs/user-guide.md index f8befcdf..4376ef8e 100644 --- a/docs/user-guide.md +++ b/docs/user-guide.md @@ -720,8 +720,13 @@ shows each timer, its timeout and whether it is running. - Thunderbolt and USB4 are not built, so nothing lets in what a Thunderbolt or USB4 dock carries over PCIe or USB 3: its Ethernet may stay dark, and its USB ports work at USB 2's speed, which USB-C carries by itself, or not - at all. A monitor over USB-C works where the laptop's own USB-C controller - drives it, as on most, and many docks fall back to plain USB-C. + at all. A monitor plugged straight into a USB-C port, or through a plain + USB-C dock, works where the laptop's own USB-C controller drives it, as on + most. A Thunderbolt or USB4 dock on a Thunderbolt or USB4 port (a + lightning mark, or 40Gbps beside it) connects as USB4, and its monitors + may stay dark too, as nothing sets up the DisplayPort it carries: plug + such a dock into a plain USB-C port, where many fall back to USB-C, or + the monitor into the laptop itself. - The state passphrase at boot is asked before any driver module loads, so it is typed on a keyboard whose driver is in the kernel itself: a laptop's built-in keyboard on its PS/2 controller, as most are, or on I2C behind From 4adb01dec9277465f91116eab2f5bc7ba052c7e1 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: DevomB Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2026 07:54:24 -0700 Subject: [PATCH 2/2] A USB4 port's marking is usually, not always, a lightning mark or 40Gbps USB4 also runs at 20 Gbps, a 20Gbps mark can be plain USB 3.2, and some makers mark USB4 ports with a DisplayPort or power icon or nothing, so the guide says the laptop's specifications tell which ports are USB4. --- docs/user-guide.md | 7 ++++--- 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) diff --git a/docs/user-guide.md b/docs/user-guide.md index 4376ef8e..888efae3 100644 --- a/docs/user-guide.md +++ b/docs/user-guide.md @@ -722,9 +722,10 @@ shows each timer, its timeout and whether it is running. its USB ports work at USB 2's speed, which USB-C carries by itself, or not at all. A monitor plugged straight into a USB-C port, or through a plain USB-C dock, works where the laptop's own USB-C controller drives it, as on - most. A Thunderbolt or USB4 dock on a Thunderbolt or USB4 port (a - lightning mark, or 40Gbps beside it) connects as USB4, and its monitors - may stay dark too, as nothing sets up the DisplayPort it carries: plug + most. A Thunderbolt or USB4 dock on a Thunderbolt or USB4 port (usually + a lightning mark, or 40Gbps beside it; the laptop's specifications say + which ports are USB4) connects as USB4, and its monitors may stay dark + too, as nothing sets up the DisplayPort it carries: plug such a dock into a plain USB-C port, where many fall back to USB-C, or the monitor into the laptop itself. - The state passphrase at boot is asked before any driver module loads, so