Rock an Old Atrix Screen/Keyboard/Trackpad Dock Like It's 2012

Back in 2012, folks were getting their first Raspberry Pi single board computers. They initially used a monitor or television, a USB keyboard and a USB mouse, most often items they might of had around the house. This worked fine but it was far from portable. Folks wanted something a bit more laptop-like to develop on the go.

Enter surplus Motorola gear. Motorola made the Atrix line of cell/mobile phones they marketed as dual use as portable phone and computer. To make it a computer, you used a dock which looked like a laptop but had no processor, only USB and HDMI connections. Such docks were being sold wholesale at $60 each.

Folks used a combination of Far Eastern cables and adapters to connect the micro connections on the dock to the full size connectors on the Pi. As you can see below, two adapters and three cables were used. Some guides talked about splicing cables. Here is one guide from Instructables.

The setup worked faily well. Most often the adapters to the Atrix were too big, so some filing of the plastic was needed to get the cables to go on without interferring with each other. It was a slick setup but it could be fragile.

Over time, most folks moved on from using this solution as the Atrix dock supply dried up and new Pi models came along.

The 2024 Atrix Solution

I got my Atrix Dock out to use with a Pi 5 for Adafruit's Show and Tell. Things had changed since the Pi 1 when now using a Pi 5. The one full size HDMI connector is now a pairt of microHDMI connectors. There are more USB ports on the Pi 5.

I wanted a solution with no adapters and no trimming of the plug housings. I went on to Amazon (US) and through brute force (Amazon search is not the most robust) found the following cables:

A micro HDMI extension (female-male) is perfect for the micro HDMI on new Pis. And a USB A male to micro B female, while uncommon, was available. I ordered them and lo and behold the cables fit on the Atrix without any modifications or binding against each other. Eureka!

Having the Pi 5 outside the Atrix Dock is actually a benefit as there is ample airflow. 

Ok, This is 2024, Where Do I Get an Atrix Like Yours?

The old surplus Motorola Atrix Docks (a3b I think) are mostly gone and 12+ years has gone by. Amazon is listing a third party vendor asking $300 plus $20 shipping, yikes. I have seen them come up on eBay anywhere from $27 (for parts without a battery) to $99. There is even a vendor selling a cable to connect a Pi to the Atrix (likely a Pi 1) although I think for modern Pis, the cables above are less expensive and a modern solution. Be sure you look to get a dock with a Motorola power brick unless you are good at finding replacements.

It would appear that Motorola maufactured some similar docks for their phones in later years. Beware of units with only USB C input as I know of no way to get USB+video over that connection.

The Motorola Lapdock 100 for Droid Razr appears to also work with Raspberry Pi 5 (untested) - it will need the extension cables above also.

The Motorola Lapdock 500 Pro appears to work as it has separate microHDMI and USB connectors. Untested.

Dock Alternatives

The upside of it being 2024 is there are modern docks available from various vendors. None are at the $60 price point of the Atrix (12 years ago, mind you), but they likely have superior displays.

A major point is the fact that any older dock which houses the Pi on the inside may be incompatible with the Pi 5, especially due to lack of airflow to keep it cool.

NexDock

Issued 8 years ago via Indiegogo, the NexDock had a rough launch. The Raspberry Pi 3 was available at that time.

They still have a NexDock 2 (4 years old) on their website stating it's for the Pi 4. Note there are reports of trackpad wonkiness but one could always use a USB mouse.

Display: 13" 1920x1080 IPS, 51Wh battery

This might be good to check out if you can afford the $299 price.

CrowPi2

CrowPi 2 has a laptop-like shell allows a Pi 4 to be placed inside and it comes with some gear to make projects. 

Display: 11.6" 1920x1080 IPS, power bank separately.

The CrowPi L is similar.

Note these were designed for the Pi 4B and may not be Pi 5 compatible.

CrowView Note

Made for Raspberry Pi, this $169 laptop form factor was reviewed by The MagPi.

Pi-top Touch Display and Bluetooth Keyboard

There isn't much information about the Pi-top combo. Go here and select the HDMI adapter option. Contact the manufacturer if you want more information.

PiDock 400

The PiDock 400 is billed as a kit to turn a Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard computer into a laptop form factor. It's likely not a good candidate for a Raspberry 5 dock.

AliExpress

I saw a unit touting touch on a 13.3 inch display with keyboard and HDMI input. I haven't tried it out but you can see it here. It was $112 when I saw it which is decent.

Roll Your Own

You can choose any HDMI flat panel display and use a Bluetooth keyboard and get a decent experience, although it will unlikely be a laptop all-in-one form factor.

Check out my blog post on making an ad-hoc system here.