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Power dock vs Expansion Dock



  • Hello Onion Community,
    I'm new to Onion Omega world
    Can some one explains to me please what is the different between Power dock vs Expansion Dock
    they looks very similer but the only different is USB-to-Serial Chip and i dont really what is this means
    i read the specs for both but i really need to understand is what i can do with one and can't do with anther
    I appreciate your explain with example
    Thank you



  • Welcome to the community!

    Please read the solved request first ... there is one next to your request where point to a wiki where shows the differences ....



  • The answer to your question can be found here:
    Using the Power Dock (Differences from the Expansion Dock)



  • @Luciano-S. thank you for your welcoming me
    i a straight way i can't understand what is USB-to-Serial Chip means
    which is the different between the two docks beside that the power dock has advantage of power by battery



  • @fossette thank you for the reference i read it but i cant understand what is USB-to-Serial Chip means what is the capabilities of it.



  • The main differences are:

    1. Addition of battery management circuits and battery level indicator LEDs
    2. Addition of 2-pin JST-PH connector for batteries
    3. All circuit components are surface-mount
    4. No USB-to-Serial Chip
    5. No RGB LED
    1. You are not able to connect your omega with a USB cable. USB has just the function to connect power and charge the battery. But a serial connection where you can log in and make changes on your OS you will not have. You can just connect it over the Wireless Network. If you have trouble with that you need a other Dock to connect and login to your OS.


  • @Zaghloul-Saad said in Power dock vs Expansion Dock:

    i can't understand what is USB-to-Serial Chip means

    Ah! Get it! Read on!

    Traditionally, UNIX computers were connected to terminals using a serial interface like RS-232 (perhaps you've heard of it?). We say SERIAL because data exchanged between the terminal and the computer is one bit at a time. On the other hand, parallel data bus can carry 8, 16, 32, even more bits at the same time, but the hardware to support it is more complex (and costly).

    Nowadays, the RS-232 serial interface is less and less found in home computers (forget it for phones and tablets). They have mostly been replaced by USB (also a serial interface) which offer other advantages than just the data communication feature, for example, the Plug & Play feature.

    So to get back to your question about the USB-to-Serial Chip:
    a) Power Dock, no USB-to-Serial Chip: No possibility to have a simple Linux terminal console directly/physically connected to the Omega(2).
    b) Expansion Dock, USB-to-Serial Chip: You can directly/physically connect a Linux terminal console anytime. It's very useful to have an easy simple little chat with the Omega(2), for example, if the WiFi is off, or defective, or has wrong configuration options.

    Another question could be:
    What is a terminal? And what is it good for?



  • @Luciano-S. thank you for your support, really appreciated





  • @fossette its very powerful replay
    the proposed breadboard from Omega 2 can do the same task of the Expansion Dock?
    and if you are choosing for your simple project and starting project learn, which one i should go for?



  • @Zaghloul-Saad the expansion dock is in my opinion a good all rounder


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