pinephone keyboard + dock question

[emsyr]

Hi!

i've recently gotten the pinephone keyboard

now i also have the dock that came with the pinephone.

The manual of the pinephone keyboard states to NOT charge through the pinephone usb port and only through  the keyboards usb charging port.

to use the dock you need to use the pinephone's usb and connect the charger to the dock. Which to me would be charging through the pinephone.
Which the manual warns against.

can you use the dock + the pinephone keyboard together or is this impossible?

I think you should charge through the keyboard's usb-c port and connect your dock in Pinephone's usb-c port to connect your peripheral devices.

In keyboard's manual it's written that:

You should charge the PinePhone and the keyboard only using the USB-C port on the keyboard. The keyboard’s USB-C port cannot be used for peripherals. The PinePhone’s USB-C port remains operational when mounted in the keyboard and can be used for data and peripherals.

I had already tried that (tried it again just now), but that didn't seem to work. no display on the hdmi and UI nor tweaks does not show a connected dock,
i have the suspicion the dock needs direct power to function

Have you tested whether the dock is operational without the keyboard attached and without power supply as well? If it is not functioning, it may be a verification of your suspicion. I have done a quick search on the internet but I'm not finding any info about what you are looking for. You may also experiment with different distros.