Anyone ever used any Displaylink devices?

Usually USB 3.0 to HDMI/DVI/DP/VGA

I've used it once as part of a port replicator/dock but I've just bought one of these



I should probably put some money on it not working with Linux. To be honest I'm not even sure if it's actually Displaylink, or some unofficial rip off.

I predict it won't work.

I use one at work as my laptop can only natively drive two screens, but I have three monitors. I've used both a StarTech USB to VGA adaptor that was SLOW (very poor screen update speed), and am now using an HP branded USB to DVI one which runs a 1600x1200 screen at virtually native speed.

Only ever used them with Windows 7 mind you, not Linux.

I'd used a Kensington one like this in the past and it worked great with Win 7, but they're bloody expensive.

 
 

Does it need host hardware support, or any old usb with the right os+drivers?


Edit: Oh. USB 3.0  :-<

Sure I read real Displaylink is USB 2.0 compatible. I doubt my cheapo alternative is. I'm guessing it'll probably be only 3.0 and Windows.

It arrived, it doesn't work with Linux, nevermind.

Tried it on my work Laptop running Win 7 and it works great. Doesn't come with a driver disk, instead there's a built in flash drive which mounts and contains the Windows setup drivers, nice idea.

1080p videos seem smooth too. Bargain really for the majority of users.

I had a couple of issues with the monitor losing connection momentarily, but a driver upgrade fixed that.

Does it do an extended desktop?

Yep, not just duplication.

But then it stopped working and only worked again with a reboot :((

How long does it stay up (nj) ?

It was probably about 2 hours. Plugging and unplugging didn't fit it.

It is unplugged and still showing in Device Manager. Maybe it's a USB 3.0 controller/driver issue.

usb drivers for cheapo devices can be a pain in the ass.

At the weekend I bought some more screens and I was going to post about how I tried it again this morning and it stopped working after about 15 mins, so I updated USB 3.0 drivers and the drivers for the adapter to see if that helped.

Before I got chance it has stopped working again. Picture disappeared from the screen, no signal message and the screen turned off. Then on again, no signal message, then off.....again and again.

Crap.

Are these the wsql [/whatever], or device drivers? Can you roll back?

These are official Intel drivers. I unplugged and plugged into a different USB 3 port and it came back alive, whereas previously it seemed to crash all USB 3 ports, so there seems to be a little improvement on the drivers. It's now been working for 100 mins (without rebooting). I expect it to conk out before the end of the day.

You're not losing power from the USB ports are you?

If you (and I'm making a big assumption that you're using Windows and I haven't read back through the thread yet. :C ) go to device manager, open up the USB controllers, right click and go to properties on the hubs/root hubs and go to the power management tab and deselect the 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' option.

It's made a difference with some of the dictation machines we use at work.

I am indeed using Windows (7).

I had thought about USB power settings but didn't change any. I'll give that a go.

If I can get the adapter to work properly my plan is to buy another, and a USB 3 hub so I only have to plug in power and one USB lead to my laptop when I work from home, so essentially making my own cheapo USB 3 dock. Rather than the current...

Power
USB for key+mouse
HDMI
VGA (or USB HDMI adapter)
Sound

Yeah I've had some issues with usb ports conking out and plugging the device into a different one worked fine. It was a lot worse before I got the new psu (last year?). Actually I don't think the problem has resurfaced since.