DisplayLink Releases New Windows Drivers (Version 6.3)
Posted on 21. May, 2012 by bernie in Windows
DisplayLink’s 6.x series of Windows drivers is now a worthy upgrade for all users.
On May 18th, DisplayLink released their latest version 6.3 Windows drivers. This single driver supports all USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 generation DisplayLink-based products (including all USB graphics products from Plugable), on Windows XP SP2 and later, and Server 2008 and later.
We’re recommending this driver for all USB 3.0 generation products (Like our Plugable USB 3.0 to HDMI adapter). And it’s a good upgrade for USB 2.0 users, too.
The largest improvements for existing users of any DisplayLink-based device, including USB 2.0 ones, are:
1) Much better support in Windows Vista/7 Basic mode (Aero off). While this is a corner case, it’s a huge amount of work on DisplayLink’s part, and will save a lot of frustration for those intentionally or unintentionally dropped into Basic mode by Windows.
2) Better performance / resolution scalability on slower CPUs by avoiding an extra copy for every pixel (introduced earlier in 6.x series)
3) Bugs and other issues resolved
Here are the details from DisplayLink’s release notes, ordered by our perceived importance of the improvement (based on our support cases here at Plugable).
Fixed issues since R6.2 (from DisplayLink’s release notes)
On Windows 7/Vista WDDM Basic, video is not supported. It may work in some
cases but exhibits poor performance. It may stop working after an update from
Windows Update that affects the graphics subsystem. (2028,1609, 3883)
On Vista and Windows 7 in Basic Mode, video will not play on DisplayLink
screens after installation until the PC is rebooted. In Aero mode no reboot
is needed before video will play. (4432)
Occasionally on Windows 7, applying a layout change involving DisplayLink
screens can change the resolution of or turn off one or more screens. To
recover, press the Windows+P keys and select a different setting. (6010, 8741,
9768, 8618, 9956, 10739, 12300, 12715, 13166, 13167, 13226, 13296, 13334)
Some systems may not boot into Windows when DisplayLink device is connected.
(13657)
All screens are black after several layout changes on some machines. (13550)
On some systems all displays may be black or flashing when resuming from
display power save. (13582, 13471)
Sometimes changing mode or layout position of a DisplayLink monitor may fail
with a “Cannot write to specific device” message in the system tray. To recover
replug the device. (13517)
Optimized for Video option removed from Devices and Printers. (13746)
Sometimes all monitors can get blank if trying to mirror two DisplayLink
monitors connected to the system. (13355)
Sometimes enabling previously switched off main monitor may cause all displays
to flicker. (13149)
Sometimes a blue screen can occur when disconnecting DisplayLink device while
having another monitor connected to laptop’s main VGA/DVI port. (13256)
PowerDVD 12 crashes with DisplayLink software installed. (13668)
USBCV tests not passing (13879, 13896, 13878)
Repeated replugging of certain Display Monitors can cause indeterminate
behaviour. (13581)
Failure to detect some hot swapped DVI monitors. (13597)
Fullscreen Direct X Metro applications will be software rendered on DisplayLink
and non-DisplayLink screens
DisplayLink USB 3.0 generation (DL-3×000) fixes
Audio on DL3x00 devices is not automatically default when first connected to
Windows XP systems. (13511)
Occasional failure in resuming from sleep for DL3x00 devices. (13440)
Occasionally after installation the Ethernet driver for the DisplayLink device
will not load. Unplug and replug to recover. (12050)
Wrong audio jack information. (13496)
On some Windows XP systems connecting a network cable to a DisplayLink device
causes the address bar of Windows Explorer to start blinking. (12568)
In particular circumstances a DL3x00 device can drop from SuperSpeed to High
Speed USB. (13769)
USB 3 connection dropping to USB 2 during power state transitions with some
DL3x00 devices. (13769)
Sometimes a DisplayLink monitor connected through DisplayPort may flash after
a resolution change. (13342)
DisplayPort monitor may remain black after being connected to a DisplayLink
device. (13577)
HDMI audio stops playing after some time. (13307)
HDMI compliance timing fails at resolution 640 x 480@60. (13652)
On some systems using Renesas USB 3.0 host controller disconnecting the
DisplayLink device while playing video may cause system to hang for up to
2 minutes. System will automatically recover after that time. (13364)
Audio not available on DisplayPort monitors immediately after drivers
installation. (13580)
Ethernet on DL3x00 devices unreliable when connected to specific Gigabit
Ethernet switches. (13161)
Default volume on DL3x00 devices too high. (13608)
Ethernet connection dropping out under heavy load on 10Mb networks. (13688)
Supported Operating Systems
This release can be installed on the following operating systems:
– Windows XP SP2 (32-bit edition only)
– Windows XP SP3 (32-bit edition only)
– Windows Vista SP1 (32-bit and 64-bit editions)
– Windows Vista SP2 (32-bit and 64-bit editions)
– Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit editions)
– Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit editions)
– Windows Server 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit editions)
(This OS has received limited testing)
– Windows Server 2008 R2
(This OS has received limited testing)
Download and Support
Download the latest DisplayLink drivers here: http://displaylink.com/support/downloads.php
If you have any problem at all with any Plugable brand device and the DisplayLink 6.3 drivers, please let us know.
Comment here or email support@plugable.com anytime. We’re here to help!
Plugable’s New Tiny, Cutting-Edge USB 3.0 Graphics Adapter
Posted on 30. Apr, 2012 by bernie in Windows
The next generation of USB graphics adapters is here! We’re excited to announce that the Plugable USB 3.0 HDMI / DVI Graphics Adapter is launching today — simultaneously available and shipping to customers the USA, UK, and 26 additional EU countries (USA buyers order on Amazon.com, UK/EU buyers from Amazon.co.uk).
This new adapter is a big step forward in several ways:
- Among the first product to launch with the latest DisplayLink DL-3500 USB 3.0 / 2.0 chipset.
- SuperSpeed USB 3.0 lifts the lid on performance. Enables a max theoretical throughput of 5000 Mbps vs. 480 Mbps for USB 2.0.
- Features a completely re-engineered 6 layer PCB design that is *small*. About half the size of our smallest USB 2.0 generation adapters. The adapter fits nicely inline with the cable,its weight doesn’t create any pull when hanging mid-air, and it doesn’t clutter the desk. You’ll be shocked at what this little adapter can do.
- The adapter works with older USB 2.0 Windows systems (at USB 2.0 speeds), with no problems mixing and matching USB 2.0 and 3.0 adapters on the same system (using the same common DisplayLink driver).
- The USB 3.0 generation of products is Windows-only for now. On Windows, you get all the great multi-monitor functionality, without compromise — and now with better performance in higher resolutions and with video.
The Plugable USB 3.0 HDMI / DVI Graphics Adapter product page has a lot more information. But for a start, check out the following videos.
The video below shows unboxing the product and a little intro.
And this 2nd video shows a bit more depth — plugging the adapter in, installing drivers, and tips for using the product.
We’re very excited about the potential of this great new product. Feel free to comment with any questions!
 |
Plugable USB 3.0 to HDMI / DVI Adapter for Multiple Monitors up to 2048×1152 / 1920×1200 Each (DisplayLink DL-3500 Chipset) | Product Details | $69.99 |  |
Charging Your iPad or iPhone with a USB Hub
Posted on 13. Mar, 2012 by Aaron Knopf in Windows
“The only reason I bought this was that my computer’s USB doesn’t provide enough power to charge my iPad 2. Unfortunately, this hub doesn’t charge the iPad either, so it’s completely useless to me.”
“Bought this as a powered USB hub so that an iPhone and iPad could be connected to a MacBook Pro and charge both. Does not work.”
“So much for a ‘powered’ usb hub, it doesn’t power my iPad …, which defeats the purpose of me even getting it.”
It seems like it should be so easy. You have a hub that is plugged into an electrical socket. Your iPad is plugged into the hub. It should recharge. But it says, “Not Charging.” Why?
It all has to do with how electrical current is supposed to flow through USB ports and with confusion caused by proprietary behaviors that Apple has implemented in its product ecosystem that lead to different recharging results in seemingly identical scenarios.
If you want to avoid the answer to the “why” question and just know how to charge your Apple iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch when it’s connected to a self-powered hub, here are your two options.
Option 1: The iPad/iPhone/iPod is connected to a hub that is plugged into an electrical outlet and a computer simultaneously. The Apple device will recharge by pulling current at a rate of 500 milliamps when attached to this hub (the hub’s power supply must have enough amperage to provide this current).
- The iPhone and iPod both will indicate they are charging in this state. Total recharge time will be about half as fast as when they are plugged directly into a Mac’s USB port or an electrical outlet.
- The iPad will display “Not Charging” in this state if its screen is enabled. Put the screen to sleep with the Sleep/Wake button on the iPad’s exterior, and the device will start to charge. In our tests, an iPad charging at a 500-milliamp rate will add about 10% to its battery meter every 1.5 hours.
Option 2: The iPad/iPhone/iPod is connected to a hub that is plugged into an electrical outlet but not a computer. The Apple device’s power must be completely turned off for the device to recharge when attached to this hub. Here are step-by-step instructions.
- Plug the iPad, iPhone, or iPod into the hub. If the device was previously shut down, it will turn on upon sensing power from the hub.
- Perform Apple’s shutdown routine for the device. You can’t just let the screen go blank. You need to hold down the physical Sleep/Wake button on the exterior of the iPad, iPhone, or iPod until you see the red arrow on screen that you can swipe to turn off the device.
- Swipe the red arrow to complete the shutdown process.
- Once turned off, the Apple devices will draw power through the hub at the 500-milliamp rate.
Please be aware that if you attach multiple Apple devices at one time to your hub in either scenario that you might start to exceed the amperage available in your hub’s power supply. We cannot verify charging will occur once this has occurred.
In our tests, when we overloaded the available power supply, we saw varying results in how the attached devices consumed power. However, we did observe that iPhones and iPods (not iPads) still would charge–albeit very slowly–when drawing power at the 100 milliamp rate.
If you want to know more about how USB power works and where Apple deviates from the USB 2.0 standards, read on.
USB Power Primer
The USB 2.0 spec permits devices to pull current at a default rate of 100 milliamps from a USB 2.0 port (we’ll call this the host)–enough to power a mouse but hardly enough to charge an iPad battery.
If a USB 2.0 device needs current at faster rate than 100 milliamps to function, it is allowed to negotiate with the host to increase its consumption rate to a maximum of 500 milliamps from the host’s port.
When a device tries to draw more current than is available to the host–often described as overcurrent–you can end up with a warning that there isn’t sufficient power to meet the device’s needs. This warning might appear on the host (e.g., a popup in the Windows taskbar, like the one shown to the right). But others, like the Mac, disable the port without any warning, often creating the erroneous impression that the devices are broken. They aren’t–they’re just not able to draw any power from the port anymore. A reboot re-enables the port, but the port will shut down again if you don’t take any action to reduce the power consumption by the mix of devices attached to the port.
When multiple devices are connected to a single USB 2.0 port via an unpowered hub, it can lead to an overcurrent situation, especially because all the devices attached to the hub have to share the 500 milliamp current available through the host’s port. The hub can only split the available current, not multiply it.
A self-powered USB 2.0 hub–that is, one with its own AC adapter–can alleviate this situation, because it can tell the host, “Don’t worry, I can take over as the provider of the current that these devices want.”
For example, if the hub’s the power supply can deliver current at a rate of 2.5 amps (100 milliamps = .1 amps), and there are five ports on the hub, the host now can let each USB 2.0 device attached to a port on the hub negotiate for up to the USB 2.0 maximum of 500 milliamps (2.5 amps / 5 ports = 500 milliamps / port) without exceeding the hub’s power capacity.
When There’s No Host
When a self-powered hub is plugged into an electrical outlet but not connected to a host–think of it as a USB-based power strip in this configuration–it becomes wildly unpredictable how devices attached to the hub will behave when trying to draw power. The original USB 2.0 spec just didn’t envision how important USB-based power consumpution would become.
Without guidance from the spec on what to do in this scenario, device manufacturers can implement whatever behaviors they desire. Some devices will pull power at the same rate as they do when attached to a host-connected hub. Other devices will downgrade to the 100 milliamp default. Certain devices may try to exceed the 500 milliamp limit in the USB 2.0 spec–not necessarily a bad thing for improving device charging times.
In the case of the Apple iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch, we saw different power consumption behaviors depending on whether the devices were powered on or off. When powered on, they could draw only 100 milliamps of power. When turned off, as explained earlier, they would draw 500 milliamps of power.
This image shows an iPad's power consumption when plugged into a self-powered hub that has no data connection: On the left, the iPad in a powered-on state is drawing 100 milliamps from the hub. On the right, the iPad in a powered-off state is drawing nearly 500 milliamps from the hub. Click the image for a larger view.
If you have questions about whether your specific phone, tablet, or handheld device will charge if it’s plugged into a hub that’s being used like a power strip, the only way to know is to plug the device into the hub and see what happens.
Apple Bites Back
Apple makes great devices, but it also makes the USB-charging situation even more confusing. As explained, the iPad, iPod, and iPhone will recharge when pulling 500 milliamps of current. But Apple has engineered these devices to prefer to pull more than USB 2.0-specified maximum of 500 milliamps. However, to do so, the devices must be connected directly to USB ports that have been customized with Apple’s proprietary charging extensions.
Click the image to go to Apple's support document that explains the proprietary USB charging behaviors in Apple's product ecosystem.
In a support document on Apple.com about USB charging, Apple explains that “some Apple computers and displays can provide up to 1100 milliamps [1.1 amps] … through the port to which the Apple peripheral or device is connected.” In other words, when an iPad or iPhone is connected to a newer Mac as its USB host, an iPad can draw current at more than twice the standard USB 2.0 rate.
The current isn’t delivered at as fast a rate as the 2.1 amps provided by Apple’s special AC wall adapter for recharging an iPad. Gizmodo has done a speed test of the fastest (and slowest) ways to charge an iPad. Charging via a Mac’s USB port at the 1.1 amp rate was the slowest way in the Gizmodo test, but it still got the job done. As we’ve identified, even 500 milliamps will get the job done as long as the iPad’s screen or power is off.
And 500 milliamps is the only rate that you’ll ever get from a Windows PC or any other USB 2.0 host that lacks Apple’s proprietary charging extensions.
You might be thinking that the ideal solution is just to get a Mac plus a USB hub. Then you can have all the benefits of multiple USB ports and can use one to charge your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch at the faster rate available when connected directly to a Mac.
Unfortunately Apple only allows these devices to draw the 1.1-amp current from a Mac’s USB port via a direct connection. Apple explains: “An Apple peripheral device must be plugged directly into an Apple computer or display. Apple peripheral devices connected to hubs will not have access to extra power above the standard USB specification of 500 milliamps.”
In other words, if you connect a hub–powered or not– to your Mac, you lose access to the proprietary charging extensions in the Mac’s USB port that allow the Mac to charge your iPad, iPhone, or iPod at the 1.1-amp rate.
If you want to know how Apple establishes these proprietary USB charging behaviors, Ladyada.net has a great video and blog post on the technical underpinnings of the mysteries of Apple device charging. As she explains, it has to do with how Apple has engineered its devices to deviate from the USB 2.0 spec when they sense a special amount of voltage from the power source on two of the four lines that make up a USB connection.
Where Do We Go from Here
There is hope that in the future USB-connectable devices will consume power in a way that meets the “universal” promise in the USB name.
There is now a USB battery-charging spec that was developed to standardize USB-based charging behaviors. Unfortunately, the spec has not yet been widely adopted. And the lack of any strong industry efforts to market or brand spec compliance makes it difficult for customers to identify and buy products that already follow the spec.
In a world where following this spec was the norm, you could plug your hub into a wall, attach a bunch of devices, and get them all to recharge in a reasonable and predictable amount of time without having to take any special action.
Regardless of what happens in the future, our aim always is to make sure that you know what to expect from Plugable products today and that you are satisfied with the ones you purchase. If you have questions or comments about this article or device charging in general, feel free to leave a reply here, and we’ll respond.
If you have other questions about any Plugable hubs, docking stations, adapters, or cables, get in touch with us through our support website at support.plugable.com or e-mail us at support@plugable.com. We’re here to help.
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