Plugable

DisplayLink Releases Beta of Windows Server Support (2003, 2008, 2008 R2)

Posted on 03. Jan, 2011 by Bernie Thompson in Windows

On Jan 1, 2011, DisplayLink released the first beta of their version 5.6 Windows drivers.

The most significant feature in this release is Windows Server support:

• Windows Server 2003 (32-bit only – same as DisplayLink’s XP drivers)
• Windows Server 2008 (32/64-bit)
• Windows Server 2008 R2 and derivatives like Windows Multipoint Server 2011 (64-bit, since R2 is 64-bit only)

Prior to this release, DisplayLink drivers would refuse to install on these server platforms.

This is great news for several use cases, including:

• USB terminals in combination with Microsoft Multipoint Server 2011 Beta. We’ll have much more news on this in coming weeks.
• Anyone using Windows Server SKUs as a client PC (common among software developers)

On the bug fix side, DisplayLink reports improved stability with more than 3 DisplayLink screens.

This release is compatible with all Plugable USB graphics products, and can be downloaded from DisplayLink’s 5.6 Beta Forum. We consider the prior release (5.5 M1 dated Dec 3, 2010) to be a critical upgrade because of nVidia and other compatibility improvements. This one is more of an optional upgrade for the great majority of users on normal client copies of Windows.

DisplayLink Releases New 5.5 M1 Windows Driver

Posted on 03. Dec, 2010 by Bernie Thompson in Windows

This release is especially important for users of the latest nVidia drivers (versions later than 258.96) on Windows 7 and Vista, because these recent nVidia drivers conflict with earlier DisplayLink drivers in the area of DirectX functionality.

We’re recommending that affected users download this latest DisplayLink 5.5 M1 (Dec 3, 2010) release or any later version, available at http://displaylink.com/support/downloads.php

Note a reboot may be required as the installer removes the prior version, and installs the new. Please feel free to comment with any experience reports or problems.

Here’s a rundown of important problems that are intended to be fixed from 5.5 (Sept 29, 2010) to 5.5 M1 (Dec 3, 2010) from the DisplayLink 5.5 M1 release notes. We have some notes from us [in brackets] based on what we’ve seen from Plugable customers.

These issues have complete or partial fixes in 5.5. M1:

• Video playback issues on Microsoft Windows 7 with the latest NVIDIA Drivers. [This is the big incompatibility where nVidia drivers after 258.96 broke DirectX functionality on systems with DisplayLink drivers installed]
• DisplayLink Software upgraded through Windows Update will not work correctly after rebooting the system (issue affecting releases R5.3 to R5.4 on Windows update). [This problem has kept the DisplayLink version on Microsoft's Windows Update system to the older version 5.2, meaning that users who simply plug in their device without a manual driver download have been missing fixes for a number of serious known issues. Now DisplayLink should be able to resume delivering the very latest drivers via Windows Update]
• DisplayLink USB monitor could occasionally remain blank after a PC reboot. [we've seen this problem intermittently from several customers. We suspect multiple causes, but hope this resolves most]
• Sometimes the DisplayLink icon is missing in the system tray. [this had previously been a sign of larger problems]

And other important problems DisplayLink reports fixed, that we haven’t specifically run across:

• Blue screen on Windows 7 on some platforms when rebooting after having applied layout changes.
• The DisplayLink GUI stops functioning correctly after switching GPU on some ATI/Intel hybrid systems.
• Sometimes there are two DisplayLink icons present in the system tray.
• Video in Basic Mode not working with the latest Windows updates on both Windows Vista and Windows 7.

5.5 M1 is compatible with all Plugable USB graphics devices. Generally DisplayLink does a good regression testing so we’ve generally had a good experience being aggressive about upgrading to get the latest fixes (when things break, they break more often between DisplayLink releases because of external OS or other main GPU driver changes). So we’re recommending this release to all Plugable users who are experiencing any of the problems above.

Two New DisplayLink USB Graphics Adapters

Posted on 02. Dec, 2010 by Bernie Thompson in Windows

Source: DisplayLink

We’re filling out our line of DisplayLink USB graphics adapters with two new products that offer even better pricing, using DisplayLink’s most cost-effective mid-range DL-165 chip.

1) Our new UGA-165 completes our USB to VGA/DVI/HDMI family. There are all identical products other than the DisplayLink chip inside the unit: UGA-2K-A (DL-195 chip), UGA-165 (DL-165 chip), and UGA-125 (DL-125 chip).

2) Our new USB-VGA-165 is our most aggressively priced product, hitting the new price point of $44.95, while still being built on DisplayLink’s mid-range DL-165 chip. We pushed the price point down by supporting VGA connections only (no DVI or HDMI, and no extra converters needed in the box), and with simpler casing and packaging.

Now with this complete line, we’re covering the full line of DisplayLink chips, with options from $45-$65. And we hope to add a higher end option focused on HDMI in the coming months.

If you’re a current owner of one of our other DisplayLink products, you’re going to like these new adapters — same drivers, same performance, same simple setup experience, and new lower price points for connecting even more monitors to your PC!

Here’s a table with more detail to compare the four adapters head-to-head.