Windows 8 Consumer Preview Support
Posted on 29. Feb, 2012 by Aaron Knopf in USB3-HUB81X4
We’re as excited about the Windows 8 Consumer Preview release as we expect many of our customers are. And we’re here to help if you install Windows 8 Consumer Preview on computers where you’re using or plan to use any Plugable devices.
We’ve already begun installing Microsoft’s latest operating system on PCs in our lab for the fun of hands-on exploration and–more importantly–for testing the compatibility of Plugable products on this platform.
Here’s what we know already.
Graphics Adapters
All Plugable graphics adapters rely on DisplayLink drivers that are explicitly called out during Windows 8 Consumer Preview setup as incompatible with the new operating system. DisplayLink has made Beta drivers available for Windows 8 on its public forum.
1) You will need to uninstall your current DisplayLink drivers when prompted to do so by Windows 8 Consumer Preview setup.
2) Once Windows 8 Consumer Preview is installed, you can download and install the Beta DisplayLink drivers from http://displaylink.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1331. Please read the known issues listed there for the Beta drivers to be aware of any that may affect you.
We have used these Beta drivers successfully on a computer running Windows 8 Consumer Preview with a Plugable UGA-2k-A graphics adapter. With an extended desktop, the Windows 8 “Metro” interface showed on the primary desktop, and the extended desktop functioned like a Windows 7 extended desktop.
The ability to control whether in duplicate or extend mode was located on an option called “Devices” that can be invoked from the lower right corner in the “Metro” UI.
Network Adapters
Windows 8 Consumer Preview should find the compatible ASIX or Realtek drivers for all Plugable network adapters via Windows Update. The computer will need a network connection separate from the one made available by the Plugable adapter.
USB 3.0 Devices
Windows 8 has native support for USB 3.0 and should properly manage the host controllers in any Plugable USB 3.0 cards and hubs. No third party drivers should be required.
Windows Easy Transfer Cable
The Plugable Windows Easy Transfer cable works in Windows 8. We’ll devote a future post to the topic of what the user interface looks like in Windows 8.
We’ll also cover using the optional Bravura software (license comes with the Plugable cable) in that future post.
If You Need Support
We hope all Plugable products function to your satisfaction on Windows 8 Consumer Preview. But if you experience problems or previously unseen quirks, we encourage you to post your questions at http://support.plugable.com or write to us at support@plugable.com. We’re here to help and eager to hear about your experiences with Windows 8.
Mac OS X 10.7.3 Breaks Display Rotation
Posted on 16. Feb, 2012 by Aaron Knopf in USB-VGA-165
We recommend not upgrading your Mac to the OS X 10.7.3 release if you are using a Plugable graphics display adapter.
This latest upgrade to the Mac OS was made publicly available at the beginning of this month. Unfortunately it breaks display rotation functionality in all third-party display drivers.
DisplayLink, the maker of the graphics chipset in Plugable graphics display adapters, is in touch with Apple about potential fixes for the problem. When word of a solution arrives, we’ll post it on the Plugable blog.
Meanwhile, if you already have upgraded to 10.7.3 and now find that your rotated display connected throgh a third-party graphics display adapter seems to be broken, here are the steps posted in the DisplayLink Mac forum (http://displaylink.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1484) to restore functionality:.
1. Shut down the Mac.
2. Disconnect the Plugable graphics display adapter.
3. Boot in safe mode by pressing and holding the shift key after the startup tone (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455).
4. Open the Display preferences in System preferences.
5. Reboot.
6. Connect your Plugable graphics display adapter. The display should work again, and its rotation should be back to standard.
If you have upgraded to 10.7.3 but do not use display rotation, you might not see any problems. However, we still do not recommend updating to 10.7.3 until DisplayLink is certain that all display-management functionality is stable in this version of Mac OS X.
DisplayLink’s latest Mac driver works properly with OS X 10.7.2 and earlier OS X releases.
You can find the current DisplayLink driver for OS X at http://displaylink.com/support/mac_downloads.php.
If you’re having trouble with your Plugable graphics display adapter on a Mac, you can look to our support forums at http://support.plugable.com or write to us at support@plugable.com. We’re here to help.
Howto: DisplayLink USB Single Monitor on Linux
Posted on 23. Dec, 2011 by jerome in Using
Unfortunately, Linux doesn’t support multiple graphics adapters the way Windows does, which means you can’t just plug in USB graphics adapters and expect them to extend your desktop (the good news is there is progress on this support).
What is possible, however, is running a single DisplayLink adapter, or several with a Xinerama or multiseat configuration — just as long as you don’t expect to use your main GPU at the same time.
The single-display case is relatively easy to set up, and we’ll cover that here.
First, make sure you’re running kernel version 2.6.35 or later (Ubuntu 10.10 or later). For older kernel versions, you’ll need to update udlfb and run a modified fbdev X server (not covered in this post). On these kernel versions, when you plug in your DisplayLink-based USB graphics device, you should get a green screen. This means that at the driver built into the Linux kernel is happy, healthy, and talking to the device.
Second, if you are running Unity Desktop in Ubuntu 11.04 or later, you’ll need to switch back to Classic Mode so you’re running straight X. Here’s how on Ubuntu:
Click on the power button in the upper right corner (mine looks like a light switch) and choose the last option, System Settings. Search for Login Screen, Double-click to display, Choose Unlock and enter your password, Select Ubuntu Classic as default session.
Third, if you’re running kernel versions between 2.6.35 to 3.1, enable the fb_defio option of udlfb. To do this, create or edit a file like
/etc/modprobe.d/50-displaylink.conf
and add the single line
options udlfb fb_defio=1
And reboot (or run “sudo depmod -a” and unplug/replug your adapter). This will turn on defio (page fault change detection) support. This option is already enabled by default in kernels 3.2+.
Lastly, create an X config file called 60-plugable.conf (or similar) with the following contents and place it in /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d (on recent distros; on older distros, make this your xorg.conf):
Section "Device" Identifier "uga" driver "fbdev" Option "fbdev" "/dev/fb0" Option "ShadowFB" "off" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "monitor" EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "screen" Device "uga" Monitor "monitor" EndSection Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "default" Screen 0 "screen" 0 0 EndSection
Note: if your main GPU creates a /dev/fb0 even when the USB display is not attached, then your USB display is probably getting assigned to /dev/fb1. In that case, change /dev/fb0 in the “Device” section above to /dev/fb1
Now, on reboot, you should (hopefully!) see your login come up on your DisplayLink USB attached display!
This kind of simple setup is useful for:
- Testing or playing with your USB graphics adatper on Linux.
- Embedded systems with USB but no GPU.
- As a backup method when the main GPU or its driver isn’t available or working.
- Systems where a USB graphics adapter enables higher modes (up to 2048×1152) than the main GPU screen.
Please comment if you have any trouble with this single display case. See our past posts for additional information about the DisplayLink Linux kernel driver and some more involved setups.
The instructed here work on all Plugable USB 2.0 graphics adapters and Plugable USB 2.0 docking stations and thin clients (and should also generally work on all DisplayLink based products).
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