Category Archives: Installing

USB Graphics Support on Mac Gets A Double Boost

USB is the easiest way to connect one or more extra monitors to a computer, but drivers are required to make it all work.

Two events this week have made attaching multiple monitors to Mac OS X systems better:

  1. On Thursday March 14th, Apple released OS X 10.8.3, which fixed some key bugs in Mac OS X support for multiple displays. Fixes include avoiding potentially show-stopping login screen issues. Some smaller Apple bugs remain, including that drag/drop may get hung at times. A sleep/wake cycle kicks OS X out of that state. Also, as of 10.8.3 OS X doesn’t yet support USB 3.0 audio devices. So USB 3.0 docks and HDMI adapters won’t have any audio function (via USB 3.0; connecting via USB 2.0 will work).
  2. Today, March 22nd, DisplayLink has promoted their V 2.0 driver series out of beta. For the first time, DisplayLink’s driver for Mac OS X now has support for USB 3.0-generation DisplayLink devices, like the Plugable UD-3000 Universal Laptop Docking station, and Plugable USB3-HDMI-DVI Graphics Adapter. The DisplayLink drivers still do not support OpenGL applications on the USB-attached screen, but for normal web and business application use, they’re great for enabling multiple monitors and projectors on a Mac.

We’ve been testing these new releases on our Macs here, and while things aren’t perfect, these are huge steps forward, — we are really excited about the improvements.

DisplayLink’s latest Mac OS X drivers are available here.

If you have any questions, feel free to post here and we’ll be happy to help. Thanks for going out of your way for Plugable products!

nVidia drivers Oct 2012 and Later vs. DisplayLink Dec 2012 and Earlier

We’re seeing a number of reports that nVidia’s drivers for certain chipsets dated October 2012 and later have problems in the presence of DisplayLink drivers.

When things like this have happened in the past, DisplayLink has released updates which “catch up” to nVidia’s newer drivers. Unfortunately, as of the current DisplayLink release (7.1 M0 just released Dec 2012), the current issues are improved, but not yet fully resolved.

Problem reports are mostly from Windows 8 users, which are getting automatically updated to these newest nVidia drivers — but it may be a harbinger for Windows 7 users who will be getting the same updates later.

If you’re a DisplayLink USB graphics user in this situation, if possible we recommend staying on nVidia drivers older than October 2012 (or rolling back to any earlier version) until there’s a known fix from DisplayLink (likely) or nVidia (unlikely).

Note this does not affect Windows Multipoint Server 2012, which is the first Windows version that has an explicit driver model for USB graphics (USB zero client terminals specifically), that keeps drivers from conflicting with each other and avoids these kinds of troubles completely.

We don’t ever want customers stuck, so email us anytime at support@plugable.com — we’ll do whatever we can to help. Our apologies and thanks for your patience!

Wired Ethernet Connectivity for the Microsoft Surface

When you first plug in a USB Ethernet adapter (and network cable), the Surface will not automatically install a driver.

Microsoft has sent confusing or negative messages about supporting driver installs on Windows RT and the Microsoft Surface. It’s possible they’ll disable things in the future. But today, it turns out to be possible to get wired Ethernet connectivity on the Microsoft Surface (which is otherwise Wifi only by default) with the right hardware and a driver install.

Here’s how with the Plugable USB 2.0 10/100 Ethernet Adapter.

First, download the driver for the Plugable USB2-E100. (Filename: AX88772B_772A_772_WinRT_Driver_v3.16.0.1807.zip)[update 12/23/2012 - Microsoft has asked that this driver no longer be distributed by ASIX or adapter makers like us].

See this post for details. The rest of the instructions which follow will work on the Microsoft Surface (and perhaps other Windows RT ARM devices), if a search of the driver name above finds any available sources.

Then use the Windows Shell to uncompress the .zip file into its own folder. Later we’ll be pointing Windows at this directory from Device Manager.

You must start Windows Device Manager manually. The quickest way is by hitting the Windows-R hotkey, and run “hdwwiz.cpl” to open Windows Device Manager.

You’ll see the new Plugable USB Ethernet device marked with a yellow triangle because it has no driver installed.

Now right click on that device and select “Update Driver Software”

Searching won’t find the driver. Browse to the specific location we unzipped the driver previously.

Windows will look for the .inf file of the driver in the directory chosen. Assuming it’s there, click next to install the driver.

The driver is now installed. With the Plugable USB Ethernet adapter and cable connected, your wired network connection will come up.

Some networks (especially corporate ones) may be limited to certain MAC addresses or have other configuration issues, that are usually solvable.

Any problems? Let us know – we’ll work to help. Comment here or just email our support team at support@plugable.com (We’re in Seattle, WA / Pacific Timezone). Thanks!

Where to Buy

Plugable USB 2.0 to 10/100 Fast Ethernet LAN Network RJ45 Adapter (ASIX AX88772 chipset) Product Details $13.95