Plugable

DisplayLink Snow Leopard 64-bit Support in Beta

Posted on 22. Mar, 2010 by Bernie Thompson in UGA-2K-A

DisplayLink has just released an updated beta OS X driver with Snow Leopard 64-bit support.

Previously, Snow Leopard users had to be careful to stick with a 32-bit kernel to use DisplayLink devices. This driver removes that limitation.

The beta drivers are available from DisplayLink here: http://displaylink.org/forum/showthread.php?t=268

These drivers work on all of Plugable’s laptop docking and graphics adapter products (UD-160-A and UGA-2K-A). Note that this driver is still in beta, and has limitations which are noted below in DisplayLink’s release notes.

DisplayLink Mac OS X Software Release: External Release Note

Version: 1.6b1 (23745)
Date: 18th March 2010

Improvements over the DisplayLink Mac OS X Software 1.5 release

* Snow Leopard (64 Bit) Support

More information on how to use this software can be found in the Mac OS X User Guide found on the DisplayLink website (http://www.displaylink.com/mac)

Supported Operating Systems

The DisplayLink software can be installed on any Intel-based desktop
or laptop Apple Mac computer running client versions of Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.2 (32 and 64 bit versions), Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8 and Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.11.

Note that at the time of writing these were the latest available versions of Mac OS X tested against.

Supported Mac platforms

This software supports all Intel-based Macs. It does not support Power-PC based Macs.

Known Issues

This is a DisplayLink driver release that supports 2D acceleration on Mac OS X platforms. This software has some limitations:

* No 3D (OpenGL) acceleration – some features of Mac OS X applications that require hardware OpenGL
acceleration, such as Keynote presentations and iPhoto slideshows, will not function properly.

* Colour calibration does not work with DisplayLink enabled displays on Mac OS X versions prior to 10.6.2

Note: Applications that require Quartz OpenGL hardware acceleration support will likely exhibit problems with this version of DisplayLink software. Some problems can be avoided by making sure the DisplayLink display is not set to be the main display (the display with the menu bar) If an application refuses to launch when a DisplayLink display is present, try to disconnect all the DisplayLink displays, then launch it and then reconnect the displays.

Upgraded Plugable Universal Docking Station

Posted on 06. Mar, 2010 by Bernie Thompson in Windows

The Plugable Universal Docking Station is getting some minor but nice upgrades to the latest chips for each function. All new units shipped from March 1, 2010 forward have these new features:

• Upgraded the DisplayLink DL-160 to the newer DL-165
  • Previous maximum resolution was 1680×1050, now 1920×1080
• Moved from two 4-port NEC USB hubs internally to a single FE 2.1 7 port USB hub
  • When using as a terminal, previously could daisy-chain 2 docks, now up to 4. All devices attached to the dock show on the same hub
• Upgraded ASIX AX88772 ethernet chip to newer AX88772A
  • Auto-MDX support (automatically detects straight or cross-over cabling)

We’ve also shrunk the paper package size for less waste, and a have smaller connector for the (otherwise same) AC adapter.

The size and look of the docking station itself hasn’t changed, and all the same adapters, cables, and other hardware are included.

To the laptop docking station user on Windows or Mac, the changes won’t be immediately obvious, as the same drivers support both versions of hardware.

On Linux, both old and new chips have the same in-kernel support. In the terminal case, the USB configuration is now simpler (all devices are off the same USB hub), and that means a change in the udev rules for devices plugged into usb ports (keyboard and mouse are one hub less deep). Look for a future post on that.

So, with the new version, here’s the Windows Update experience you’ll see — without using any driver disks first, just plugging into a fresh Windows 7 machine with its own network connection up, letting it find and download drivers automatically.

Win7 first connect experience. Mouse and composite keyboard also attached

If you need to distinguish the versions from the outside (e.g. so you can make sure to give a newer one to someone who wants 1920×1080 resolution), the model number on the bottom of the older units all start with 0920J1.

Enjoy the upgrades on the new UD-160-A docking stations, and as always make use of our public problem reporting and support at http://getsatisfaction.com/plugable any time.

Win7 Plug and Play with the UGA-2K-A

Posted on 05. Mar, 2010 by Bernie Thompson in Windows

Attach your new Plugable USB graphics adapter to a Win 7 PC. What happens?

.. driver is found and downloaded from Microsoft’s Windows Update system…

… and a DisplayLink EULA and a bunch of screen flashes later …

Windows 7 and a network connection takes care of it. No driver disk needed.