Plugable

Firmware Update for the Plugable USB3-SATA-U3 Hard Drive Docking Station

Posted on 08. Feb, 2011 by Bernie Thompson in Windows

[Updated Aug 8, 2011 to provide support for 3 TB+ drives]
[Updated July 13, 2011 to latest LucidPort firmware version 2580]

You can update the firmware of the Plugable USB3-SATA-U3 SATA dock to gain a number of features and fixes, especially for improving interoperability with the evolving set of USB 3.0 host controllers, cables, hubs, and other USB 3.0 devices on the market.

In particular, if you have a unit that works fine over USB 2.0, but drops from the bus or experiences transfer errors on USB 3.0, newer firmware may help in many situations by improving error tolerance.

Steps to update

You will need a Windows PC on which you have administrator access.

1. Download the version 2580 firmware package for the Plugable U3, and unpack these files to their own directory
2. Open a command prompt as administrator (see below for steps) and go to the directory where you unpacked the files
3. Connect the Plugable USB3-SATA-U3 with a USB 2.0 cable (not a USB 3.0 cable, since if you’re seeing a problem, USB 3.0 may generate errors when talking with the device), a SATA drive must be in the dock, have the dock turned on (green LED lit), and no copy operations in progress.
4. type “update” and hit enter to start the update.bat file to bring up a list of possible devices to update
5. Select the “USB 3.0 LucidPort USB300″ or “USB 3.0 MassStorage” device (which is the Plugable USB3-SATA-U3)
6. The new firmware will download to the device within a few seconds
7. The command prompt will say “success” and go green when complete. Flip power to dock off/on at any time to reboot the dock with the new firmware

Let us know if any USB 3.0 specific problems remain after the firmware update. Visit plugable.com/support anytime.

Background on firmware changes

This firmware is for the Lucidport USB300 chipset, firmware version 2580, customized for the Plugable USB3-SATA-U3

See the LucidPort site for chip details and firmware revision history.

Here’s how to check what version of firmware your dock currently has to see if a later firmware is available.

Running a Command Prompt as an administrator

Click the Start button. In the search box, type command prompt

In the list of results, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

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.

Apple iPad iOS 4.2 Breaks USB/SD Connection Kits and Other Devices

Posted on 24. Nov, 2010 by Bernie Thompson in Using

Apple’s iPad iOS 4.2 update this week has broken functionality with iPad Connection Kits and other USB-based devices, including ours.

Things that worked with iOS 3.2 may fail with the message “Cannot Use Device – The connected USB device requires too much power” on 4.2. The root cause appears to be that Apple lowered the allowed power draw of a USB device attached to the iPad’s connector from 100 mA to 20 mA (USB 2.0 spec is 500mA, so the previous limit already cut off many devices). Here is a little more background from a different affected device.

While some functionality of the our Connection Kit was unaffected (it will still work with compatible USB devices, if connected through a powered USB hub), even the SD interface is now over the new 20 mA limit.

We don’t know when/if Apple will fix this problem, and we never want to leave customers customers waiting for fixes like this. So we’ve halted all sales of this product. And fortunately we’ve got a direct channel to each of our customers through Amazon, so we’ve contacted each of them to offer refunds. Any customer we missed can always contact us by emailing their Amazon order # to support@plugable.com. Our apologies to affected customers – we will move quickly to get you fixed up.