Plugable

• Universally extends your computer to an extra display, speakers, ethernet, and 4 USB 2.0 ports, all from single USB cable back to your computer
• Works with any Windows PC brand: Acer, Compaq, Dell, HP, Gateway, Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba, etc. Drivers for Mac and Linux available, with version details and limitations below.
• DVI/VGA connector and DisplayLink USB virtual graphics adapter supporting up to 1920×1080 32bpp
• 10/100 Ethernet RJ-45 connector, 3.5 mm plugs for stereo speaker and microphone, security slot
• Simple and small with no moving parts, no fans, no internal state, all standard USB 2.0

See what the UD-160-A can do

Product Description

TYPICAL USES: Get around the limitations of your laptop or netbook with a single, simple USB 2.0 connection to a full-sized display, keyboard, mouse, speakers, and other USB 2.0 devices which can stay on your desk; Share this common set of devices among several users with a swap of the USB cable; use the flexibility of the virtual USB graphics card to extend your Windows or Mac desktop across both displays.

PERFORMANCE LIMITATIONS: USB virtual graphics provides full performance for office applications and web browsing, but videos and 3D games should be played on the computer’s main screen.

WINDOWS VERSION COMPATIBILITY: Drivers are provided automatically via Microsoft’s Windows Update mechanism with approved drivers across all of Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7.
For the DisplayLink DVI/VGA function, there is no Windows XP 64-bit Pro or Windows Server support. Note that Microsoft limits multiple display support in Windows 7 “Starter Edition” and “Home Basic” to mirroring (these editions are not common in the USA).

MAC VERSION COMPATIBILITY: For the audio, ethernet, and hub functions of the dock, OS X includes support in-box. For the DisplayLink DVI/VGA function, Mac support limited to beta-level drivers for Intel OS X 10.4 or later, with several significant limitations common to all DisplayLink-based docking stations:

• The DisplayLink drivers conflict with USB ethernet drivers, requiring workarounds to use both together
• To use recent MacBook Pros with Intel/nVidia switching graphics (the i5/i7 models), switching graphics must be disabled
• Screen savers should be disabled to avoid problems returning from sleep
• 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.

See http://displaylink.com/mac for more info

LINUX COMPATIBILITY: As of Linux kernel 2.6.32, all functions of the dock have open source drivers in-kernel. X configuration for the DVI/VGA portion is still distribution and scenario dependent, however, and only for advanced users.

GPU COMPATIBILITY: On Windows Vista and Win7, virtual USB graphics makes use of your primary GPU, so is compatible only with systems with a single Intel, nVidia, ATI GPU running recent WDDM drivers.

SUPPORT AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Additional usage ideas and tips at http://plugable.com/, including public support forums powered by Get Satisfaction.

Download and install the latest drivers

Drivers are provided on CD-ROM, but as with any product, the latest drivers are best.

On Windows, just plug in your dock and select Windows Update to automatically pick the latest drivers, when possible. Let all driver installs for the docking station complete before accepting any requests to reboot. To download drivers for Mac or when Windows Update drivers aren’t available, visit http://displaylink.com/

For Linux, DisplayLink provides open source libraries. Drivers are community written. http://displaylink.org/ has details for the adventurous, and we have a few posts on Plugable’s contributions here.

For the latest Ethernet drivers when automatic install isn’t available, visit http://www.asix.com.tw/ and search for AX88772 for details.

The audio function uses standard class drivers provided with the operating system.

Using the DVI->VGA adapter

Get to know what’s inside

A useful aspect of an all-USB dock like this is the drivers for each function can be updated independently. So what are the actual chips inside your Plugable UD-160-A (DU2791) Universal Dock?

• Terminus Technology USB Hub Chip
• DisplayLink DL-165 USB Graphics Chip
• C-Media CM6300 USB Audio Chip (supporting the USB Audio Class 1.0 standard)
• ASIX AX88772A USB Ethernet Chip

Each of these chips has some level of open source driver available for Linux and other OS support.

Performance tuning

A USB graphics adapter is a “virtual” device that uses your machine’s CPU and memory to render graphics. It then transfers just the pixels that change over the USB 2.0 cable to the device. The screen itself (connected via DVI, VGA, or HDMI) is refreshed continually (60 times a second) by hardware, from memory on the device.

• When nothing on a USB screen is changing, the PC is doing no work and nothing is going over USB. Meanwhile, the screen continues to refresh (60Hz) directly from the device.
• However, when every pixel on the screen is changing, your CPU is doing the heavy lifting, and also the (480Mbs) USB 2.0 bus can become a bottleneck. You may start to notice lags in mouse or window movements.

If you’re experiencing slowness or latency on your USB display:

• Reduce your screen resolution with the operating system display control panel.
• Run games and videos on your primary (non-USB) screen

By reducing the amount of data that needs to be compressed and sent over USB, you’ll increase responsiveness.

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