Enabling the display crashes X

[aaronloar]

Hello All,
My objective is to eventually be able to run 3 monitors using displaylink adapters, but for now, I'm just trying to get one to work.

I followed the steps to install on:
http://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/615714#ubuntu

I got to the last step, plugged in the adapter, and nothing.
So, I went into the System Settings > Displays. The additional display was present, but off. Turned it on, hit Apply, and X crashed / restarted. I logged back in, went back to the Displays dialog, and the additional display is gone.

It does not come back after a reboot.

I have gotten it back by uninstalling, rebooting, reinstalling, but the same thing happens - enabling the output crashes X, and then it's gone.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I'm happy to provide any additional information / follow any diagnostic steps.

Ubuntu 14.04.3
Kernel 3.16.0-46-generic
Xorg 1.16.0

Thanks!!
--aaron

[Szymon]

Hi aaron,

To start an analysis I would need some debug information about your setup. Could you please collect, zip and attach the following:


files from /var/log/displaylink
output of dmesg command
crash dump files from /var/crash which file names match "*DisplayLinkManager*.crash" or "Xorg.*"


Thanks,
Szymon

[pateretou]

I notice if i activated a second or more screen I always need to have the laptop screen enabled or the X crash.
So when you try to turn on a second screen don't turn off the laptop screen in the same time.

[decibyte]

This sounds exactly like the behaviour I'm experiencing. I've already posted my log files in another thread.

[snowzach]

I have noticed the crash seems related to where the screen is layed out in reference to my other screens. I have a dell laptop. I have 3 screens connected to the laptop. If I try to place the 4th displaylink screen on top of the other screens it will crash. If I place the display link screen to the right of my other monitors, it works.

[Kabouik]

Same problem here on Mint 17.3 Cinnamon and Lenovo USB 3.0 dock: performance is bad and the cursor is sluggish, with some latency and choppy movements. Will be hard to use on a daily basis.

I have far better performance when using the mini-DisplayPort connection on my laptop. Is it possible to use a combination of DisplayLink and DisplayPort, so that I can at least have good performance on my main monitor (using DisplayPort), and lower performance with DisplayLink but only on the monitor I use the least? I did not manage to make a DisplayLink-connected monitor to show up in the Cinnamon Display manager when the DisplayPort connection is used on another display, but maybe I did something wrong.