Screen Freeze - Multiple Units
 

Hello, I am an IT admin and I purchased 6 DynaDock Vs from Toshiba that utilize the DisplayLink software. These units are split across two different models of laptops, 5 HP Probooks and a Sony VAIO(my laptop). Since we have purchased the units we have had nothing but problems. The external display will constantly freeze on users and myself after a random time interval and while the most simple things are being performed. The last time I clicked on the start menu and it froze. I have installed the latest drivers for the DynaDock from Toshiba's website and the latest DisplayLink driver from your website, 5.5M1. I have already gotten 6 replacement units from Toshiba just in case and that didn't change anything. Actually the one unit i got out for my laptop seemed liked it locked up even faster than before.

Just some quick specs about our setup:
5 HP Probooks running Windows 7 32bit - 2GB RAM.... i think
1 sony VAIO running Windows 7 64bit - 6GB RAM

Can anyone help me? I have uploaded the error logs from my machine as gathered by the support tool I found on the website.

Could you please run the debug tool again and make sure a SystemDetails.txt file is in the zip folder? You can delete a memory.dmp file if the zip file is too large to upload.

Thanks

DynaDock V display freezes - must cycle power on dock
 

Hi there!

I am having the exact same experience.

I too am an IT admin who purchased 5 DynaDock V units in December. All are running with new Dell Vostro 3300 laptops also purchased in December. All have the latest video drivers, etc. Intel Core i5, Windows 7 64bit, NVIDIA GeForce 310M adapter. DisplayLink Version is 5.6.29519.0

All five systems have the exact same problems.

After contacting Toshiba about this problem the support tech directed me to the DisplayLink driver page and told me that the 5.6 beta version of driver will fix the problem. I installed it on all machines and the problem remains. I called Toshiba again and they recommended that I return all 5 for replacement. Somehow i think the replacements will be clones of the ones i have so i am not convinced that will fix this problem, especially when there are so many others out there with the same complaint.

I found and ran the DisplayLink support tool on a Dynadock V that recently froze and attached the resulting zip file here.

Anyway, here's a recap of my symptoms: Fresh boot up in the morning. Perhaps once or twice a day the display connected to the Dynadock freezes, making the user think the mouse froze. They click and wiggle the mouse not realizing they are actually clicking on things since everything else about the Dynadock is still working fine (keyboard, mouse and Ethernet.) You can open the laptop lid and see the live desktop so they know the PC is not frozen. Unplug the USB and the frozen display still shows the same image. I have to pull the power plug out of the back of the Dynadock, rebooting it, in order to clear the problem, until the next time.

There doesn't seem to be anything repeatable about it. The users aren't doing any stressful activity at the time. Of course they are stressed immediately afterward!

Cycling power on the Dynadock causes problems when breaking the Ethernet connection to one of our database applications.

I don't think the problem is thermal since it can happen first thing in the morning or anytime in the day. In any case the crash is so bad it required a hard reboot.

I hope we can resolve this problem! Please contact me if you guys need any further testing from me. I anxiously await your reply.

Jeff

update: I forgot to mention the BSOD errors that we have been having too. It could be related. Three of the machines have had one or more BSOD with a STOP 0x00000116 related to the Nvidia driver nvlddmkm.sys. This only happens when the Dynadock is connected but happens less frequently than the display freeze problems. I tried to upload a DisplayLink support tool ZIP file for this other machine but the upload kept failing.

Hi Jeff,

Unfortunately by looking at the logs, I can confirm that most likely it is a firmware/hardware issue so I'd also recommend replacing the units.

Regards

DynaDock V display freezes - must cycle power on dock
 

OK, can you point out anything specific in the logs that leads you to the firmware/hardware fault conclusion? It might be helpful to others who are having a similar problem.

Also, I'd like to have a way to determine if the replacement units I receive do not have the problem.

Thanks!

The connection with a device couldn't be established:

Connect
Firmware version (BCD): 0103
Status: F1002001 Asic Blanking=None
Packet size 512
Reap: async (0, 0) failed : usb_reap: timeout error
Connect failed sys::Exception: USB transmit failed
Sleeping for 500 ms

You can try a different USB cable to make sure that its not the issue or power cycle the device to try to get it working. If none of those suggestions help, then you should replace the units. You will only be able to see whether the replacements has the same problem or not, by plugging the dock and seeing if it is working, alternatively by sending the log files to us for analysis.

Regards

Hi,

Has this problem been resolved with new units or does it still exist? We bought a brand new Toshiba Dynadock U and it has the same problem. I attached the file that was generated by running the support tool. I hit gather support information after the problem occurred. The problem can be corrected by unplugging the dynadock.

peiffer83,

I have recently just returned one of the five malfuntioning Dynadock V units and am waiting for the replacement. When I get that new unit I will be testing it and will report back to this thread. The other four have been removed from service pending the outcome of the test.

It's my impression that Toshiba and Displaylink do not have a valid solution yet for this problem and I believe the replacement units won't be any different than the ones I have now. If the replacement unit exhibits the same errors I will be pushing Toshiba to take back all five units for a full refund.

I have to complement Pawel and the Displaylink Team for providing the diagnostic tools and for reviewing the logs and providing some real facts, such as they are. Dealing with Toshiba has been much more difficult.

Thanks Jeff,

Was there any difference if the display resolution was changed? Color depth, or refresh rate of the monitor on the display link adapter? Did a different usb cable make any difference?

Hi,

I am running into the same problem as reported above. And I agree with Jeff Fitting when he says the unit replacement should not solve the problem. It looks to me as being much more a malfunction driver behaviour rather than a hardware issue alone.

I have in my office two Toshiba Dynadocks U, one of them purchased in 2009. It was functioning perfectly until last month when I updated the software with the one I downloaded from Toshiba and DisplayLink (v 5.5). The display now freezes as reported, ramdomly and while performing simple tasks. One or two times a day, and it can be overcome simply by undocking and docking again.

The second unit doesn't freeze, but it has not the monitor cable connected to it. The reason for that is that when I connect the monitor (a Samsung T2270 model) to the Dynadock, I start facing very accentuated mouse lag effects.

Hi does it make a difference if its plugged in dvi or vga?

Possible solution
 

I was having this exact same problem with my dynadock u. As I was trying to work it out I realized that whenever I would do something on my laptop that cause to the User Account Control to activate, my monitor would be come active, update and freeze as soon as I hit "allow". That made me think that it must be a software not a hardware issue. So I went into the control panel, user accounts, my user profile and unchecked the box that turned the User Account Control on. I restarted my computer and have not had a problem since and that was a few days when it was freezing 2-3 times a day. It may be a fix, time will tell.

Hope this helps.

Well this is happening on Windows XP, are you on windows 7?

Hi peiffer83,

We didn't try other USB cables but we did see the problem on five different units, each with their own cables so i don't think it was cable specific. Also some users had their screen resolutions at different settings according to the monitor they were using but all had the same freeze problem.

Hi Peiffer.

I could not figure out if your question relates to the screen freeze issue or the mouse lag. On the computer that freezes the screen, the connection is VGA. On the second one, where the mouse lag is present, the problem occurs on both vga and dvi.

Testing the Kensington Universal Docking Station
 

I'm now testing a new Kensington Universal Docking Station, Model number: K33926US

It's a bit more expensive than the Toshiba Dynadock V but this unit is working without any problems so far, which makes it worth the money. Both units employ the DisplayLink hardware and drivers. The Kensington was much easier and faster to install. No install CD was needed and installation was completely automatic.

I've been using the Kensington dock for almost three days straight and never had any display freeze or other problems. The Toshiba unit failed at a rate of at least twice in an 8 hour work day.

So far so good. I've ordered the other four units I need from CDW so I will deploy all five Kensingtons soon and will report back to this thread with any news.

Hi All

The freezing issues seem to have different root causes. V5.6 release should fix the majority of the freezes (90%) but there may still be some users with a freeze in v5.6.

If you still see a freeze in v5.6, can you let me know in this thread as we think we have a potential fix, however have no reliable way of reproducing it in our system test.

Thanks

Wim

Getting the screen lock after update
 

Hi Wim, I realise it's been a while since you posted last, but we have just purchased 5 of the Toshiba Dynadock V's, and found that the screens were locking up for us. We are using HP4520s laptops, and even after installing v5.6 we're still getting the problem, but not on all computers.

Any update possible?

Cheers

Al.

Hi Al

Thanks for the post. I think this might be better to open on a new thread on v5.6, as its different to the v5.5 freeze.

Could you confirm how many devices are pulled into the dock? It seems that some people only find this when there are multiple devices connected.

Also, could you post the log files as described here. The DisplayLink*.log files should tell us if it is similar to other freezes on v5.6.

Thanks

Wim