Displaylink 9.1 inf - display layout provisioning
 

Hello,
Just got the mail tonight with the release of 9.1 and display layout provisioning, it states that it's not working through inf driver install, why is that?
And when will this be possible?
We got alot of "hotdesks" and would love to create layout before the users connects the first time!

Hello Lenny,

It is now expressly forbidden for a graphics driver to change the default behaviour for screen layout that Windows has. So we can't bundle it within the driver itself.

The INF is used for driver installation only.
Microsoft deprecated co-installers shipped in the INF, so we can't add an add-on anymore (like we are in Windows 7).

That's why we have developped a Windows service to take care of the need, without infringing any rule for driver signatures from Microsoft.
We give an MSI version for remote deployments. The MSI is allowed to deploy software on top of the device driver.

The layout does NOT exist/live on the user machine. It is saved in the docking station itself. Therefore you can use the utility to burn the config in your docks, and deploy the driver MSI package separately which will read the dock and apply a layout at 1st connect only (we don't want to change a layout the user has already changed!)

We are investigating ways to ease the deployment/adoption of the feature. Our next thinking is, that if you use the hotdesking package, default extend left instead of Windows first default clone, if the dock has no layout saved.
We are also investigating other ways to propagate layout to the dock.

I'm very keen on hearing on your use case and suggestions for improvements. I am very conscious taking 20s per desk is quite expensive to retrofit existing desks...

Kind regards,
Alban

Most probably Due to Update
 

Hi buddy, I guess the update is causing the pause due to some changes how far I can guess as of now.

Regards,
Yakne Ceydo

Hello Alban,

When are you releasing the Hotdesk layout tool for Windows 10?
As far as I read it states only Windows 7 machines can program the docks right now.

Hello Lenny,

The programming tool is targeted to be public along the 9.2 driver release. It required both tool and driver change, as Windows 7 and Windows 10 use a different model.

The current driver package does apply the layout on Windows 10 though, only the provisioning requires Windows 7 - Windows 8.1.

I would expect 9.2 to be released between end of June to mid-July. The date will vary based on another feature readiness. The Dock Management Tool for Windows 10 is currently progressing very well so I don't foresee any delay with it.

We are also currently working on having a default behaviour applied by the hotdesk package even if the dock isn't provisionned. By always using Extended, instead of the default Duplicate on laptops, we hope to remove the programming need for desks with a single external display attached.
Other ideas are being analysed to ease the adoption/deployment of the feature to existing installations.

Kind regards,
Alban