Mac 10.9.3 - Displaylink and J5Create devices don't play nicely together

Carlo · 05-29-2014, 08:14 AM

You're hitting multiple problems here.

First of all, the bugs in Mavericks affect any virtual screen device, including J5create. We have tried those as well as iPad virtual screens and as soon as there are two on the system the layout won't be remembered between reboots and replugs and the other issues happen as well (if anyone has a different experience please tell us!).

Second, you're hitting another OS X with multiple screens, where the changes on one screen are sent to the wrong one.
To avoid this issue in version 2.2 we are running the screens in a sort of slower legacy mode on Mavericks when 2+ DisplayLink screens are connected.
This is not a problem if you use version 2.1 of our drivers but you'll experience lower performance even on a single DisplayLink screen. It's not nearly as slow as other solutions (ehm...) but nevertheless a different user experience.

So in terms of working solutions right now I see a few scenarios:
1DL+1J5, using version 2.1 of our drivers. This should work as "Slow and slower".
2DL, using version 2.2 of our drivers. We can call it "Slow and Slow"
2J5, no DL drivers, called "Slower and slower"

Please note that at the moment we don't support or recommend any of these solutions on Mavericks because of the OS limitations.
In all cases you still would have issues with layout persistence, you may introduce or resolve Window Server crashes (these are timing issues, so any change in the configuration affects them) and most other known Mavericks problems with 2 virtual screens would occur.

Hope this helps

Cheers,
Carlo

05-29-2014, 08:14 AM	#2
Carlo Mac Team Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 606	You're hitting multiple problems here. First of all, the bugs in Mavericks affect any virtual screen device, including J5create. We have tried those as well as iPad virtual screens and as soon as there are two on the system the layout won't be remembered between reboots and replugs and the other issues happen as well (if anyone has a different experience please tell us!). Second, you're hitting another OS X with multiple screens, where the changes on one screen are sent to the wrong one. To avoid this issue in version 2.2 we are running the screens in a sort of slower legacy mode on Mavericks when 2+ DisplayLink screens are connected. This is not a problem if you use version 2.1 of our drivers but you'll experience lower performance even on a single DisplayLink screen. It's not nearly as slow as other solutions (ehm...) but nevertheless a different user experience. So in terms of working solutions right now I see a few scenarios: 1DL+1J5, using version 2.1 of our drivers. This should work as "Slow and slower". 2DL, using version 2.2 of our drivers. We can call it "Slow and Slow" 2J5, no DL drivers, called "Slower and slower" Please note that at the moment we don't support or recommend any of these solutions on Mavericks because of the OS limitations. In all cases you still would have issues with layout persistence, you may introduce or resolve Window Server crashes (these are timing issues, so any change in the configuration affects them) and most other known Mavericks problems with 2 virtual screens would occur. Hope this helps Cheers, Carlo