DisplayLink simply not working on Mac?

[forza]

I've been using this setup for just over a year now. I've done various plugging and un-plugging over that time. The MBP is taken home each night so the displays are daily plugged and unplugged - although this is done with the MBP powered off.

I think the main reason I've had success where others haven't is that my MBP is the first gen unibody - the later i5 and i7 MBPs seem to be the most problematic, but the recent 10.6.5 update from Apple does seem to have made things a lot better. Interesting to note that an update from Apple cured the problems rather than a new driver from DisplayLink ....

I am aware DisplayLink claim to be frustrated by a lack of technical support/information from Apple - but this was primarily around the accelerated graphics support from what I remember. Not sure if Apple's recent opening up of the accelerated APIs has improved this though. So little communication from DisplayLink themselves leaves us all in the dark guessing and coming to our own conclusions - probably incorrectly most of the time.

[MikeKulls]

Originally Posted by forza

I've been using this setup for just over a year now. I've done various plugging and un-plugging over that time. The MBP is taken home each night so the displays are daily plugged and unplugged - although this is done with the MBP powered off.

I think the main reason I've had success where others haven't is that my MBP is the first gen unibody - the later i5 and i7 MBPs seem to be the most problematic, but the recent 10.6.5 update from Apple does seem to have made things a lot better. Interesting to note that an update from Apple cured the problems rather than a new driver from DisplayLink ....

I am aware DisplayLink claim to be frustrated by a lack of technical support/information from Apple - but this was primarily around the accelerated graphics support from what I remember. Not sure if Apple's recent opening up of the accelerated APIs has improved this though. So little communication from DisplayLink themselves leaves us all in the dark guessing and coming to our own conclusions - probably incorrectly most of the time.

The key thing you said there was "although this is done with the MBP powered off". That makes a big difference. If you try unplugging the USB while the machine is running then it's likely that when you plug it back in it will never work again until you do a full OS reinstall. Previously I did manage to do the unplug/replug a few times without problems but since I reinstalled I only managed to unplug it once before it stopped working.

[mastahype]

I've had similar experience to forza with my late '08 MBP. I can plug and unplug usually uneventfully. The key issues I've had are with sleep and wake, which have been improved by DisplayLink.

The main problem is that DisplayLink has been mostly mum for Mac support. They pop in every couple months and lots of progress is made, but users suffer in the times when they choose not to communicate. At this point, I could care less if Apple was the reason behind lots of problems. It's DisplayLink's responsibility to communicate that to it's users. They seem to think it's ok to point users back to the manufacturers, who have almost all simply implemented some reference design and never planned to write their own drivers, likely because DisplayLink said they would do that.

I agree - this technology is just not ready for prime time on the Mac. I actually use it on Windows XP with much fewer issues, although using it with a USB hub does cause issues which are resolved by plug/unplug cycles.

[MikeKulls]

Originally Posted by mastahype

I agree - this technology is just not ready for prime time on the Mac. I actually use it on Windows XP with much fewer issues, although using it with a USB hub does cause issues which are resolved by plug/unplug cycles.

Thanks for the reply. I would suggest not using this on a USB hub. This is the sort of thing that needs every inch of bandwidth it can get.