3 External Monitor with Macbook Pro lagging problem

[rboerner]

Originally Posted by brdmyldz

Hi,

My setup is,
Macbook Pro 15" 2016 ( https://imgur.com/a/tiIHgUw )
ASUS VG27AQ 27" 60Hz (using HDMI -> HDMI cable) [QHD]
2x ASUS VA24DQ 23.8” 75 Hz (using DP -> HDMI cable) [FHD] (one is vertical)
Dell D6000 Dock with DisplayLink Support
Setup Picture: https://imgur.com/a/0Ole7Cg

If you temporarily change the one vertical display to a horizontal orientation, does that change the behavior?

[xavierr]

Originally Posted by rboerner

If you temporarily change the one vertical display to a horizontal orientation, does that change the behavior?

My issue is very similar to brdmyldz's, and it is interesting to note that one of the three monitors connected to my DisplayLink is rotated 90 degrees. I will try to connected the rotated monitor directly to my Macbook such that all monitors on the DisplayLink are non-rotated.

Also, I have figured out the following:
- The problem is clearly with the DisplayLink driver. After several hours of working of my computer some of the DisplayLink connected monitors stop responding (can no longer hover my mouse over them), until eventually all the DisplayLink connected monitors turn black.
- I manually kill the DisplayLink 1.4 manager app, restart it, then it works again (note that it can take several minutes to kill the app).
- Also note that when the DisplayLink 1.4 manager app is having issues, it seems to slowly generate heat (macbook fan starts spinning), until eventually kernal_task goes up in CPU usage (up to 1000% in my case). When kernal_task uses a lot of CPU, the entire computer is sluggish.

I have sent my Display Link debug file DisplayLinkInfo_Output_20210719_072538.zip to the Display Link support team.

I hope they will report back.

Thanks,
Xavier

[xavierr]

Here's an update I sent Kate / DisplayLink in case it can help anyone else:

Unfortunately my setup is a bit inflexible so it's difficult to put all screens in landscape mode.

I kept on troubleshooting these last few days and here are a few additional pieces of information that will answer some of your questions:

- I'm definitely having issues with DisplayLink Manager 1.4:
I installed it when I upgraded my OS to BigSur, and that's when I started having these issues.
- I used to be on the legacy driver, and on a positive note the layout of the monitors is much more stable on v1.4 (yeah!) -- I used to have to reconfigure my screens ~once a week on the legacy driver, which was so annoying that I wrote a script based on "displayplacer" to automate that process.

ISSUE #1
---------------------
- After working on my macbook for prolonged periods of time, some of the monitors connected to the DisplayLink will inevitably stop responding.
- I can no longer hover my mouse over them and eventually they turn black.
- At that point, I have to manually kill DisplayLink Manager v1.4 and manually start it again.
- Restarting DisplayLink Manager v1.4 restores my monitors to a working state.
- I typically have to kill/restart the driver once or twice a day.
- Now that I have pin pointed the issue, it's annoying but at least I have a workaround.
- The DisplayLink Information .zip file that I sent 3 days ago was taken after experiencing Issue #1.

ISSUE #2
---------------------
- When using Google Meet / Zoom, and typically after sharing screen, my macbook's fan starts spinning loudly, my mouse starts lagging massively, and when I open activity monitor kernel_task runs above 1000% CPU usage.
- My best course of action when this happens is to shutdown my macbook, wait for it to cool down, and restart it.
- I've had this issue systematically when using Google Meet / Zoom, so I have taken the following measures for it not to happen:
* I disconnected all external monitors and confirmed that I can do a Google Meet/Zoom and share screen without any issues.
* when kernel_task runs above 1000% it seems to be because my macbook is overheating, so I have propped it up ~1cm and I have directed a fan towards the macbook
- I had a successful Google Meet yesterday:
* I kept the Google Meet Window on my macbook's monitor and I have not moved the Google Meet Window on to any external monitor.
* I have successfully shared my macbook's monitor without experiencing the kernel_task above 1000% CPU issue.

Hope that helps.

[xavierr]

another update, after trying v1.5.0 Beta 1 (Build 58.111) for ~2 weeks:

* i noted an improvement in performance compared with 1.4
* my CPU/GPU does not overheat quite as often
* i.e. I do not have the kernel_task using 1000% CPU as often as I used to
* that being said, the PERFORMANCE IS STILL WAY WORSE than it used to be with the previous driver (i.e. before I was forced to migrate to the new generation of driver after upgrading the BigSur).
* amongst other things, my macbook's fan is still running continuously (it never stops running). the fan running 100% of the time is only something I started to experience after upgrading to BigSur

[xavierr]

2ND UPDATE: QUITE FED UP WITH THIS, I POSTED A REVIEW WITH 2 STARS ON AMAZON:

MacOs drivers have known performance issues, especially when rotating screens.

I have 3 external monitors connected on my Dell Docking / DisplayLink:
- my 2019, 32GB macbook pro's CPU/GPU started overheating with the new driver (after BigSur update).
- this would happen every time I would share one of my screens on Zoom / Google Meet with version 1.4 of the driver (June 2021).
- it is still a problem as of today (September 2021), though the problem is less acute with version 1.5 of the driver (released two weeks ago).

Here are the problems remaining as of September 2021:
- my macbook pro's fan runs continuously when the 3 external monitors are plugged in (was not the case with the old generation of drivers, before BigSur)
- CPU/GPU overheats only sporadically now
- the fact that my macbook is continuously slightly overheating is likely to decrease its lifetime

Please see the complete thread on the DisplayLink Forum:
https://www.displaylink.org/forum/sh...2309#post92309

[xavierr]

MORE INFO FOR DISPLAY LINK... IF THEY CARE...

i can confirm that the issue is with the DisplayLink external card / driver: today I had an important video conference so I unplugged the DisplayLink from my computer altogether. My 2019 Macbook had 2 external monitors plugged into it directly via USBC.

I had none of the performance issues that I experience all the time since upgrading to BigSur

[xavierr]

For your information, the new release (v1.6) seems to have fixed this problem

I installed it on december 22 and i have not had the above problems in the past two weeks.

[xavierr]

I spoke way too fast. Still having major performance issues when Sharing Screens on my Macbook Pro when using my multiple monitor setup.

I am more than willing to try to troubleshoot this with DisplayLink:
- I have tried many things (e.g. all my screens are in landscape -- no rotations - but I still have the issues)
- I have reached out to them many times.

Kate from DisplayLink replied to my posts once, but she never bothered again.

Please help.

Xavier