MacOS 11 M1 DisplayLinkManager Crashes and System logs out user

[KatarzynaCzaja]

Hello,

Thank you all for reaching out!

We'd appreciate if you could gather logfiles and detailed description of the issue you are seeing and steps already taken to find a solution.
The steps to gather the logfiles can be found here: https://support.displaylink.com/know...to-displaylink


Those along with description of the problem please email to technical-enquiries@synaptics.com or post in the response here.

Thank you,
Katarzyna

[jailbreak]

The steps from the first post DID work for me (I rotated a display on M1 and found out it didn't work), here's what I did to recover:

• unplugged the docking station
• removed TWO files - yes there are two files: one is in system-wide /Library/Preferences, and the other is in your home directory - note the "~" character in beginning of the path!

  ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver*

• rebooted
• reconnected the dock, all works fine in landscape mode

Paste below line in the Terminal and hit Enter to see exact locations of files you need to remove:

for f in /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver* ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver*; do echo $f; done

Hope this helps.....

[helixpt]

Exactly the same problem here, I'm so glad I've found this post!

I've already sent a UserVoice and was about to re-install my OS, although I've run to some complicated issues while formating an M1 mac and was fearful of doing it again just before the week starts.

I've attached a DisplayLinkInfo with the most detailed settings here that I was logging just before getting loged out after pluging in the screen.

I'm gonna try the proposed solution here and report back in a few minutes.

[helixpt]

Just tried it and was only able to find the file on the first location. Deleted it and it didn't work.

Btw here's the LS of the second directory:

helixpt@Andres-MBP ~ % cd /Users/helixpt/Library/Preferences/ByHost 
helixpt@Andres-MBP ByHost % Ls
com.apple.AMPLibraryAgent.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.AOSKit.RegInfo.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.AOSPushRelay.TopicInfo.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.Bluetooth.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.FaceTime.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.ManagedClient.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.QuickLookDaemon.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.accessibility.universalAccessAuthWarn.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.commcenter.csidata.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.configurationprofiles.user.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.controlcenter.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.dock.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.finder.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.identityservicesd.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.imservice.SMS.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.imservice.ids.FaceTime.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.imservice.ids.iMessage.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.loginwindow.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.screensaver.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.settings.storage.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.sharingd.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.soundpref.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.apple.systempreferences.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.logmein.COLVideo.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist
com.logmein.GoToMeeting.7DF273B3-79B3-58C7-AEE1-06252AF00941.plist

Also the command to find it didn't return anything as expected, but it should be cached somewhere.

helixpt@Andres-MBP ByHost % for f in /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver* ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver*; do echo $f; done
zsh: no matches found: /Users/helixpt/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver*

[helixpt]

Solved

Guys, although I wasn't able to find both files as reported in the previous post, I was indeed able to fix the issue. I'm not recommending this solution since it's a nuclear approach, but it worked nonetheless.

It makes total sense to me that should be some file stuck with preferences after attempting to rotate the screen. Something (resolution, window position, wtv, gets recorded in a way after attempting to rotate de DisplayLink controlled display, that makes something in the OS crash. Then you're logged out.

Since I only was able to find 1 of 2 files reported in this topic and was ready to format the machine if fixed, I backed up the complete preferences folder and deleted everything I could (the OS doesn't allow the deletion of only 2 files), and rebooted.

Surprise surprise, the next time I logged in, opened DisplayLink, connected the dongle and it was fixed for good.

Ideally, the next step will be for the DisplayLink team to at least make a script to find those preference files and auto-delete them for all those that encounter this issue go back to a functioning device ASAP, until the driver properly supports rotation on M1 Macs running Big Sur.

Keep up the great work.

[pecham202020]

I also have an M1 Mac with Displaylink 1.2 installed. As soon as I open Displaylink Manager the computer crashes. Then I log in again and since Displaylink Manager is set to open at login I end up in a reboot cycle. So the only solution is to either disconnect the adapter or to uninstall Displaylink Manager. For now I have uninstalled Displaylink Manager.

I have not tried any of the proposed solutions.

[pecham202020]

Originally Posted by pecham202020

I also have an M1 Mac with Displaylink 1.2 installed. As soon as I open Displaylink Manager the computer crashes. Then I log in again and since Displaylink Manager is set to open at login I end up in a reboot cycle. So the only solution is to either disconnect the adapter or to uninstall Displaylink Manager. For now I have uninstalled Displaylink Manager.

I have not tried any of the proposed solutions.

I have now tried the proposed solution and removed the plist files. My M1 Mac still crashes upon the launch of DisplayLink Manager.

[pecham202020]

Any update?

[pecham202020]

Has anyone found a fix to this?

[adrummer11]

If anyone is encountering this persistent issue and is having trouble with the terminal commands in the solution, you might try adjusting the commands to:

cd ~/Downloads
chmod +x ResetDisplayPrefs.command 
sudo ./ResetDisplayPrefs\.command  

I found that iOS rebuilds the deleted files upon reboot, which starts the problem all over again. For now I just drop the above in the terminal when I start up in the morning and then don't reboot at the prompt. It's an annoying couple of extra minutes but works, unless anyone has a better idea.