Can't get any DisplayLink products I've tried to work with three laptops, any ideas?

aaronpriest · 12-16-2009, 03:18 PM

I have three HP ProBook 3410s laptops (WinXP Pro SP3, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330, latest BIOS and drivers, Catalyst Control Center uninstalled), four IOGear GUC2015V VGA adapters, and one EVGA UV16 DVI adapter. No combination of any driver from IOGear, EVGA, or DisplayLink’s own website, from version 4.2 to 5.2 on ANY of the adapters on ANY of the laptops will work. Absolute total failure every time with any combination of hardware/software. I finally got the EVGA DVI adapter to work on a Dell workstation with a similar ATI video card without spontaneous reboots, but even the IOGear ones will not work on the Dell workstations. Sometimes the laptops will get stuck in a reboot sequence (without asking and without notification, before the user even logs in!) making it difficult to recover from since you can’t uninstall the software in safe mode (MSI installers won’t let you) and you only have about 30 seconds to make your way into add/remove program and start uninstalling before it spontaneously reboots. On other occasions the laptops will blue screen on every boot until you remove the swap file by booting off a CD or thumbdrive to access the hard drive. But once the swapfile is put back in place, the blue screens start again. The only resolution I’ve found for that dilemma is a total reload. I never have blue screens on these laptops until this driver is installed though. I’ve probably reloaded these laptops 12 times trying to get to the bottom of this. No consumer product should be this difficult!

At the moment I have two laptops where the 5.2 driver seems to be installed stably. No automatic reboots, no blue screens. Windows device manager lists EVGA UV Plus+ under USB Display Adapters. However, on every boot, Windows says it must reboot again for hardware changes to take effect and it then will list another unknown device under display adapters with an exclamation point. I have about 18 of them listed there now, one for every time I’ve rebooted. I’ve attempted to force windows to use a specific driver, but there is no .inf file to use with this single .msi driver file that I can find.

I’m about ready to give up on all DisplayLink products. Surely not everyone has this much trouble getting ONE to work?! HP and IOGear support has been clueless and have not been able to resolve this even after escalating it three times over the past month. I’m hoping someone here has some insight? Maybe it’s just not compatible with the ATI driver that HP is using, maybe XP SP3 is just not supported, who knows? Any ideas? I’m fresh out of ‘em…

aaronpriest · 12-16-2009, 04:42 PM

Well, I removed all DisplayLink & ATI drivers and software via add/remove programs and, after a reboot, DriverSweeper to be sure. I then installed ATI's generic 9.11 driver courtesy of DriverHeaven's MobilityModder (instead of HP's own driver). After making sure the HDMI video port still worked, I then proceeded to install DisplayLink's 5.2 driver and saw two more unknown devices with exclamation points under display adapters in device manager before rebooting. I rebooted and Windows still prompts to reboot again to use new hardware (it does this on every boot and adds another unknown device every time). I plugged in the EVGA UV16 DVI adapter and it detected it as EVGA UV Plus+ under USB Display Adapters. Windows is still prompting for a driver for a "Display" and adding more unknown devices with every boot though. So, I don't think the ATI video card driver is the issue, having the exact same results with both HP's driver and ATI's own 9.11 driver (without Catalyst installed). Still waiting for any company to step forward with a suggestion, or perhaps a savvy reader on this forum...

aaronpriest · 12-16-2009, 09:51 PM

Success! Finally! After taking all the steps I did in my previous post (modifying the default ATI 9.11 driver), I reinstalled DisplayLink's 5.2.22372 driver, and before rebooting I forced the two unknown devices in device manager to use C:\Program Files\DisplayLink Core Software\MirrorDriver\DisplayLinkMirror.inf and C:\Program Files\DisplayLink Core Software\AdapterDriver\DisplayLinkGA.inf. After rebooting and plugging in the EVGA UV16 DVI adapter it worked fine. I'm not sure if the corrupt swap file / blue screen issue has been resolved yet as I've not reenabled a swap file on that one machine yet.

Just thought I'd post my results for anyone else with these issues. Drivers should not be written this poorly.

wabby · 12-29-2009, 05:00 PM

Hello!

I have the exact same problem, but I havent got it to work yes.
This is XP with SP3 on a HP EliteBook 6930p.

De display driver keeps popping up over and over again. Even tried to force it to the INF file you mentioned. But still the same problems.

It all started using the CD i got v4.6 of the driver. Then XP made the typical sound when inserting and removing an USB device over and over again.
First i thought it was to low power on the USB when running on battery so i plugged the laptop to the AC adapter. Reinstalled v4.6. Then the infinit restartloop started.
Removed it and installed latest driver 5.2.
Have not tried to do a drivercleanup yet since I don't have the program for it at the moment. Will try some more when I get to work again.

basilmir · 12-29-2009, 05:27 PM

The ATI driver is the problem.

Google DHMODTOOL and mod a newer desktop ati driver and install it. 5.2 will work.

wabby · 12-29-2009, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by basilmir

The ATI driver is the problem.

Google DHMODTOOL and mod a newer desktop ati driver and install it. 5.2 will work.

Nope, not this time...

This is what I've tried now:
* removed all ATI and Displaylink drivers
* modded the new AIT driver i've downloaded (8.561-xxxxx)
* installed the ATI driver and then Displaylink 5.2
* the same problems as above appeared.
* swapped out the original USB cabel with a shorter USB cable. Now the ICON appeared in the systemtray (Ws tech USB Multi-Display).

BUT... I can't activate an extra monitor and it does not appear in ATI CCC or in Windows display properties. I also get "found new hardware" crap on every startup!

Getting pretty annoyed now... :S

EDIT:
Tried on my Dell with nvidia and the short USB cable. All OK. Grrr

timolappalainen · 01-26-2010, 01:15 PM

Hello,

Thank you aaronpriest very much. I had the same problem with HP and ATI. I downloaded ATI 9.12 drivers, uninstall ATI and DisplayLink, modified ATI driver with mod tool, installed it, installed 5.2.xx displaylink driver, reboot, force unknown devices on Display adapters, reboot, switch ws tech usb-dvi, force again new unknown devices, reboot again and finally it works! Before last reboot and force drivers I had similar situation as Wabby - icon exist, but could not see any display. But now it works, what is important.

Thanks

12-16-2009, 03:18 PM	#1
aaronpriest Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 3	Can't get any DisplayLink products I've tried to work with three laptops, any ideas? I have three HP ProBook 3410s laptops (WinXP Pro SP3, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330, latest BIOS and drivers, Catalyst Control Center uninstalled), four IOGear GUC2015V VGA adapters, and one EVGA UV16 DVI adapter. No combination of any driver from IOGear, EVGA, or DisplayLink’s own website, from version 4.2 to 5.2 on ANY of the adapters on ANY of the laptops will work. Absolute total failure every time with any combination of hardware/software. I finally got the EVGA DVI adapter to work on a Dell workstation with a similar ATI video card without spontaneous reboots, but even the IOGear ones will not work on the Dell workstations. Sometimes the laptops will get stuck in a reboot sequence (without asking and without notification, before the user even logs in!) making it difficult to recover from since you can’t uninstall the software in safe mode (MSI installers won’t let you) and you only have about 30 seconds to make your way into add/remove program and start uninstalling before it spontaneously reboots. On other occasions the laptops will blue screen on every boot until you remove the swap file by booting off a CD or thumbdrive to access the hard drive. But once the swapfile is put back in place, the blue screens start again. The only resolution I’ve found for that dilemma is a total reload. I never have blue screens on these laptops until this driver is installed though. I’ve probably reloaded these laptops 12 times trying to get to the bottom of this. No consumer product should be this difficult! At the moment I have two laptops where the 5.2 driver seems to be installed stably. No automatic reboots, no blue screens. Windows device manager lists EVGA UV Plus+ under USB Display Adapters. However, on every boot, Windows says it must reboot again for hardware changes to take effect and it then will list another unknown device under display adapters with an exclamation point. I have about 18 of them listed there now, one for every time I’ve rebooted. I’ve attempted to force windows to use a specific driver, but there is no .inf file to use with this single .msi driver file that I can find. I’m about ready to give up on all DisplayLink products. Surely not everyone has this much trouble getting ONE to work?! HP and IOGear support has been clueless and have not been able to resolve this even after escalating it three times over the past month. I’m hoping someone here has some insight? Maybe it’s just not compatible with the ATI driver that HP is using, maybe XP SP3 is just not supported, who knows? Any ideas? I’m fresh out of ‘em…

12-16-2009, 04:42 PM	#2
aaronpriest Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 3	Well, I removed all DisplayLink & ATI drivers and software via add/remove programs and, after a reboot, DriverSweeper to be sure. I then installed ATI's generic 9.11 driver courtesy of DriverHeaven's MobilityModder (instead of HP's own driver). After making sure the HDMI video port still worked, I then proceeded to install DisplayLink's 5.2 driver and saw two more unknown devices with exclamation points under display adapters in device manager before rebooting. I rebooted and Windows still prompts to reboot again to use new hardware (it does this on every boot and adds another unknown device every time). I plugged in the EVGA UV16 DVI adapter and it detected it as EVGA UV Plus+ under USB Display Adapters. Windows is still prompting for a driver for a "Display" and adding more unknown devices with every boot though. So, I don't think the ATI video card driver is the issue, having the exact same results with both HP's driver and ATI's own 9.11 driver (without Catalyst installed). Still waiting for any company to step forward with a suggestion, or perhaps a savvy reader on this forum...

12-16-2009, 09:51 PM	#3
aaronpriest Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 3	Success! Finally! After taking all the steps I did in my previous post (modifying the default ATI 9.11 driver), I reinstalled DisplayLink's 5.2.22372 driver, and before rebooting I forced the two unknown devices in device manager to use C:\Program Files\DisplayLink Core Software\MirrorDriver\DisplayLinkMirror.inf and C:\Program Files\DisplayLink Core Software\AdapterDriver\DisplayLinkGA.inf. After rebooting and plugging in the EVGA UV16 DVI adapter it worked fine. I'm not sure if the corrupt swap file / blue screen issue has been resolved yet as I've not reenabled a swap file on that one machine yet. Just thought I'd post my results for anyone else with these issues. Drivers should not be written this poorly.

12-29-2009, 05:00 PM	#4
wabby Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 2	Hello! I have the exact same problem, but I havent got it to work yes. This is XP with SP3 on a HP EliteBook 6930p. De display driver keeps popping up over and over again. Even tried to force it to the INF file you mentioned. But still the same problems. It all started using the CD i got v4.6 of the driver. Then XP made the typical sound when inserting and removing an USB device over and over again. First i thought it was to low power on the USB when running on battery so i plugged the laptop to the AC adapter. Reinstalled v4.6. Then the infinit restartloop started. Removed it and installed latest driver 5.2. Have not tried to do a drivercleanup yet since I don't have the program for it at the moment. Will try some more when I get to work again.

12-29-2009, 05:27 PM	#5
basilmir Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 12	The ATI driver is the problem. Google DHMODTOOL and mod a newer desktop ati driver and install it. 5.2 will work.

01-26-2010, 01:15 PM	#7
timolappalainen Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 1	Hello, Thank you aaronpriest very much. I had the same problem with HP and ATI. I downloaded ATI 9.12 drivers, uninstall ATI and DisplayLink, modified ATI driver with mod tool, installed it, installed 5.2.xx displaylink driver, reboot, force unknown devices on Display adapters, reboot, switch ws tech usb-dvi, force again new unknown devices, reboot again and finally it works! Before last reboot and force drivers I had similar situation as Wabby - icon exist, but could not see any display. But now it works, what is important. Thanks