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I can't seem to get a straight answer on this. I would like to add a 3rd display onto my laptop + external monitor setup. While my current setup (Thinkpad X201) has an open VGA port (am using the laptop's display + displayport with external monitor) it appears that I can't drive 3 monitors natively.

I would like to explore what my alternatives are to get another display into the mix. I've found lots of references to displaylink but nothing absolutely confirmed to work.

Jorge Castro
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Kendor
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  • If it (displaylink) "just works" on BSD, I can't imagine that it wouldn't work on Ubuntu...just a thought. I wonder about this too. – RobotHumans Jan 22 '11 at 21:37

1 Answers1

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A user reports it working on Ubuntu 9.04 after compiling some packages: http://mulchman.org/blog/?tag=displaylink

edit: apt-cache search displaylink returns xserver-xorg-video-displaylink - X driver for DisplayLink devices...it wouldn't be included if it didn't work. It might not support ALL resolutions, but I think it more than satisfies will it work.

edit: I would try pasting this section into you xorg configuration:

Section "Device"
Identifier "DisplayLinkDevice"
driver "displaylink"
Option "fbdev" "/dev/fb1"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "DisplayLinkMonitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "DisplayLinkScreen"
Device "DisplayLinkDevice"
Monitor "DisplayLinkMonitor"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Even with the windows drivers not all resolutions are supported across all chipsets.

another point worth noting is that in some configurations it has been noted that the DVI dongle doesn't function appropriately

okay maybe i found it: http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/libdlo/2010-November/000807.html


The most interesting thing is that I found out why I can use the
displaylink driver together with nvidia but not the fbdev driver.

This is just an explicit check (xf86Bus.c, xf86PostProbe()) whether both
framebuffer and pci devices have been claimed, if so the server refuses
to start.
The displaylink driver just clears the corresponding fbSlotClaimed flag,
no more magic required. But, there is another (similar) check in
xf86ClaimFbSlot() (xf86fbBus.c) that, when claiming a frambuffer slot,
makes sure no PCI slot has been allocated, I guess thats the reason why
the displaylink driven device must be registered first (as primary screen).

On another thread the green screen problem is attributed to using DirectFB

discussion here: http://web.archiveorange.com/archive/v/BNQl8iH957oQe619QVek
they indicate that it worked, if slowly. but the box in question was a 266MHz monster so...

RobotHumans
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  • Mulchman's last notes on this are 1 1/2 years old, and not specific to 10.10... am hoping to find newer information regarding what absolutely will work. – Kendor Jan 23 '11 at 14:45
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    I went ahead and bought a Diamond DisplayLink based device and followed the instructions here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1493143 on how to get it recognized. Suffice to say, it didn't just work out of the box (I had low expectations).

    If you are here and have gotten this working, am wondering if you can share how you did it... my troubles are documented here http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=10399794&postcount=23

     – Kendor Jan 26 '11 at 21:46
  • also @Kendor , if you ultimately wind up not getting it working and are frustrated let me know. I'll buy the adapter off of you and do the testing on my end to get it working. Ultimately I think it should. – RobotHumans Jan 26 '11 at 22:15
  • @aking1012 I modified xorg per your suggestion, and tried with various combinations (my monitor is 1440x900), but also tried 640x480 8-bit as a safety.. those changes didn't work. I also tried changing to fb0 from fb1 (not sure how to tell the difference).... No dice on the above. I also had a second dongle, so tried that too... also didn't work. If it were to light up, how does one control it? would this show up in the normal "Monitor Preference" app? – Kendor Jan 27 '11 at 20:00
  • It should. But then, it should also just work...If you're getting the green screen the device is kind of functioning, just not appropriately. I would look at refresh rates and resolutions. The first entry (the real video card) should be frame buffer 0. The usb should be frame buffer 1. If the device were not functioning at all it would be giving you the same thing you get with the usb not connected at all(at least this is what it did for me when i had to set one up about 6 months ago). Just a black screen. Green is progress...almost there. – RobotHumans Jan 27 '11 at 20:20
  • It also doesn't seem to play very nicely with nvidia binary drivers from user reports. – RobotHumans Jan 27 '11 at 20:32
  • Unfortunately, nVidia is not an option for me as my internal video is Intel. I'm about to give up on this as I have found a reasonable workaround... I have an Acer Aspire Nettop that's very small and low power, and am using Synergy to extend mouse control from my main set up... functionally it gives what I need, albeit at the cost of having another machine running... I do wish the Displaylink just worked, but there's only so much energy one can throw at this. – Kendor Jan 28 '11 at 18:01
  • @Kendor note to my previous comment - if you find you don't want it let me know what you paid for it and I'll buy it off you...I feel at least partially responsible for the purchase and think getting it working on Ubuntu latest needs to be documented somewhere – RobotHumans Jan 28 '11 at 20:33
  • @aking1012 no worries. I bought from NewEggg so easy enough to return... If you are motivated, you can try the same card I did and let me know how you got it to work: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814998016 (there's a $50 rebate on this model, so it's a good deal). – Kendor Jan 30 '11 at 20:36