DisplayLink USB 3.0 Not working on Ubuntu 14.04LTS

Question

I noticed this might be yet another DisplayLink outcry - but I thought I give it a go anyway. So the usual story - I have got a DisplayLink adaptor Kensington USB3.0 Video Adapter, and doesn't look like is ever going to work.

It is reorganised when I plug it in.

#uname -r
3.13.0-35-generic

# dmesg

[52049.856134] usb 2-2: new high-speed USB device number 8 using ehci-pci
[52049.989282] usb 2-2: New USB device found, idVendor=17e9, idProduct=430f
[52049.989290] usb 2-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[52049.989295] usb 2-2: Product: Kensington USB3.0 Video Adapter
[52049.989299] usb 2-2: Manufacturer: DisplayLink
[52049.989304] usb 2-2: SerialNumber: 10024214
[52059.384628] usbcore: registered new interface driver udlfb
[52402.886345] usbcore: deregistering interface driver udlfb
[52418.187053] usbcore: registered new interface driver udlfb
[53522.914146] nouveau E[   PFIFO][0000:01:00.0] CACHE_ERROR - ch 2 [Xorg[1276]] subc 0 mthd 0x0060 data 0xbeef0201

I have blacklisted udl in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-custom.conf and removed removed udlfb from /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf.

I have also manually loaded the udlfb driver.

# modprobe udlfb

[52418.187053] usbcore: registered new interface driver udlfb

Ok so basically I am not moving forward with this - because when I do;

# ls /dev | grep fb

fb0 is the only device block found - which indicates to me that udlfb is not detecting the device. udevadm info on fb0 reveals - it is the main laptop screen.

# udevadm info -a -p $(udevadm info -q path -n /dev/fb0)

 looking at device '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.0/graphics/fb0':
    KERNEL=="fb0"
    SUBSYSTEM=="graphics"
    DRIVER==""
    ATTR{pan}=="0,0"
    ATTR{name}=="nouveaufb"
    ATTR{mode}==""
    ATTR{console}==""
    ATTR{blank}==""
    ATTR{modes}=="U:1440x900p-0"
    ATTR{state}=="0"
    ATTR{bits_per_pixel}=="32"
    ATTR{cursor}==""
    ATTR{rotate}=="0"
    ATTR{stride}=="7680"
    ATTR{virtual_size}=="1920,1080"

I currently have 1 provider and that is the main screeen.

# xrandr --listproviders

Providers: number : 1
Provider 0: id: 0x65 cap: 0x1, Source Output crtcs: 2 outputs: 4 associated providers: 0 name:nouveau

Digging through /sys/class/graphicsI noticed fbcon with this settings:

  looking at device '/devices/virtual/graphics/fbcon':
    KERNEL=="fbcon"
    SUBSYSTEM=="graphics"
    DRIVER==""
    ATTR{cursor_blink}=="0"
    ATTR{rotate}=="0"

Let me also mentioned that I have tried udl with udlfb blacklisted with no joy neither.

OK so long story short - Is anyone managed to get similar DisplayLink USB 3.0 Adaptor working with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS or similar?

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

8

Update August 2015

3 years after releasing the chipset, Displaylink has released beta versions of a driver to support the DL3XXX chip generation under Ubuntu 14.04. I leave the following content as original reply to the questions.

Please see:

DisplayLink Ubuntu Driver Download and
How to install DisplayLink software on Ubuntu on the DisplayLink website

Old information below

The USB3.0 Displaylink devices do NOT support Linux

In particular, this includes the Displaylink DL3XXX-generation and newer.

Displaylink has no intention to make a driver in foreseeable future. See this thread.

Wim of Displaylink wrote on 08-17-2012:

We don't have any ETAs at the moment, and still looking at the best path to do this. One issue is that the DL-3000 supports content protection and we need to ensure this remains secure under an open source environment.

This was also discussed in this answer. More related questions here: this

EDIT: July 2015

It seems that USB3.0 support for Linux might come in Q3 2015, as announced here (Thanks NecLimDul)

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

Community

1

answered Aug 29 '14 at 01:34

noleti

4,053
27
25

2

Shame init! bunch of Linux users out there with one of these devices on their desk and can't use it. – Bitmap Aug 29 '14 at 08:57
3

This is updated to Q3 of 2015 http://displaylink.org/forum/showpost.php?p=77618&postcount=177 – NecLimDul Jul 09 '15 at 19:45
It should be updated again: http://www.displaylink.com/for-business/common_questions.php mentions support for Ubuntu 14.04, linking to a package at http://www.displaylink.com/downloads/ubuntu.php – Reinier Post Aug 26 '15 at 11:13
Installation instructions are at http://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/684649-how-to-install-displaylink-software-on-ubuntu – Reinier Post Aug 26 '15 at 11:15
I am now using two docking stations (HP Port Replicator and Dell D3100 Docking Station) on a Dell Precision M4500 laptop at the same time; each has a display attached; both displays work, thanks to DisplayLink's driver for Ubuntu 14.04, and I can position them with the standard System Settings ... -> Displays widget. 3D acceleration probably won't work, but I don't need that right now. Not that the laptop doesn't support USB 3.0 so I don't know if it works with USB 3.0. – Reinier Post Aug 28 '15 at 14:15
@Reinier Post Thanks for the comments, I updated my original answer to reflect this new development. – noleti Sep 03 '15 at 04:37
@noleti: Thanks, I've shortened it a little (I have tested the driver and it works for me). – Reinier Post Sep 09 '15 at 15:11
This answer is really obsolete now! – Reinier Post Oct 07 '15 at 11:09
Update: after my regular dist-upgrade, X kept crashing. The only fix was to boot an older kernel (3.16.0-51 instead of 53). – Reinier Post Nov 13 '15 at 11:52

Tobias Tebbi · Answer 2 · 2015-08-17T15:25:10.990

3

Displaylink just released a Linux driver for USB 3 devices: http://www.displaylink.com/downloads/ubuntu.php

I tested it under Ubuntu 15.04 with Dell's USB3-Ethernet/VGA/HDMI adapter and it kind of worked, although the recognized display resolution was too low. Also, I have to re-run the installation script after every reboot

edited Aug 17 '15 at 15:25

answered Aug 04 '15 at 22:51

Tobias Tebbi

31

I have installed it - but still no joy. Can't even see activity of it in dmesg. – Bitmap Aug 06 '15 at 11:06
It works for me. with Ubuntu 14.04 after upgrading the kernel (it is 3.16 now). I don't need to rerun the installation script. – Reinier Post Aug 28 '15 at 14:17
With compiz, it forgets to update the screen after a keystroke, at least on my computer, which makes the displays pretty hard to work with. Solution: start up with metacity instead (GNOME Metacity Flashback in the Ubuntu Unity launcher). – Reinier Post Oct 07 '15 at 11:07
I installed the driver on ubuntu 14.04 with kernel version 3.19 but still hdmi does not work for me on Dell XPS 13 – curious Apr 21 '16 at 16:09

DisplayLink USB 3.0 Not working on Ubuntu 14.04LTS

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