Using UGA-4K HDMI adapter with Windows 10 and Samsung Smart TV

I have Lenovo Laptop running Windows 10 Pro, connected to Plugable UGA-4KHDMI using driver DisplayLink Corp 7.9.1488.0 to connect to a Samsung Smart TV model UN40HU6950FXZA.

While digging around in the Devices, USB Display Adapters, Properties, Events I saw the message:

Device USB\VID_17E9&PID_4324&MI_00\6&2be4e07b&0&0000 requires further installation.

(Not sure what this means)

The problem I am having is that the monitor does not work in 4K. If I extend the displays, the TV displays two distorted images side-by-side. If I duplicate displays, the 4k TV displays an image but at 1366 x 768 resolution.

Any help would be appreciated.

Greg

Hi Greg,

Thanks for contacting us. I’m sorry your adapter isn’t working as expected, and I would be happy to help.

Given the behavior you describe, the first thing to check is the HDMI cable to rule out a faulty cable causing the image problems. If you swap in another HDMI 1.4 high-speed cable does that help change the behavior?

To the message present in Device Manager, we’ll want to perform a clean install of the DisplayLink driver to ensure it is in a good state. Please follow these steps:

  1. Disconnect the adapter from the system and please keep it disconnected until the last step.
  2. Uninstall the DisplayLink Core software from the Control Panel -> Programs and Features. Don’t worry if this fails, just move onto the next step
  3. Download, extract and run the DisplayLink cleaner tool, found here –> https://s3.amazonaws.com/plugable/bin… (video walk-through -> https://youtu.be/AcVV1gD_FvI)
  4. Once the Cleaner has been run, reboot (even if not prompted to)
  5. Run Windows Update (Start > Settings > Update & security). Reboot if/when prompted. Repeat this process until there are no new updates found. This is important as Microsoft has been releasing frequent updates to Windows 10.
  6. Now download and install the 7.9 M5 DisplayLink software, found here –> https://s3.amazonaws.com/plugable/bin…
  7. Reattach the power cable to the dock first. Once the dock is powered on, reconnect it to your system when prompted by the installer which will trigger the final portion of the installation

Let us know if swapping the cable and performing the clean install helps when you have time and we’ll determine the next steps from there.

Thank you,

Bob
Plugable Technologies
www.plugable.com/support

I went through the steps you outlined:

I bought a new cable specifically rated for 4K tvs. (Swapping it with the other cables did not seem to have any effect, but I left it connected for the rest of the testing).

I ended up using Apps & Features to uninstall DisplayLink graphics first, then the Core Software.

(The other way around did not seem to work). After rebooting, I used The cleaner tool which run and indicated a successfull cleaning. I rebooted again, ran windows updates (with reboots) until it said the system was current.

I downloaded the latest driver using the link in your email and got the menu that verified system compatibility, installed the software, then asked me to plug in the device.

Everything ran without errors.

I reviewed the Event log for the Plugable UGA-4KHDMI device (in the device manager) and the last event said the status was 0x0.

After it was all over, the display adapter did display a pretty good image, but on further checking, it was at 1920 x 1080 (HD), not 3840 x 2160 as it did before.

One strange thing: If I select Duplicate displays (instead of extend) it switches to 1366 x 768 resolution, which looks pretty good but is still not 3840 x 2160. I rebooted once more and it still displayed only 1920 x 1080

Hi Greg,

Thanks for getting back with the results and the great detail you provided. To the behavior while duplicating displays, if the internal display of your laptop maxes out at 1366x768 the behavior on the TV is what I would expect.

In regard to the behavior when in extended mode, does Windows allow you to manually change the resolution to 3840x2160 via the Display Settings application (or is that not displayed as an option)?

Thank you,

Bob

The adapter seemed to think that 1920 x 1080 was the 4K monitor’s maximum resolution. (There were no settings above that value.)

I did just try it on another monitor and it connected at 1920 x 1200. So it can go above 1920 x 1080, but doesn’t seem to recognize the 4K as a 4K monitor.

Greg

Hi Greg,

Thanks for getting back with the update, and thanks for testing the adapter with another monitor. That the adapter worked at 1920x1200 with that display lets us know to focus on the Samsung itself. In some cases TVs can be picky about which HDMI port is used to connect a PC. Looking at the quick installation guide for your unit, it appears that one HDMI port (input two) is called out as the preferred port if using a HDMI to DVI cable. If not already can you try connecting the adapter to that port to see if the behavior is any different?

Looking at the support pages for your model (http://www.samsung.com/us/support/own…) I also see that a firmware update was released for the unit on Oct 2nd 2015. If not already, can you apply this update to see if it changes the behavior?

Thank you,

Bob