Big Sur 11.3 Update Issues

USB Docking Stations UD-ULTC4K
1

Well, just installed 11.3. Changed:

  • my left monitor of 3 (two are plugged into this UD-ULTC4K), has lost its full resolution. 1920 x 1080 “Looks like”. It’s a 5k display. Worked before.

Anybody have any insight into this? Now I have to go back to 11.2? Why is none of this working properly?

Cheers

2

Hi,

Thank you for contacting us, I am sorry this is not working as expected and I am happy to help!

Please let me know which port on the docking station is connected to the 5K display.

You may also try the following to set the resolution to 5K (5120x2880):

  1. Connect the display to the computer or docking station like normal
  2. Open the Display settings ( Apple > System Preferences > Displays )
  3. Select the Display setting window on the 5K display
  4. Press and hold the Option key, then click on the “Scaled” radio button to show a full list of available resolutions.
  5. Select 5120x2880 from the list, if it is not available please let me know what options are shown here.

Thank you, I look forward to your reply.

Pat
Plugable
support@plugable.com

3

OK, this is a lot of repetition of a thread I had before in here. But here goes.

Here is my setup:

Current (problem):

  • Left Samsung U28E590D : DisplayPort (has HDMI capability) currently 1920 x 1080 LOW RESOLUTION

  • Centre Asus PB278 : HDMI (has DisplayPort capability, but this monitor won’t respond to HDMI [Plugable support convo), 1440 x 2560

  • Right LG 34UM95pd : DisplayPort (has 2 HDMI ports, Thunderbolt 2 port) 3440 x 1440

I isolated the Samsung on HDMI and it worked properly at full resolution. But the ASUS cannot hear anything on DisplayPort. I also have an external JBOD on USB-C that has a DisplayPort on it, and the ASUS wouldn’t respond on that either. So, the ASUS display needs HDMI.

I’ve not tried it using the HDMI port on the Plugable, while using another DisplayPort on the Plugable, while using the 5K through HDMI to the box directly. This is my next attempt, but I need to find a HDMI cable.

4

Hi,

Thanks for the additional details, based on your description of the behavior, our next step is to get some additional information from your system to check for any out of date DisplayLink software or potential compatibility problems with the updated macOS 11.3.

The Samsung U28E590D 4K display supports up to 3840x2160 resolution, please let me know if this updated process sets the correct resolution for this display while connected to the DisplayPort output on the docking station:

You may also try the following to set the resolution to 4K (3840x2160):

  1. Connect the display to the computer or docking station like normal
  2. Open the Display settings ( Apple > System Preferences >
  3. Select the Display setting window on the 4K
  4. Press and hold the Option key, then click on the “Scaled” radio button to show a full list of available
  5. Select 3840x2160 from the list, if it is not available please let me know what options are shown here.

If macOS does not show an option for 3840x2160 resolution, please keep the dock connected to the computer with monitor(s) connected tot he docking station (even though one may not be working) and attach the output of our diagnostic utility PlugDebug ( http://plugable.com/support/plugdebug ) to an email to ‘support@plugable.com’ with the subject line ‘Ticket #341403 - Attention Pat’ as this will allow us to examine some log files from your system to help determine the next steps.

Thanks,

Pat
Plugable Technology
support@plugable.com

5

Hi Pat. I solved it.

Left: HDMI to Mac Mini M1
Centre: HDMI to Plugable (rotation 90° works)
Right: DisplayPort to Plugable

All high resolution.

There is something definitely wrong with the Plugable’s DP for this monitor. Fully tested. HDMI works where DP doesn’t. Not recognized in any form. Displaylink Manager v1.3 is what I’ve always used. The “1.3” should be the version number, as that’s what’s representing the Build.

I now have three displays displaying properly at full resolution. After posting this I will restart this evening to see if the new OS picks up on the Plugable off a reboot.

6

Hi,

Thank you for letting me know you have all displays working as expected.

There is something definitely wrong with the Plugable’s DP for this monitor. Fully tested. HDMI works where DP doesn’t. Not recognized in any form. Displaylink Manager v1.3 is what I’ve always used. The “1.3” should be the version number, as that’s what’s representing the Build.

Just to confirm, this statement is referring to the Asus PB278 not detecting a signal when connected to the docking station with a DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable?

I would be happy to help troubleshoot this monitor to see if we can get it working with the docking station’s DisplayPort output.
I recommend starting by connecting the DisplayPort cable from the docking station to the display, and disconnecting the HDMI cable from the back of this monitor.

Then use the manual input selection button ( 4th from the right on the LCD bezel, #4 in the image below ) to manually select the DisplayPort input.
image

This will help to rule out that the monitor is simply not automatically detecting the connected DisplayPort input.

I now have three displays displaying properly at full resolution. After posting this I will restart this evening to see if the new OS picks up on the Plugable off a reboot.

Please let me know if the update to macOS 11.3 helps to resolve the USB detection on restart issue, unfortunately we have had previous reports from users with 11.3 Beta that the issue was still present.

Thank you,

Pat
Plugable
support@plugable.com

7

Yes I have done this previously with one of your support people. All DisplayPort attempts to this monitor failed.

Just rebooted the machine and it failed again. I have to unplug the source USB-C then plug it back in. Every time.

8

Hi,

Thank you for letting me know you have already contacted us regarding this display.

I have read through the previous email thread, while we do not have this model monitor to test directly, I have verified that other users of the UD-ULTC4K USB-C Triple 4K Display Docking Station have successfully used the Asus PB278 (and ASUS PB278Q) with the DisplayPort connection. As the docking station was already replaced in the previous email thread my expectation is that this specific display is not communicating correctly with the docking station and we will not be able to get a successful result with this display and DisplayPort, so long as the HDMI connection is acceptable I don’t expect any other issues will result from this.

Additionally we have had reports from other users that some displays will have limited resolutions or refresh rates after updating to macOS 11.3 and it appears to be a regression in macOS as these settings are selected through the macOS interface rather than in the DisplayLink software. Of those affected many have reported that using the [Option key]+clicking on the “Scaled” radio button has allowed them to manually select the correct resolution and refresh rate, but not all users are seeing the same result. Hopefully Apple will restore the expected behavior with a future update (for example macOS 11.3.1).

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help, and have a great day!

Pat
Plugable Technology
support@plugable.com

9

Oh yeah, that’s fine. I’m happy. Just wanting you to know that I’ve achieved this using the HDMI option. The DP version had reduced resolution, as reported, when I switched to 11.3 which I was expecting to fully open a lot of this up. Option-clicking in System Preferences didn’t allow any other options. I am thinking this is a pure Apple move, as it’s been demonstrated that this unit can run 6 external displays.

Cheers

10

Hi,

I just wanted to follow up with some additional details.

Other DisplayLink users have reported similar display resolution limitations with macOS 11.3 on Apple’s M1 hardware, for example in the DisplayLink forum here ( https://www.displaylink.org/forum/showthread.php?t=67653 ). With one of the users recommending a 3rd party utility to manually select the correct resolution from a drop down menu.

This issue has been escalated with DisplayLink and we are hopeful for a resolution to restore the expected behavior when using this docking station with 4K displays like in your previous configuration.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help, and have a great day!

Pat
Plugable
support@plugable.com

11

OK, just to be clear, the ASUS monitor in question didn’t respond to any DP. But maybe an update might clear some things up. In any case I’m up on 3 monitors using 2x HDMI.

12

Hi,

Thank you for replying back, my previous response was in regard to macOS not outputting the correct resolution to the monitor and that issues has been escalated. The ASUS monitor not detecting the docking station’s DisplayPort signal is unlikely to be resolved by either a software update and is most likely an incompatibility between this specific monitor and the docking station.

Thank you,

13

OK that’s what I was told before about the monitor and the dock. The resolution issue I thought was Apple’s issue and their rollback of resolution reported to USB-C options.

Cheers

14

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