When I install the driver for my USB 3.0 docking station i can’t run ArcGIS, when i remove the driver it works fine. I just got a new computer from work, this wasn’t an issue on my previous machine. Google Earth also won’t launch when i have the display link software installed.
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for contacting us!
Based on your description of the behavior, it sounds like you are running into a bug identified by both Microsoft and DisplayLink (the maker of the chip in our dock and author of the driver) with Windows 10 Anniversary or later editions. To expand further, from the Anniversary Update to Windows 10 and onward, Microsoft has now integrated support for the DisplayLink technology used in our docking station into Windows itself and as a result in certain cases things may not work as expected.
In your specific case, both the ArcGIS application and Google Earth application require the use of graphics adapter that supports a standard known as OpenGL. The specs that call this out are here -> http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/get-… & here -> https://support.google.com/earth/answ…
In some instances, Windows mistakenly directs the tasks intended for your internal graphics adapter (which does support OpenGL) to the DisplayLink-based docking station (which does not support OpenGL). Our docking station is not a traditional graphics adapter in and of itself (it relies on your system’s CPU and internal graphics adapter to work), and this results in the behavior you experienced.
All that said, there are two possible workarounds. The first is to configure Windows to have the ‘Main’ display set to a display directly connected to your internal graphics adapter, whether that is the internal laptop display or another external display connected to one of the laptop’s built-in video outputs. This in effect forces the OpenGL tasks to be routed correctly, and a quick guide to making this change should you need it is here -> https://youtu.be/7nnKztRZXsw
If changing the ‘Main’ display setting does not help, another alternative is to boot the system without the dock connected (but with the DisplayLink driver installed), launching either application, and then connecting the dock. This again can help route the OpenGL tasks accordingly.
Please let me know if that information helps!
Bob
Plugable Technologies
www.plugable.com/support