Just plain bizarre

My Plugable USB 2.0 Adapter runs just fine on a Dell machine with Vista. On my Sony VAIO with XP, it mirrors the screen and streams video, but only until I switch to full screen mode. AT that point, the streaming continues on the laptop, but the television screen goes blank. If the cursor is on the large screen, moving it will “erase” the blank, revealing the last image from the stream that was on the large screen. (THe effect is much like an etch-a-sketch.) It also appears that this problem occurs with any Netflix stream, but I haven’t been able to verify this. The video adapter for this computer is the NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS, and the monitors are all set to run 32 bit. I’ve updated the DisplayLink driver. ANy suggestions?

Also, is there a way to get into the Display Link manager without having the external monitor plugged in? REason I ask is that in trying to troubleshoot this, I switched to Extend mode, and the result was a blannk (blue) screen on the laptop and a very low resolution desktop on the television. The task bar doesn’t appear on the tv, so I can’t get back into the manager to switch back to mirror mode. So at this point, unless I can get into the manager or otherwise revert to mirror, I can’t do much of anything.

Hi Gary,

Thanks for posting your question here with so much great detail. It’s great to know that your adapter works normally on the Dell machine with Vista, that rules out a hardware error, so we can focus on a software fix for the Sony Vaio running XP. Here’s two things to get started troubleshooting:

  1. You should be able to disconnect the external monitor and reboot and get your primary monitor back. Once you do, you can follow the instructions at this link on how to configure multiple displays and get back into mirror mode through the built in Windows XP menus:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307873

  1. Once you have your primary monitor working again, run the DisplayLink support tool and forward the resulting .zip file over to us along with your Amazon Order Id and the serial number of the unit you have.

Here’s how:
http://plugable.com/support/tools/dis…

Once we get the log files, we’ll be better able to asses what’s happening with the Vaio and suggest the best next steps.

Thanks,
Jerome.

Plugable Technologies

For others who are interested: We are currently working directly with Gary to determine the best solution for connecting his TV and Sony Vaio.

Jerome
Plugable Technologies