Lost screen saver

I have a uga2ka connected to an hp dv8t notebook running windows 7 ultimate. I use external monitors thru a special hp docking station powered by a special (bus extender?) cable that plugs into the notebook. I am using a sceptre 24" (1900x1200) monitor on the external monitor port and another sceptre 24" on the uga2ka.

I was only able to install the device thru installing the drivers from the accompanying disk first and then plugging the hardware. That is ok. I only mention it in case it relates to my problem. Each time I tried to install via windows update I got an error “dwm.exe failed to exit properly.”

I now have the device working and am quite happy to have the extra screen real estate as I must often use a lot of software simultaneously. But I do have two issues that I would really like to solve. First, I have a screen saver issue. Instead of the screen saver starting, all screens go black and windows prints a message in white on each monitor that says, “Windows cannot start this screen saver.” This now happens whether my external monitors are connected or not. It is the same for all screen savers, because I am unable to preview any others in the windows display properties window. I get a similar message for each that I switch to try.

Second, I have a logitech nano (usb cordless) mouse with awesome wheel features that I use constantly. But when I use the wheel on the ugk2a-connected display, as I scroll up and down, the windows on that screen (not just the one that I am scrolling in) tend to wobble from side to side slightly. It is usable but pretty disconcerting. It is also not continuous. It is erratic, but it happens at least half or the time spent scrolling.

Any help to resolve this would be greatly appreciated. I would really like to keep this monitor as part of my desktop. Thanks for a handy product.

Jeff Zakula

Hi Jeff - thanks for contacting us! Let’s try to get those quirks figured out.

On the screensaver problem, and given you saw that dwm.exe error, the first thing I’d wonder is whether Windows Aero is working properly (dwm.exe is Win7’s user-mode component that implements the core desktop composition features of Aero).

Could you try running Windows’ Aero troubleshooter, and see if it identifies (and fixes) any problems? http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wi…

On the side-to-side wobble during scrolling - that description sounds different than things I’ve heard before. The most common problem we see on scrolling is a partial-second of “fuzzy text” during any text update like scrolling. The most common cause is users who have been tempted by DisplayLink’s “Optimized for Video” option (available from the DisplayLink tray applet). This option turns on a form of interlaced video that helps with motion video playback, but hurts for everything else. We always recommend leaving that option *off* (which is the default).

Very glad you’ve been able to make use of those two huge monitors with our product! Let us know if this info gets you closer to a solution to those two problems.

Thank you!
Bernie

Thanks Bernie,

Thanks for the quick response! One down!

The Aero troubleshooter did, in fact, report, “Video card driver doesn’t support Aero effects” as an unresolved problem. I checked the video card driver and the hp mirror driver and both were up to date. The windows installed a newer uga2ka driver and I followed thru with the displaylink update. This resolved the screen saver problem.

I do still have the other problem, though. What seems to happen is that each time I begin to scroll with the wheel, the bottom half of the monitor image shifts quickly to the right and jumps back again (whether scrolling up or down) about 1/8". It happens quickly and is hard to pinpoint. I’m not positive about it, but it seems as though the shifting effect is graduated - little to nothing at the top of the screen and maybe even 3/16" at the bottom.

Any ideas?

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Great that the screensaver problem is solved.

The wobble is really interesting. Can you run one test for me - can you try a few lower resolution modes (maybe down to 1280x1024) than the one you’re in now, and see if the wobble happens on each/any of them?

Thanks for letting us know what you see (relative to what you’re seeing now) in those lower res modes - Just by the description, it doesn’t sound like a software problem, so these tests will help isolate it.

Thanks again for your patience!
Bernie

Hi Bernie,

The problem does not occur at 1680x1050. However, it does occur with either monitor if hooked to the uga2ka and neither if hooked to the external vga port.

Thanks,

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

A last test - Are you connecting at 1920x1200 with VGA or DVI?

It looks like the sceptre monitor has a digital (DVI) interface, is that right? If so and if you haven’t already been doing this, could you test hooking up the UGA-2K-A via DVI, rather than VGA?

Thanks for your patience,
Bernie