Using the hub and connecting this computer everything works fine, as expected, both monitors work as extended monitors. The Lenovo vertical works perfectly.
But…
WORK COMPUTER
MacBook Pro
Apple M1 (2020)
Monterey 12.6.1
Memory 16gb
Connected with two monitors (same monitors):
Lenovo: S27i-10 (vertical)
DELL: S2719H
Using Plugable USBC-6950PDZ Mini Docking station
DisplayLink 1.8.0 (Build 63.163)
When using this computer (with the same monitors) something weird happens:
Dell monitor works perfectly as extended.
Lenovo S27i-10 doesn’t extend at all (I want to have it extended) and hides the resolution.
Lenovo works only in mirroring mode, either the Dell or the Mac.
Tested:
Connecting Lenovo only, without the dell, connects but doesn’t show anything.
Connecting Lenovo in extended scaled mode, tested every single resolution, no one works in extended mode.
Switching HDMI cables between monitors (using the dell HDMI) no luck.
Connecting the cables in different ports in the hub, HDMI1 or 2 doesn’t make a difference.
I’m not sure what to try to make it work, I’m so dissapointed.
I bought this hardware to be able to switch computers quickly but if this doesn’t work in my work computer it defeats the purpose, since in my Personal M1 Max works perfectly without dongles (HDMI+USBC), unfortunately I’ll have to return if that’s the case.
But before I’d love to see if we can solve it for the Work M1, what are your suggestions? (Regarding audit, I can’t provide the entire audit for security reasons, so need to know what are the specifics you need and double check with my company’s security team.)
Thank you for contacting us, I am sorry this is not working as expected and I am happy to help!
Since the displays are working as expected on your personal computer, the issue is most likely a display configuration issue with the work MacBook.
Has the Lenovo S27i-10 display been connected to the work computer with another adapter, or using a USB-C data cable before? If so the system may have saved settings for this display causing a conflict with the display when connected through the USBC-6950PDZ mini-dock.
For Apple Silicon systems (M1/M2 processors) Apple uses two files for storing display settings and information, sometimes the configuration files may become corrupted causing display settings to not be retained on reboot, wake from sleep, or even simply logging out and back in, and in the worst cases can cause displays to fail to detect or output correctly. It is also possible that incorrectly configured display settings can cause the window manager to crash at login bringing you back to the login prompt.
Deleting these two files will reset the window configuration and allow you to reconfigure the connected displays just like their first connection to the computer. The system-wide configuration file requires administrative permissions to delete or modify, while the user file can be modified by the logged in user.
How to delete these files:
Disconnect the external displays from the computer ( for Mac Mini connect one display directly to the computer’s HDMI output )
Open a terminal window: Select Finder > Go > Utilities > Terminal
Type in the following command to remove the user-specific configuration file for the currently logged in user: rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.*.plist
Type in the following command to remove the system-wide configuration file (requires root/administrative permissions): sudo rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist
Restart the computer: Apple Menu > Restart
Log into the user account
Reconnect the external displays and configure their resolution, position, and rotation like normal
Resetting the display configuration settings requires system administrative settings, and I recommend contacting your system administrator if you do not have permissions to reset these two files.
Please let me know if this helps to restore the expected resolution settings for this display.
Thanks for the quick response, effectively you were right, I forgot to mention that I’ve connected the monitor before through a USB-C cable.
And as you perfectly said, deleting the preferences worked perfectly.
The only issue is the order that you delete them, because if you disconnect the USB C and delete it didn’t work.
I tried:
Disconnect the hub directly and remove the files then restart > NOT WORKED.
Connect USB-C Dock, and then remove the files then restart > NOT WORKED.
Connect Lenovo through USB C and NO hub connected, then delete and restart. > IT WORKED AND RESET SETTINGS. (seems like you need to reproduce the “conflicting” environment to make it work.
Also there’s another file in the folder “library/Preferences/By host” that has the specific ID that needs to be deleted as well.
Anyway, thanks so much for the quick support and the technical analysis, super helpful.
It’s tricky sometimes because spotlight works like crap in the new OS and you can’t find files using wildcards. Terminal and grep are best for that.
Agreed, both grep and find from the terminal are useful where the Spotlight search falls short.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions, or if there is anything else I can do to help, and have a great day!
We’re closing this thread due to inactivity, but if you have any further questions please feel free to contact support@plugable.com and we’ll be happy to help.
