Must I turn on my laptop before the Plugable dock for it to work

Hi guys,

So I have a Plugable USB C Triple display dock (UD-ULTCDL) and I’m using a MacBook Air 2021 (M1 chip) with 2 external HP 22” 1080p monitors.

I have downloaded the Displaylink software and everything works well. However, in order for it to work (both monitors to work) I need to log in to my laptop first, then turn on the dock. Otherwise it won’t recognise the second display or connect to my USB keyboard. Is that normal?

In another way, I’m asking if the dock should work if done in my usual order of: turning on power at wall for dock, monitors etc then logging in to my computer? A minor change in doing things I know, just wanted to check if it was normal.

Thank you in advance.

Hi @Shafee,

Thanks for posting!

DisplayLink offers a “Login screen” extension that enables the DisplayLink-powered external screens to be available on the login screen prior to the app loading after logging into your account. To set this up, please follow the instructions under “Other functions of the DisplayLink Manager”:

https://kb.plugable.com/questions/799275

Regarding the keyboard however, we’ve seen that as a result of an update in macOS from mid-January, where our docks may not be correctly detected by Apple’s M1 based computers on restart or when powered on after being turned off. This can affect connected USB devices, as well as the DisplayLink-powered monitors.

Until Apple issues an update that resolves this detection issue, we recommend unplugging the docking station from the computer, then reconnecting the host cable after macOS has completed loading.

Thanks for giving us a chance to help!

Mitchell

Hi Mitchell,

Thank you for your response. Didn’t work unfortunately. The monitors are powered separately, so I think its suffering from the same issue as the keyboard i.e. the Mac not detecting the dock as you’ve mentioned below. Hopefully they resolve this soon.

Thanks

Sorry to hear that those displays still aren’t booting up quite right.

Hopefully the workaround of reconnecting the USB-C cable can suffice in the meantime.

Thanks!

Mitchell

This topic was automatically closed 20 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.