I have been experiencing this issue for more than a year. I wrote for help last year (I can’t find the post here or anything in email, but I know I did). The Plugable agent thought it might be due to Norton 360 or my old HP monitor. I contacted Norton and they didn’t agree. I temporarily removed Norton 360 but the issue persisted. Then I bought a new monitor, but that didn’t help.
Finally one week ago I sought help on Windows 11 Forum. A guy there has spent hours with me running Windows Driver Verification (WDV) tests. Early tests also pointed to Norton 360 so I removed it entirely, but the problem persists. Now testing points to dlcdcncm660.sys which belongs to DisplayLink.
I saw an old post here that brings up the same issue, although with Windows 8. The Plugable rep asked for logs and the conversation ends there.
This folder contains all the minidump files generated for the current troubleshooting on the Windows 11 Forum, plus WDV results. I also ran Plugable PlugDeBug; that zip file looks like the other minidump zipped files except without parentheses around the date.
Yesterday I uninstalled DisplayLink and reinstalled the latest version. Still got BSOD. Then I uninstalled DisplayLink and ran the Cleaner.
The guy helping me asks the following questions which I don’t know the answers to:
Was it designed for Windows 10? Was it designed for Windows 11?
How come Microsoft is only offering Windows 10 drivers through Windows update?
Is or is not the driver DCH?
I am pretty desparate to get this solved. 8 out of 10 times I am in a Zoom meeting my computer freezes then crashes, and I have to continue on my phone. My associates are used to it now, and trying to be patient, but we’re all kind of annoyed.
Thank you for contacting Plugable! I am sorry to hear that your UD-3900 docking station is not functioning as expected, and would be happy to provide additional support.
For my reference, does the same problem occur if the dock is connected to a different USB port on your laptop, or to a different laptop (if available)?
Could you also confirm if the issue persists if you try disconnecting all other USB devices from the dock and laptop (for testing purposes)?
Regarding your questions, we would expect the DisplayLink drivers to be fully compatible with Windows 10 and 11, and Microsoft has recently updated the DisplayLink version automatically installed by Windows.
My other laptop, which is Windows 10, does not experience this problem. I don’t have another way to test it.
I only have one USB port on this ASUS Zenbook, so I can’t connect it to a different one. That’s why I need this dock.
This issue persists if I disconnect the dock and all peripherals using it (wireless mouse and keyboard, HDMI monitor, audio plug). In other words, if I am unplugged from the dock and power and using Zoom it still crashes.
Looking further into the log contents, I noticed that the current system BIOS is a bit outdated according to ASUS for this laptop. The recent updates do have quite a few relevant fixes, so I would recommend updating to the latest BIOS version provided to see if that helps. To do this, please follow these steps:
Save and close all open applications. Disconnect the dock from the computer, then ensure the computer is connected to power
Why do you say my BIOS is out of date? I went into BIOS and checked the version number. It is 310. When I go to the ASUS site for my model (https://www.asus.com/us/supportonly/ux535qe/helpdesk_bios/), it lists 310 as the BIOS. The link you sent me is version 315. While that might be a newer BIOS, I don’t know if it is compatible with my model. When I use the MyASUS utility to see if there are any updates, it says there are none. I checked with ASUS technical support, and they confirmed that 310 is the current BIOS for my model. It’s possible if I installed the wrong BIOS in this machine I could have bricked it.
Also, regarding the questions I asked earlier about DisplayLink compatibility with Windows 11, you said “we would expect the DisplayLink drivers to be fully compatible with Windows 10 and 11, and Microsoft has recently updated the DisplayLink version automatically installed by Windows.” Do you have any more detailed information than “we would expect”? Can you verify that the driver is Windows 11 compatible, and that it complies with DCH? Thanks.
Thank you for the clarification, and my apologies for any confusion!
On the ASUS website page for your specific laptop they listed this version as an option, but I appreciate you letting me know that the MyASUS utility and ASUS support say 310 is the latest.
The latest DisplayLink drivers are DCH compliant and fully compatible with Windows 11 (which is the setup used by many members of the Plugable team as well).
Since you had mentioned that the dock works as expected with another host, this points to there potentially being an issue with the USB port or firmware on the ZBook itself.
Since the crashing happens without the dock connected, could you let me know if ASUS’s support team had any feedback on the issues you are seeing?
Additionally, did you have any other USB video device to test the USB port with?
Are we looking at the same web page for my laptop model? As I included in my last message, the page for my model shows that BIOS version 310 is the current recommended version. What page are you referring to?
Thanks for letting me know that the DIsplayLink drivers are DCH compliant. I will pass that info along to the volunteer who’s helping me track down my BSOD issues.
I can try to contact ASUS again, but since I am out of warranty I suspect that I might not get the best help. I will try.
My point about testing on my other laptop (a Lenovo) is that the other laptop runs Windows 10 (it’s not compatible with W11), so I can’t tell if the issue is with the Zenbook or with Windows 11.
I don’t have another USB video device. I don’t even know what that would be. A TV? It’s not the display that has the issue, it’s the OS itself. As I said, even when I’m not connected to the dock I have the same BSOD issues when using Zoom. DIsplayLink is still active even when not connected to the dock, so I don’t know if it’s a port issue or software. If it was a port issue, why would I get a BSOD when not connected to the dock? In any case, the issue points to DisplayLink, which is required to use the dock.
You are correct that 310 is the latest version, and my searches are not showing up 315 at this time, so my apologies for the confusion.
Regarding the DisplayLink software, to the best of our knowledge it is not possible for the docking station or its associated DisplayLink driver to cause a BSOD within Windows. This is because Microsoft integrated support for USB video devices like the UD-3900 into Windows.
While you are waiting to hear from ASUS support, could you kindly try fully uninstalling the DisplayLink software and running the cleaner? I would be interested to know if you still see the problem persists.
Other USB video devices include our UGA-3000, or SMI-driven devices such as the UGA-HDMI-S.
All the testing we have done points to DisplayLink as what is causing the BSOD. You can look just at the last page of the testing we have done with Windows Driver Verifier, or if your engineers want to look deeper into the minidump reports the full thread shows our process. The only driver that is causing BSOD is the DisplayLink driver. I’m not sure what to tell you about why.
I escalated this ticket internally, and after further review we believe there could potentially be an issue with the core Windows components related to networking triggering the event.
Given the circumstances in this specific case, we are unable to offer a solution other than to suggest backing up the host computer and performing a ‘clean’ installation of Windows.
We are always hesitant to suggest this due to the time and effort in involved (and fact that there is a chance it may not resolve the issue) however it may be the best way forward in this instance.
Sorry to be the bearer of disappointing news, but hopefully this information was helpful.
Thank you for the information. Sorry about my slow response. Between troubleshooting this issue and other projects, I’ve been busy.
Yes, reinstalling Windows and setting up all my customizations again sounds very labor-intensive, in addition to the hours I have already spent. You said that the problem is due to “an issue with the core Windows components related to networking.” Can you give me more specific information that I could pass along to the volunteer advisor at Windows Eleven Forum who has been helping me troubleshoot? I might not understand the issue, but he probably would. Before I go to the trouble of reinstallation, it would be helpful to know more about the issue.
Also, what are the chances this will correct the problem? 25% is not enough for me to take that risk. 75% assurance would be more worth the risk.
While we have not previously encountered a case similar to this, to the best of our knowledge the DisplayLink driver is a user mode driver that should not be able to cause a BSOD. Additionally, the fact that the unexpected behavior is specific to one host let’s us know that the dock hardware is working as expected.
However, the mini-dump logs in the PlugDebug suggest Windows has reported two crashes (out of a total of four) where the networking component of the DisplayLink driver is referenced.
If pressed to guess, the true source of the issue lies outside of the DisplayLink driver, and the reference to DisplayLink is symptomatic as opposed to the true cause (but we cannot be sure).
Reading through the entire thread you previously provided, there are mentions of NDIS.SYS contributing to unexpected behavior. This is a core Windows network component related to networking. While I cannot be sure, there could be an issue with the core Windows components related to networking triggering the event.
Unfortunately we would not be comfortable speculating on the success rate of a ‘clean’ Windows installation, this does seem to be the best next step at this time.
Sorry to be the bearer of disappointing news, but thank you for your patience while we work to help!
Thanks for the quick response, Ryoma. I think the NDIS.SYS references were due to me not setting up the test correctly, but maybe there is a relationship between the BSOD and whatever call DisplayLink is making that is not succeeding. It’s true, in all my searching, I have not seen others complaining about this issue.
I understand that trying to estimate what chances of success a clean installation of Windows would have is like predicting the next election. I will wait until I have a few days to work on this and try the clean install. Thanks.