Plugable UD-160-A USB 2.0 docking station stopped working with Dell Inspiron laptop.

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Plugable UD-160-A USB 2.0 Docking Station unexpectedly stopped working. Power light still lit, but laptop does not see the device when it is plugged in via USB 2.0 port. Cannot get it to work no matter what I try. I am using the docking station with a Dell Inspiron laptop running Win7 SP1 and I have tried installing the newest DisplayLink driver/software (6.3) and this does nothing. I tried the DisplayLink software removal tool, removed the software, re-installed the software and still nothing. I have tried uninstalling all USB devices in device manager and when the PC rebooted and re-installed all USB devices, the docking station still is not picked up when I plug it into the USB 2.0 port. I have tried Windows updates and there is nothing specific there. I am at a loss as to what else to do.

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Hi Steve,

Thanks for contacting us! We’ll be able to help.

Quick question: Is it only the graphics function of the docking station that’s not working, or is it all functions? A quick way to tell is if you have a USB mouse and plug that in through the dock – does it work?

If the USB mouse works, then for the graphics portion of the dock, our current recommended driver is the DisplayLink 5.6 M1 driver. So we’d recommend

  1. Running the DisplayLink cleaner as you’ve done to remove 6.3 (needed when moving from a newer to an older version of DisplayLink driver) http://www.displaylink.com/support/ti…

  2. Install our current recommended driver version (currently 5.6 M1), which we link to here: http://plugable.com/drivers/displaylink/

Please let us know what results you see – we’ll help with any next steps (including if it looks like it’s not a software issue). We’ll get you back up and running.

Thanks!
Bernie

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Thanks for replying Bernie.

Unfortunately, none of the USB ports on the docking station work ( I have a Microsoft USB mouse and keyboard plugged into the docking station) and the docking station is not recognized by the laptop. In addition, the UD-160-A does not show up under the USB devices listed device manager.

That said, should I go ahead with the driver roll-back you recommended or do we need to take a different approach?

Thanks in advance,
Steve W.

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Hi Steve - Thanks for that extra detail. We know the dock is getting power (because the blue LED is on). And assuming that you’ve already double-checked the USB connection between dock and PC (probably several times!) then it’s sounding like we may need to get you a replacement unit.

Could you email your amazon order # to support@plugable.com and link to this thread – we’ll get you back up and running.

Thanks for your patience!
Bernie

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Bernie,

I just wanted to write to let you know that the new unit arrived and that after replacing the old with the new; all is well again.

I also wanted to thank you and the staff at Plugable as your customer service was, by far, some of the best I have ever experienced!

Based on that, I would highly recommend Plugable products to friends and colleagues.

Thank you for your time and attention!

Sincerely,
Steve W.

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Thank you so much for your kind words, Steve! Please contact us anytime if anything comes up in the future - we’re here to help. Thanks! Bernie