third monitor flicks on and off, mostly off, after working fine for first hour.

Discontinued Products UGA-125
1

Hello,

I am having the similar symptoms as a previous post, pointing to the fact that it may be a hardware issue:

http://getsatisfaction.com/plugable/t…

I’m running win 7 64 bit. Funny thing is, it was working fine for about the first hour, and then went on the blink. as of now, I cannot get it to work at all even for a few seconds. I suppose it might after a reboot, but that is not a lng term fix.

It is on a Lenovo ThinkPad X201 with a docking station. I just tried plugging it straight into the laptop too, nothing.

Now that it is several months later, should I try a differnt driver then the one suggested to the previous person? (i’m using whatever the latest one is as of today) Should I try something else? Shoulod I send in my amazon #?

Thanks,

John

2

Hi Bernie,

Thanks for the reply. Just finished a long overdue project, so now can get back to this task.
I did 1,2, and 3: no help.
Details:
2) I tried it with both VGA and DVI.
3) The led is usually green. It sometimes flicks of (every 3-10 secs, and when most every time it does, the screen either flicks or goes dark for several seconds. sometimes the led flicks and the monitor stays on.

Should I send the amazon order number?

Thansk,

John

3

Hmmm. I’m starting to have some random issues with 2 of mine as well. I bought off amazon. Perioidically both (i use 2 plus the VGA from laptop) freeze up and require me to maximize or minimize to refresh the screen, otherwise is just “looks” frozen and only refreshes where the mouse moves or an item moves on screen. Secondly, it was blinking fast green and turned off earlier as well. Unplugging and replugging in normally fixes issues, but then they reoccur. Do you think I had to “bad eggs?”

Love the flexibility, but I don’t think I should constantly have to unplug and replug in?

4

Hi Sheldon,

Thanks for posting, and sorry you’re seeing a problem here!

In John’s case, it was a hardware issue - since getting the replacement unit it appears all’s well so far.

In your case, the symptoms (the screen accumulates junk, but then refreshes when mouse moves or window moves) point more to software (or perhaps conflicts on the USB bus). Also that it’s happening on both adapters simultaneously.

So it’s try to get this figured out and fixed.

First up, a few questions:

* What DisplayLink driver version are you running? Would you be willing to install the latest (5.5 dated Sept 29) from http://displaylink.com/support/downlo…?
* What laptop make/model do you have? (I’ll look first then at what GPU is in it).
* You mentioned the problem didn’t happen when you first ran the adapters. Can you think of anything that might have changed to trigger it? Particularly any upgrade of the nVidia/ATI/Intel drivers on your system? Or something changed about your mix of USB devices on the system?

We’ll try to get this figured out. Thanks again!
Bernie

5

I’m testing now by removing from the USB hub to see if it was a performance issue or conflict with two devices in the hub. So far it has improved. I’ll report back if other problems are noticed.

Thanks for your detailed and quality reply. Cheers

6

Hi John - Thanks for the question. Sorry you’re experiencing this!

A few things to try which might help isolate the problem.

  1. DRIVER: It doesn’t sound like the driver is a problem here (that Thinkpad has Intel graphics, which is good from a compatibility standpoint), but it wouldn’t hurt to upgrade to the latest DisplayLink driver (5.5), available from download at http://displaylink.com/support/downlo… – just so we know we’re on a known level of driver.

  2. DOUBLE-CHECK CONNECTIONS: tighten all connections, including from adapter to PC and especially from the adapter to the monitor. Can you get the flickering to happen more or less by wiggling cables? It is very common to have a connector that isn’t quite pushed in tight. Also, are you using DVI, VGA, or HDMI to the monitor?

  3. LED BEHAVIOR: When the monitor flickers off, does the adapter’s LED also go off? The Adapter’s LED should be off until both USB and the driver successfully come up - then the LED will be on, but will quickly blink off/on as data is sent over the USB bus. It’s very helpful for debugging. Can you describe more what the adapter LED is doing, in relation to the monitor flickering?

Let us know what you can on the questions in #2 and #3. If these double-checks don’t pan out, please go ahead and also email your Amazon order # to us at support@plugable.com – we’ll have ready it in case this is looking like a hardware problem – we’ll be happy to get you a replacement to confirm.

Again, our apologies and thank you!
Bernie

7

Hi John - yes, please email your amazon order # to support@plugable.com - all the symptoms in combination make it likely it’s a hardware problem. We’ll send a replacement unit right away to confirm.

Thanks for contacting us, and thanks for your patience while we get you fixed up!
Bernie