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How to fix your DisplayLink product from repeatedly disconnecting and reconnecting, or freezing

← Troubleshooting: Windows
Your USB video adapter, USB docking station or USB monitor constantly disconnects and reconnects, or freezes.

When this happens:
  • You repeatedly hear the device disconnect and reconnect chime
  • Your attached monitor will repeatedly flash off and on again
  • Or your DisplayLink display freezes or locks up, while directly connected screens, eg the built in laptop screen, continue to work.
This can be caused by loose video cables or USB instability. Firstly check that the video cable is fully plugged into the dock and the monitor. If it is loose, the monitor will be detected and then lost by the dock, causing display reconfiguration. If this does not solve the issue, follow the steps below:
  1. Check if you have the latest DisplayLink software installed
  2. Check if you have the latest USB 3.0 host controller driver installed on your PC
  3. Check if you have the latest BIOS version installed on your PC
  4. Check if the same behaviour is seen when connected to a USB 2.0 port on your PC (or if none is available with a USB 2.0 cable)
  5. Check if the same behaviour is observed with a different USB cable or USB port
  6. Try a USB 'Y' cable (if you are using a USB powered monitor product)
  7. Try connecting your product through an external mains powered USB hub
  8. Disable USB selective suspend
  9. Check for error codes in Device Manager
  10. Update the dock manufacturer firmware
  11. Check PCIe Active State Power Management (ASPM) settings

1. Check if you have the latest DisplayLink software installed


You can locate the latest version on our Driver Downloads

2. Check if you have the latest USB 3.0 host controller driver installed on your PC


If you have Windows 7 installed see this article to obtain the latest USB 3.0 host controller driver

3. Check if you have the latest BIOS version installed on your PC


Visit your PC manufacturer's website to see if there is a BIOS update available for your computer. 
Also check if USB 3.0 mode (if present) is enabled in your BIOS

4. Check if the same behaviour is seen when connected to a USB 2.0 port on your PC (or if none is available with a USB 2.0 cable)


Some USB 3.0 enabled PCs can exhibit issues on USB 3.0 ports but not on USB 2.0 ports

5. Check if the same behaviour is observed with a different USB cable or USB port


As with other kinds of cable, USB cable quality can vary. We have also been made aware of rare quality issues with selected USB ports on a laptop series.

6. Try a USB 'Y' cable (if you are using a USB powered monitor product)


Ensure you connect both ends of the 'Y' cable to USB ports on your PC

7. Try connecting your product through an external mains powered USB hub


Some USB 3.0 enabled PCs can exhibit issues which can be resolved by connecting your product through an external mains powered USB hub

8. Disable USB selective suspend

  1. Open the Control Panel on your PC
  2. Select Hardware and Sound
  3. Select Power Options
  4. Select Change plan settings against your preferred power plan
  5. Select Change advanced power settings
  6. In the Power Options dialog that opens select USB settings
  7. Select the USB selective suspend setting
  8. Change the Setting to Disabled
Or follow the steps from TenForums: How to Add or Remove "USB 3 Link Power Management" from Power Options in Windows.

9. Check for error codes in Device Manager


These are the two most common error codes that you can find against DisplayLink devices in your Device Manager

ERROR CODE 43
There have been some instances of DisplayLink devices with a yellow "!" in device manager, and opening the properties shows that they have an error code 43. This is usually due to a driver fault. To fix this error we recommend trying the following steps:
  • Unplug your DisplayLink device and restart you laptop
  • If the error still shows when you plug the device back, try updating the driver. You can find our latest Windows driver from DisplayLink download section
  • We also recommend running a DisplayLink Installation Cleaner first
  • Update the computer's BIOS/UEFI with the appropriate file from your system/motherboard manufacturer.
ERROR CODE 10
There have been some instances of DisplayLink devices with a yellow "!" in device manager, and opening the properties shows that they have an error code 10. This has been either due to a faulty device, or due to a device with auto install (which are not supported as detailed below) and the DisplayLink video driver is trying to talk to the wrong interface putting it into an error state.

DISPLAYLINK DEVICES WITH AUTO-INSTALL
Up until 2009, a few devices based on DisplayLink technology included an auto install driver feature. This required the DisplayLink USB driver to switch the device from being a mass storage device to a video device. On Windows 10, we use the Microsoft USB driver, and this does not support the switching between a mass storage device and a video device.
Therefore it is not possible to support these DisplayLink enabled devices on Windows 10.

Examples for affected devices are:
  • LG L206WU USB monitor
  • Samsung 940UX USB monitor
  • First generation HP USB 2.0 Dock Station (Model number: HSTNN-S01X)
  • InFocus IN1100 Projector

10. Update the dock manufacturer firmware


There may have been firmware updates to some of the components not provided by DisplayLink in some docking stations. The firmware updates cover the USB hub on the dock and comes from the manufacturer.

Examples of firmware updates:

11. Check PCIe Active State Power Management (ASPM) settings


There have been some compatibility problems reported between various USB devices and some modern, Thunderbolt equipped platforms due to the ASPM settings. We recommend trying disabling ASPM.

TO DISABLE PCIe ASPM
  1. Open Control Panel,
  2. Search for Power Options,
  3. Choose "Change plan settings" and then "Change advanced power settings",
  4. In Power Options window scroll down and expand PCI Express,
  5. Expand Link State Power Management,
  6. Under Settings On battery and Plugged in,
  7. Open the drop down menu,
  8. Select Off,
  9. Click on OK.


IF THE SETTING DOESN'T SHOW
Alternatively you can run this script that will turn the ASPM off.
OR
Run this command that will change the settings via Registry change.

TO REENABLE PCIe ASPM
  1. Under Settings On battery and Plugged in,
  2. Open the drop down menu,
  3. Select either Moderate power savings or Maximum power savings (difference explained below),
  4. Click on OK.
There are two levels of power management in the PCIe options. The difference between them are the power savings versus the latency (time to recover from the sleep state).
  • If you select Off, there are no power savings, and the current will run regardless of what state the laptop is in. (depending on if your laptop is plugged in or not).
  • On battery: Off = PCI Express will communicate even when using battery power.
  • Plugged in: Off = PCI Express will communicate when plugged in as well.
  • If you select Moderate Power Savings, the power savings are less, but the time to recover from the Sleep state (latency) is much shorter.
  • If you select Maximum Power Savings, the power savings are greater, but the time to recover from the Sleep state (latency) is much longer.
FOR IT MANAGERS

You can disable PCIe ASPM for all of your users using the steps above or by running the command below:

Press Win+R, and type in 

powercfg /setacvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT 501a4d13-42af-4429-9fd1-a8218c268e20 ee12f906-d277-404b-b6da-e5fa1a576df5 0


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