Aspire R7-572, DisplayLink, and Windows 10

We have about 8 of the R7-572 machines, several other laptops, and about 15 (Targus) DisplayLink port replicators floating around. Everything works fine, except when I try to upgrade an R7 to Windows 10. Windows auto-installs the Targus / DisplayLink software and almost everything works: USB devices, analog audio, and ethernet. What fails is the video portion, there are no additional monitors available.

When I connect the USB cord the audio and ethernet devices appear in the Device Manager, but the USB Display Adapter appears for about 2 seconds then disappears again.

On Windows 8.1 everything was working fine, then with either an In Place Upgrade or a clean install, the behavior is the same.

This is not a Windows 10 issue: other laptops on 10, including my Acer V 15 Nitro and an older TravelMate P253, work fine. It is not faulty port replicator hardware, all other laptops work fine and these laptops work fine when on Windows 8.1.

I am open to ideas, so anyone that has worked with these things please speak up.

Accepted answers

kireton

All right folks, here is the answer. When I upgraded from Windows 8.1 to 10, if I selected the 'wipe the drive and install fresh' option everything worked fine. If I selected the 'keep my stuff' option the DisplayLink failed.

Ultimately it turned out that the previously installed DisplayLink software remained installed while a new version also installed with Windows 10.

The solution:

Disconnect the docking station
Uninstall the DisplayLink software
Reboot
Run the DisplayLink cleanup tool "DisplayLink Installation Cleaner 8.0.453" that was provided to me by a Targus engineer (not sure if this is readily available from either the Targus or DisplayLink site)
Reboot
Install DisplayLink USB Graphics Software for Windows 8.0 M0.exe from DisplayLink's web site
When prompted connect the docking station

Voila!

All comments

padgett

Which Targus do you have ? I have both a Targus ACP70USZ and a Mediasonic HV1-U24D2L-W pushing dual 1920X1080 monitors. All machines are running Windows 10 and currently the R3 (currently on the dock) using Displaylink 7.9.1488.0 driver.

If not working I'd suggest downloading the latest version from Targus (7.9 or later), completely uninstall your current version, reboot, then reinstall the package.

If that does not work and is with specific docks, then contact Targus. They had a problen a year or two ago and replaced my first dock.

kireton

Thanks for getting back padgett, it looked to me like you had the most input on the topic in the past.

We're running the Targus ACP71USZ, and the behavior is the same on a "plugable" brand station that also uses the DisplayLink chip. I talked with an engineer at Targus late last week and ultimately we concluded that, since the problem is on this specific model of laptop and on two different docks, the issue is on the Acer side, specific to this model of Acer, so here I am.

I believe I've already done it but I will try your suggestion of uninstall->reboot->install on a couple versions (7.9 and 8.0) just to be sure and let you know.

padgett

Since you have several identical systems you might backup the data on one that has the problem, take an system image of one that does not, and restore to the one that does and see if problem goes away. If not I'd have to suspect hardware.

ps keep a record of the keys if activation fails with the new image (do not know if it will look at BIOS if a registry conflict).

pps those are nice units, I just prefer the form factor of the R3/R11, it fits in my cases.

kireton

FYI: I did bench tech work for more than fifteen years, you would think I would be able to reason my way through things. Apparently not though.

I will also grab a backup, wipe, and do a fresh install just to see if there is some kind of software issue.

Thanks for the tips!

kireton

All right folks, here is the answer. When I upgraded from Windows 8.1 to 10, if I selected the 'wipe the drive and install fresh' option everything worked fine. If I selected the 'keep my stuff' option the DisplayLink failed.

Ultimately it turned out that the previously installed DisplayLink software remained installed while a new version also installed with Windows 10.

The solution:

Disconnect the docking station
Uninstall the DisplayLink software
Reboot
Run the DisplayLink cleanup tool "DisplayLink Installation Cleaner 8.0.453" that was provided to me by a Targus engineer (not sure if this is readily available from either the Targus or DisplayLink site)
Reboot
Install DisplayLink USB Graphics Software for Windows 8.0 M0.exe from DisplayLink's web site
When prompted connect the docking station

Voila!

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