10.13.4 Displaylink no longer working

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10.13.4 Displaylink no longer working

After upgrading to 10.13.4 my display link monitors no longer function. I've tried updating the displaylink drivers but this does not return the functionality to display multiple monitors that existed in 10.13.3. As a consequence I had to roll back to 10.13.3 to get my monitors to function again. This rollback also confirms that the issue appears to be in 10.13.4. I've got a very large number of MACs that I can not permit this upgrade to be deployed to in my enterprise as it will cause enormous support issues. Does some one have a fix as to how to get this minor bug fix update to function with displaylink?

MacBook Pro TouchBar and Touch ID, macOS High Sierra (10.13.3)

Posted on Mar 30, 2018 2:54 PM

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Answer 1

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BradSP Author

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75 points

Mar 30, 2018 4:37 PM in response to JPyre

JPyre,

If you think that display link does not work on 10.13 then your mistaken as I am currently typing this on 10.13.3 with Display link. While Displaylink docks are cheaper its the reason why they are commercially accepted by business such as yours (and mine) in the first place. The fact that Apple does not recognise this fact isolates them from the enterprise eco-system and as you have pointed out now results in our company needing to utilise much more expensive products just to support Apple in an enterprise. Given that Apple is the minority in Enterprise asking to spend additional funding just results in the phase out of apple machines in this environment. Instead of ignoring the ecosystem that the devices are used within Apple needs to embrace it to get growth and acceptance.

So I suppose your solution is to spend $500AU or roughly 20% of the price of my MAC on getting a thunderbolt 3 dock as the solution rather than Apple continue to support the software in 10.13.3 that works and functions with Displaylink?? This is a point release and the release notes do not call out that they are breaking functionality. Fine for a major release but an item that is intended to be a bug fix should not cease existing use.

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Answer 2

BradSP Author

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75 points

Mar 30, 2018 4:43 PM in response to John Galt

Display link is a set of drivers that enable docks to support display, ethernet and other USB ports.

https://displaylink.org/

These docks are sold by many major vendors such as Dell, Asus, HP, Fujitsu, Lenovo, Startech etc

http://www.displaylink.com/products/universal-docking-stations

While these all worked and functioned on 10.13.3 once upgraded to 10.13.4 they will no longer provide display extension capabilities. All these devices that used to function with a MAC no longer do so. This further segments MACs to home users only and further reduces any ability to use them in corporate environments.

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Answer 3

Danikm30

Level 1

9 points

Mar 30, 2018 11:17 PM in response to BradSP

I am in the same boat. At my company we were using the plugable usbc triple display dock. It worked perfectly with no issues. Wakes from sleep, from closed clamshell etc. We are a smaller company so spending 300 dollars per dock on something like owc usbc dock is expensive for us since we have to get a lot of them. The 300 dollar docks like owc are awesome products but when a dock does the same thing for 150 at half the cost It’s a huge savings. If it doesn’t work well for some products then people can simply not buy them but why make such a huge change on an update rather than in a new OS X upgrade. In an enterprise environment we first dealt with dongles and adapters and now when we found a product that worked for us we have to replace them now. Apple is making it increasingly difficult to integrate their products into a mixed environment. It seems that the company no longer cares what consumers would like to have but just kind of pull these weird moves like the 10.13.4 update. It’s different just using a Mac for yourself at home versus dealing with these issues on an enterprise level.

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Answer 4

BradSP Author

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75 points

Mar 31, 2018 11:21 AM in response to Danikm30

I read this morning that duet display are dead as well. And I see a few major international corporate are also logging issues with apple. Guess everyone is unhappy that Apple seem t think that they don;t need to be in the enterprise environment. After 3 months of working on this Display link have not got a solution. So it appears that this will have killed off alot of MAC uses in enterprises. If this persists it will be interesting to see if Macs survive for anything other than home use.

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Answer 5

John Galt

Level 10

141,264 points

Mar 30, 2018 4:08 PM in response to BradSP

After upgrading to 10.13.4 my display link monitors no longer function.

Exactly what are "displaylink monitors"? Do you mean DisplayPort? Read Apple Mini DisplayPort adapters: Frequently asked questions (FAQ) - Apple Support.

I can find no reference to "displaylink" in any of Apple's documentation. Are non-Apple drivers required to use your external displays? Who makes them?

Consider using AirPlay: Use AirPlay to display video from your Mac on an HDTV - Apple Support

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Answer 6

JPyre

Level 1

4 points

Mar 30, 2018 3:54 PM in response to BradSP

I’ll tell you what Apple is too nice to:

Stop using cheap garbage docking stations that rely on undocumented APIs and hacks.

DisplayLink mirroring hasn’t worked on 10.13 and 10.13.4 breaks it all together.

Our company has been burned as well by DisplayLink’s hacks on Mac and Windows. We’re looking into replacing with hundreds of normal, expensive docks.

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Answer 7

etresoft

Level 8

46,554 points

Mar 30, 2018 4:45 PM in response to BradSP

Hello BradSP,

I have heard that 10.13.4 breaks those virtual display drivers. I have one of them for my iPad but I uninstalled it a long time ago. It caused my iPad to freak out any time I connected it to anything.

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Answer 8

JPyre

Level 1

4 points

Mar 30, 2018 5:05 PM in response to BradSP

You are on a displaylink dock on 10.13.3?

Try mirroring to a TV... I’ll wait...

Also try Accessability zoom...

Also, plug your DisplayLink dock then shut the lid, will it wake up?

Also, grab a windows laptop, close the lid and reopen it....

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Answer 9

Network 23

Level 6

12,333 points

Mar 30, 2018 5:09 PM in response to BradSP

I have never used any DisplayLink equipment, but I read this thread after previously seeing complaints on other web sites and forums about DisplayLink breaking in 10.13.4. I just did a Google search and DisplayLink has a statement and beta drivers on their web site. They caution that their beta drivers are not a complete solution. Here is the link:

http://www.displaylink.com/downloads/macos

Important Information about macOS 10.13.4 update

We have become aware that installing macOS release Version 10.13.4 will cause DisplayLink connected displays to go blank after the OS upgrade, with the current DisplayLink driver [4.1] installed. Functionality such as Ethernet and audio, where implemented, is unaffected. We have alerted Apple to this issue and are working hard to find a resolution. These features continue to work as expected in 10.13.3.

In the meantime, we have a new driver [4.3] that will enable clone mode, but not mirror or extended mode displays in 10.13.4. If you require mirror or extended mode displays, we recommend that you stay on macOS 10.13.3 or earlier at this time.

Some are wondering if DisplayLink got broken as a result of the major video re-coding that Apple did to roll out final support for eGPUs in 10.13.4.

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Answer 10

JPyre

Level 1

4 points

Mar 30, 2018 5:27 PM in response to BradSP

This is not Apple’s responsibility.

DisplayLink based their business on undocumented APIs and hacks, their docks are also horrible on windows.

DisplayLink’s own site saying 10.13.3 doesn’t work

https://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/1812676-macos-high-sierra -mirror-issues

10.13.4 breaks it further.

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Answer 11

BradSP Author

Level 1

75 points

Mar 30, 2018 11:23 PM in response to Danikm30

I hope you have a backup to roll back to.

Yes this makes it almost impossible to maintain and support Macs in an enterprise environment where you have to argue that you need a dedicated dock thats twice or 3 times more expensive than a dock for windows machine. The simple answer will be to ditch the Mac and take a windows machine. Its a poor way that Apple has handled this by the looks its the elitist attitude of a closed ecosystem rather than embracing what their users are using. Oh well seems like it will spell the death of apple Macs in the company where I am by the looks. Eventually as you indicate this will in the end result in the Mac becoming a dedicated personal device not usable in a business environment. That will reduce the sales and increase the costs for future releases.

Seems there is no answer to this one other than to take the windows machine I've been offered and to simply relegate the Mac to the draw that the windows machine currently resides within.

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Answer 12

Danikm30

Level 1

9 points

Mar 30, 2018 11:31 PM in response to BradSP

At this time in our case ditching the Mac is not really an option. A lot of software engineers and developers prefer using a Mac and have done so forever so it will cost too much in productivity to force some of the high value engineering groups to switch to a pc and to find equivalent dev tools and learn them on the PC. I just wish Apple listened more to consumers and understood what us IT professionals have to deal with in a business environment. Nobody cares if the Mac is a hair thinner but we have to sacrifice all functional ports like usb, hdmi, minidp, MagSafe magnetic adapter, which we all loved etc. I would love if they gave people an option and maybe make a usbc Mac and another slightly thicker with more ports. If I were a small non tech focused business meaning a company whose focus is not to engineer or make apps and web products I would never make my office a Mac environment.

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Answer 13

Network 23

Level 6

12,333 points

Mar 31, 2018 11:29 AM in response to BradSP

BradSP wrote:

If this persists it will be interesting to see if Macs survive for anything other than home use.

That's probably being a bit extreme. I understand about DisplayLink docks, but enterprise isn't everybody outside the home.

There will always be the creative business professionals, who will never be satisfied with the limitations of DisplayLink; they always plug into DisplayPort or at least HDMI for the highest possible graphics quality and resolution on their high-end monitors.

I see a lot of Macs in education and science who are perfectly happy with HDMI or DisplayPort, or with the USB-C or Thunderbolt single-cable docks, so are not affected in the least by whatever is happening with DisplayLink.

I'm not saying DisplayLink is unimportant, only that its failure is not going to come close to killing Macs outside the home. Lack of DisplayLink is going to have a huge impact on specifically enterprise who only accept Macs to the extent that they work like PCs. But outside of corporate enterprise, DisplayLink is nearly nonexistent as far as I can tell.

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Answer 14

BradSP Author

Level 1

75 points

Mar 31, 2018 12:39 PM in response to Network 23

I understand but the markets identified are small and alot of the education area's are moving towards chrome books rather than MAC or Ipad purely because of the cost. Without business purchases mac will dwindle in numbers. The question then becomes is it really worthwhile still making them when they get to such a small minority of the market. Apple simply need to embrace the users and what they use the machines for and ensure that minor bug fix updates do not break a complete market segment that use displaylink/duet displays. Seems obvious that when you know this stuff is out there and your making changes that you don;t break what your users are using. However, it seems that this is not in the mind of apple at all. Just push it out and go.....well its not a product from us so it does not matter. Apple have know about this issue for over 3 months (according to the display link forums) so its a decision they seem to have made that they are willing to impact their users. Imagine if for once there was a minor update that did not break some functionality......

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Answer 15

Mar 31, 2018 2:46 PM in response to JPyre

JPyre

I have been using a plugable dock for 6 months with 3 monitors with NO issues. EVERYTHING worked fine before this upgrade. Stop being a douche - If you havent anything helpful to say then bug off.

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10.13.4 Displaylink no longer working

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