Displaylink Doublesight DS-90U monitor working

Here are some notes of the steps I took to get my USB powered DS-90U monitor working on the Dockstar:

1. Installed Debian using Jeff's script

2. Upgraded to Gorgone's new kernel - this contains latest udlfb kernel driver

3. Get packages required to build displaylink X server...

apt-get install xinit xserver-xorg xserver-xorg-dev xfonts-base libusb-dev xorg-dev git-core build-essential

4. Downloaded and fixed source for xserver-xorg-video-displaylink from Ubuntu site

tar xvfz xserver-xorg-video-displaylink_0.3.orig.tar.gz
cd xf86-video-displaylink
vi src/displaylink.c # comment out the following lines...
//#include "xf86Resources.h"
//#include "xf86RAC.h"
//      pScrn->racMemFlags = RAC_FB | RAC_COLORMAP | RAC_CURSOR | RAC_VIEWPORT;
//      pScrn->racIoFlags = RAC_FB | RAC_COLORMAP | RAC_CURSOR | RAC_VIEWPORT;
//      xf86CrtcScreenInit (pScreen);

5. build and install

./configure && make && make install
cp  /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/displaylink_drv.so /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/

6. create /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "X.org Configured"
    Screen         0  "DisplayLinkScreen" 0 0
EndSection
Section "Device"
    Identifier  "DisplayLinkDevice"
    Driver      "displaylink"
    Option      "fbdev" "/dev/fb0"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
    Identifier  "DisplayLinkMonitor"
    # DS-90U is 1024x600 9-inch monitor - remove or change the DisplaySize for other devices
    DisplaySize  190 115
EndSection
Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "DisplayLinkScreen"
    Device      "DisplayLinkDevice"
    Monitor     "DisplayLinkMonitor"
EndSection

7. set up window manager and some X apps...

apt-get install fluxbox rxvt iceweasel
echo "exec fluxbox" > ~/.xinitrc

8. Plug in the Displaylink monitor into a USB port (screen should go green)

9. Start up X-Windows

startx

USB mice are auto-detected and work well. BlueFlux Fluxbox style looks best to me.

-PG



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2010 06:33AM by petergunn.

gee I tried installing everything and I can't get it to work with my EVGA 16plus usb to vga adapter.

On my second attempt I did Gorgone's full install and PREPARE thing, which is at end of his first post on the link you gave to updated kernal.

Are you sure it's Startx , I get commend not found.

From etc/X11 directory I see X

I'm using 720p 26 inch monitor .

Setting up fluxbox (1.1.1+dfsg2-1) ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/startfluxbox to provide /usr/bin/x-window-manager (x-window-manager) in auto mode.
Processing triggers for menu ...
root@debian:/etc/X11# echo "exec fluxbox" > ~/.xinitrc
root@debian:/etc/X11# startx
-bash: startx: command not found
root@debian:/etc/X11# X
_XSERVTransSocketOpenCOTSServer: Unable to open socket for inet6
_XSERVTransOpen: transport open failed for inet6/debian:0
_XSERVTransMakeAllCOTSServerListeners: failed to open listener for inet6

X.Org X Server 1.7.7
Release Date: 2010-05-04
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.32 armv5tel Debian
Current Operating System: Linux debian 2.6.35.7-dockstar #5 PREEMPT Mon Oct 18 12:22:45 CEST 2010 armv5tel
Kernel command line: console=ttyS0,115200 root=/dev/sda1 rootdelay=10 rootfstype=ext2 mtdparts=orion_nand:1M(u-boot),4M(uImage),32M(rootfs),-(data)
Build Date: 10 October 2010 12:07:24PM
xorg-server 2:1.7.7-8 (Cyril Brulebois <kibi@debian.org>)
Current version of pixman: 0.16.4
Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
to make sure that you have the latest version.
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Fri Nov 19 20:33:01 2010
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
(==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
SELinux: Disabled on system, not enabling in X server
(EE) AIGLX error: dlopen of /usr/lib/dri/swrast_dri.so failed (/usr/lib/dri/swrast_dri.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory)
(EE) GLX: could not load software renderer

Try...

apt-get install xinit
startx

...looks like I forgot xinit package in my original package list. I'll update my first post.

Hopefully with startx the socket errors you listed will disappear.

Attach your /var/log/Xorg.0.log if you still have problems.

-PG



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2010 06:34AM by petergunn.

yes!

That worked.

Thanks a lot Peter.

Peter, could you supply method of making it start startx at boot time, or start-up script, that way I don't have to start it from another computer.

I'm thinking you might want to CHANGE the title of your thread, because it works for the EVGA 16 plus, too.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2010 12:51PM by rgtaa.

petergunn

Thank you for the info on getting the Displaylink USB monitor working. I tried it today on my Mimo 7" TS (AT-7) monitor and it worked!

I connected a mouse today today and can open menus etc. The print is very small on the menus but the applications appear to be working fine.

I just see a few errors in the Xorg.log file.

(WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic" does not exist.
	Entry deleted from font path.
(WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/" does not exist.
	Entry deleted from font path.
(WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/" does not exist.
	Entry deleted from font path.
(WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1" does not exist.
	Entry deleted from font path.
(WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi" does not exist.
	Entry deleted from font path.
(WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi" does not exist.
	Entry deleted from font path.
(WW) The directory "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType" does not exist.
	Entry deleted from font path.
(==) FontPath set to:
	/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc,
	built-ins

(II) Module displaylink: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
	compiled for 1.7.7, module version = 0.0.1
	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 6.0
(II) DL: driver for : displaylink
(WW) Falling back to old probe method for displaylink

(II) config/udev: Adding input device eGalax Inc. USB TouchController (/dev/input/event1)
(**) eGalax Inc. USB TouchController: Applying InputClass "evdev tablet catchall"
(**) eGalax Inc. USB TouchController: always reports core events
(**) eGalax Inc. USB TouchController: Device: "/dev/input/event1"
(II) eGalax Inc. USB TouchController: Found 3 mouse buttons
(II) eGalax Inc. USB TouchController: Found absolute axes
(II) eGalax Inc. USB TouchController: Found x and y absolute axes
(II) eGalax Inc. USB TouchController: Found absolute tablet.
(II) eGalax Inc. USB TouchController: Configuring as tablet
(**) eGalax Inc. USB TouchController: YAxisMapping: buttons 4 and 5
(**) eGalax Inc. USB TouchController: EmulateWheelButton: 4, EmulateWheelInertia: 10, EmulateWheelTimeout: 200
(II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "eGalax Inc. USB TouchController" (type: TABLET)
(II) eGalax Inc. USB TouchController: initialized for absolute axes.
(II) config/udev: Adding input device eGalax Inc. USB TouchController (/dev/input/mouse1)
(II) No input driver/identifier specified (ignoring)
(II) Logitech USB Optical Mouse: Close
(II) UnloadModule: "evdev"
(II) eGalax Inc. USB TouchController: Close
(II) UnloadModule: "evdev"

I used the following "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" to get my Mimo 7" touch screen working.

Section "Device" 
        Identifier      "AT-7" 
        driver          "displaylink" 
        Option  "fbdev" "/dev/fb0" 
EndSection 
 
Section "Monitor" 
        Identifier "monitor0" 
EndSection 
 
Section "Screen" 
        Identifier "screen0" 
        Device "AT-7" 
        Monitor "monitor0" 
EndSection 
 
Section "ServerLayout" 
        Identifier "Default Layout" 
        Screen  "screen0" 
        InputDevice "touchscreen" "CorePointer" 
EndSection 
 
Section "InputDevice" 
        Identifier "touchscreen" 
        Driver "evdev" 
        Option "Device" "/dev/input/event3" 
        Option "DeviceName" "touchscreen" 
        Option "ReportingMode"  "Raw" 
        Option "SendCoreEvents" "On" 
        Option "Calibrate" "1" 
        Option "InvertY" "true" 
EndSection

PeterC, good to see the touchscreen is working (the DS-90U doesn't have one). Try changing the Fluxbox theme to "Debian" from the Fluxbox menu and see if that helps with the font sizes.

If not, you might want to try adding a DisplaySize setting to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf

-PG

Thanks petergunn. Will do.

Your instructions work perfect to get a Lilliput UM70 working on Sheevaplug with Debian 5.0.

Correction

Your instructions work perfect to get a Lilliput UM70 working on Sheevaplug with Debian Squeeze:

uname -a
Linux sheevaplug1 2.6.32-5-kirkwood #1 Sat Dec 11 05:09:52 UTC 2010 armv5tel GNU/Linux

dpkg -l | grep linux-image
ii linux-image-2.6-kirkwood 2.6.32+28 Linux 2.6 for Marvell Kirkwood (meta-package)
ii linux-image-2.6.32-5-kirkwood 2.6.32-29 Linux 2.6.32 for Marvell Kirkwood

dmesg
[ 9.952377] udlfb: DisplayLink LILLIPUT USB Monitor - serial #87990920
[ 9.959024] udlfb: vid_17e9&pid_02a9&rev_0124 driver's dlfb_data struct at df974800
[ 9.966735] udlfb: console enable=0
[ 9.970234] udlfb: fb_defio enable=0
[ 9.974451] udlfb: vendor descriptor length:17 data:17 5f 01 0015 05 00 01 03 00 04
[ 9.982214] udlfb: DL chip limited to 700000 pixel modes
[ 9.991868] udlfb: allocated 4 65024 byte urbs
[ 10.080538] udlfb: 800x480 valid mode
[ 10.084225] udlfb: Reallocating framebuffer. Addresses will change!
[ 10.092222] udlfb: 800x480 valid mode
[ 10.095899] udlfb: set_par mode 800x480
[ 10.111063] udlfb: DisplayLink USB device /dev/fb0 attached. 800x480 resolution. Using 1504K framebuffer memory
[ 10.121336] usbcore: registered new interface driver udlfb

Since squeeze does not come with the displaylink driver, Xorg can be run with fbdev as driver instead. Xorg (1:7.5+8) reports no errors but results in a black screen (with backlight turned on). I found out the framebuffer contents can be shown on screen through while true;do cat /dev/fb0 > /dev/fb0;sleep 0.1;done but this is not a recommended workaround.

With your approach, I now have a working sheevaplug, with Debian and Lilliput 7" USB screen.

Thanks!

Bob

Good stuff. Glad it worked :-)

-PG

Is it posssible to not have X but have it working as text console. I tried it with fbcon, but I only get the green screen

Simplest way to use it for text only is to install st220term.

-PG

I also try that later.

I have found that the udlfb default console is disabled.

creating /etc/modprobe.d/options
options udlfb console=1

now modprobe fbcon, the the display goes off from green, but not yet a console

udlfb: open /dev/fb0 user=0 fb_info=cfbbdc00 count=1
udlfb: set_par mode 800x480
Console: switching to colour frame buffer device 100x30

Peter,

It works, I have to set the inittab only. tty1 was already there. I also can do startx in console and that woks, so console and x works

Hi Folks,

I need some guidance!

I got a second Dockstar that I want to use with my TV to stream Netflix and ESPN and stream video from my other Dockstar server. (Thanks do much to Jeff and the people on this forum for all of the work that makes hacking the device so easy for nubes like myself.)

I just loaded Debian 2.6.32-5-kirkwood and then connected a Arkview USB-WA62 DisplayLink adapter. I got a green screen on my 15 in dell LCD monitor. I followed peterguns work from ...

/forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,2983,2985#msg-2985

and did the following ...

apt-get update
# not sure which of the following are necessary - these are what I installed to get my Displaylink screen working
apt-get install xinit xserver-xorg xserver-xorg-dev xfonts-base libusb-dev xorg-dev git-core build-essential
# required for sisusb software rendering
apt-get install libgl1-mesa-dri
# minimal fluxbox set up - plus an xterm & a couple of browsers
apt-get install fluxbox rxvt midori iceweasel
echo "exec fluxbox" > ~/.xinitrc

then I created /etc/X11/xorg.conf with ...

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "X.org Configured"
Screen 0 "SISScreen" 0 0
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "SISDevice"
Driver "sisusb"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "SISMonitor"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "SISScreen"
Device "SISDevice"
Monitor "SISMonitor"
EndSection

When I startx i get ...





Any ideas what I should be doing?
Thanks
P



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2011 09:53AM by Phreon.

@Phreon - You have a modern Displaylink device not a USB2VGA. So it should work if you follow the instructions in the first post of this thread. Do not follow the instructions in the USB2VGA thread that is just for older USB2VGA devices that use the SIS chipset.

Also, try to avoid posting massive messages that make the thread unreadable - its much better to use an attachment for logs like the one above.

-PG

Hi petergunn,,
I will use the attachment files from now on.
Thanks for directing me to the correct post. I will try that.
P

Thanks petergunn,

That works! ...(mostly)
(I will also now try to figure out how to modify window manager settings.)

I now get a desktop with "Workspace 1" and a clock.

If I rightclick I get a menu with apps and stuff. Way cool!

My SSH terminal is showing after I startx many X11 errors though.
I have attached the file.

Is this something I need to correct?


Thanks
Al

I think these errors are normal the very first time you start fluxbox as it cannot find the configuration in ~/.fluxbox/init file. Which gets created the first time you run fluxbox. The default values are nearly always fine anyway.

Now you've got a desktop try installing or running midori web browser. It uses far less memory than iceweasel.

-PG

Thanks petergunn,

I will try that too.

P

Hi Richard,

Thanks to petergunn's advice I am able to have a 15" lcd display working on my dockstar. I would like to have the default console available on start up without X running. Can you describe the steps you took to get the text console to work with the displaylink adapter.

Thanks
P

He Phreon,

You need to fbcon as module into the kernel and udlfb (display link USB Framebuffer support)

You have to set in /etc/modules
fbcon
udlfb

/etc/modprobe.d/options
options udlfb console=1

/etc/inittab uncomment
1:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty1

Hi richard,
Thanks for the reply. I will try to figure that out. (I am kind of new to all of this so some of what you wrote assumes more knowledge then I have.)
I will google some of it and see if I can get something going.
Thanks
P

Thanks for the help richard, that works great.

Petergunn;
Do you know how to add applications to the fluxbox desktop menu?
Thanks
P

Fluxbox menu is defined by ~/.fluxbox/menu file. Edit this to make changes.

See: Fluxbox wiki

-PG



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2011 04:29PM by petergunn.

Inspired by this thread, I bought a couple of Videk AN2480 USB2VGA adaptors off eBay and found they work with the Dockstar. No big financial risk at £18-50 including postage for the pair! I think the seller underestimated demand.

In fact they behave as Displaylink adaptors in Windows. Following the instructions in the first post on this thread, I soon found a 1Gb USB drive wasn't big enough to complete the installation so tried a 4Gb drive instead. Fluxbox appeared on the monitor! Wow! Realise I need to tweak xorg.conf for a full size monitor and sort out a few other error messages but just wanted to say a big thank you to Peter Gunn for getting me this far.

Ian

^ Can you point me to the eBay listing for this product?

Sorry long gone - there were about 10 for sale, all at the same time.


Ian

Hello everyone,

First of all, I'd like to thank you for the wonderful information provided here !

I made the acquisition of a USB DisplayLink adapter like this one

I had Jeff's 2.6.32-5-kirkwood kernel installed. When I plugged the adapter, I directly got the famous green screen showing off that the display adapter was correctly detected.

I installed the xorg video server and compilled the driver following the instructions given by petergunn on the first post.

I can successfully start the x server configured with fluxbox.
I also managed to get a console upon startup followings richard's tip.

However, I still have 2 issues :
- I cannot resize the screen. It only displays correctly at the resolution initialized during boot, which is the maximum compatible resolution for the screen. (I tried with DVI & HDMI displays). I always end up with only one working resolution, the maximum detected.

When I try to reduce it with "xrandr -s YYYYxZZZZ", the resolution changes but I get a weird result , the display just becomes heavily scrambled and unreadable (See both photos of my screen attached).

I recompiled a new kernel (3.0.1 ; based on Jeff's instructions), no change...
I recompiled the xorg displaylink driver following instructions from another blog... No change !
I can't get a proper screen at a lower resolution that the one the displaylink driver initialized to...

- Second issue :
When I start DoxBox or ScummVM, my screen begins to flicker. The picture is good during 3 seconds... then disappears briefly, the comes back for 3 seconds, ... and so on. I tought it could be the screen. So I plugged another screen. It seemed to solve the problem, but the display still disappeared briefly at a longer interval (once every 10-15 seconds)... I don't understand what's wrong. One again, this append with both kernels I tried, and with both xorg displaylink driver that I compiled.

Has any of you any idea what could be the cause of those troubles ?
I guess my next step is to try to modify the displaylink kernel driver to manually force the initial display resolution to the desired one... but this implies building the module for every resolution I want to get... which doesn't seem to me the most efficient solution :)