linux

Displaylink setup

Recently I purchased a model# 131-00001-35 Displaylink iClever docking station to use with my laptop.

To properly configure, start by downloading and installing the drivers and xrandr. Check the system configuration:

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#pacman -S dkms
# git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/displaylink.git

# chown pl -R /home/pl/Downloads
$./Downloads/displaylink/makepkg
 
# pacman -S linux44-headers
pacman -U ./displaylink-1.1.62-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz


$ cat /proc/version
Linux version 4.4.21-1-MANJARO (builduser@manjaro) (gcc version 6.2.1 20160830 (GCC) ) #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Sep 15 19:16:23 UTC 2016
$ pacman -Q xorg-xrandr
xorg-xrandr 1.5.0-1
$ pacman -Q dkms
dkms 2.2.0.3+git151023-12
$ pacman -Q xfwm4
xfwm4 4.12.3-2

Next start the display link service and list available monitors. setprovideroutputsource activates the second display.

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$ xrandr --listproviders
Providers: number : 2
Provider 0: id: 0x48 cap: 0xb, Source Output, Sink Output, Sink Offload crtcs: 4 outputs: 5 associated providers: 0 name:Intel
Provider 1: id: 0x12a cap: 0x2, Sink Output crtcs: 1 outputs: 1 associated providers: 0 name:modesetting

$ xrandr --setprovideroutputsource 1 0

With the display running, xrandr will list available resolutions and refresh rates.

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$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 1600 x 960, maximum 32767 x 32767
eDP1 connected 1600x900+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 280mm x 160mm
   1920x1080     59.93 +
   1400x1050     59.98  
   1600x900      60.00* 
   1280x1024     60.02  
   1280x960      60.00  
   1368x768      60.00  
   1280x720      60.00  
   1024x768      60.00  
   1024x576      60.00  
   960x540       60.00  
   800x600       60.32    56.25  
   864x486       60.00  
   640x480       59.94  
   720x405       60.00  
   640x360       60.00  
DP1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
VGA1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
VIRTUAL1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DVI-I-1 connected 1280x960+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 410mm x 256mm
   1440x900      59.89 +
   1280x1024     75.02    60.02  
   1280x960      60.00* 
   1152x864      75.00  
   1152x720      59.97  
   1024x768      75.08    60.00  
   832x624       74.55  
   800x600       75.00    60.32    56.25  
   848x480       60.00  
   640x480       75.00    60.00    59.94  
   720x400       70.08  
  1280x1024 (0x10b) 108.000MHz +HSync +VSync
        h: width  1280 start 1328 end 1440 total 1688 skew    0 clock  63.98KHz
        v: height 1024 start 1025 end 1028 total 1066           clock  60.02Hz
  1280x960 (0x10c) 108.000MHz +HSync +VSync
        h: width  1280 start 1376 end 1488 total 1800 skew    0 clock  60.00KHz
        v: height  960 start  961 end  964 total 1000           clock  60.00Hz
  1024x768 (0x110) 65.000MHz -HSync -VSync
        h: width  1024 start 1048 end 1184 total 1344 skew    0 clock  48.36KHz
        v: height  768 start  771 end  777 total  806           clock  60.00Hz
  800x600 (0x113) 40.000MHz +HSync +VSync
        h: width   800 start  840 end  968 total 1056 skew    0 clock  37.88KHz
        v: height  600 start  601 end  605 total  628           clock  60.32Hz
  800x600 (0x114) 36.000MHz +HSync +VSync
        h: width   800 start  824 end  896 total 1024 skew    0 clock  35.16KHz
        v: height  600 start  601 end  603 total  625           clock  56.25Hz
  640x480 (0x118) 25.175MHz -HSync -VSync
        h: width   640 start  656 end  752 total  800 skew    0 clock  31.47KHz
        v: height  480 start  490 end  492 total  525           clock  59.94Hz


Screen 0 “eDP1” is my laptop screen with a resolution of 1600x99 and a refresh rate of 60 MHz.
Screen 1 “DVI-I-1” is my external display with a resolution of 1280x960.
Resolution can be set/changed with the xrandr command

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;;;external
xrandr --output DVI-I-1 --mode 1280x960

;;;built in
xrandr --output eDP1 --mode 1600x900

Upon reboot, changes are lost. To automatically activate on boot, the systemctl displaylink.service command must be started as a service.
Systemctl requires root privileges.

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# systemctl enable displaylink.service
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/graphical.target.wants/displaylink.service → /usr/lib/systemd/system/displaylink.service.
#

The xrandr command needs to be executed after the X system is initialized during the boot process. Create an executable file with the required commands:

displaylink.sh
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#!/usr/bin/env sh
sleep 10 && xrandr --setprovideroutputsource 1 0 && xrandr --output DVI-I-1 --mode 1280x960

Make the file executable:

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$chmod +x ./displaylink.sh

Go into settings > settings manager > session and startup > application autostart > add

Add an autostart with the following parameters:
Name: Displaylink
Command: bash /home/<myaccount>/displaylink.sh

With this configuration I need to be docked during boot so the second display can be recognized. If I dock after boot, I can manually execute the ./displaylink.sh command to activate the monitor. Without additional configuration I can close the lid of the laptop, inactivating the built in screen, but retaining signal to the external display.

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