Finished the dual screen and dock setup. One work laptop is STILL a bit dicey with the dual screens and I can 100% confirm it’s a shitty usb-c port.
My original Metabox laptop though… it’s getting onto 6 years old, the dock connects to one screen only but not two. Realised the internal AND external graphics drivers basically haven’t been updated since the laptop was bought, yikes), so I’ve updated those but no dice.
I can sense myself using this to procrastinate on all sorts of other things so… one monitor is better than none. Onwards…
Hmmm, doesn’t look like it is. I installed the DisplayLink driver and have the utility running anyway, but it doesn’t seem to be making much of a difference. I think it might be the USB-C port for this laptop, it might be an older one that can’t support the thoroughput of 2x 1080p monitors at 60Hz for some reason?
E: The dock (Belkin INC014) does support Display Port Alt Mode, and obviously it worked on other laptops, so I’m thinking it’s really this older laptop that’s got an issue.
Yeah. I’m spending too much time going down rabbit holes about what the cause is (maybe it’s because the processor doesn’t support DP 1.4? Is it the port? I don’t know!)
Worst case if I need two screens, the laptop itself has a 17" screen so that’s not so bad. Just takes up a heap of space and isn’t at the right height. I don’t do that much work on this laptop atm so I’ll survive. At least the dock generally works, last time I tried using a USB-C dock with this a few years ago nothing worked.
Just display settings. The keyboard button for toggling multiple displays does basically the same thing (choice of extending, duplicating, etc)
I can technically run two external screens by plugging one monitor into the laptop’s HDMI port, but that kind of defeats the point of a port :( don’t think I’ll do it unless I really need to.
It extends onto the laptop’s own screen (which is pointless as the laptop is closed)… Ah well, I’ve simply accepted that I can only use one monitor with this particular laptop via the dock. It’s too complicated for me to understand!
Finished the dual screen and dock setup. One work laptop is STILL a bit dicey with the dual screens and I can 100% confirm it’s a shitty usb-c port.
My original Metabox laptop though… it’s getting onto 6 years old, the dock connects to one screen only but not two. Realised the internal AND external graphics drivers basically haven’t been updated since the laptop was bought, yikes), so I’ve updated those but no dice.
I can sense myself using this to procrastinate on all sorts of other things so… one monitor is better than none. Onwards…
Is it a DisplayLink-based dock, does it need the DisplayLink driver installed (and the utility running) to drive both screens over USB?
Common issue with docks at our hotdesks here at work.
Hmmm, doesn’t look like it is. I installed the DisplayLink driver and have the utility running anyway, but it doesn’t seem to be making much of a difference. I think it might be the USB-C port for this laptop, it might be an older one that can’t support the thoroughput of 2x 1080p monitors at 60Hz for some reason?
E: The dock (Belkin INC014) does support Display Port Alt Mode, and obviously it worked on other laptops, so I’m thinking it’s really this older laptop that’s got an issue.
Damn!
Ah well, like you say, at least one monitor is better than none.
Yeah. I’m spending too much time going down rabbit holes about what the cause is (maybe it’s because the processor doesn’t support DP 1.4? Is it the port? I don’t know!)
Worst case if I need two screens, the laptop itself has a 17" screen so that’s not so bad. Just takes up a heap of space and isn’t at the right height. I don’t do that much work on this laptop atm so I’ll survive. At least the dock generally works, last time I tried using a USB-C dock with this a few years ago nothing worked.
This sounds stupid but do you have to toggle it to dual display on the laptop itself or go through the display settings?
Just display settings. The keyboard button for toggling multiple displays does basically the same thing (choice of extending, duplicating, etc)
I can technically run two external screens by plugging one monitor into the laptop’s HDMI port, but that kind of defeats the point of a port :( don’t think I’ll do it unless I really need to.
Hmm I’m not sure how it really works through the dock to be honest.
What happens when you put it into extending the screen option?
It extends onto the laptop’s own screen (which is pointless as the laptop is closed)… Ah well, I’ve simply accepted that I can only use one monitor with this particular laptop via the dock. It’s too complicated for me to understand!