Question: I have a DisplayLink-based external USB monitor, which has both power and data over USB, and seems to work perfectly under Windows 7, but only can display a text console under Ubuntu 10.10, and that I can only use when I am actually switched to it. So the only Use I can have so far is to have some text-based monitoring or console that I can watch while working on the graphic display. 

I know there are some development done for DisplayLink, but I never could get it to actually run properly. 

Yes, I tried the detailed setup described in other [posts](https://askubuntu.com/questions/3348/how-to-get-lilliput-usb-monitor-running-in-ubuntu), but they did not work, and instead crashed my X that I had to restore. 

Merci :-)

Answer: 
UPDATE: April 2019 -> DisplayLink with kernel > 5.0.5 also works.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE: March 2019 -> DisplayLink with kernel > 4.18.20
-------------------------------------------------------

It is now possible to install the driver with new versions of kernels.
I am writing this after updating to **4.20.13**

You will have to use a script, however, which you can obtain from [HERE (Github)](https://github.com/AdnanHodzic/displaylink-debian).

Once you have the script, remove the currently installed driver/module and install the new version. Script will download all dependencies for you. To remove old/install new apply the below steps:

```
sudo ./displaylink-debian.sh --uninstall
sudo dkms remove evdi/1.6.0 --all -q
sudo systemctl stop dlm.service
sudo systemctl disable dlm.service
sudo rm -f /lib/systemd/system/dlm.service
sudo rmmod evdi
sudo displaylink-debian.sh --install

```

Enjoy

February 2019 -> Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
---------------------------------

**Installation:**

Download driver from [HERE](https://www.displaylink.com/downloads/ubuntu). Then unzip, make sure it's runable and install **(change the below file names to your versions):**

```
$ unzip DisplayLink USB Graphics Software for Ubuntu 4.4.zip
$ chmod 775 displaylink-driver-4.4.24.run
$ ./displaylink-driver-4.4.24.run

```

Thats it! Once installed you can connect your DisplayLink to the PC and it should fly.

**Few notes:**

Make sure you have **dkms** installed on your system.

```
$ sudo dpkg -l | grep dkms
ii  dkms          2.3-3ubuntu9.2        all          Dynamic Kernel Module Support Framework

```

Also note, it works perfectly with the **4.15.0-45-generic kernel**. However, I tried with the newest kernel 4.20 and the driver will not work - evdi for dkms will not compile. I haven't tried other kernels - if I try I will update the answer - but beware of this issue!

You can check your current kernel like this:

```
$ uname -r
4.15.0-45-generic

```

**EDIT: (14.02.2019)**

Ok, so I decided to try some kernels and it seems that **4.18.20-041820-generic** is the most recent working. Nothing higher worked for me.
Here's an easy way to test if your DisplayLink device is operable at a low level, under Linux. If you plug in the device and get a green screen, you're ready for the next step.

First convert a bitmap to the size of your screen, then convert it to 16 bit RGB color. Then copy to the framebuffer for the device:

```
convert -resize '800x480!' input.jpg temp1.png
mkdfiff -f RGB16 temp1.png > temp2.png
dd if=temp2.png of=/dev/fb1

```

Note that your DisplayLink is probably at /dev/fb1, but you can check with `dmesg` :

```
[581145.816821] udlfb: DisplayLink Kensington M01063 - serial #202241900817
[581145.817000] udlfb: vendor descriptor length:22 data:22 5f 01 0020 05 00 01 03 00 04
[581145.817005] udlfb: DL chip limited to 2360000 pixel modes
[581145.909488] udlfb: DisplayLink USB device /dev/fb1 attached. 800x480 resolution.

```

Only version 1 DisplayLink chips are supported by Linux.
The DisplayLink 1 chips are limited to 16 bit RGB.
Getting the device to work properly under X windows is more challenging.