plugable USB 3.0 UGA not working in Linux VM

[samjam]

I have a USB 3.0 UGA display adaptor. It works fine plugged into my android devices using HDMI or DVI adaptor; but does not work with LinuxMint 17.3 on an ESXi guest with the DVi adaptor.

When re-inserting (while in a text console and then switching back to graphics), dmesg shows:

Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME kernel: [  335.021322] usb 5-1.5: new high-speed USB device number 5 using ehci-pci
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME kernel: [  335.115139] usb 5-1.5: New USB device found, idVendor=17e9, idProduct=4301
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME kernel: [  335.115145] usb 5-1.5: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME kernel: [  335.115149] usb 5-1.5: Product: Plugable USB3-HDMI-DVI
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME kernel: [  335.115152] usb 5-1.5: Manufacturer: DisplayLink
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME kernel: [  335.115155] usb 5-1.5: SerialNumber: PLUG412120903041460172
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME kernel: [  335.121012] usb 5-1.5: Warning! Unlikely big volume range (=511), cval->res is probably wrong.
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME kernel: [  335.121018] usb 5-1.5: [14] FU [Digital In Playback Volume] ch = 6, val = -8176/0/16
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME mtp-probe: checking bus 5, device 5: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:17.0/0000:13:00.0/usb5/5-1/5-1.5"
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME mtp-probe: bus: 5, device: 5 was not an MTP device
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME pulseaudio[12917]: [pulseaudio] alsa-util.c: Disabling timer-based scheduling because running inside a VM.
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME pulseaudio[12917]: [pulseaudio] sink.c: Default and alternate sample rates are the same.
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME rtkit-daemon[12921]: Successfully made thread 13974 of process 12917 (n/a) owned by '1000' RT at priority 5.
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME rtkit-daemon[12921]: Supervising 2 threads of 1 processes of 1 users.
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME kernel: [  335.400515] evdi: [D] evdi_painter_connect:433 (dev=-1) Connected with           (null)
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME kernel: [  335.400524] evdi: [D] evdi_detect:69 (dev=1) Painter is connected
Jun 14 13:53:32 HOSTNAME kernel: [  335.402454] evdi: [D] evdi_detect:69 (dev=1) Painter is connected
Jun 14 13:54:45 HOSTNAME kernel: [  408.502672] evdi: [D] evdi_painter_crtc_state_notify:359 (dev=1) Notifying crtc state: 3
Jun 14 13:54:45 HOSTNAME kernel: [  408.502703] evdi: [D] evdi_detect:69 (dev=1) Painter is connected
Jun 14 13:54:45 HOSTNAME kernel: [  408.502709] evdi: [D] evdi_painter_get_edid_copy:186 (dev=1) 00 ff ff
Jun 14 13:54:45 HOSTNAME kernel: [  408.528583] evdi: [D] evdi_detect:69 (dev=1) Painter is connected
Jun 14 13:54:45 HOSTNAME kernel: [  408.528594] evdi: [D] evdi_painter_get_edid_copy:186 (dev=1) 00 ff ff
Jun 14 13:54:45 HOSTNAME kernel: [  408.529473] evdi: [D] evdi_detect:69 (dev=1) Painter is connected
Jun 14 13:54:45 HOSTNAME kernel: [  408.529480] evdi: [D] evdi_painter_get_edid_copy:186 (dev=1) 00 ff ff

xrandr does not detect a new device.
udlfb is blacklisted and not loaded, udl and evdi are loaded.

/dev/fb1 appears, some modeset's return without error but do not affect the display output which remains black screen, no signal.

e.g.

$ sudo fbset -fb /dev/fb1 -g 1024 768 1024 768 16
$
$ sudo fbset -fb /dev/fb1 -g 1920 1200 1920 1200 32
ioctl FBIOPUT_VSCREENINFO: Invalid argument
$ sudo fbset -fb /dev/fb1 -g 1920 1200 1920 1200 16
ioctl FBIOPUT_VSCREENINFO: Invalid argument

The whole X screen does blink/redraw if I remove/re-insert the USB, but xrandr never offers or detects it as a device.

I also notice that /dev/fb1 won't appear unless X has already started (or something like that) which is weird, meaning I can't use a fixed xorg.conf on /dev/fb1.

I notice this in the logs relating to X starting:

                 
[  199.134112] usb 5-1.8: new high-speed USB device number 4 using ehci-pci                         
[  199.227527] usb 5-1.8: New USB device found, idVendor=17e9, idProduct=4301                       
[  199.227533] usb 5-1.8: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3                  
[  199.227536] usb 5-1.8: Product: Plugable USB3-HDMI-DVI                                           
[  199.227539] usb 5-1.8: Manufacturer: DisplayLink                                                 
[  199.227541] usb 5-1.8: SerialNumber: PLUG412120903041460172                                      
[  199.231897] usb 5-1.8: Warning! Unlikely big volume range (=511), cval->res is probably wrong.   
[  199.231902] usb 5-1.8: [14] FU [Digital In Playback Volume] ch = 6, val = -8176/0/16             
[  199.498676] evdi: [D] add_store:195 Increasing device count to 1                                 
[  199.499023] evdi: [D] evdi_crtc_init:304 drm_crtc_init: 0                                        
[  199.499189] evdi: [W] evdi_painter_crtc_state_notify:362 Painter does not exist!                 
[  199.499194] evdi: [D] evdi_detect:72 Painter is disconnected                                     
[  199.499200] evdi evdi.0: No connectors reported connected with modes                             
[  199.499203] [drm] Cannot find any crtc or sizes - going 1024x768                                 
[  199.500280] evdi evdi.0: fb1: evdidrmfb frame buffer device                                      
[  199.500283] evdi evdi.0: registered panic notifier                                               
[  199.514084] [drm] Supports vblank timestamp caching Rev 2 (21.10.2013).                          
[  199.514088] [drm] No driver support for vblank timestamp query.                                  
[  199.514090] [drm] evdi: evdi_stats_init                                                          
[  199.514097] [drm] Initialized evdi 1.1.61 20160510 on minor 1

It is plugged into a 1920x1200 DVI monitor but claims not to find any crtc or sizes.