Display link software causing TaskBar (Start,Cortana,edge) to crash

[cgdynamic]

Hello All,
I have just updated to windows 10 (Release version). after updating windows I installed the display link updated drivers (v7.9MO) after restarting my machine
It causes the Start menu, Cortana(search) Explorer(Edge) to crash With the following information in event viewer.

(Edge)
Activation of app Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdg e failed with error: The remote procedure call failed. See the Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI/Operational log for additional information.

(Cortana)
Activation of app Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy!CortanaUI failed with error: The remote procedure call failed. See the Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI/Operational log for additional information.

(Start - Shell)
Activation of app Microsoft.Windows.ShellExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyew y!App failed with error: The remote procedure call failed. See the Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI/Operational log for additional information.

I then did a complete uninstall of the display link drivers. Restarted. Then the Taskbar started to work correctly.

I attempted to run the installer in compatibility mode. and ran into the same issues again.

I have checked the display link services. (Running)
I had no Issues during Install.
Machine has been fully updated. with compatible drivers for all components.

I am running A Dell precision M4700
Intel HD Graphics 4000 (Updated)
NVIDIA Quadro K2000M (Updated)
16 GB Memory
500 GB SSD
1 TB HHD
i7 PROCESSOR


running a total of 4 Monitors
Laptop Monitor
and 3 Pavilion 25xi's (only one uses the display link adapter)


Everything that I have tried has failed.
When the display link drivers are installed. all the monitors work. but the taskbar items crash (listed above).

I have uninstalled and reinstalled several times each time with the same results. (Yes, I'm insane)

Please Help!

[proels]

This is exactly my problem. The software simply doesn't work with windows 10 and needs to be fixed. It crashes windows 10.

This is difficult to troubleshoot one installed because certain features of the operating system crash like the start menu and search/cortana. I have followed all of the instructions and repeated attempts multiple times like the op.

There are also posts in the "windows software" section of the forums describing the same problems. see the post : Windows 10 kernal failure

[JamesH]

@cgdynamic

Hi,

Could you try these steps for me?
1. Disconnect your device
2. Uninstall DisplayLink software from the Control Panel
3. Run the DisplayLink Cleaner tool from here: http://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/533821
4. Install the latest DisplayLink software from here: http://www.displaylink.com/downloads/index.php
5. Reconnect your device
6. Try and launch the apps that were crashing

If they are still crashing please attach the output from this tool:
http://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/533818

Thanks,
James

[JamesH]

@proels

Hi,

Could you also run through the above steps?

Thanks,
James

[Michael.A.Alan]

I'm also experiencing this issue. Same failure to activate because of failed remote procedure calls on 'Modern' UI elements. If i boot my laptop with the display link device connected none of the modern UI stuff works. Interestingly if i boot without the device connected, everything works and will continue to work after i connect the display link device. However this applies to each app individually, i.e. launching one modern UI element before connecting doesn't ensure all of them work later, only the one i launched.

E.g.: I boot laptop without dock, open start menu, plug in dock, i can now open the start menu with the dock connected. However the mail app, the notification shade, and everything else will still fail to open if i hadn't opened them before connecting. It appears only things loaded before the displaylink device was connected will continue to function after.

[Michael.A.Alan]

Just out of curiosity are either of you running a system with optimus?

[lokinz]

@cgdynamic

Hi,

Could you try these steps for me?
1. Disconnect your device
2. Uninstall DisplayLink software from the Control Panel
3. Run the DisplayLink Cleaner tool from here: http://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/533821
4. Install the latest DisplayLink software from here: http://www.displaylink.com/downloads/index.php
5. Reconnect your device
6. Try and launch the apps that were crashing

If they are still crashing please attach the output from this tool:
http://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/533818

Thanks,
James

Hi James,

Thanks for the suggestions. I followed this procedure and Windows 10 Start menu etc are still not functional - they function between uninstalling the driver and reinstall.

Attached is the output from the support tool.

Thanks for looking into this.

-Logan

[proels]

Thank you for the response, I have done all the steps. I have also contacted Plugable support who sells my adapter.

In my case the issue occurs on a laptop running dual graphics. The Display link driver works fine when the laptop only uses integrated graphics. But problems occur when the NVidia driver is also active. I am using all the latest drivers. Plugable suggested that drivers would likely be updated in the near future that may resolve the conflict, thanks.

[Michael.A.Alan]

Just out of curiosity are either of you running a system with optimus?

In my case the issue occurs on a laptop running dual graphics.

Yup, seems like there's a good chance this is it. Hopefully the Display Link devs have already figured this out.

[qwantz]

I've got this problem too. It's a Lenovo W541 (so two display adapters) and upon boot all Modern UI apps fail, with the RPC failing in the Event Log. It goes away when I uninstall the Displaylink drivers.

A fix for this would be great, because not being able to use the Start menu is sort of a big deal.

[lokinz]

I've got this problem too. It's a Lenovo W541 (so two display adapters) and upon boot all Modern UI apps fail, with the RPC failing in the Event Log. It goes away when I uninstall the Displaylink drivers.

A fix for this would be great, because not being able to use the Start menu is sort of a big deal.

It's a pain yeah. I have installed classic shell (http://www.classicshell.net/) for now. One way to get a working start menu.

[robmc5]

I also have the same problem, actually three of the user in my office are using Display Link Adaptors and have this issue. Here are the log entries -

Event Viewer App log -
Activation of app Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdg e failed with error: The remote procedure call failed. See the Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI/Operational log for additional information.

Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI log -
Activation of the app Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdg e for the Windows.Protocol contract failed with error: The remote procedure call failed..

I started another thread before I saw this one, sorry but this is really frustrating, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[ratbone]

I have the identical issue as proels I run a MIMO monitor as a secondary monitor on my workstation I have a Nvidia GEForce 570 Video card as my primary graphic card.

when both the Nvidia driver and the display link driver are installed I had massive grief with weird display effects which primarily effected the tooltips, windows explorer crashes and also caused multiple BSOD.

I have reinstalled the OS 3 times and the only time I got a stable system is when I disconnected the MIMO monitor and avoided the automatic install of the Latest Windows 10 (7.9Mo) DisplayLink driver through windows update.

There is some serious conflict with the DisplayLink driver and with the latest Nvidia display driver in windows 10
The MIMO monitor will have to stay disconnected until this issue is resolved.

[robmc5]

I am also running the latest NVidia driver, I have the Quadro K1000M ver. 80.7.33.0.f. I have not problems when using the NVidia only, just when the Display Links are connected. I have had the problem after an upgrade, and then a clean install of Professional and then Enterprise. Sometimes Edge will work, but the start menu and the other apps will crash immediately with the remote procedure call failed error.

I can disconnect the display links and reboot and everything works correctly. I have three other techs in my office with the same issue, but I also have two guys that everything works for them. They are using the same 7.9 driver I am, we are still trying to find out any other differences.

I hope DisplayLink is working on a solution, I have a lot of clients that are using the adaptor and want to upgrade to 10.

[ratbone]

hi robmc5
Initially everything works but after a few days windows explorer starts crashing triggering block shaped distortions of most windows tooltips. Then after a couple of BSOD linked to possible memory addressing issues the file system got corrupted. This happened 2 times after a clean install of Windows 10 professional.
This time I never connected the MIMO monitor so the DisplayLink driver never got installed. My event log is as clean as a whistle with only a few known windows warnings and errors which I'm dealing with. When I had the displayLink driver installed there were loads of errors all of the time.

Note: no changes in hardware or software for all 3 installs. just missing the DisplayLink Driver.

[robmc5]

Hey ratbone, same here. I am running fine without the Display Link drivers installed. It looks like we will not get a response from Display Link on the issue. I am currently researching different USB video adapters to replace the Display Links. I tried the Matrox and it worked great, except having the ability to rotate the displays. I will keep looking and hoping Display Links addresses the issue.

[PaulJ]

Hi all,

Thanks for your reporting of this issue. Note that we have seen it reported via other channels and are investigating. Unfortunately at this time we have no schedule for a fix but will let you know when this changes.

Thanks,
Paul

[robmc5]

Paul, thanks for the post. I will keep an eye on this forum for an update as well as the driver page. I am a technical manager for a MSP supporting over 2000 end points and a number of our clients have asked about upgrading to 10. I am sure we have well over 100 Displaylinks in the field, I know its not much but its a big part of our client base.

Thanks again!

[ratbone]

Thanks for the Update Paul. I will monitor this thread for news of the fix

[ratbone]

Just an update: I have contacted the monitor hardware manufacturer complaining about the current DisplayLink windows 10 driver compatibility issue. Mimo Monitors do not provide alternative drivers for DisplayLink. So their business will be also effected by this issue. Hopefully this intervention will accelerate the resolution of this issue. I have an expensive piece of hardware switched off and idle at the moment.

[robmc5]

Another update, one of the other techs in our office installed the Windows 10 upgrade and used the StarTech USB32DVIPRO USB3 video adapters and it worked fine, he was using two of them, he also has a the same nVidia card in his laptop that I have...no problems. I ordered these adapters and tried it....guess what, I am still unable to open any Modern ui apps or the start menu. I am at a loss.....

[PaulJ]

Hi robmc5,

Are you able to try completely uninstalling your DisplayLink software via Programs & Features and reinstalling? It's odd that your colleague has a working setup with the same GPU as you. Could you also check that you're both running the same nvidia drivers?

Thanks,
Paul

[robmc5]

Hey Paul,

Thanks for staying with this, I have uninstalled Display Link and even run the support tool. I also did a clean install and ran nothing but the Display Link drivers. My co-worker has a NVidia Quatro Pro m880 card and I am running the K1000m. I have updated the drivers for that as well as my dock. I also tried the Display Link Driver without the dock and I get the same error. I have three other users here that have the same problem, but there are some that don't have it.

I purchased the StarTech adapters (that is what one of my co-workers is using) and I have the same problem with those adapters. I know this not a huge issue, I just have to use 2 displays instead of 4, but managing 25 techs and over 2000 endpoints those other two monitors are invaluable.....

If you would like to correspond via email please let me know. Thanks again for helping with this issue.

[PaulJ]

This is a bit of a guess at the moment and please don't rush into trying this until you're happy you can recover if this goes wrong - i.e. you may need to get into Windows to uninstall your DisplayLink software.

Can you try either deleting or, if Windows doesn't let you delete, renaming the dlumdfb*.dll files in c:\windows\system32? I would also do the ones in c:\windows\syswow64 if you have a 64bit OS installed. After that reboot and see what happens. As stated initially there is a chance this could break your DisplayLink installation so you may need to boot in safe mode or recovery mode to recover although I think the chances are slim.

If you feel like trying it please do and let us know how it goes.

[robmc5]

Paul, I tried what you suggested. I did not have the Display Link drivers installed, I renamed both dlumdfb*.dll files and rebooted. I then installed the Display Link 7.9 Driver and rebooted again. After reboot Edge stopped working, along with the Start menu and all Modern UI applications.

When I run the applications this is the error that shows in the log when I try to run Edge -

Activation of app Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdg e failed with error: The remote procedure call failed. See the Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI/Operational log for additional information.


Here is the Cortana error -

Activation of app Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy!CortanaUI failed with error: The remote procedure call failed. See the Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI/Operational log for additional information.

I then uninstalled the DisplayLink software and rebooted and everything works fine.

[PaulJ]

Can you try the renaming again now you have the software installed?

[robmc5]

Paul, thanksfor the suggestion.... I tried that, I actually deleted the files -

dlumdfb9.dll
dlumdfb10.dll
dlumdfb11.dll

Rebooted and tried calculator....same error.

Activation of app Microsoft.WindowsCalculator_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App failed with error: The remote procedure call failed. See the Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI/Operational log for additional information.

[lokinz]

Paul, thanksfor the suggestion.... I tried that, I actually deleted the files -

dlumdfb9.dll
dlumdfb10.dll
dlumdfb11.dll

Rebooted and tried calculator....same error.

Activation of app Microsoft.WindowsCalculator_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App failed with error: The remote procedure call failed. See the Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI/Operational log for additional information.

Did you check to see if they are actually gone? After I restarted the dlls had been restored. I haven't had a chance to go any further with this yet as it's a work machine, and I have work to do :).

[robmc5]

The .dll's were gone but as soon as I installed the Display Link drivers they were back.

[PaulJ]

I typed a reply to this thread but it seems to have been lost somehow.

Regardless, what you've seen with the deleted dlls returning is expected. We've done a bit more investigating here and it seems this is not the cause of this issue so I suggest there's no need to delete/rename these dlls to see if it helps.

More when we have it...

[robmc5]

Thanks for the update, we are starting to get clients that we have installed the Display Link adapters at their location that are upgrading and having the same problem.

[JezzH]

As a workaround, can you please try killing the process named ApplicationFrameHost.exe

This may temporarily fix the problem, although it might come back later.

Please let us know whether this works for you.

Thanks,
Jezz

[lokinz]

As a workaround, can you please try killing the process named ApplicationFrameHost.exe

This may temporarily fix the problem, although it might come back later.

Please let us know whether this works for you.

Thanks,
Jezz

Did not work for me. Killed ApplicationFrameHost.exe but still no response from start menu etc. Also when launching an app like edge or calculator ApplicationFrameHost.exe restarts.

Thanks for your efforts though.

[robmc5]

It also did not work for me. I killed the process and reinstalled the drivers, same result, no start menu, Edge and all other modern UI apps would crash with the same error.

Activation of app Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microso ft.MicrosoftOfficeHub failed with error: The remote procedure call failed. See the Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI/Operational log for additional information.

That process is started everytime I launch one of the modern apps.

[justinhp]

This same issue is happening to me as well. I tried all the fixes suggested, but to no avail. My graphics are:
Intel HD Graphics 4000
NVIDIA Quadro K2000M

So much be a conflicting issue. I even did a fresh install of Windows 10 and nothing is changed. As soon as I uninstall DisplayLink I can use my start menu, right click on items in my toolbar, etc.

Is there a fix coming for this?

thanks,
Justin

[robmc5]

I have found the fix for this issue. I have a Lenovo W530 with the Nvidia Quadro K1000M and I am trying to use two displaylink USB adaptors. This has fixed this issues for all our users that have the problem.

You will need to go into the BIOS on your machine, go to display settings and set the adapter to “discreet graphics”. Next there will be a selection under that for “allow operating system to auto detect” disable this feature.

Reboot and the Start Menu, Edge, Cortana, and all apps will work with the Display Link Drivers installed.

You can also make this change in Windows under PC setings/Advanced Startup/Troubleshoot/Advanced Options/UEFI Firmware Settings/Restart

[Yuri878]

I have found the fix for this issue. I have a Lenovo W530 with the Nvidia Quadro K1000M and I am trying to use two displaylink USB adaptors. This has fixed this issues for all our users that have the problem.

You will need to go into the BIOS on your machine, go to display settings and set the adapter to “discreet graphics”. Next there will be a selection under that for “allow operating system to auto detect” disable this feature.

Reboot and the Start Menu, Edge, Cortana, and all apps will work with the Display Link Drivers installed.

You can also make this change in Windows under PC setings/Advanced Startup/Troubleshoot/Advanced Options/UEFI Firmware Settings/Restart

It works...
So what it means is that switchable graphics is causing the problem.
I Have Lenovo y50-70 so there is only 2 options is BIOS: UMA Graphics and switchable. So what is better, to be stuck on integrated graphics and everything working or be able to use switchable graphics but nothing in windows will work? :D

I Hope DisplayLink will soon release a fix for the issue.

[Michael.A.Alan]

It works...
So what it means is that switchable graphics is causing the problem.
I Have Lenovo y50-70 so there is only 2 options is BIOS: UMA Graphics and switchable. So what is better, to be stuck on integrated graphics and everything working or be able to use switchable graphics but nothing in windows will work? :D

I Hope DisplayLink will soon release a fix for the issue.

Yes i think its pretty clear at this point the issue is related to switchable graphics. Unfortunately not all machines have a bios switch to disable it and force a single GPU. There's no way for me to do this on my Dell XPS-15 so its back to waiting for displaylink to fix this for me :(.

[justinhp]

I have found the fix for this issue. I have a Lenovo W530 with the Nvidia Quadro K1000M and I am trying to use two displaylink USB adaptors. This has fixed this issues for all our users that have the problem.

You will need to go into the BIOS on your machine, go to display settings and set the adapter to “discreet graphics”. Next there will be a selection under that for “allow operating system to auto detect” disable this feature.

Reboot and the Start Menu, Edge, Cortana, and all apps will work with the Display Link Drivers installed.

You can also make this change in Windows under PC setings/Advanced Startup/Troubleshoot/Advanced Options/UEFI Firmware Settings/Restart

So that kind of worked for me. I changed to discrete graphics but only if I reboot without displaylink plugged in then plug it in after it starts up am I able to use my start menu.

If I just leave it all connected when I reboot the start menu still doesn't work.

[ratbone]

Good Call robmc5. I have done what you recommended and it appears to have resolved my issue to.

I will only declare victory if I do not see the symptoms of the issue after about week of use.

the only worry I have is I'm seeing the following error in the event viewer and I'm not sure it is related.


Event ID 5973

Activation of application Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy!CortanaUI failed with error: The app didn't start. See the Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI/Operational log for additional information.


I checked the Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI/Operational log and could not find a smoking gun and to be honest I did not understand what the errors are related to. here are some examples

Activation of the app Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy!CortanaUI for the Windows.BackgroundTasks contract failed with error: The app didn't start..

and

A notification for this tile expired while it was visible

tried to google it but information is pretty thin on windows 10 and Cortana at the moment.

[robmc5]

Glad it worked for you ratbone. I am not seeing those errors in the app log after the BIOS change, but it happened every time I tried a "modern app" before the change. I have fixed several machines and they are all working perfectly. I did have some weird issues with my resolution after the change but I got them worked out, not sure what I did but I played around with the Clear type settings and several reboots.

justinhp make sure there is no setting for OS auto detect in the graphics menu in the BIOS, mine had that setting but a couple of the others I fixed did not. I think the OS is detecting the switchable graphics card and changing it back after you reboot, worth a shot.

[lokinz]

I have found the fix for this issue. I have a Lenovo W530 with the Nvidia Quadro K1000M and I am trying to use two displaylink USB adaptors. This has fixed this issues for all our users that have the problem.

You will need to go into the BIOS on your machine, go to display settings and set the adapter to “discreet graphics”. Next there will be a selection under that for “allow operating system to auto detect” disable this feature.

Reboot and the Start Menu, Edge, Cortana, and all apps will work with the Display Link Drivers installed.

You can also make this change in Windows under PC setings/Advanced Startup/Troubleshoot/Advanced Options/UEFI Firmware Settings/Restart


This is not a fix for me. I am running a PC using on-board Intel HD 4600 + NVIDIA Quadro K600 + Display Link. Disabling any of these is not an option.

[robmc5]

lokinz, there is no way to disable the on-board video?

[justinhp]

Glad it worked for you ratbone. I am not seeing those errors in the app log after the BIOS change, but it happened every time I tried a "modern app" before the change. I have fixed several machines and they are all working perfectly. I did have some weird issues with my resolution after the change but I got them worked out, not sure what I did but I played around with the Clear type settings and several reboots.

justinhp make sure there is no setting for OS auto detect in the graphics menu in the BIOS, mine had that setting but a couple of the others I fixed did not. I think the OS is detecting the switchable graphics card and changing it back after you reboot, worth a shot.

I'll check that out and let you know. Thanks!

[lokinz]

lokinz, there is no way to disable the on-board video?

Yes there is but I use all three to run 4 x monitors. I had no issue with win 8.1.

[qwantz]

Yeah, disabling a video card isn't really a solution, because then you've got fewer monitors, which is the exact opposite of something you'd use DisplayLink for.

It'd be great if the "known issues with Windows 10" page could be updated to include this very significant issue:

http://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/525125-displaylink-and-windows-10

Right now it's mostly a bunch of us talking in this thread, with no real solution, and there's only going to be more unless people are warned "hey, if you use Displaylink with Windows 10, none of the Metro apps are going to work, including the start menu, so long as you have >1 video card".

[JamesH]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the radio silence but I can share that we're actively working on a fix for this issue.

As soon as I know more about when it will be available I'll update this thread.

Again - apologies for the delay on this fundamental issue.

Thanks,
James

[robmc5]

Yes there is but I use all three to run 4 x monitors. I had no issue with win 8.1.

Sorry I meant to disable the switchable graphics, on the ones I have fixed there are two on board adapters, one for low battery consumption (usually an Intel adapter) and one for better graphics, usually when the laptop is plugged in to power. This is causing the problem. I have disabled the low power consumption adapter and turned off the switchable graphics and that solved the issues with the Display Link Drivers.

Hopefully the fix from Display Link will solve this issue.

[lokinz]

Sorry I meant to disable the switchable graphics, on the ones I have fixed there are two on board adapters, one for low battery consumption (usually an Intel adapter) and one for better graphics, usually when the laptop is plugged in to power. This is causing the problem. I have disabled the low power consumption adapter and turned off the switchable graphics and that solved the issues with the Display Link Drivers.

Hopefully the fix from Display Link will solve this issue.

I didn't see a switchable graphics option. It's a PC so probably doesn't have a need for a low power version.

Waiting in anticipation for the fix. :)

[smchargue]

I'm having the same issue with my Lenovo Laptop / Docking Station and the Display Link Drivers. I've notice that the Start Menu/Cortana/etc.. will work if I start may laptop up with the lid open (even though it is docked) but if I close the lid and use the external monitors, the problem occurs.

If there is anything I can provide and test in the resolution of this problem, I will be glad to assist. Otherwise, i'll just be checking this forum every few days for a fix.

Thanks.

[Michael.A.Alan]

It's been over 2 weeks since the last official word from DisplayLink, any chance we can get a progress report on the state of this issue?

[smchargue]

and 5 days since this simple request for just some response to this highly inconvenient bug. Is there just no hope?

[daskas]

This fixed it for me:

I have found the fix for this issue. I have a Lenovo W530 with the Nvidia Quadro K1000M and I am trying to use two displaylink USB adaptors. This has fixed this issues for all our users that have the problem.

You will need to go into the BIOS on your machine, go to display settings and set the adapter to “discreet graphics”. Next there will be a selection under that for “allow operating system to auto detect” disable this feature.

Reboot and the Start Menu, Edge, Cortana, and all apps will work with the Display Link Drivers installed.

You can also make this change in Windows under PC setings/Advanced Startup/Troubleshoot/Advanced Options/UEFI Firmware Settings/Restart

[JezzH]

Hi all,

Just letting you know that we have identified a fix for this issue and it is due to be included in the next release of DisplayLink, which is due in the first half of October.

Thanks,
Jezz

[smchargue]

Thanks. I tried disabling the discreted graphics as described and it didn't work for me. I'm not being obstinate because I want a functioning driver, I would do this if it worked for me. I have 4 monitors, and using this solution I only have 2; which is the number I would have if I uninstalled displaylink as well.

[ratbone]

The problem has reared it's ugly head again for me I thought it was fixed but was not.

Let's hope the update from displayLink works