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Old 10-02-2015, 08:38 AM   #4
pimjoosten
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Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 7
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Hi Wim,

Thanks for your response. It indeed turns out that I am fine, but not for the reason you thought. When you wrote that downgrading should result in a dialog box, I could not remember seeing that box when I did my tests 5 months ago, when I also performed the downgrade you described. So I tested it again.

A couple of things have happened during my 5 month "waiting period": I had upgraded my machine to Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, and 2 new DisplayLink software versions have been released. During my new test when downgrading from v7.7 to v7.5 and v7.6 I now got a message I had not seen before when I was still on Vista: "You are using an older version of the drivers for your MB168B device. Please go to the manufacturer's website or www.displaylink.com to get the latest drivers." That rang a bell, as I did recall having read somewhere else on the forum that the firmware cannot be downgraded to a lower version than the one installed in the factory. And lo and behold: this is the case for me. Apparently the firmware version on the monitor is the one that is included with version 7.7 of the software. When upgrading from v7.5 or 7.6 to 7.7 I did not get any message. But when upgrading to v7.8 or 7.9 I did get the message "Please wait while your [...] device is being updated. Do not unplug the USB or power cables from your device." for the first time for the MB168B!

My conclusions thus are:
- apparently the firmware included with v7.7 of the software is already factory installed and cannot be downgraded.
- I can still use somewhat older versions of the software, even though the firmware does not match, but there is a warning message for that (however only with Windows 7 and likely higher versions).
- If the software is too old (in my case v7.4) the monitor does not work and I get a message "Your drivers are not compatible with your MB168B device." (also with Vista).
- The message "Please wait while your [...] device is being updated. Do not unplug the USB or power cables from your device." is still shown in newer versions of the software. What you may have been confused about Wim, is that the installation program itself works a little bit different starting with version 7.8. But the message is still shown.
- Apparently the message "You are using an older version of the drivers for your MB168B device. Please go to the manufacturer's website or www.displaylink.com to get the latest drivers." is not shown on Vista systems.

Back in May I had the bad luck that I was still on Vista and the message about the old drivers was not shown. If it were, I would probably have been able to connect it to the fact that it is impossible to downgrade firmware below the factory installed version. Also, I had the bad luck that in May there was no newer version than 7.7 so I could not test a firmware upgrade. Well, I am happy everything works as it should. Hopefully my experience will benefit other people should they come across something similar (which is the reason I have written this down this detailed).

Best regards,

Pim

Last edited by pimjoosten; 10-02-2015 at 08:45 AM. Reason: Clarification added
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