linux-drivers/
drivers/gpu/drm/udl

DisplayLink DL-1x0/DL-1x5 USB display adapters

First-generation DisplayLink USB-to-VGA/DVI/HDMI display adapters and USB docking stations from roughly 2008 to 2012, based on the DL-1x0 and DL-1x5 chips. They let a PC drive an extra monitor over USB 2.0, and were popular in office docks and travel "USB monitor" accessories before DisplayLink moved on to the DL-3xxx and later generations that use a separate proprietary Linux driver.

keep-annotate conf=0.76 last_sold=2012 deploy=low replacement=none subsystem=gpu category=graphics-display
76%

recommendation

Worth keeping but documenting as legacy-only hardware. The code is still maintained (a 2025 patch added nonblocking dirty-framebuffer support) and DisplayLink's own Linux support page confirms these older chips are handled by this open-source driver while newer DL-3xxx/4xxx/5xxx/6xxx families use a separate proprietary stack. The hardware itself hasn't been sold new for over a decade, so a note about its niche, legacy scope would help users avoid confusing it with current DisplayLink products.

repository signals

10 files
1,551 source lines
75 commits, 5y
+1,072 / −1,036 lines added / removed, 5y
14 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 75 total · active in 27/61 months
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sources

  1. lore.kernel.org

    Upstream DRM/UDL still receives feature work; a 2025 patch adds nonblocking dirtyfb support.

  2. support.displaylink.com

    DisplayLink's Linux support page says newer supported families are DL-6xxx/DL-5xxx/DL-41xx/DL-3xxx, while DL-1x5 and DL-1x0 are handled by the open-source udl driver.

  3. en.wikipedia.org

    DisplayLink family timeline places DL-1x5 before later DL-3xxx/DL-41xx/DL-5xxx/DL-6xxx generations, indicating UDL targets older hardware generations.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Keep, but annotate as legacy-only hardware. `lore_file_timeline` on drivers/gpu/drm/udl/udl_drv.c showed steady activity through 2025 and no removal signal surfaced, so removal/deprecation is not justified. `exec_command` reading Kconfig identified this as the USB DisplayLink DRM/KMS driver. `web.search_query` found DisplayLink's official Ubuntu support page, which separates newer shipping families (DL-3xxx and later) from older DL-1x0/DL-1x5 devices served by udl; combined with the Wikipedia family chronology from `web.search_query`, that supports 'not sold new in 2025' and low present-day deployments. 2012 is an inference for last wide availability, not a directly stated vendor EOL date.