Solved USB icon flashes in system tray

I have an HP ENVY 17-cp1035cl with a TobenONE UDS030 docking station connecting it to two screens via HDMI. It uses DisplayLink technology to push out the video signal for the two monitors through the laptop’s USB-C port. I had to download the driver from the DisplayLink site and install the DisplayLink Manager from the Microsoft Store.

This working fine at the end of last week, right after setting everything up. This morning, there has been a USB icon in the system tray:



It’s the second from the left, in the top row. It shows for a fraction of a second and then disappears. A few seconds later, it flashed again. When I click on it (have to time it just right), I get this



There seems to be no missing driver for any USB device. Disconnecting the USB-C cable docking the laptop to the docking station will make that flashing system tray icon stop.

Any suggestions?

Baeolophus said:

Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

I had a similar problem once. It turned out the USB connector was dirty.
I got some +90% Isopropyl Alcohol (you can get at any drugstore or stores like Walmart),
turned the computer off and cleaned both the male and female connectors.

That fixed the problem.

Ghot said:

I had a similar problem once. It turned out the USB connector was dirty.
I got some +90% Isopropyl Alcohol (you can get at any drugstore or stores like Walmart),
turned the computer off and cleaned both the male and female connectors.

Click to expand...

Thanks very much for the suggestion! Unfortunately, cleaning the ports did not help.

Might want to clean the ends of the cable too.

Maybe the connector or the port are physically damaged.

Another time I had a USB stick that would disconnect if I pushed it IN all the way.
Pulling it back out, just a bit, made the connection.

It’s definitely not the cable or the ports. We have tried alternative cables and, on the laptop, a USB-A port. Video out works, but the malfunction alert remains.

Baeolophus said:

It’s definitely not the cable or the ports. We have tried alternative cables and, on the laptop, a USB-A port. Video out works, but the malfunction alert remains.

Click to expand...

If it's not the hardware, it has to be the software. That's all there is... hardware and software.

The user of the laptop just reported this:

I unplugged all the peripherals except one monitor…unplugged power to docking station for about a minute…plugged it back into power and add[ed] peripherals one at a time…starting with mouse/keyboard first and then the second monitor

Click to expand...