linux usb2-vga

[legacy]

I have to add a vga screen to an embedded linux board that doesn't come with neither miniPCI nor built-in vga 

but thanks all saints, at least it has a couple of ehci usb chips

do you have experience with usb2-vga? any good product, opensource project or hint?

I need a simply framebuffer 640x480, nothing special.

The board is arm, and it runs linux 4.16.0

[SiliconWizard]

You may find something that fits here: http://www.displaylink.com/products/usb-adapters

Those products are known to work on Linux.

[legacy]

thanks

but are also known to work on non-x86 linux machines?

[SiliconWizard]

Don't know. According to this, it may not be easy or even work: https://support.displaylink.com/forums/287786-displaylink-feature-suggestions/suggestions/12586830-arm-linux-support

What is your board?

[technix]

Maybe not VGA, but does that board have any form of display out capability, be it DOTCLK RGB, MIPI DSI, eDP or the like? If so there will be bridge chips that can give you either an HDMI or a DisplayPort feed from those, and you can hook a slightly more modern monitor to it.

[legacy]

there is nothing on the board, only an usb-chip, and a couple of ethernet ports

[technix]

there is nothing on the board, only an usb-chip, and a couple of ethernet ports

Another alternative is running a VNC server on the board, so you can access the video feed over a network.

[neil555]

Apparently it can be done ...

https://archlinuxarm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=297

 

[legacy]

VNC server

the arm board is the one that should provide the vga screen; I can use the second board (say a mini_PC) for that since it's inside an embedded industrial machine, and I can't change a screw about the electronics  (but I can ask someone to plug something into the usb-plug)

It's a stupid mistake done by the colleague who designed the equipment: "ops,  I've just found out that I have forgotten the VGA framebuffer" ....  she said

(can't I make her fired, but if I was been the boss I would be tempted to show the door. But ...
... she is a nice colleague. So let's try to find a patch to fix the issue)

[technix]

VNC server

the arm board is the one that should provide the vga screen; I can use the second board (say a mini_PC) for that since it's inside an embedded industrial machine, and I can't change a screw about the electronics  (but I can ask someone to plug something into the usb-plug)

It's a stupid mistake done by the colleague who designed the equipment: "ops,  I've just found out that I have forgotten the VGA framebuffer" ....  she said

(can't I make her fired, but if I was been the boss I would be tempted to show the door. But ...
... she is a nice colleague. So let's try to find a patch to fix the issue)

If that is the case, maybe just skip the display entirely and just funnel the data and control through SSH or something? Someone with a tablet computer can control all machines on one terminal - effectively one screen shared by all machines. If someone is brave enough they can even make use of those data and control channels to implement some level of automation.

[SiliconWizard]

It's a stupid mistake done by the colleague who designed the equipment: "ops,  I've just found out that I have forgotten the VGA framebuffer" ....  she said

That's what design reviews are for. If anyone should be fired, it's probably your boss who doesn't enforce doing design reviews!
 

[dgtl]

At least one usb display with built-in DisplayLink converter did work with linux mainline udlfb driver on ARM9 board. Of course, the performance was awful, but unless you are showing full screen animations or video, it probably does not matter.