Background#
I have been interested in the Flip Go product for a long time, but I haven't had a use case for it since I don't usually use my computer intensively when I'm outside. However, recently I discovered that the carbon dioxide concentration in the office is only within the healthy range for 30 minutes a day, and the building lacks fresh air and the effect of opening windows is not good. In the afternoon, I start to feel fatigued and get headaches. So I decided to get the Flip Go.
However, during the use, I also encountered some issues that affected the user experience. Below, I will share these problems and how to solve them. If you don't want to read the process, you can directly read the conclusion section.
User Experience#
In terms of the hardware itself, this is an almost perfect device in terms of size, weight (13 Pro), and functionality. I usually use the dual-screen mode.
Now let's review the accessories:
- The magnetic vertical stand and magnetic VESA stand are both great designs, very convenient for placing and removing the screen.
- The magnetic leather case stand is a bit too heavy for my preference for portability, so I returned it.
- The folding portable stand is well-designed and takes friction into consideration. However, the folding function is not the best, making it inconvenient to carry around. I currently keep it in the office. I will design my own stand and 3D print it for outdoor use.
- The included Thunderbolt cable works well, but it is not easy to store. I also use it in the office. Later, I bought a 240W magnetic Thunderbolt cable from a different brand for portable use.
Pitfalls and Troubleshooting Process#
If the hardware is considered almost perfect, then the software is a big problem. The dual-screen mode on MacBook Pro uses Display Link (abbreviated as DL below) technology to achieve it. There are two issues in actual use.
- In the dual-screen mode, Display Link does not have HiDPI full-screen resolution, resulting in a blurry display.
For Mac users, this means it is unusable. However, the vendor has a solution for this, which is to provide a DP mode type-C interface. By connecting the input to DP and powering the screen, you can use the HiDPI mode in the dual-screen mode. However, DP mode does not support dual screens on Mac, which means that if you want to switch modes, you need to plug and unplug the interface, which is very inconvenient. Fortunately, I mostly use one mode. PS, DP mode requires a 240W Thunderbolt cable, which the vendor provides.
- If the previous issue was not too serious, this issue is quite fatal. In the dual-screen mode, when the computer wakes up from sleep, only one screen is recognized, and the other one freezes.
I consulted the vendor about this issue, and they said it is a problem with the DL software. They have contacted DL to fix it as soon as possible. I checked the forum on their official website and found that someone reported this issue in February 2023, but it has not been fixed yet. If that's the case, the user experience is very poor. Fortunately, the vendor also has a solution. They wrote a script that uses the "sleepwatcher" command-line tool to listen for wake-up events in the background and then restart the Display Link Manager software. It's a clever workaround. However, in my case, it caused a troublesome consequence. My screen started to endlessly loop lock screen, so I had to disconnect all external screens and disable sleepwatcher. The vendor couldn't provide a solution for this issue, and after waiting for a night without any progress, I felt very uncomfortable, so I started researching on my own.
First, I searched the forum and the internet for similar cases but didn't find anyone mentioning this issue. It seems that this problem may only occur when DL and sleepwatcher are used together. Then I manually restarted the DL Manager and found that all screens disconnected and locked again. It seems that the problem lies in restarting DL, which causes the lock screen, and unlocking it will restart DL, creating a loop. Now it can be preliminarily determined that the issue is with DL. I also tried previous versions, and they had the same problem. This almost made me give up, as I could only wait for DL to fix it, which could take a long time. But then I thought, I haven't seen other users mention this issue, and the vendor's solution works for others, so the problem may be related to my software, hardware environment, and configuration. I used the process of elimination to rule out the impact of other display applications I installed on DL's restart and lock screen. Finally, I focused on DL's configuration.
At that time, in order to achieve HiDPI on the large screen under DL, I tried enabling some configurations, such as experimental 3008x and 2560x modes. I tried disabling this, but it didn't work. Then I tried disabling each option one by one, and finally, I succeeded! After disabling "Power save all displays" and restarting DL Manager, it no longer caused the lock screen. This problem was solved, and I could use the workaround.
Conclusion#
- When using Display Link dual-screen mode on a MacBook, waking up from sleep can cause freezing. You can use the script provided by the vendor as a workaround, which will restart the Display Link Manager when waking up. However, if you have enabled DL's power save option, restarting DL will trigger the lock screen. Using the script to wake up and restart DL will result in an infinite lock screen issue. Therefore, the power save option in DL should be disabled.
- Overall, this product is still very good. I am sharing this mainly to help others use it comfortably.