Listed below are our latest updates about how to make your Plugable products work on Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion with all the caveats shared by customers. If you read this post before and notice changes, it’s because we’ve revised our advice based on differences between our test results and what many customers were reporting. For now, in all cases we are recommending the solutions that have worked for everyone.
Any Plugable products not listed below have not yet been tested or have no Mac support (USB 3.0 graphics adapters, USB 3.0 docking station, Windows Easy Transfer cable).
| Product Type |
Products Tested |
Drivers Needed |
Download Site/ Setup Notes |
| 10/100 Ethernet Adapter | USB2-E100 | N | Uninstall previously installed third-party ASIX AX88772 driver before upgrading 10.7 or 10.8, to use Apple’s built-in drivers. |
| Gigabit Ethernet Adapter | USB2-E1000 | Y | Leave the Gigabit adapter unplugged. Go to network settings and delete any existing USB Gigabit Ethernet interfaces by highlighting and clicking the minus button.
Download and install drivers from: After installation and reboot, plug in the adapter. Go to network settings. If a new USB Gigabit interface hasn’t been created, then click the plus button, and add a new interface for the USB Gigabit Ethernet adapter. Click the gear button, choose to set the service order, and drag the Gigabit Ethernet interface to the top of the list to make it your primary network connection. Approve the change to return to the main network settings screen. Click Apply in network settings. If the status in network settings goes green with a good IP address (not 169.x.x.x), the adapter is working properly. |
| USB 2.0 Graphics Adapters | UGA-2K-A,UGA-165, USB-VGA-165, UGA-125 |
Y | Uninstall any old DisplayLink drivers before upgrading from 10.7.x.After upgrade, download and install the production version of DisplayLink’s v1.8 driver (or later) for OS X at DisplayLink’s Mac driver page.
Note that the performance of USB graphics on Mac is not yet at the same level as Windows. And some customers have reported crashes and hangs after installing DisplayLink drivers on Mountain Lion. See DisplayLink’s Mac user forum for the latest details. There is a specific thread on possible causes of Kernel panics. We are filing bugs with DisplayLink based on Plugable customer feedback. If your system is not performing properly once you have installed the latest DisplayLink drivers, please contact us at support@plugable.com for assistance. |
| USB 2.0 Universal Docking Stations | UD-160-A, DC-125 | See Notes | Follow the instructions above for the 10/100 Ethernet adapter and the USB 2.0 graphics adapters. |
| Hard Drive Dock | USB3-SATA-U3 | N | |
| Serial Adapter | PL2303-DB9 | Y | https://plugable.com/drivers/prolific/ (Mac security settings must allow installation of executable files from anywhere) |
| Hubs, Switches, Extension Cables | N | 10.8 has a regression where USB Hard Drives attached to a Mac through a USB hub may report “drive wasn’t ejected properly” on return from sleep. We have customer reports of this issue in particular with USB 3.0 hubs like USB3-HUB4 |
Please feel free to comment here or e-mail us at support@plugable.com with your findings, questions, or problems. We’re here to help.
[usb2-e1000