Surface Pro Miracast Connection Problem

Anonymous
2018-02-09T02:30:39+00:00

I am essentially re-asking the same question, but in a different manner as it has been two weeks and the problem of the Surface Pro 2 not connecting to our new LG OLED, Miracast-compatible TV remains unresolved.  They do attempt to negotiate a connection, but they fail to connect.

I ran dxdiag on the Surface Pro 2 running Windows 10 with all the latest updates, and the results show the computer is Miracast compatible.  I have also separately checked for updated drivers and the result was that the drivers are up-to-date.

System Information

      Time of this report: 1/25/2018, 09:54:36

      ...

                 Miracast: Available, with HDCP

     ...

Display Devices

           Card name: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family

     ...

            Miracast: Supported

Initial attempts failed every time, even when the Surface is just a few feet from the TV.  Conversely, our HP laptop connects flawlessly every time.  This tends to suggest that the problem is within the Surface computer - not the TV.

I read Barb Bowman's informative article describing how Miracast negotiates a connection and, as a result, I checked the visible 2.4GHz networks around here.  There are four weak ones (~20% strength) on CH1, our own 'main' network on CH6 all by itself, and our own secondary network and two other weak ones on CH11 (78% and ~20% strength, respectively).  I presume the Surface and the TV being just a few feet apart, the related signal strengths would be adequate to override the weaker network signals on CH1 and, therefore, Miracast should be able to negotiate a connection.  The HP computer is 6x further away from the TV and, as mentioned, it connects flawlessly every time.

However, I did spot a difference between our two computers when connecting - namely the IPv4 address indicated for the direct-connection 'adapter'.  The IPv4 Address was 192.168.137.1 for the HP computer (and it was the same for my various acquaintances' computers as well), whereas on the Surface it was indicated as Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address 169.254.56.231.  The IPv4 Subnet Masks were 255.255.255.0 and 255.255.0.0, respectively.

As Miracast is essentially a peer-to-peer connection without a DHCP server to provide an IP address, on the virtual wireless adapter that is active during Miracast connections, I configured the IPv4 'Alternate configuration' to an address of 192.168.137.1, the same IP address that works every time when the HP laptop connects.

I thought I had found the answer as it worked briefly (during a 20-minute test period), and the results were very good .

However, the next day when there was something my wife actually wanted to see on the big-screen TV, she tried again and it failed to connect.  Several attempts were made - all unsuccessful.

A few days later a friend suggested that I try adding the same IP address for the Default gateway and DNS server.  I wasn't sure what good this would do, but I tried and it worked again during an hour of testing (to see if it would drop out - it remained solid).

However, once again, while it worked for the hour or so of testing, later it again failed to connect.  We tried several times throughout the day and again over the next couple of days, but no luck.

I have tried shutting off Bluetooth, and even shutting off the HP computer to eliminate any impact they may have, but the Surface and TV will NOT connect.

The issue is almost certainly within the Surface computer, and I have no idea where else to look.  Can someone from Microsoft please shine some light on this?  There are so many discussions on the web about this problem with Surface computers; so, it must be very widespread and there must be a lot of frustrated Surface owners out there!

Any expert assistance would be appreciated.  Thank you.

Surface | Surface Pro | USB-C

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-02-12T02:19:29+00:00

    Hello Barb,

    Thanks for your continued interest and assistance.

    I do not know if the TV retains a list of connected computers.  If it does, I have not yet found it but, frankly, trying to find things on this TV is a frustration of its own!  The model is a 2017-year OLED55C7P 4K Ultra Smart TV with LG's WebOS 3.5.

    It was purchased from Best Buy about an hour's drive from here on a summer day (we live in a rural community and there is perhaps 2ft of snow on the ground now).  Coincidently, en route back from picking up a load of construction materials tomorrow, I expect to be passing by the city where the TV was purchased.  If I make it before closing time, I will pop into Best Buy and ask their Geek Squad to answer that question (and if there is a retained list, how to find and edit it).

    You have raised a valid possibility regarding a retained list associating the manually-configured IP address I selected with a different MAC address (i.e., the HP laptop); so, I will be interested in hearing what the Geek Squad have to say - but it does raise another question in my mind, namely:

    • If the TV does retain a list and associate an IP address with a MAC address, and as the HP computer was the first one from which a Miracast connection was successfully attempted, why has the Surface managed to connect twice immediately following my manual changes and yet I cannot repeat that success?

    You may be correct in saying that the connection is not being negotiated, but it does appear to be.  By that I mean, the instant I initiate a connection attempt, both devices indicate "Connecting" and that indication continues until the attempt times out.  That tells me the TV is seeing that a device is attempting, but that is all I can tell.

    Thanks again, and I will report if/when I get an answer to your question.

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  2. Barb Bowman 80,815 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2018-02-11T22:26:14+00:00

    One more thing.. Does the LG keep a list of connected computers ?? And if yes, have you tried removing all connections? What is the model of the LG OLED TV?

    The issue is that the connection isn't being negotiated - so you are getting an autoconfig address in 169. When you manually play with the IP and assign the address, I'm thinking the TV already sees this as assigned to the mac address of the HP...

    1. leave things at square 1 and check the TV to see if it keeps a list of connected computers
    2. if yes, remove all connected computers
    3. restart the Surface and shut down the tv and turn it off and on again
    4. try to connect again

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-02-11T19:18:45+00:00

    Barb,

    Thanks for the follow-up.  Here are the results from the netsh wlan sho d command.

    Interface name: Wi-Fi

    Driver                    : Marvell AVASTAR 350N Wireless Network Controller

        Vendor                    : Marvell Semiconductor, Inc.

        Provider                  : Marvell Semiconductor, Inc.

        Date                      : 2014-05-23

        Version                   : 14.69.24054.176

        INF file                  : oem5.inf

        Type                      : Native Wi-Fi Driver

        Radio types supported     : 802.11g 802.11b 802.11a 802.11n

        FIPS 140-2 mode supported : Yes

        802.11w Management Frame Protection supported : Yes

        Hosted network supported  : Yes

        Authentication and cipher supported in infrastructure mode:

                                    Open            None

                                    Open            WEP-40bit

                                    Open            WEP-104bit

                                    Open            WEP

                                    WPA-Enterprise  TKIP

                                    WPA-Enterprise  CCMP

                                    WPA-Personal    TKIP

                                    WPA-Personal    CCMP

                                    WPA2-Enterprise TKIP

                                    WPA2-Enterprise CCMP

                                    WPA2-Personal   TKIP

                                    WPA2-Personal   CCMP

                                    Vendor defined  TKIP

                                    Vendor defined  CCMP

                                    Vendor defined  Vendor defined

                                    Vendor defined  Vendor defined

                                    WPA2-Enterprise Vendor defined

                                    WPA2-Enterprise Vendor defined

                                    Vendor defined  Vendor defined

        Authentication and cipher supported in ad-hoc mode:

                                    Open            None

                                    Open            WEP-40bit

                                    Open            WEP-104bit

                                    Open            WEP

                                    WPA2-Personal   CCMP

        Wireless Display Supported: Yes (Graphics Driver: Yes, Wi-Fi Driver: Yes)

    That last line above confirms the findings of dxdiag that I had run previously.

    We are sensitive about our personal data and, as a result, we do not use OneDrive or any other cloud-based storage or sharing apps.  So, before I post the netsh wlan show all command results, which include the names of our network and those of my neighbours, along with other identifiable info such as MAC addresses, channel usage, et al(?), I hope you will allow me to start by sharing with you just some possibly-pertinent differences in the results from the Surface Pro 2 (that fails to connect) and the HP laptop (that connects fast and flawlessly).

    I have highlighted in bold the items that I am guessing may be pertinent.  Of course, as you are the expert and would know far better than I, please let me know which other sections items you would like to see.

    =======================================================================

    ======================= SHOW INTERFACE CAPABILITIES ===================

    =======================================================================

    Wireless System Capabilities

    [[ no differences ]]

    Wireless Device Capabilities

    Interface name: Wi-Fi

    WDI Version (Windows)                       : 0.0.0.0   [[ HP 0.1.1.5 ]]

    WDI Version (IHV)                           : 0.0.0.0   [[ HP 0.1.1.5 ]]

    Firmware Version                            :

    Station                                     : Supported

    Soft AP                                     : Supported

    Network monitor mode                        : Supported

    Wi-Fi Direct Device                         : Supported

    Wi-Fi Direct GO                             : Supported

    Wi-Fi Direct Client                         : Supported

    Protected Management Frames                 : Supported

    DOT11k neighbor report                      : Unknown

    ANQP Service Information Discovery          : Not Supported   [[ HP Supported ]]

    Action Frame                                : Not Supported   [[ HP Supported ]]

    Diversity Antenna                           : Unknown

    IBSS                                        : Supported

    Promiscuous Mode                            : Supported

    P2P Device Discovery                        : Not Supported   [[ HP Supported ]]

    P2P Service Name Discovery                  : Not Supported**[[ HP Supported ]]**

    P2P Service Info Discovery                  : Not Supported   [[ HP same ]]

    P2P Background Discovery                    : Not Supported   [[ HP Supported ]]

    P2P GO on 5 GHz                             : Unknown   [[ HP Supported ]]

    ASP 2.0 Service Name Discovery              : Not Supported   [[ HP Supported ]]

    ASP 2.0 Service Information Discovery       : Not Supported   [[ HP same ]]

    IP Docking Capable                          : Not Supported

    FIPS                                        : Supported

    Instant Connect                             : Not Supported   [[ HP Supported ]]

    Dx Standby NLO                              : Not Supported

    Extended Channel Switch Announcement        : Unknown

    Function Level Reset                        : Not Supported

    Platform Level Reset                        : Not Supported

    Bus Level Reset                             : Not Supported

    MAC Randomization                           : Not Supported

    Fast Transition                             : Not Supported

    MU-MIMO                                     : Unknown

    Miracast Sink                               : Unknown   [[ HP Supported ]]

    BSS Transition (802.11v)                    : Unknown

    IHV Extensibility Module Configured         : Not Supported

    Number of Tx Spatial Streams                : 0

    Number of Rx Spatial Streams                : 0

    Number of Concurrent Channels Supported     : 2

    P2P GO ports count                          : 1

    P2P Clients Port Count                      : 1

    P2P Max Mobile AP Clients                   : 4

    Max ANQP Service Advertisements Supported   : 0

    Co-existence Support                        : Unknown

    Thanks again Barb.  I really appreciate your attention to detail.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-02-11T17:30:36+00:00

    Robert - Thanks for the follow-up.

    Both computers are running Windows 10 FCU, v1709, build 16299.192, and unlike in your case the LAC* only shows up when connecting or connected and does not show up under the troubleshooter on the Network Wi-Fi settings page.

    FYI, we are connecting directly to a Miracast-compatible TV, not the MWDA connected to a TV.

    Thanks.

    What version of W10 do you have?  That peek-a-boo behaviour with no chance of using a troubleshooter is what I used to see.  Now with W10 FCU it at least sticks around in Control Panel's Network Adapters (which can be opened from the Settings Network page) but more significantly it also now appears in the Network Diagnostics troubleshooter (which can also be opened from the Settings Network page, who knew?); so I can see it either way--once the Connect dialog (Win-K) finds the MWDA.

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  5. Barb Bowman 80,815 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2018-02-11T16:34:40+00:00

    with everything at "square 1" I'd like to see the output of

    netsh wlan sho d

    and after you are in the failed condition state with he 169 auto config address

    I'd like to see the output of

    netsh wlan show all >C:\nets.txt

    ((this will generate a txt file with everything about your network, if it is too

    large to paste into a reply here, please upload to OneDrive and share a link to

    it in your reply))

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