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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

45 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2018-02-14T18:06:04+00:00

    I'm still waiting for a reply. It struck me that it would be good to see if Best

    Buy or a friend with a different TV that supports Miracast will let you try to

    connect. Looking to see if you can connect to other Miracast hosts.. I think

    this is an important data point.

    Hello Barb,

    From a data collection standpoint, it was a good suggestion to try a different TV.  Our neighbour along the road has a year-old Samsung TV; so, we took our Surface there.

    As has been the case with our TV, the Surface computer failed to connect.  The devices saw each other and both indicated "Connecting...", but the connection failed to materialize.

    On the other hand, my Galaxy S6 phone connected to his TV right away.

    The results of all the hours and hours of testing the three of us have done over the past few weeks continue to point at the issue being within the Surface computers even though everything indicates that they are Miracast-compatible.

    One of the fellows is suggesting that recent Windows updates may have affected the Surface computers 'differently' than our other computers, if so presumably because its Marvell Wireless adapter and graphics hardware differs from those of our other computers.

    I suppose that is possible, but I have no way of telling as we just purchased the TV a month or so ago and our previous TV was not Miracast compatible.  We are all anxiously awaiting the results of your internal discussions on this.

    Thanks for your continued involvement and assistance.  It is really appreciated.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Barb Bowman 80,815 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2018-02-14T18:50:07+00:00

    I've pinged my contact again. I don't have a SP original or SP2 to test with (they have the same Marvell wireless chip). I do have a SP 2017. I have a second generation MWDA.

    I'm running 16299.248

    All I can do at this point is wait and see if my internal contact responds with either more troubleshooting requests, a fix, or an acknowledgement that there is an issue. In the meantime, it would not hurt to file this via the Feedback Hub App and let it collect the logs.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2018-02-14T19:21:06+00:00

    Hi Barb,

    Thanks for the update from your end.  It is good to know that you succeeded, although it would be even more significant (promising?) if you were connecting directly with a TV rather than a Microsoft add-on dongle.

    I suppose it is possible that only the SP and SP2 have this problem.  I am still awaiting feedback from the third chap in our group regarding which SP he has but unfortunately it turns out that he is actually away until next Tuesday.  Both the other chap and I believe his is an SP3, but we would like to get actual confirmation.

    I hope your contact comes up with something - and soon.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Barb Bowman 80,815 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2018-02-14T19:53:40+00:00

    My TV doesn't have onboard Miracast. SP3 would have the same wireless chip as mine which is not the same a original SP and SP2.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2018-02-15T14:38:57+00:00

    Hello Barb,

    I understand why your testing is being done the way it is and your success is still providing us with a glimmer of hope.  I was merely suggesting that your setup is (as most setups are, including my own) not as generic as one would like in order to prove 'broad-range' compatibility.

    Although the third chap in our group is still away until next week, we have been able to learn that his computer is an even later version, Surface Pro 4, not SP3 as we had presumed.  He is the chap who thinks the problem may have started with a recent Windows update, but I am not sure why he considers this a possibility.

    I reiterate that he had exactly the same problem whereby he tried a number of times but could not get it to connect to his TV via Miracast until he manually changed the IPv4 Alternative Configuration as I had done.  This tends to suggest that the problem is NOT restricted to just the SP and SP2 versions.

    However, I have also learned that, unlike the rest of us, he has not retried since he had that single success as he has been away.  I will have to wait until next week to be able to report if, like the rest of us, he is unable to repeat the one single successful connection.

    As he has been away, he has not returned his Alternative Configuration back to 'square one' as you requested I do, and my other friend has likewise done.

    The bottom line remains that we have Miracast-compatible TVs that will connect with other devices, but our Miracast-compatible (by all diagnostic reports) Microsoft Surface computers are the only devices that will not connect.

    This is extremely frustrating and we hope that your internal contact can quickly shed some further light on this.

    Thanks again.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments