Troubleshooting multiple monitors on a Surface Dock 2 (Surface Pro 7)

Trust me, it's not the connector damaged or dirty. This was the behavior, brand new straight out of the box. I even cleaned the connector and it still only worked in the one direction.

For the Surface Book 2, if you think about it, this behavior makes some sense. I'm sure that USB-C port shares a data lane with the Surface Dock first gen, second revision. At least I think they made a second revision. Anyway, I'm guessing that both, the Surface Book 2 port and the USB-C port can't be used at the same time, because I'm sure one of the things would be, powering the docking station, Surface Book 2, and whatever you happened to have plugged into the USB-C port would be impossible. Just guessing. I'm sure it's some other thing that actually prevents it from happening since I'm sure both of those same ports are shared and whatever some new spec that's out now, that USB-C or Surface docking port, doesn't have. I'm not sure about the Surface Dock 2, since I don't have one, but after seeing multiple people in this thread and others returning the SD2, switching the SD2 connector should be on the list of things to try.

It's no big deal to me. It was like an ah ha moment, because that was the last possible thing I thought to try. I just mentioned it, because I've never seen anybody mention it in any forum. Especially when I initially got my SB2 and the docking station at the same time.

Hi,

Before I applied the latest firmware update, I had two monitors plugged in using generic USBC-HDMI Passive cables.

Both screens worked, then one went blurry/static on half/all screen then just stopped and went black.

Reboot, unplug etc... really annoying to fix. And it only lasted for a while.

I put in 2 x genuine Microsoft USBC-HDMI adapters and applied the latest SP7 Firmware and everything suddenly worked. Both USBC ports (the ones at the back).

Try different cables, update firmware and last resort but MS adapters. Still not working? Take it into a MS store or send back for refund/swap.

But you never said if you switched the SD2 connector in the opposite direction.

I'm not saying that the SD1 or SD2 will not work at all when plugged into any Surface device at all, I'm saying in my case, if that SD connector is in fact directional, it will only power accessories plugged into the docking station when the SD1 or SD2 connector is in the right orientation. Again, if you have the SD connector plugged directly into your device in any direction with no monitors plugged into the docking station, then it will power your Surface device just fine. As soon as you try and plug a monitor into the docking station and that SD connector is in the incorrect orientation, those monitors might stay on for a minute, but they will go black and not respond.

My monitor also flickered and then went black when I had the SD1 connector with the cord facing the back of my SB2 with my monitor connected to the SD. I even bought a Microsoft branded mini-DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable and that still didn't fix it. Microsoft could've indeed updated the firmware for all Surface devices and the SD that fixed the dock connector orientation problem, but following the posts in this thread, other people have updated their Surface device firmware without luck. I just added a second 32" QHD monitor to my SD1 and haven't had any problems with it staying powered on. I've also never had a reason to test the docking station connector orientation after I switched its orientation, but that initial incident has been at least two years ago now.

Just trying to give peeping eyes something different to try since, like I said, I've never seen anyone else mention in any other thread regarding this very issue that they indeed switched the SD connector around.

Hi,

I tested. I just flipped both USBC connectors 180 degrees while I'm replying and all good.

Good luck.

Regards

Scott

I'm talking about the Surface dock connector, not the USB-C connections from the docking station to your external monitors. The main connector that you plug into your Surface device to power and charge your surface device.