Surface Pro 3 stuck on Boot screen when docked

Anonymous

My SP3 boots fine and acts normally when not docked, but when I dock the computer and boot the computer hangs on the boot screen. I see the SURFACE logo but nothing else. I've let it run for hours with no resolution. This is not a random thing, but happens on every boot.

Please do not ask me to check for latest updates... I've obviously checked for any and all updates, including optional updates.

I can boot the SP3 and then dock it and all peripherals work. I've also tried booting while docked with no peripherals attached and it still locks on the boot screen. I put another SP3 into the dock, and it boots fine. It appears there is something corrupt with the SP3 having the problems, but there are no device problems or other issues that I can find.

A recent KB was posted with the fix:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3087655

My devices work great now.

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Anonymous

Hi all,

Please see here and keep us updated.

Kind regards,

Clare

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Anonymous

It appears a recent firmware update has fixed the problem... it's at my fathers house, but he has not complained about it of late.

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Anonymous

Hello jwu5062,

Given the issues you have described here, we recommend trying a reset and then installing all updates for the Surface again with your devices attached (i.e. monitor and Docking Station ). Before doing this, please backup any files you want to save, as a reset will erase your memory. You could consider doing this with external media such as sd cards, or you could use OneDrive to keep your files safe. This guide has more information about how to perform a reset. After the reset, search for all updates in Control Panel, even if your computer automatically finds and installs updates, check again in Control Panel after it is complete. This is how:

Open Desktop
Swipe from right and select Settings
Choose Control Panel
Click on Windows Update
Select Check for Updates
Restart your Surface and check for updates again.

If resetting and installing all updates does not resolve this issue, we recommend that you reach out to our Assisted Support team for further assistance. You can contact them through this site.

Please let us know if you have any other questions or problems.

Best Wishes,

Zack_T

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118 additional answers

Anonymous

2015-06-03T02:17:35+00:00

Hello Michael T. Bunney ,

Thank you for reaching out to the Surface community. You mentioned that when you docked your Surface Pro 3 it freezes; we recommend you torefresh the device while having the Surface attached to the docking station.

Kind regards,

Doesn't refresh remove all 3rd party apps/software that has been installed? I can't believe that would be the answer.

I have a desktop PC running the same apps/software on that as I had on the SP3, it's connected to a big screen TV and I've never had issues with it freezing or being thrown into BSOD or BIOS screen.

I seriously don't understand why Microsoft decided to only have a miniDisplay port. And they could've even designed the dock to be a USB connection w/ different output options, in addition to the miniDisplay (e.g. HDMI, VGA, DVI). I wouldn't have minded if the dock was a little bigger, just to accomodate different options and eliminate the need for an adapter, which might also be the cause of the many different issues that people have mentioned, when connecting to an external monitor.

This has got to be one of the most frustrating experiences I've ever had with docking a laptop. And again, the solution that I was provided in the store, was just that I needed new hardware, in the form of 2 replaced SP3's and 1 replaced dock...yet to still have inconclusive answers as to what is causing the issues with connecting to a monitor.

Was there no R&D actually performed in "realistic" scenarios, where people (God forbid that people actually do this) actually leave their device docked for an extended period of time, hoping that they could come back to it, wake up the CPU, and resume whatever work they might have left working?

This scares me even more, when it comes to potentially doing file transfers, as I deal with a ton of media files and if my SP3 crashes in the middle of me doing a 500gb file transfer of different media files, or maybe even larger, that would be an awful nightmare to have to re-start or potentially lose data.
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Anonymous

2015-06-16T08:52:09+00:00
Update 16JUN15

MS Support still fail to contact me and assist - they've gone quiet since they became stumped.

I have completed some additional steps myself:
- tested with a Startech branded mini display to VGA adapter in the dock - same fault
- tested with a MS branded mini display to HDMI - IT WORKS!
I've consistently booted my Surface for days with the HDMI adapter connected, something that simply doesn't happen with any of the VGA adapters I've tried.

So, while this doesn't fix the problem with the VGA adapters, it does allow me to work around it more neatly than having the VGA adapter hanging out of the side of the Surface.

I plan to test with one of the other affected machines today, and I've ordered HDMI to DVI convertors to see if I can connect these (so I don't have to swap out the monitors for HDMI ones)
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