New Surface Dock Does Not Work via mini displayport to HDMI & DVI

Anonymous
2015-10-27T17:18:04+00:00

The specific device I am referring to, is the new Surface Dock for Surface Pro 3/4 and Surface Book. I have described the issue here on Reddit, and a number of others are also experiencing the same problem. Basically, the new dock doesn't work when the monitor is connected using mini displayport to HDMI. The monitor is detected correctly and the correct resolution is set, but the screen remains black. In my case, I randomly get some image on the monitor, but it's compressed to one side of the screen and garbled. The mini displayport to HDMI adapter works properly when connected directly to the Surface, so the adapter itself is fine. If I instead connect the mini displayport to VGA adapter to the dock, the monitor displays correctly. I have tried using a straight mini displayport to DVI cable and the issue remains. Additionally, I have connected a Surface Pro 3 to the dock and experience the same issue.

So to summarize, the dock does not function correctly when using a mini displayport to HDMI adapter to connect the monitor, but does work with a mini displayport to VGA adapter. This problem is repeatable using both a Surface Book and Surface Pro 3.

Surface | Accessories | Surface Dock

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Anonymous
2015-10-29T17:45:57+00:00

I purchased an active mDP to HDMI adapter from Amazon (Plugable is the brand) and so far the external monitor is working correctly through the dock.

Moderator Edit (11/3/2015):  If you are using a passive MDP to DVI adapter and experiencing difficulties, you may need to switch to using an active adapter.

If you switched from a passive to active adapter and continue to experience difficulties using Surface Dock to display to external monitors please consider making some changes to your cabling: different lengths, different quality, different adapters, etc.  If adjusting your cabling fails to resolve please consider sharing the following:

  1. Make and model of external displays
  2. Make/model of adapters if present
  3. Make/model of cables

For more troubleshooting info and steps to confirm your Dock is updated, please view our Troubleshoot Surface Dock article.

Thank you,

Josh

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Anonymous
2017-05-22T09:18:50+00:00

Hi,

 We suggest that you contact our Surface Answer Desk team for further assistance or visit the nearest Microsoft Store if you are in the US. In case you're offshore, contact our Global Customer Service team.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-11-12T02:17:50+00:00

    I have seen several places where Microsoft claims to support dual 4k monitors, but I have not seen where they claim to support dual 4k monitors @ 60 Hz.  If you see somewhere they claim to support dual 4k monitors @ 60 Hz I would love to get a reference to that.  I want data in my hands when I complain.

    Thanks

    Sjcbulldog

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-11-12T00:08:43+00:00

    I am having the same issue with the new Surface dock.  I have tried it with 12 different cables mini-DP to DP/HDMI/DVI. When I have two monitors attached to the dock they work if I connect them 1 cable at a time.  As soon as I undock and redock the on/off flickering starts.  I have played with different resolutions, 59 and 60 HZ settings to no avail.  I have also tried 2 different docks and 2 other Surface Pro 3's with the same result.  We also tried it with Asus, Dell and Acer Monitors.  I am also running Windows 10 Enterprise with the latest firmware and windows updates.

    The dock does not seem to work with dual displays no matter what device or setup we use.  We have a couple of Surface 4's coming on the 20th when the I7 releases that I have not tried yet.

    What did work was only plugging one monitor into the dock and one mini-DP into the side of the Surface Pro 3 itself. (cable type, device, monitor brand etc did not seem to matter).  I tried multiple combinations of unplugging when doing it this way and it seems to work fine.

    If we can't get this to work through the Dock Alone this may be a deal breaker for our planned enterprise deployment.

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