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

Anonymous

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.

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.

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Anonymous

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:

Make and model of external displays
Make/model of adapters if present
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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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

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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315 additional answers

Anonymous

2016-05-04T13:37:00+00:00
Hi There,

I got my two external monitors, SP Dock, and my SP4 working all together, finally.

H/W:
- Monitors: 2 x Dell P2312H (each with a DVI and a VGA) (up to date firmware)
- Connectors: 2 x MiniDisplay Port to DVI connectors (each different brands)
- SP Dock (update to date firmware)
- SP4 Win 10 (update to date patches)
I followed instructions, "For more troubleshooting info and steps to confirm your Dock is updated, please view our*Troubleshoot Surface Dock*article." from this discussion's best Answer: Here
- The important step that fixed it for me was the final instructional step, under the heading: "Clear your display cache:"
  
  Basically it says to download the Surface Dock Registry file and clear the display cache.
- Prior to getting to that final step, I did the following items per the instruction list linked above (and here Troubleshoot Surface Dock):
  
  Started with dual external monitors (without firmware patch) connected with VGA cables and connectors (MDP to VGA) connected to my SP Dock (without firmware patch) and SP4 (latest patches) working fine
  
  Replaced cables and connectors to MiniDisplay Port to DVI connectors. Only one external monitor would work (even if I switched cables and connectors etc.).
  
  Updated my dell monitors' firmware from the Dell site - personally I don't think this helped, but I did it anyway
  
  Updated the SP Dock firmware - I believe this did help
  
  Updated Win10 on my SP4 - I always keep it up to date anyway. However, like at the end of my step 2 above, at this point only one monitor would work with the DVI connection.
  
  Then I followed the last step: "Clear your display cache:" and that got both my monitors working using DVI cables and connectors.
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Anonymous

2016-05-01T08:03:52+00:00

I have the exact same problem.

It was working fine before the firmware and now my external ultrawide monitor (2560 x 1080) won't even connect.

If I plug it in the surface pro 4 directly, it works but with stretched resolution....

I can't believe how bad it is.

I think this has been the worst computer experience. I've bought 2 of them for business and they are completely unreliable. This is unacceptable for the price we paid.
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Anonymous

2016-04-27T23:04:05+00:00

Got the firmware update and still having trouble with my SP4 and the dock. My setup is SP4 with two external LG 23MP75 monitors connected with DP to HDMI cables. Everything works fine when I plug in the dock, but when I unplug the dock the SP4 screen starts flashing and won't come back until I reconnect the dock, shutdown the SP4 and then disconnect. Restarting the SP4 without the dock works perfectly as well as when it is connected to the dock when started. The only time it does not work is when you disconnect the dock when the SP4 is powered up. I also tested pulling the cables out of the dock, the SP4 reacted as expected, dropping one monitor as it was unplugged from the dock, then the other monitor after it was unplugged. Then unplugging the dock from the SP4 works as expected. So I suspect that the cables I am using are not compatible , but I don't know. Can someone suggest a brand or SKU of a product that is MS approved for the dock?

Thanks

Clarence
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