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
    2015-11-13T21:13:31+00:00

    I'm experiencing the same issues.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-11-13T12:45:52+00:00

    I am having the same issue.  I have a Surface Book.  I also have access to a Surface Pro 3 and 4 - all do the same thing.  Had the pleasure of talking to MS support yesterday.  The support agent told me that there was no dock for the Surface Book yet.  Had him browse to microsoftstore.com and directed him to the Surface accessory section.  After a couple hold sessions and some rudimentary troubleshooting, he told me that it was a known issue and MS was working on it.  It appears that the only time I can get both external monitors to work is immediately following un uninstall of the Intel HD Graphics 520 driver.  System asks for a reboot, driver gets reinstalled on reboot and I can enable both displays.  Any subsequent reboot or sleep mode triggers the issue.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-11-13T02:32:06+00:00

    And I spoke too soon! All is well when I boot up. The SP3 screen when I start-up and the two external screens as soon as I log on. But I'm down to just the SP3 screen after the device goes to sleep. I left the office to run some errands with Outlook running on the third screen. When I returned several hours later and woke the computer, Outlook was on the Surface screen and the other two could not be detected. Did a restart and all is well. This is not good. Not good at all!

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