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

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
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
    2015-11-09T00:47:31+00:00

    So every night I have to unplug one of the monitors.

    Surprisingly if you turn off your surface with the dock attached any monitors attached to the dock flicker all night...

    Anyway... if I unplug one of my monitors when I go to bed... then wake up turn on my surface with only 1 monitor attached... then after loading the OS, attach the second monitor it works.

    Just FYI

    Very annoying to have to do this... especially since this is a surface Pro 3!! You would think they would've tested this.

    Terry

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-11-09T00:32:01+00:00

    Just got the latest insider preview update and it still persists with the 2nd external display flickering off and then back on every little bit.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-11-09T00:31:37+00:00

    Had been running two external monitors with the old SP3 dock using an Accell mini-dp to dual dp setup with some success (sleep recovery issues an ongoing problem). I bought the Surface Dock knowing I'd need one with my new Surface Book. Figured I'd set my SP3 up with the new dock given that the Surface Book should be here any day. I cannot for the life of me get both external monitors working at the same time. One would think that with two mini-dp ports on the dock that this would be a much simpler setup than one mini-dp port and a dual-link adapter.  What's truly frustrating is that the forum moderators appear unable to grasp the problem - seemingly offering the same script-based solutions (as does support - what a waste of time). A large number of people seem to be experiencing similar problems - I'd like to believe someone at MS (or Intel if indeed it is a driver issue) is looking into this!

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