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

Barb Bowman 80,805 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2015-12-15T14:51:15+00:00

Tony,

You need to post in English if you are trying to assist folks in this English language forum. Most people here won't be able to read Chinese.
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Anonymous

2015-12-15T20:41:43+00:00

a few weeks ago I purchased the surface book - i7/512GB SSD/16GB memory. The other day I picked up the dock station and 2 microsoft MDP to HDMI adapters. Unfortunately I am having the same problems with the dock trying to connect my Dell monitor (have not tried my Gateway monitor as it is the primary monitor on my working system). When connected via the dock, my Dell screen displays "Out of range signal. Cannot display this video mode, change computer display input to 1680x1050 @ 60Hz". Of course that is what the setting is, AND it works perfectly if I connect the adapter directly to the surface book display port. I have tried all of your recommendations that have worked for others but none work for my monitors. As others have stated, the adapters will not fit into the Surface Book port at the same time as the power connector so dual monitors is only as good as the battery life - very poor engineering. I plan to return the dock and one adapter and struggle with this insane setup until Microsoft releases an upgraded dock that works.
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Anonymous

2015-12-16T09:15:18+00:00

Just started testing some of the SP4s with dual monitor outputs. On the first go, I have it connected to my Dell P2715Q and it worked. Then after the latest firmware update to the SP4, the monitor stopped working. Tried using directly connecting the mDP/DP to the SP4 and through the new universal dock. Neither option would work.

Ran into this thread: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/peripherals/f/3529/t/19631640

Which, I followed the direction to just unplug the power to the monitor for a few seconds, plugged it back in and then both the SP4 and Dock worked fine. Not sure why, but the Firmware Update may have had something to do with it.

Good luck!
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