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
    2015-12-31T21:04:52+00:00

    Hi,

    I have an external monitor, an Asus PA246Q which I connected to my Surface using a mini displayport to displayport cable.  The monitor works fine but when I turn off the screen (or it turns off automatically), my Asus monitor will display "No Signal from display port", then go to sleep only to wake up again 1-2seconds later.

    I've tested with the built in mDP port as well as the ones on the dock : same issue.

    The monitor works fine, using the same cable, on my other laptop.  It also works fine using a regular DP to DP cable from my desktop so cable & monitor are out of the loop.

    Using a mDP to DVI ACTIVE cable works (from the mDP connector on the Surface dock too since this is an active adapter), it seems that only mDP to DP is affected.

    Any solutions to this?

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-01-07T16:42:35+00:00

    Powering on or restarting with my surfacebook plugged into the surface dock means I get no monitor output at all during boot and sometimes not even when the login screen appears. I end up having to undock, login on my laptop display, then redock. But that tends to mess up the resolution when I redock, offering me a maximum of 1920x1200 where everything is huge and zoomed in.

    If I'm ninja like I can swipe up with the mouse and type in my pin blindly while it's connected and if I'm lucky the display will come on.

    Running OS build 10586. Running two Dell U2412M monitors connected with surface display port to DVI adapters. 

    So I end up playing these reboot and dock/undock games until the display resolution is correct and God forbid I need to take my laptop into a meeting and reconnect it.

    Also when I lock my workstation the screens are usually black / off instead of showing the lock screen.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-01-07T16:42:44+00:00

    I was also having all sorts of problems, as soon as I upgraded my Dell monitors to newer ones, everything resolved and display looks awesome. I am now using DELL P2214H. Try using monitors listed in supported monitors list provided by Microsoft in link below

    https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/hardware-and-drivers/troubleshoot-docking-station-surface-dock?os=windows-10

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