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
    2016-02-29T02:19:38+00:00

    I have had the same issue with surface pro 3 and surface dock since December. The only way it works is with the expensive mini display port to vga adapter sold at Microsoft store. The resolution is terrible...

    I have had Microsoft replace this dock and it still doesn't work. If I could return it, I would return it.

    I cannot believe Microsoft will not provide a solution or offer an update to let us know they are working on the issue.

    I did purchase the Microsoft mini display port to HDMI adapter and I still have the problem.  It did not seem to make a difference.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-02-29T03:19:31+00:00

    I got it to work with VGA to mini. And the expensive microsoft hdmi to mini did no good. My DELL 3000 worked much better then this.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-03-02T07:45:04+00:00

    OK so I purchased the Surface Book and was very pleased with its performance and general 'niceness' (I opted for the mid range offering). However I have also purchased the Surface Dock because I like to use multiple monitors when not on the road. It has been a struggle throughout. At first it refused to 'play' with both of the monitors. It showed three monitors (the two externals and the Book itself) but it kept disconnecting one of the externals. This disconnect affected all three because of course it has to reconfigure things. Eventually I discovered that if I was VERY fast I could force it to extend the display to both external monitors (basically each reset was in relation to the option being Disconnect this monitor and if I was quick enough to change it to Extend before it reset it was happy). I had to do this for both external monitors. All is fine I thought but then when the Book went to sleep it would not use either of the external monitors when it awoke. Also I now find that when I connect initially to the Dock I get a message that the Display Driver stopped working and had to be restarted. I tried the Microsoft Fixit that I found when researching the error message but it does not apply to my Book (or maybe Windows 10; it didn't actually say).

    I did suspect that perhaps because the Dock has Display Port outputs (mini) and my leads are mini Display Port to HDMI that might be the problem. If so I will buy mini DP to DP leads but I am loath to do this on a bit of a hunch.

    Anyone else having similar problems and is there a fix for the Surface Book to play nicely with external monitors?

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