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
    2016-03-13T16:28:31+00:00

    After having just purchased a new Surface Book and Surface Dock and after hours on chat with a MS technician trying to get my Surface Dock to work with my Samsung P2370 monitor using MDP to DVI, I have come to this conclusion. The Surface Dock will work with some monitors and others not.

    To get my Surface Dock to work I have tried everything MS has suggested. Different cables all being Active DVI, reversing the Surface Dock to Surface Book connector. The MS technician actually took control of my Surface Book and worked through an extensive routine to see if there was something wrong on the laptop. I checked the monitor input settings and that did not help. The monitor would run if I connected the Surface Book directly to the monitor bypassing the Surface Dock. I also exchanged the Surface Dock for a new one and that did not help.

    I was able to get the Surface Dock to work with MDP to VGA. Since I had another Samsung monitor (XL2370) I decided to see if that monitor would work with the Surface Dock using MDP to DVI. It did work. Even though the monitors were nearly the same, one would work and the other would not. I was just about to return the Surface Dock and wait for MS to figure out this mess but I think I'll just switch monitors. The situation is very disappointing that MS would release a dock that doesn't work as advertised. My concern is that I am about to replace my existing monitor with a newer version and who knows if that will work with my dock.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-03-13T16:33:56+00:00

    I have actually had no problems with the dock whatsoever with a new HP monitor (well, it was released 2 years ago so not so new) but everything works as it should on my end. I would definitely keep your receipts! Seems like an easy piece of hardware to just be able to plug in a device to get it to connect to a screen. What gives? Drivers?

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-03-13T16:59:41+00:00

    My issues are with external hdmi monitors. I can get it to work, but upon idle it looses connection forcing multiple reboots.  I've also tried the beta build and updated video drivers to no avail.  Frustrating to say the least.

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