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.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

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

0 comments

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.

0 comments

315 additional answers

Anonymous

2015-11-03T20:18:12+00:00

New insider build and firmware released night of 11/2 still didn't resolve the issue. I sincerely hope that either Microsoft or Samsung can release a driver to work with this new Surface dock. Even with one monitor, I am getting the flickering every couple minutes. This has been painful to use.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2015-11-03T18:22:26+00:00

I also bought the active cable from Amazon and it didn't solve the problem. Same display issues
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2015-11-03T18:04:31+00:00

OK.....so on the suggestion of one of the replies here I bought an active mDP to HDMI adapter....attached it to a new Samsung monitor and I got no joy. I then went yesterday and bought a new Audioquest Pearl HDMI cable and hooked it up to both my Suface Book and my Apple Mac Mini (Which I had used another Samsung monitor and the old HDMI cable with no problems but stopped working) and they both worked and looked lovely. So at least think about your cabling.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments