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
    2016-01-10T04:15:20+00:00

    Many of these issues I have found are due to the monitor not being supported. I bought a new 27" HP monitor and it works flawlessly now. Sold my old monitor. Microsoft has a page of *known* compatible monitors but it isn't lengthy and isn't updated. Most new HP and Dell Monitors should work great I'm guessing.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-01-10T02:41:27+00:00

    Thanks for that info about how to reboot.

    My Surface4 had frozen after selecting the HDMI monitor as the primary.

    I'm not saying it wont freeze again but I'd totally lost access to everything on it.

    Incidentally when you hold down the [power]-[+] keys for 30 secs together if you release it takes you t the Surface UEFI. This appears to have low level configuration 

    display and change details available and allows you to reboot.

    I'm using

    • brand new Surface Pro 4 i7 512 (largest and fastest SPRO4 available in Australia at the moment)
    • Msoft Dock ( 2 display miniports, network, 4 x USB's)

    Didn;t have any issues with 

    • LogiTec USB Keyboard and mouse

    But freezing occurring when trying to get 1 external HDMI display going using 

    • 1 x Belkin Mini Display port to HDMI
    • Sony Bravia Monitor with HDMI port

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-01-07T17:12:03+00:00

    I was having all kinds of problems with the new Microsoft MDP to HDMI adapters on the new Surface Dock with a Surface Book. Tried some StarTech active adapters and they worked a little better but still caused problems in certain scenarios. Switching to the plugable MDP-HDMI active adapters and they just work.

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