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

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.

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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
    2016-01-29T20:27:33+00:00

    Well, Microsoft has done "some" compatibility testing (https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/hardware-and-drivers/troubleshoot-docking-station-surface-dock) which is pretty disappointing given the number of monitor and cable options that are out there. The Surface Dock is truly a design mess - the "recommended" mini-DP to DP Cable Matters cables have to be forced to fit if you're using two of them because the cable's mini-DP ends have an arc to them which makes the fit very tight given how close the ports are to each other. I'm using two monitors - a Planar PCT2785 Touch Screen (not on the list as either "compatible" or "not supported")  and a Samsung S27D590CS (on the list as compatible) - both at 1920 x 1080 and 60 Hz. I never could get them up on a regular basis until I pulled the mini-DP to DP cables and went with an Accell active mini-DP converter and DP to HDMI cables. Tried the mini-DP to DP cables again with the most recent firmware update and do have both monitors up albeit with a lot of unplugging and plugging in of the Surface Book to Dock connection and turning off and back on of the monitors. I'm almost afraid to shut the damn thing down. I am running with the Surface Book screen off. I've had nothing but trouble with scaling when it was active. While most applications handled the move from one screen to another, Acrobat and Microsoft's own browsers (Edge and IE) ran the fonts up to maybe three times what they should be. Haven't yet checked what'll happen if I opt to have the screens turn off (I have it set to "never" when plugged in and using a screen saver) because I never could get the monitors to wake up.

    Edit:

    Manned up and turned the SB off last night. And nothing but trouble coming up this morning. First only the SB screen was recognized. Restarted with the SB unplugged and then plugged back in and a number of other restart trials. Oddly, the Planar finally came up as the only external monitor connected (it's not on the compatible list) while the Samsung still wouldn't (on the list as compatible). Swapped the cables around and it made no difference. Swapped out one of the six-foot Cable Matters mini-DP to DP cables for a three-foot that I happened to have and everything is up. I'm hoping it's a bad Surface Dock. Have to got into the City (SF) tomorrow for a Beer Week celebration and will see if I can get it replaced at the MS Store there. I love the Surface Book but ....

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-01-29T19:07:48+00:00

    Has anyone built a monitor compatibility list for the Surface Dock? I couldn't find one at the Microsoft website, so maybe following the suggestion in the post currently marked as 'Answer', we could all be specific about what configurations "work" and "don't work".

    In my case, I had a Surface Dock but returned it because of problems with my ViewSonic VX2000 monitor (maybe 10 years old). For other reasons, I'm now considering a new monitor. But, I would like to modulate my purchasing decision on what is known to work with the Surface Dock (and in my case, a Surface Book with the GPU option). Maybe I'll pick up the Surface Dock again.

    Monitor Make, Monitor Model, Cable1, Cable2, Source, Date, Worked, Notes

    ViewSonic, VX2000, Plugable mdp-hdmi (Active), BlueRigger HDMI-DVI 3ft, Surface Book, 12/1/2015, 0% 

    ViewSonic, VX2000, CableMatters mdp-DVI,,  Surface Book, 12/1/2015, 0% 

    'Date' is used as an approximation for which firmware was used.

    'Worked' is a percentage just in case someone has it working with the monitor with some limitations, like you can't get the highest resolution possible from your monitor. However, if your monitor is blinking on and off every three seconds, this should be 0% not 50%

    If anyone can set up a database online so people can enter transactions, please do! I considered Excel Online and putting this on OneDrive, but didn't want to post a public authenticated editable link out in the unprotected wilderness.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-01-28T19:08:20+00:00

    Sounds like it may be an unsupported monitor. What monitor are you using ? I purchased a new HP monitor and it works great. However, online I saw the monitor is actually 2-3 years old. I know Microsoft put out a supported monitor list. Is yours on it? Mine wasn't, but it still worked.

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