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
    2016-03-06T01:19:55+00:00

    Well it would be nice if they got one of them right....

    Seriously - the dock is not fit for the purpose it was purchased for.

    I suggest they bring out a dock like the Surface Pro 3 that works and all these issues are addressed.

    And they rebate existing customers who purchased docks with a full credit towards the new dock.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-03-04T16:06:41+00:00

    I believe the Dock connector was specifically designed by MS NOT to allow Dock and mDP to be connected simultaneously.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-03-04T15:45:33+00:00

       So is there any fix at all from Microsoft? We as corporate are stuck! We have a bunch of Surface Pro 3s and 4s and none of them are working since we had to switch to the surface dock. We've got Windows 8 running and have tried both active and passive adapters and the same thing happens each time. Plug it in, Surface starts flickering, monitor does nothing, etc. Only tried DVI to MiniDP because VGA isn't an option with our monitors. Thoughts.

    I do not believe there is a fix at this time.  When talking to support they acknowledge that this is a problem and are working on a fix but with not ETA.  I have tried running a single external monitor connected directly to the Surface Book with the dock connected for the extra USB and wired network connection and it seemed to work better, at least at the start.  The bigger problem is that with both connected (using the MS adapter as well) their is very little space between the two connections and now when I plug the mini to HDMI cable in the power light on the dock connection goes out and I lose all connections on the dock. This is not what I would consider normal behavior either.

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