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
    2016-04-27T07:10:40+00:00

    Yesterday my Surface Pro 4 received the April Update.

    This made things worse for me. 

    I connected my 2K Monitor via HDMI -> miniDP Adapter to the dock, that worked mostly so far, only sometimes it  didn't wake up from sleep. But after reboot it was there 100%.

    Now after April Surface Update the Monitor is not even showing a signal at all. The Dock recognize it now as 1080p Display (what is wrong) and Monitor keep telling me "no signal" no matter if connected by HDMI to Displayport Adapter (what always worked before) or DP directly.

    Came to the office this morning and first thing I need to do was wasting 1h of changing cables and trying to get my workstation to run, again! 

    Really GREAT JOB Microsoft.

    Premium Product, eh? Feels like a Betatest DIY enviroment.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-04-23T17:36:47+00:00

    Still not sure we're there yet - certainly "better" but issues still persist and I don't believe anyone knows what is truly causing these problems. Surface Book i7 512GB with a Surface Dock connecting a Planar PCT2785 Touch Screen Monitor and a S27D590C Monitor with Cable Matters mini-DP to DP cables. I had things working before I left on a trip this past Tuesday. The most recent patches were made while on the road. Back in the home office and only the SB screen and the Planar Monitor came up where before I left on the trip, the SB screen was off and the Planar was the main screen and the Samsung the second - as I wanted it. Unplugged the SB from the monitor, waited a bit and then plugged it back in and all was well. Felt a little ballsy so I set my screen to turn off after 20 minutes. Nothing new there - when I woke things up a bit later, I had lost both external monitors and was up on the SB screen. So that's not been fixed. Got the external monitors working again, reset the screen to never turn off when plugged in and turned on 3D text screen saver. Got a message in lieu of my 3D text stating "The screen saver can't run because it requires a newer video card or one that's compatible with Direct 3D." Hadn't seen that before. Checked the display driver and the Intel HD Graphics 520 driver was dated 3/20/2016 as it should have been. Uninstalled the driver which, of course, required a reboot. When I came up, all was well again. A least for now. It's more than just the Surface Dock, or the video drivers, or the cables, or the whatever. Sadly, our organization has returned several Surface Books and most new issues are again Lenovo X1 Carbons and T460's. Despite the issues, I love the damn thing and will continue to fight the "I told you so's." But this does need to get fixed.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-04-23T15:04:53+00:00

    After the recent firmware updates, two things have happened that have absolutely killed productivity:

    1. My Surface Dock no longer will display an external monitor. My SP4 recognizes that I have a monitor attached, but there are no modifiable settings (for resolution, etc... they're all greyed out) and the monitor does not detect any input. I have two open support cases with Microsoft. I've already received one brand-new dock, which worked flawlessly until its firmware was updated. As soon as the firmware was updated and my SP4 rebooted, no more external monitors. My Dock has turned into a glorified charging brick.
    2. When bypassing my dock to use an external monitor, my Surface Pro 4 will only output a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080, even though I am using an ultrawide monitor (2560 x 1080). There is no option for a greater resolution anymore after these firmware updates.

    Steps I have taken to correct these issues:

    1. Uninstalled, removed, and reinstalled ALL new drivers - issues still persist.
    2. New Surface Dock - issue still persists after Dock's firmware update
    3. I have removed the display cache and defaults to start "brand new" - still nothing
    4. I bought a new DP->HDMI adapter - still nothing

    My perceived value of my SP4/Dock combo has decreased to new lows. I rely on this combo to do work for a living - it just simply does not work!

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