Surface Pro 3 external monitor / display port issues

Anonymous

I know many people have been having issues with external monitors and the displayport connections on the Surface Pro 3 and Surface dock. I've been having some issues too, and thought I'd share my config / workarounds in case it helps. I believe the issue is fundamentally with the Surface video drivers getting confused, not the docking station.

My explicit questions are: Is there an easy way to force it to detect new displays? Anybody have any other suggestions on how to resolve this? Is there some way to open a formal technical ticket with MS?

My hardware: Surface Pro 3 i7, 256 GB; Surface docking station, 2 HP Z24i displays (1920x1200 resolution each), StarTech Mini DisplayPort 1.2 to Triple Head DisplayPort MST Hub (StarTech PN# MSTMDP123DP)

It's setup as follows: Mini DisplayPort MST Hub plugged into back of docking station, HP monitors plugged into ports 1 and 2 of the hub.

I've had this setup running for about 2 weeks. At first I couldn't get it working, but with the last firmware update in mid August it started working fine.

HOWEVER, just this week I've had issues where I can't get the Surface to detect the displays / output to them when I first plug in to the dock in the morning OR sometimes when it's waking up from going to sleep (like at lunchtime). No amount of fiddling / plugging / unplugging things seems to consistently fix it. The 'Detect' button in the Screen Resolution window doesn't help. Doing a shutdown / restart of the Surface also doesn't consistently work. Note that when the Surface gets like this, even plugging the Hub directly into the mini display port on the Surface itself (with it not docked) won't work.

The reason I believe this is a Surface / Windows issues is that when it gets into this state, within the screen resolution settings in windows it often thinks that there is another active display plugged in and will act as such (e.g. lets me extend or duplicate the desktop) - even if I have the surface completely undocked, not plugged into anything. Specifically it says it is a "Display device on: Mobile PC Display" with a resolution lower than 1024 x 768. See pic below. This state often survives through a reboot of the Surface.

The general process I usually get to work after a couple tries:

-Use Windows-P keys to set the surface to use only the internal display

-Shutdown the surface and undock

-Unplug the dock and hub

-Plug hub back in

-Power Surface back up while undocked and login

-Dock surface

-Plug dock back in

-I'll know it works at this point because the displays will automatically come on (no need to use windows-P key to toggle them)

NOTE TO FORUM MODS:

Before you reply with your standard questions, know that I've already done all the normal things, including shutdown, check all cables, all updates installed, run the hardware and devices troubleshooter. I've also checked related threads, such as: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surfpro3-surfdevice/external-display-flicker/1e2b9154-0533-4137-880f-55a90d2d6659?page=1&tm=1409850909719 (Note I've never had an issue with flicker) and http://www.surfaceforums.net/threads/mini-displayport-on-new-docking-station-doesnt-work.10577/ (This isn't an active vs. passive adapter thing.) Once I get it working it works just fine until the surface undocks or reboots. It's clearly an issue with Windows / Surface not properly detecting displays.

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129 answers

Anonymous

2014-10-13T21:20:38+00:00

I just wanted to throw my hat in this ring... I have the same setup, but I'm using a Club 3D MST hub and (2)Dell P2314 monitors, and have the same issue. Additional monitors work great until the Surface goes to sleep or restarts. After reboot, the Surface does not detect the additional monitors at all. This is a new Surface Pro 3 that I haven't customized yet, so I can confirm the reset/refresh option does not help. I have installed all Microsoft updates with the Surface in the docking station.

After trying many workarounds and frustratingly watching as suggested fixes do nothing to help, we've dumped these MST-type hubs for DisplayLink USB3 hubs to enable a dual monitor setup. We run one monitor from the mDP port in the back of the Surface dock, then have the other monitor plugged into the USB3 dock that's plugged into the Surface dock (I know, ridiculous). Video performance is good for what we need (business use), but I'm sure this setup would not be sufficient for gamers or those with high performance video needs.

So, I'm not sure if the fix for this lies with Microsoft, Intel's graphics, or the makers of the MST hubs, but it's very frustrating that we can't use dual external monitors with the Surface dock without a menagerie of workarounds and hubs. Every other business-grade laptop dock supports dual external monitors out of the box (well, at least Dell, which is what we used before this).
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Anonymous

2014-10-04T20:11:31+00:00

Update on my issue - I downloaded the most up to date Intel HD 4400 drivers from the Intel site and my monitors have been stable for the past couple hours.

To update the drivers I had to force the install via device manager, using the exe from Intel didn't work (OEM restriction).

Haven't noticed any video issues yet, sleep/wakeup/dock/undock scenarios all seem to be working and stable.
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Anonymous

2014-10-04T18:07:35+00:00

I am having the same issues with my multi monitor **** 1.2 setup. In my configuration I have 2 Samsung monitors running in dp1.2 mode connected to a Accell ultra AV mdp 1.2 to 2 **** mst hub. The hub is connected to my docking station. The surface recognizes the monitors and I can extend the desktop to these displays. However, after a minute or so the monitors will flicker on and off like the do when windows detects a new display. I have tried multiple different **** hubs which all support 1.2 and all have the same issue. I've also tried 3 different surface pros 3s and all exhibit the same behavior.

I have also verified the hub and monitors work with my desktop pc. So at this point it really looks like either a surface issue or docking station issue.

This is very frustrating.... is there a known issue with sp3's support for dp1.2 mst?
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Anonymous

2014-09-25T20:33:24+00:00

Thanks for getting back to me. Clever idea on using both ports as a workaround. Hopefully more folks will pick-up on this thread. Tx.
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Anonymous

2014-09-25T14:20:32+00:00

Chalker2, I am using the same displayport hub as you but with Dell monitors and am having the identical issue. Very frustrating. I need to unplug, replug etc. for 5 mins or so every morning in order to get the SP3 to recognize the monitors.

Did you find any other solutions?

Did you try the reset/refresh procedure?

Thanks!

I haven't found a solution. Doing a 2 fingered shutdown does NOT resolve it, and there is no way I'm going to completely reset/refresh my system to try to fix this - it's clearly not unique to my particular system, but rather a common problem multiple people are encountering.

I have found an alternative way to accomplish what I want, but it's not ideal. I've gotten 2 mini-displayport to VGA active adapters (also from StarTech). I plug 1 into the dock displayport and the other into the built in displayport on the side of the Surface. Obviously this makes it a bit more of a hassle to dock/undock my system. However ever since I've done this I haven't had a single problem with the system detecting both external monitors. (Note that mystery phantom 4th monitor still shows up in the display settings).

This make me believe it's a fundamental issue with the Surface displayport drivers handling MST capabilities.
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