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

2015-03-20T12:54:59+00:00

I have been lucky with the Windows 10 preview for several months... until now :( the latest version seems to have the problem with the disappearing monitors again.

Nevertheless I have found a way of making it recognise my monitors. This works with Windows 8.1 as well... It is unplugging the electricity cable from the monitors.

Switching them off doesn't work. Unplugging the DP cable doesn't work. Turning on and off the surface or restarting doesn't work. Just unplug the monitor from the wall and plug it in again.

If you unplug them from the wall wait for 10 seconds and plug them in again the surface magically recognises them and this state of harmony usually lasts for a couple of restarts. Putting the tablet to sleep usually messes the monitors again but now you just need to crawl under your desktop and unplug the monitors for a while to solve it.

Do you deserve all the crawling after you paid 2000€ for a Surface? Probably yes :D

I hope this helps everyone who is having the issue and I also hope this gives Microsoft a hint on what's happening.
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Anonymous

2015-03-21T16:58:49+00:00

I was too having the same issue, but found a workaround--by shutting it down completely; create a shortcut with this command: shutdown.exe -s -t 00
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Anonymous

2015-04-01T14:06:35+00:00

Surface Pro 3 i7 8gb RAM 8.1 with HP external monitor connected via StarTec display adapter was perfect until 27 March.

Since that time Surface tries to connect to external monitor.

Error message flashes on Surface "Display Driver Issue Surface needs to reboot".

Surface shuts down and won't reboot until I perform a reset.

Drivers are up to date on Surface when check.

Attempts to connect a single external display from 3 different manufacturer's yield the same behavior.

ASUS, a HP and LG displays.
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Anonymous

2015-04-01T19:00:53+00:00

Same issue here with SP-3 I7 256 and two Dell U2414H monitors. Bought this back in September 2014 when it was first available and have been battling with the issue every since. Have done several clean installs per Microsoft request as well as replacing the dock, power supply for dock and the surface itself but problem persists.

Latest attempt was to buy a Tripp-Lite model B156-002 display port splitter which caused the SP-3 to hang on boot. Tripp-Lite claims it is because I have a mini display port to display port adapter cable so now I am going to try the EVGA hub mentioned above.

What it boils down to is that Microsoft should admit that the problem exists and offer a recall since they falsely claimed to support daisy chaining dual monitors. I think there should be a class action suit against this company to force them to recall these.
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Anonymous

2015-04-02T14:41:47+00:00

I was certain I had posted an update about my situation since December, but apparently not.

So, my solution from October was rock solid for me up until a patch Tuesday in, I believe, February. It was the one where they specifically called out display port fixes - since this update my setup has been a nightmare.

Basically it regressed to how the previous StarTech hub used to work, i.e. not very well at all. Every time my Surface re-docks, wakes up from sleep or hibernation or even sometimes on cold boot I now have to press the reset button on my DP hub, power cycle my monitors and re-enable "extend my desktop" in display properties. I haven't seen the BSoD I was getting with the StarTech hub yet, but the experience is pretty much as painful.

I don't know what they did, but I've heard from Startech users that their setup is now working fine whereas it wasn't earlier. It's almost like they switched a switch and reversed what was and wasn't working.

Whatever it was, please **** fix it again because my SP3, which replaced my desktop, laptop and tablet, is pretty awful to use right now. It's a wonder I haven't done to it what I did to one of my developer Lumia 1520's...
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