Surface Book 2: External Monitor Flickering

External screen flicker on Surface Book 2 using USB-C to HDMI adapter.

I had no issues using my SB 2, USB-C to HDMI adapter, and DELL Ultrasharp 3818DW monitor over the last 6 months or so ... until this morning when the highly annoying frequent flickering started.

After unsuccessfully trying to fix the problem with a different HDMI cable and monitor I started reading this forum and am happy to report that it helped me FIX my problem. As others have reported before me, the fix is or at least can be simple.

I shutdown my SB, disconnected all pheripherals, started the SB back up, un-docked the screen, cleaned the screen connections and USB-C port using an air dust blower (for cameras), and re-docked the screen to the keyboard. I then reconnected the monitor and other pheripherals and was very happy to discover the problem was gone and I could get to work--after sharing my experience on this forum.

Thanks to all  of you that helped me along!

GeorgeW, 

Initially I thought my HP 32Q 4K monitor was too graphics intensive for my Surface Book 2. I'm fortunate to have a friend who works for Microsoft, and is very much an advocate of the Surface Book.  He said the Book should easily be able to accommodate the monitor.  He came over and spent a couple hours diagnosing the issues with my Surface Book 2. He swapped multiple cables, adapters, docks, monitors, he attached his Book to my system, he cleaned the connectors between the tablet portion and keyboard, and ultimately he narrowed it down to potential problem with one of the two graphics processors.  He recommended I take it into the Microsoft Store, tell them everything he had done, and see if they could diagnose. They did confirm it was the graphics processor in the keyboard portion of the Book and they replaced it (luckily I had one day left on my warranty otherwise it would have been $600). They said it was a rare malfunction that they had only heard about but not seen at their store until I brought mine in.  My new Book works fine now.

Scpr,

Any news after your additional visit to the MS store?

Thank you.

Marby,

Thank you for the reply.  I read the article you linked to, but it was a general one and did not contain the solution to my monitor flickering.

I already downloaded and installed the firmware drivers, and the problem persists. 

Looking at other forum questions, I see that various other Surface Book owners also report the same issue.  Does Microsoft already have a specific solution to this problem?

Thank you.

Hello Danilo,

Thank you for bringing this up. There are some factors to consider when this issue occurred like compatible monitor, adapter used, etc. Let's sort this out. However, to be able to understand the issue better, can you give us more details by answering these following questions:

• Can you tell us the make and model of the external monitor?

• Have you tried using other similar adapter to see if there are any changes?

• Can you tell us if the flickering/disconnection responds to an app/program? Were you able to check the screen resolution as well?

• What troubleshooting steps have you tried so far?

• Can you confirm if the device has the latest firmware update installed? How about the graphics driver?

Let us know so we can help you further.