Surface Pro 3 dock not detecting external monitor

Anonymous
2014-08-13T15:12:33+00:00

I have a new surface pro 3 and I purchased two docking stations. 1 for the office and one for home. Neither docking stations allows the pro3 to detect a monitor that is plugged into it.   I can plug the monitor directly into the pro3 and it detects if fine both at home and at the office.   I can tell you that its a serious interruption professionally, and personally and does not bode well for MS's desires to serve the business community.   What I need is a solution.

Surface | Accessories | Surface Dock

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Anonymous
2015-10-25T14:03:15+00:00

I have a new surface pro 3 and I purchased two docking stations. 1 for the office and one for home. Neither docking stations allows the pro3 to detect a monitor that is plugged into it.   I can plug the monitor directly into the pro3 and it detects if fine both at home and at the office.   I can tell you that its a serious interruption professionally, and personally and does not bode well for MS's desires to serve the business community.   What I need is a solution.

hey guys

I had exact same issue and I did this and the issue magically solved!!

a two button restart:

  • Power off the Surface Pro
  • Hold Volume Up and the Power button for 10 seconds
  • Release buttons
  • Wait 5-10 seconds
  • Power on the Surface

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Anonymous
2014-08-13T23:38:43+00:00

Hi will-eman,

Thank you for visiting the Microsoft Community! Sorry to know that your Docking Stations are not detecting your external displays. I can certainly understand why this is an inconvenience, especially when, as you mention, it is used in a business environment and for professional purposes. I’d like to help and hopefully provide the best possible solution!

Please try the following:

  • With the Surface and external display connected to the Docking Station, unplug the Docking Station from the power outlet, leave it unplugged for 30 seconds to a minute, then plug it back and see if the displays are recognized.
  • Please make sure all and latest Windows updates are installed. If so, verify all updates were taken while the Docking Station was connected to the Surface.
  • When you connect the external monitor, do you have any other devices connected to the Docking Station as well? And if so, have you tried removing all devices and connecting the external monitor only?
  • Have you tried connecting other external displays to the docking Station? Are ALL displays or devices not recognized?
  • Have you tried the what Ed Bott - MVP suggests?

 Additionally, please read the following support article:

We hope this information works! Please keep us posted!

We are always here to help!

Best Wishes,

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-08-23T18:46:05+00:00

    I'm also having the similar issue and I went to the near by MS store and changed the docking station also but still same issue. Let me know if you have any fix for it. Tomorrow I'm planning to change the cable and see.

    Thanks,

    Vinodh

    OK, Like all other I also had issues connecting my surface to external monitor using the dock and I followed all the steps mentioned in this thread also contacted surface support. I also changed two docking station but all without success and then I took my docking station to a near(office) by MS store and it was not working on one of their surface in the store but they tried with another one and it worked and they said it should be something to do with my surface and asked me to bring the surface. So in the evening I went to another MS store near my home with docking and surface and dock worked in their surface and not with my surface. They tried with another working dock and it was not working so finally it looked like the issue is with the surface. So I exchanged for a new surface and now the new one works fine with the same docking station which had trouble before.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-08-24T13:29:23+00:00

    Here is my experience with the displayPort not working on the docking station. For me, the issue seems to be related to either firmware or some other software on the Surface. When I first received the docking station, the displayPort wasn't working and I went through all the same troubleshooting as everyone else has already mentioned. After 3 days of trying, what fixed it (at least for a couple days) was to go through the Recovery options and "Refresh your PC without affecting your files". After that and the final reboot, the displayPorts on the docking station worked fine, until Aug 19th. I noticed that there were many updates ready to install for the surface. After those installed, the displayPort didn't work anymore, and it still doesn't work. There was a firmware update on the 19th and I haven't yet tried to rollback any updates (I don't even know if that is possible). At this point, I'm burned out trying to fix this and am just using the displayPort on the Surface.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-08-25T01:06:28+00:00

    I too had this problem and found a solution.  In my case my external monitor worked when connected to the SP3 but did not work connected to the dock.  I have an HP w2007 monitor (DVI) connected to an Apple DVI to miniDisplayPort adapter.

    After doing some googling I discovered Apple's adapter is an active device containing internal chips.  After replacing the Apple adapter with a different one manufactured by RocketFish the monitor now works with the dock as well as with the SP3.

    Bottom line - if your monitor doesn't work with the dock but does work with the SP3 try replacing your miniDisplayPort adapter.  It appears that Apple's adaptor (Thunderbolt) is not compatible with the dock.

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