Surface Book with new Surface Dock

[Spongers8X]

After receiving my Surface Book (i5, 8GB, dGPU model) I connected it to my also-new Surface Dock, with 2 monitors (24" Asus LED's), and am having weird issues. Sometimes the displays just keep flickering when first connected, and I have to then disconnect the mini-display port cables, then reconnect, then log out, then log in, then re setup the display layout to get it to work. This happens almost every time I connect my dock to the Surface. I have tried disabling Hyper-V (apparently causing some other unrelated flickering issues on some Surfaces), but nothing seems to work.

The messed up part is after doing all of the above, the sizing of the display isn't right because it is still sized for the Surface Book display, and only a log-out/log-in will fix it, BUT then the whole problem starts again!!! I have tried swapping out displayport cables, and nothing has helped. The surface is also open with the display facing forward.

Any one else experience this issue?

TIA, Dave

 

[boo516]

Happened with SP3. It's a windows issue in that aspect ratios can only be changed through logging out and in again. Super annoying but you learn to live with it. Or buy 2:3 monitors.

 

[Spongers8X]

I had the snap-in dock with the SP3 and NEVER ran into this issue. I am not worried about the sizing issue as much as I am about the annoynace of the fact that the external displays don't automatically show up after a reboot. I have to follow a very specific process to get them to work, as I outlined in my OP.

 

[boo516]

Oh nvm then. I had the dock with SP3 and had this problem everytime i wanted to dock on 2 monitors.

 

[Aaron Hollingsworth]

I am running a Surface Book, Dock and 2 monitors and have the exact same issue. I can get one to work most of the time, but once I connect the 2nd monitor things get a little crazy. Twice so far I was able to unplug one monitor, get things working and then plug the second in and things seemed fine. Doing a restart or unplugging the Dock connector resets things to crazy. Note that I am using insignia brand 6' MiniDP to HDMI....and have tried a different cable and still the same results.

Very frustrating....I invested a pretty penny into dual monitors, Surface Book & Dock.....

At this point this is NOT working...

 

[Spongers8X]

Thanks Aaron, sucks, but I am glad I am not the only one. Wonder if it is driver related since it is my understanding the dock port is basically a Thunderbolt port with Microsoft's own custom connector. Hopefully they spot my post in the microsoft forums, and other users respond saying they have the same issue (if they do).

I am running a Surface Book, Dock and 2 monitors and have the exact same issue. I can get one to work most of the time, but once I connect the 2nd monitor things get a little crazy. Twice so far I was able to unplug one monitor, get things working and then plug the second in and things seemed fine. Doing a restart or unplugging the Dock connector resets things to crazy. Note that I am using insignia brand 6' MiniDP to HDMI....and have tried a different cable and still the same results.

Very frustrating....I invested a pretty penny into dual monitors, Surface Book & Dock.....

At this point this is NOT working...

 

[anon(4054009)]

I picked the new dock today to use with my SP 4. I was using my old SP 3 dock but couldn't get the shim adapter I was worried about scratching my 4 at the charge port. Having several display problems sure wish I could have found the shim. My old dock worked fine.

 

[zombie0]

I think I am dealing with the same issue. However, I have not yet been able to get the dock to power my two external monitors simultaneously. Both are 4K displays. A principal reason I decided to get the dock was because it claims to support two 4K displays.

It would be one thing if they worked and then went crazy when I un-docked and re-docked. That would be disappointing for certain, but understandable to some extent. But I can't even get them to work to begin with. So right now, I am working with only one external display.

 

[UndeadDonut]

Hi everyone, I'm also dealing with the same issue for the past two days. It'll flicker or go to a black screen or not detect at all, and I have no idea why. I'm going to try and see if I can find a solution today, or hopefully you guys can find one.

 

[zombie0]

Having now watched a video of the "Hyper-V" related display flicker, I should clarify that I suspect I am dealing with something quite different. Notably, a comparatively slow on-off cycle as the Surface appears to briefly enable a video signal to external monitors only to immediately turn off that same signal.

Put shortly: I have not yet been able to get the Dock to run two 4K monitors at the same time.

 

[Aaron Hollingsworth]

Quick Update. On doing some research and spending some time on the phone with Microsoft tech support, I have found a "semi-working" combination.

So after trying to isolate the problem and coming up short, tech support and I determined that the cable adapters were causing the issues. Here is my setup:

i7/8GB/256 Surface Book, connected to the dock, connected to two monitors (Samsung 27" 1080p via miniDP to HDMI cable) & (Dell 34" 1440p via miniDP to HDMI cable.)

My Dell monitor has various input types, so I was in search of a local miniDP to MiniDP cable..... they were nowhere to be found. The monitor did however come with a full size Displayport to MiniDP cable that is designed to be connected to a video card in a desktop computer. SO I reversed this cable to connect the MiniDP on the Surface dock to full size Displayport input on my Dell monitor.

The moment that I connected this new cable, all 3 monitors were working just fine and all were immediately powered on and recognized. Huge feeling of relief -being that I made a substantial investment into the 3-in-1 Surfacebook. So the reason that I called this a "Semi-working" setup is because every few times I connect either the dock connector or clipboard, the monitors do not power up from sleep. The only way to fix this when it happens is to restart the machine.

Note that in the Surface Dock's features when it was released says that it will drive up to (2) 4k monitors via Displayport. I am thinking that right now the displayport is the "friendliest" supported connection at the moment. Unfortunately for me I only have 1 monitor that supports DP, so my 2nd Samsung monitor is still being driven by the miniDP to HDMI cable.

Does anyone have a displayport monitor that they can connect to and very my findings? Are our adapter cables simply not supported?

 

[wheelerk]

You can also try adjusting your Screen Refresh Rate on the monitor that keeps blanking out.

 

[KMiller500]

SurfaceBook
Surface Dock
NEC AccuSync AS192 Monitor (x2)

I had the exact same issue that many of you have had. After three very long Microsoft chat sessions I was advised to use an "active mini-display port to DVi adapter." The key here is "active." This has fixed my issues and the dual monitors setup works great.

 

[Telex2112]

*sigh* I am still trying to get two 4K Samsung U32D970 monitors to work with this *censored* new surface dock and the surface book, but they only work one at a time. I also hear others are having trouble with any two monitors at ANY resolution having issues... Come on Microsoft!

I love the Surface Book, but your new Surface Dock *censored*...

 

[JaimitoFrog]

Anyone tried the dock on a 5k monitor, like Dell?

 

[Spongers8X]

FWIW, I have been running the latest Windows Insider build and the latest firmware update, and my dock works perfectly everytime now. I have two ASUS 24" HD monitors hooked up using mini-displayport to DVI cables. When I unplug the dock everything goes back to the surface book as expected. When I connect back the monitors come back in the same configuration as before, and even if I boot up with the dock connected, everything comes up as expected.

 

[zombie0]

FWIW, I have been running the latest Windows Insider build and the latest firmware update, and my dock works perfectly everytime now. I have two ASUS 24" HD monitors hooked up using mini-displayport to DVI cables. When I unplug the dock everything goes back to the surface book as expected. When I connect back the monitors come back in the same configuration as before, and even if I boot up with the dock connected, everything comes up as expected.

That sounds like the dream situation. Not only does my Surface Dock only support one of my 4K displays, I also have Windows 10 routinely rearranging windows in seemingly non-deterministic/random positions after docking and undocking. And unfortunately, during routine use, it is often necessary to disconnect and reconnect the Surface Dock (e.g., if charging stops and the device begins to run on battery even though it's plugged into the dock; a truly lovely behavior). So over the course of the day, I get to reposition my application windows several times.

That said, I'm never going to go back to HD monitors. 4K or bust. If necessary, I'll replace the Surface Book with a true workstation, and demote the Surface Book to a token portable computer.

 

[Telex2112]

FWIW, I have been running the latest Windows Insider build and the latest firmware update, and my dock works perfectly everytime now. I have two ASUS 24" HD monitors hooked up using mini-displayport to DVI cables. When I unplug the dock everything goes back to the surface book as expected. When I connect back the monitors come back in the same configuration as before, and even if I boot up with the dock connected, everything comes up as expected.

Consider yourself in the extremely lucky minority. I have the newest build/drivers possible (fast track insider even) and it's buggier than it was before. Now I get the infamous "display driver errors" from the Intel card. What a nightmare.

 

[Yonic Boom]

My dock is a little quirky with the cheap-o ASUS monitors we have at work too. So far I've found if I make sure to Windows-P and set my computer back to PC screen only before I disconnect for the night, that seems to keep it from having issues when I come in the following day. When it does fail to reconnect I have to unplug the cables from the dock and plug them back in, which defeats the purpose of having a dock.

When it's working it's great, but it should work without having to think about it. Hopefully it won't be too long.

 

[Telex2112]

Annnnnnd still waiting on Microsoft/Samsung to get a driver together for this Surface Dock/Book to work with two 4K monitors as advertised.