Surface Dock Firmware upgrade

Question

Hi,

I have had a Surface Pro 4 running via a Surface Dock connected to two 24" Dell monitors for many years.  Since last year I have also been running a Surface Pro 6 with this configuration.

I recently purchased a Dell U4919DW connected to the Surface Dock using a MiniDP to DP cable.  This gave me the max res of 5120 x 1440 connected via the Surface Dock connector for both the SP4 and SP6 as extended displays.

I also purchased a Surface Pro 7, which when using the dock only displayed the DP port as a 640 panel.   I therefore updated the firmware of the Dock to the latest 1.42.139.  This did not resolve the SP7 issues, and it appears there is a seperate problem with this device.

However, the SP4 & 6 will now only display at 3840 x 1080 when connected via the dock, but via the same cable connected directly to the SP, it displays at the full 5120x1440.  I have updated the SP drivers with the latest from MicroSoft against my version of windows.

The firmware has obvioulsy knocked something out, how can i roll my firmware back, or is there a fix that i can do to get the full res connected via the dock?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi scrivs1978,

Thank you for reaching out Microsoft Community. We're sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you.

It seems like the issue is within the Surface dock considering that after updating the dock's firmware, it didn't give you the max. resolution of 5120 x 1440 when you connected it back to your old Surface Pros. But, we still need to figure it out so what I can highly suggest is to check the current driver version of the Surface dock in Device Manager. 

If it reflects  the updated version which is : 

Version 1.42.139

Release Date: September 18 2019

This version, contained in Surface_Dock_FwUpdate_1.42.139_Win10_17134_19.084.31680_0.MSI, updates firmware in the background. Updated registry key values:

• Component10CurrentFwVersion updated to 4ac3970.
• Component20CurrentFwVersion updated to 4a1d570.

This version adds support for Surface Pro 7 and Surface Laptop 3.

You can find this information from this link https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/surface-dock-firmware-update. If it's indeed the most updated versiion, what I can suggest to further troubleshoot the issue is to clear the display cache and kindly uninstall the monitor drivers in Device Manager.

To clear the display cache, kindly see Solution #5 you can find in this link https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4023496/surface-troubleshoot-connecting-to-a-second-screen.

To uninstall the monitors:

Open Device Manager

Expand Monitors

Right-click on monitors that were once recognized by your Surface device excluding Surface Panel Filter or Surface Display and select uninstall device. Then, after removing, kindly disconnect the your Surface device monitor and the dock, restart everything and reconnect it again and see if this now works okay.

If this helps, feel free to mark this post as an answer. Otherwise, don't hesitate to respond to this thread for further assistance.

Kind Regards,

Crest_Z

Answer 2

Hi,

I can confirm the following on the SP4

• Registry Values as they should be for FW 1.42.139
• Display Cache cleared
• Device monitor uninstalled

None of the above have worked, its still showing a max resolution of 3840x1080 rather than the full 5120x1440

The SP6 is a work PC which is locked down, so i can't actually carry out all of the above on them as it requires admin privalages.  The reg is showing the correct FW via cmd prompt though.

Is they anyway to roll the FW back, or is their an update i can run?

Thanks

Andrew

Answer 3

Hi scrivs1978,

Thank you for your response and for checking the link I have provided. 

If you just made a firmware update on the Surface dock and had its driver version updated, you can still rollback the driver version in Device Manager. Once you see the Surface dock's driver in Device Manager, simply right-click on it and check if the option to roll it back isn't grayed out and you can just roll it back to the previous version. You may have to clear the display cache again and disconnect/reconnect the device from the Surface dock and from the external monitor.

If this helps, please let us know and mark this post as an answer. Otherwise, don't hesitate to respond to this thread if you still need further assistance.

Kind Regards,

Crest_Z

Answer 4

Hi,

According to device manager, the Surface Dock Firmware Update properties show that the firmware was rolled back to 1.2.6.0 per the method you described.  I also did the clear display clache.

However, the same issue is present.  When i check the reg edit using cmd prompt the values are showing the same as the new driver

• Component10CurrentFwVersion updated to 4ac3970.
• Component20CurrentFwVersion updated to 4a1d570

Suggests something is left behind from the update?

Thanks

Answer 5

Hi scrivs1978,

Sorry for the delayed response.

Did you disconnect everything after clearing the display cache? If you do and you still getting the same problem, then what I can highly recommend is to contact support and get a replacement for the Surface dock.

If this suggestion helps, feel free to mark this post as an answer. Otherwise, don't hesitate to respond to this thread if you need further assistance.

Kind Regards,

Crest_Z