Surface Pro 6 Docking stationn not detecting external monitors.

Question

Surface Pro 6 connecting to the Surface Dock (seen here). When plugged into the dock, ethernet, audio, and usb work, but both mini display ports will not display anything on the monitors plugged into them. I've verified the monitors are plugged in and powered and the mini display port cables are good. I've power cycled the dock and Surface, I've installed the latest Windows updates and Microsoft firmware updates for the Surface. I downloaded the dock updater tool and it fails with an "unexpected error" every time I try to update.

Note: this display issue is a recent event, the display ports were working recently.

What am I missing? Is this just dead ports on the dock (I've had it happen before with Dell docks, so I wouldn't be terribly surprised)? Are there further troubleshooting steps I can take that I haven't thought of? Any and all help is appreciated.

Answer 1

Surface Pro 6 connecting to the Surface Dock (seen here). When plugged into the dock, ethernet, audio, and usb work, but both mini display ports will not display anything on the monitors plugged into them. I've verified the monitors are plugged in and powered and the mini display port cables are good. I've power cycled the dock and Surface, I've installed the latest Windows updates and Microsoft firmware updates for the Surface. I downloaded the dock updater tool and it fails with an "unexpected error" every time I try to update.

Note: this display issue is a recent event, the display ports were working recently.

What am I missing? Is this just dead ports on the dock (I've had it happen before with Dell docks, so I wouldn't be terribly surprised)? Are there further troubleshooting steps I can take that I haven't thought of? Any and all help is appreciated.

Hi JeffVNetworks,

Thank you for posting your concern here.

For us to better understand the issue, please answer the following questions:

1. What type of connection is your monitor using?
2. What are the make and models of your external monitors?
3. Have you checked if the monitors are being detected by the Surface? You may go to Settings> System> Display to check if your monitors were being detected.
4. If the monitors are being detected, try to adjust the refresh rates of your monitor by going to Advance Display Settings> Display adapter properties for display> List All Modes> Choose the "Recommended" resolution possible to test the monitors
5. Are you connected via Ethernet or Wi-Fi when updating the Surface Dock?

If the update for the dock went successful, try to disconnect the external monitors and power cycle your Surface then reconnect to test.

Looking forward to your response.

Best regards,

GeraldAldrin_T

Answer 2

Check that you are using one of the cables listed at

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4023496

While some cables may work elsewhere, they may not work on the dock.

Answer 3

Surface Pro 6 connecting to the Surface Dock (seen here). When plugged into the dock, ethernet, audio, and usb work, but both mini display ports will not display anything on the monitors plugged into them. I've verified the monitors are plugged in and powered and the mini display port cables are good. I've power cycled the dock and Surface, I've installed the latest Windows updates and Microsoft firmware updates for the Surface. I downloaded the dock updater tool and it fails with an "unexpected error" every time I try to update.

Note: this display issue is a recent event, the display ports were working recently.

What am I missing? Is this just dead ports on the dock (I've had it happen before with Dell docks, so I wouldn't be terribly surprised)? Are there further troubleshooting steps I can take that I haven't thought of? Any and all help is appreciated.

Hi JeffVNetworks,

Thank you for posting your concern here.

For us to better understand the issue, please answer the following questions:

1. What type of connection is your monitor using?
2. What are the make and models of your external monitors?
3. Have you checked if the monitors are being detected by the Surface? You may go to Settings> System> Display to check if your monitors were being detected.
4. If the monitors are being detected, try to adjust the refresh rates of your monitor by going to Advance Display Settings> Display adapter properties for display> List All Modes> Choose the "Recommended" resolution possible to test the monitors
5. Are you connected via Ethernet or Wi-Fi when updating the Surface Dock?

If the update for the dock went successful, try to disconnect the external monitors and power cycle your Surface then reconnect to test.

Looking forward to your response.

Best regards,

GeraldAldrin_T

1. Mini display port cables
2. Samsung 27in 4k monitors
3. Monitors are not being detected in display settings
4. N/A
5. Ethernet.

The first time I tried the dock update, it got to the 50% mark, where it tells you to briefly unplug the dock, then plug it back into the computer. I did that, and then it failed with "unexpected error" no error code or any additional information. I attempted the update again, and a few more times, and every time it wouldn't even get to 1%, it would just fail at the beginning.

Answer 4

Check that you are using one of the cables listed at

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4023496

While some cables may work elsewhere, they may not work on the dock.

The monitors are using mini display cables. The model of dock being used only has mini display ports. They were working earlier this week, the problem began on Wednesday.

Answer 5

If you are in the US, you should go to the closest physical retail Microsoft

Store https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/locations/find-a-store with your

Surface and dock and have the techs evaluate.