Surface Pro 6 using USB-C via Surface Dock 2

Question

I've just bought a Surface Dock 2 on the belief that I could use this to connect my SP6 to a Samsung CJ791 wide screen monitor via USB-C.

I mainly wanted this so that I could simply switch between a Dell laptop and the SP6 and use the same monitor, mouse, keyboard etc.

When I try to connect, the SP6 recognizes the monitor however there is no picture. It also recognizes the monitor speakers however there is no sound.

I can connect to the monitor via a USB-C to HDMI adapter and it works fine.

I've had endless hours with Microsoft help. 

Any suggestions?

Note with Microsoft I have completed all of the standard fault finding - updating software, drivers, clearing caches etc.

Answer 1

Hi Mark de Medici,

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

I have few questions below to clarify the current issue you're now experiencing.

At the back of your monitors, what are the available ports? Can you directly connect the USB-C cable from the Surface device or from the Surface Dock 2 going to the monitor? Or do you need to use an adapter for that?  If the monitors has a USB-C port at the back of it, have you checked the monitor's technical specs if that's an input/output port?  Just like any other devices and based on technical specs, the ports available at the back of the monitor have it's specification whether it's only an input port or an output port. So, this needs to be checked.

Relying to this link>>https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4023496/surface-troubleshoot-connecting-to-a-second-screen, you will see that the port that allows you to extend the Surface display (based on device model) to external monitor without the use of the dock is being labeled as external display/audio output port. So, the ports at the back of your monitor has its own specification, too whether or not it can do both (input/output), like HDMI-in and out available at the back of some monitors and this is what I  think could be the point of failure as to why it won't show any picture even if it's being recognized. Is it showing no signal? Or it's just completely black?

Please respond to this post as soon as possible so we can further check as to why it's giving you no picture even though everything is up to date.

Kind Regards,

Crest

Answer 2

Hi Crest, 

Thank you for your support.

In answering your questions.

1. The monitor has two Thunderbolt/USB-C ports. In the Monitors Manual it states "When the product is connected to a USB Type-C notebook, the product supports up to 60 Hz vertical frequency at the maximum resolution (3440 x 1440)."
2. I can connect a USB-C cable from the Dock 2 to the monitor via a HDMI adapter and it works perfectly. I can also attach a Dell laptop directly to the USB-C port and again it works perfectly (it also powers the laptop).

Answer 3

Hi Mark de Medici,

Thank you for your response.

I already figured out the point of failure as to why it won't display a picture because those 2 ports on your Samsung monitor uses the Thunderbolt 3 technology. Our connector is USB-C only, which supports most peripherals that our customers use while preserving maximum battery life. 

So in this case, it's best to utilize the HDMI ports of your monitors if you want to extend the Surface Pro 6's display.

If this answers your question, feel free to mark this post as an answer. Otherwise, don't hesitate to respond to this thread if there's anything else that needs to be addressed.

Kind Regards,

Crest

Answer 4

Crest,

Oh I wasn't aware of this but googling around I'm quickly learning.

It is frustrating to me that it would appear that Thunderbolt and USB-C share the same connector however they are not necessarily compatible.

Mark

Answer 5

Hi Mark de Medici,

This is really a compatibility issue and we can't do anything about it if it's not compatible. So, the best thing we can do instead is to utilize some of the available ports at the back of the monitor to extend the display of your Surface device (which you already figured out that it works on HDMI ports).

If there's anything else that needs to be addressed, please let me know. If none, I'll be closing this thread, then.

Crest