Surface Dock not recognized by Surface Book Performance Base

Question

I was wondering if anyone could help me with a problem I have with my Surface Dock (model 1661).  Just about a month ago I was able to use my Surface Dock with no problems at all.  It would charge my Surface Book, and all the ports on it worked great.  Today I plug it in and NOTHING (no charge, and no recognition of any of the ports).  But when I detach the display and plug the Surface Dock into the tablet only portion, it works (charging and all the ports).

I'm not sure what happened since the last time I used the Surface Dock, but it suddenly not working like this is kind of frustrating.

All my drivers are up-to-date.  I tried cleaning the contacts as well. With just the AC adapter my Surface Book charges both batteries fine.

I can only guess it was either a recent firmware update or my keyboard base is somehow messed up.  If the base is messed up, it's not going to be cheap to buy another performance base.

p.s. the dock also works fine on my Surface Pro 4.

Answer 1

Hi BobCho,

Thank you for the response and I apologize for the delay in getting back. While the 3rd party charger is connected through the base, can you please check on the battery icon and see if both battery 1 and battery 2 are charging?

Using the new charger you bought, does the tip/LED of the charger lit up when you connect it to the base of the Surface Book?

You may contact support through our Global Customer Service phone numbers to check for replacement options available for your Surface Book or if you want, you may also try to perform a clean installation of Windows on the device using a USB Recovery Image just to make sure if the issue is on the hardware of the port or just on some drivers on the device. This option will reimage the entire device and reload Windows including the drivers and firmware. It is the most complete form of Reset and it will wipe out everything on the device so you might need to back up your files first. You will need also a 16GB/32GB of flash drive that must be formatted into FAT32 prior to downloading the Recovery Image. If you like to try, you can follow the steps provided below:

How to Download, Create and Use a USB recovery drive

To download the Recovery Image:

• You'll need a PC running Windows 7 or later or Surface Device.

1. Visit the page to Download the recovery image for your Surface
2. Sign in with your Microsoft Account
3. From the list of Surface devices available, select the device that you need a recovery image for

Please note that while you will only be presented with devices that are currently registered on your account, you will also be presented with the option to get an image for a different type of device. If you try to use this option, you will be prompted to enter the serial number for that device 4. Download the recovery image using the button on the page 5. When the download bar pops up at the bottom of your screen, save the file in a location you will be able to find it.

 Format USB Drive:

• Note: Formatting a recovery drive will erase anything that is already stored on your USB drive. Make sure to transfer any important data from your USB drive to another storage device before using it to create a Surface USB recovery drive.

1. Insert your USB drive into the USB port of your PC.
2. From the desktop, open File Explorer
3. Tap and hold or right-click on the USB drive and choose Format
4. Select FAT32 as the file system and enter a Volume label to name the USB drive, such as RECOVERY, and then tap or click Start
5. Tap or click OK to erase the contents of the USB drive
6. Tap or click OK when the format is complete

Create a recovery drive:

1. On your Surface or PC, open recovery image that you downloaded by double-clicking it or right click then select Extract and then Extract all.
2. Select the USB drive you formatted earlier for the location and click Extract.

Use a USB recovery drive to reset your Surface:

1. Shutdown the Surface
2. Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port
3. Press and hold the volume-down (-) rocker
4. Press and release the power button
5. When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down (-) rocker
6. Surface will start the recovery software on the USB recovery drive
7. When prompted, choose your language options and keyboard layout
8. Select Troubleshoot
9. Select Recover from a Drive. Choose Remove Everything and Fully Clean the Drive. Recovering this PC.
10. If prompted, select Repartition the drives
11. If prompted for BitLocker Key, tap Skip this Drive

Kind Regards,

Marrion Y.

Answer 2

Thought I would give an update. The issue is with the base. I bought an original higher wattage charger and it had the same issue, the Surface Book wasnt even detecting it...so not charging. I plugged it directly into the tablet portion and it worked. Funny thing is the 3rd party charger I got with my Surface does charge the Surface. When I looked at it carefully it seems the prior owner cut away some parts of the 3rd party charging connector. I thought maybe it was the only way this would charge and that the charging port was defective from the beginning. But then I remembered that I tested out the dock and it worked perfectly. So sometime during the month I had it, something must have shorted in the performance base. I can live with it for now as long as the 3rd party charger doesnt die. My only other option is to get a replacement keyboard base if I really want to use my dock and higher wattage power supply...that’s not gonna be cheap.

Answer 3

Hi BobCho,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Community.

How about the other functions of the base like the keys and touchpad, are they working fine?

Please try these steps to troubleshoot the issue:

1: Update your Surface Dock

                              Try to update your dock using the Surface Book through the port on its base

                               Refer to this page for the steps to Update your Surface Dock

2: Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit and check Windows Update

3: Update drivers and firmware

                               Check what is the current OS Build of your Windows version by going to Settings > System > About.

                               Go to Download driver and firmware for Surface, choose Surface Laptop 2 then click Download on the next page.

                               Choose the .msi file that matches your current OS Build and click Next.

                               After downloading, run and install the .msi then Restart.

4: Run System File Checker Tool in Windows 10

If this answer your question, we highly encourage you to inform our Community by clicking on Yes or marking my post as an answer. This will help other members who may have the same issue as you. Otherwise, don't hesitate to update us so we can further assist you.

Kind Regards,

Marrion Y.

---

1. I did that before posting my question.
2. Surface Diagnostic Toolkit did not find any problems, and my system was found to be up-to-date.
3. I had done this too, but I'm running version 2004 of Windows 10 (build#19041.329), and there doesn't seem to be an update based on my version of Windows.  I did install the latest thing they had.
4. SFC did not find anything.

So unfortunately this problem still persists, even though I plug in the dock, Windows does not see it or detect it at all.

Answer 4

Hi BobCho,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Community.

How about the other functions of the base like the keys and touchpad, are they working fine?

Please try these steps to troubleshoot the issue:

1: Update your Surface Dock

                              Try to update your dock using the Surface Book through the port on its base

                               Refer to this page for the steps to Update your Surface Dock

2: Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit and check Windows Update

3: Update drivers and firmware

                               Check what is the current OS Build of your Windows version by going to Settings > System > About.

                               Go to Download driver and firmware for Surface, choose Surface Book then click Download on the next page.

                               Choose the .msi file that matches your current OS Build and click Next.

                               After downloading, run and install the .msi then Restart.

4: Run System File Checker Tool in Windows 10

If this answer your question, we highly encourage you to inform our Community by clicking on Yes or marking my post as an answer. This will help other members who may have the same issue as you. Otherwise, don't hesitate to update us so we can further assist you.

Kind Regards,

Marrion Y.