Mini DisplayPort on new docking station doesn't work

[tuchas]

Here is a status update with my replacement docking station. Video seems to be working OK, but still cannot use the wireless USB dongle in the dock without getting the dreaded USB out of resources message. I'm going to try removing all USB devices from my SP3 and seeing what happens when they all come back.

 

[Kyla]

Spoke with Microsoft... the following monitors are not supported by the surface Pro 3 dock:
Dell P2714 T
Dell U Series
ViewSonic TD2240
Samsung U28D590D

They said they are a working on a firmware update, however, can not specify a release date.

 

[amw19]

Can someone who got a new dock sent to them please provide the method with which they contacted Microsoft (number, URL, etc.)?

 

[Sebastian]

The newest firmware update seems to solve the problems I was having with my Dell U2715H monitor, which occasionally went black when attached to the Docking Station.
There are still issues but it became more usable. I now have problems with the Surface not booting up on cold boot, which is odd. And there are issues with screen scaling. I hope it will be fixed with a future firmware update, or with Windows 10 consumer preview which I will definitely install next week when it comes out

 

[Sebastian]

Nah, unfortunately I still got the same issues, albeit maybe not that often as before...

 

[agt499]

Nah, unfortunately I still got the same issues, albeit maybe not that often as before...

Hi Sebastian.
I found with my Dell's that the refresh rate (as set by windows) defaults to 59Hz, and I had blackness/dropouts quite a bit. Changing it to 60Hz has improved things a lot. Also if you haven't checked, make sure your monitor has DisplayPort 2 enabled in the settings - mine didn't out of the box.

Lastly on scaling, I've been grumpy on this since getting the SP3, but have finally found a solution I'm comfortable with via this post . It took me a while to 'get it' as there was talk about selecting monitor sizes that distracted me. The real essence of the (partial) solution is:

1. Create a custom resolution for the SP3 screen -1440x960 works for me.
   This way the display driver does the scaling, and Windows is less aware of the true DPI so doesn't do as much of the stuff that annoys me.
2. Select this custom res when docked, and the native when undocked.
   Windows seems to remember the settings for each.

Once set up I have native resolution on my external monitors (which is where I'm doing the real work), but can view something else on the SP3 without everything going crazy small.
It's far from perfect, I usually need a logout/in to settle after docking. And some days the only answer is to totally power off the dock and monitors.
Maybe W10 will save us all.

 

[Sebastian]

Hey agt, thanks for your tips. I now changed the refresh rate from 59 to 60 Hz for my Dell, let's see how it goes.
As far as the DisplayPort setting goes, I suppose you mean v1.2, I have that enabled on my monitor.
I will try that scaling stuff out maybe, or just wait for the Windows 10 preview coming out next week and see from there.

 

[Sebastian]

So I installed Windows 10.
The scaling issue is resolved, at least in my case. Both my Dell monitor and the Surface now have decent desktop scaling.
However, the problem with the screen going black when connected to the docking station still persists, even though I set it to 60 Hz. I now connected it to the Surface directly.

 

[glr]

Update - I gently pushed back and Support is sending me a replacement dock...I am hopeful this will improve my experience.

Well I have been happily using my full dock replacement for several weeks and it has behaved flawlessly.

 

[Sebastian]

Damn... I was hoping for it to be a software issue, but I guess I will call MS support after my vacation and have them replace the dock.

 

[adiamant]

I just bought a new SP3 docking station and run into the same problem.
I have a Philips 4K display connected via a miniDP to DP cable.
It did work when I connect the miniDP cable to the side of my SP3 but didn't work with the docking MiniDP output.
The solution:
Go into you display settings (on your display) and make sure you are using DisplayPort 1.1.
For some reason the SP3 miniDP on the side can support DP 1.2 but the docking only support DP 1.1
Once I changed my display settings it started working fine

 

[Telstar1948]

Then how are people daisy chaining monitors from the MS dock? That requires DP 1.2, doesn't it?