Post Your SP3 Docking Station Issues Here

[wditters]

I noticed that I am not the only one struggling with the way the SP3 and the SP3 docking station work together. Not only did I spot numerous display connectivity issues, but also USB drive issues, physical fit issues etc ...

I myself am struggling a bit with two daisy-chained 29"displays that occasionally disconnect for no apparent reason and am currently experimenting with cable length and quality as well as video drivers, but no real progress yet ...

 

[mitchellvii]

Considering M$ is charging A LOT of money for a piece of plastic with no moving parts, it doesn't seem like they put a A LOT of engineering into making sure it actually works. Actually I believe the issue is more likely with the data bus on the SP3 rather than the dock itself.

 

[uktivo]

My 8 day old dock stopped working today. I undocked the sp3, returned it 5 mins later and my external monitor remained blank. Rebooted everything, still no joy, so pulled the mini connector from the dock and plugged directly into sp3 and the screen jumped into life. Then put the mini connector back into dock. Redocked the sp3, screen is blank.
Great...

 

[mitchellvii]

Really is hard to believe how hard this $200 dock fails. M$ should be embarrassed.

 

[wditters]

Update: Shortening the cables seems to have had some effect. Instead of 1*2m (SP3 to screen 1) and 1*1m (daisy-chain) I now have 2*0.5m cables...

While this might be some placebo effect, it almost appears as if the SP3 at boot is able to recognise both screens a bit better... Still regularly some odd disconnects however, but reconnecting the screens no longer seems to require a reboot..

 

[grumpy]

I myself am struggling a bit with two daisy-chained 29"displays that occasionally disconnect for no apparent reason and am currently experimenting with cable length and quality as well as video drivers, but no real progress yet ...

Have you tried daisy-chaining without the dock? That could isolate the problem to the dock or the SP3.

 

[Jamie Youngblood]

Cable length is definitely a factor. I'm guessing the dock is not quite up to spec.

I had to switch to a 3ft cable to drive my 4k monitor @ 60Hz, but 6ft worked fine directly into the SP3.

 

[Steen Rabol]

Hi

The Video on my docking station just stopped working, have been working for 2 weeks with no problems what so ever. Then last evening I removed the SFP from the dock to use it in another place in the house and now the external screen stays black... Turning on the monitor makes SFP play a sound, but nothing happens

Any hints ?