P2815Q, U2412M, Surface Pro 3 + Dock. Flickering U2412M

I am guessing that you are simply undocking the SP3 (Surface Pro 3) while it is On or in Sleep/Hibernate, correct? Those always lead to DP (DisplayPort) issues when dock/un-dock.

* All three devices are on and connected
* Turn the SP3 OFF (shutdown)
* Un-dock it
* Re-dock it
* Turn it on. Do you see the flicker on the U2412M (Yes/No)

Hi - thanks for the follow up

I have tried using the approach as you outline above and am still experiencing the flicker.

When I power off the U2412M - the flicker does stop.

Do you have other suggestions or ideas? 

I have tried updating the displayport cable and still experiencing the same results (the flicker).

Thank you

Is the power supply plugged into the dock? Or are you just using the SP3 battery?

Thanks for your quick response

yes - I am using the power supply that was supplied with the surface pro 3 dock

I doubt that the monitor is defective. Agree, sounds like a sync issue. Set the SP3 Power Management to High Performance. Read this. I wonder if the flicker is part of this issue? Sleep and redock both mean the sync has to happen.

"On waking from sleep, Surface sometimes has an issue reconnecting to an external display. To fix it, unplug and re-plug the monitor connector back into the MiniDisplay port. This issue can also affect multiple daisy-chained monitors."

Thanks again for the response

The SP3 only has a balanced power plan setting... so am unable to set it to high performance as you mention.

I am able to go through the steps in the article you linked to and other external connections are working. 

Please let me know if you have other ideas or suggestions - thanks!

Read this.

Thanks

I was able to switch power mode to high performance

when I dock the SP3 using hp power mode -- get a new behavior - the screen just flashes and never displays - that is none of the external monitors come on

when I switch back to power save - they come on but the down stream dp connected still flashes (until I remove the power from the monitor and add it back )

Is there a specific setting in the power plan that you know that I could change under balanced that would drive

Or other suggestions?

thanks

I am stumped. I think you are going to have to investigate on the Surface Pro 3 forums for other customers using our monitors on it. My guess is that getting a monitor exchange will only have the same issue, but you could also give that a shot.

Jeff,

Thanks. Does the startech cable seat further into the SP3 dock port and the monitor port? I wonder if all of the Dell mDP to DP cables are suspect now. What specific Dell monitors are you using? I want to look up the Dell mDP to DP cable part number.

If have a U3014 panel and experience sort of the same issues, except that it happens to me also when the machine is alive and I am basically just working on it.

It starts flickering for a few seconds (sometimes a minute) and then everything settles down.

I read somwhere that the Surface dock does not properly work with mDP2DP cables, so I replaced it with a mDP-only cable, and to my surprise everything worked just fine.... Until I pulled out the SP3 from the dock. At that point the monitor appears dead (buttons not working, indicators dead) and does not recover until I pull the mDP cable from the dock itself. Then (and only then) the monitor comes back to life.

So there is definately something dodgy going on. If I connect the mDP2DP cable directly to my SP3 (not using the DP-out from the dock, that is) I have not yet encountered any issues.

Also, I have had a Surface Pro 2 (and 1) with the "old" dock, and I never had any problems using the same monitor.

With the Dell supplied mDP-2-DP cable I was unable to retain a picture for more than an hour, and then it would start flickering for about a minute or so.

With the Dell supplied mDP-2-mDP cable I had no flickering issues but as soon as I removed the Surface from the dock the monitor would get "stuck". Unable to recover unless unpluging the mDP cable from the dock.

In a final attempt to get this problem fixed on my Surface Pro 3 I ordered a different mDP-2-DP cable (1 metre) and a mDP-2-mDP cable (also 1 metre). The first resulted in flickering only. There was never a stable image, so WORSE.

The mDP-2-mDP cable however worked flawlessly and so fat the monitor hasn't got stuck. So the brand of cable might in fact be solution to the problem. The cable I am now using is a Delock cable that will set you back around (9 euros).

It looks like my problems are finally solved.

I have the exact same set up as the OP, JohnMc10 except I've got Surface Pro 3 i5 and I'm having the exact same issue.

I shouldn't have to spend $50 on new cables to get my $550 monitor to work as designed :(