U2417H, Surface Pro, blinking

Not sure what 36w cable means and if that has something to do with this.

System has been up to date with all the latest, so that's a check.

Will post on the surface forum and do also do some tests, each monitor by itself and also turn off MST (which will duplicate the screens) and see what happens before I buy new cable. Why would the Dell cables not be sufficient?

All works fine, it's just like every 5 minutes or so it goes black for 1 second on either monitor, never at the same time by the way.

Also, since others have the same issues with either this specific monitor or other models, often in MST mode and daisychained, but with different computers, wouldn't that have somesthing to do with the monitors firmware or hardware? Maybe a lemon? Just asking if I should return them now before the return period  is up. I think I have 30 days and already in a week or two.

Anyway, will report back shortly with the tests.

Not sure what 36w cable means and if that has something to do with this.
* Meaning when using the SP3 (Surface Pro 3) with external monitors, you should not be using battery only. The SP3 should be plugged into its wall power supply cable.

Why would the Dell cables not be sufficient?
* They should be but could be faulty. Which is what prompted the other users to get the other cable.

We are still seeing many issues with Surface products and our monitors. Microsoft is supposed to be working on a special connector dongle which improves the Link Training process to boost the signal strength negotiated with the external monitors. As to when this will be available, that is unknown by Dell. Note, the dongle will not be available from stores. As far as we know, the Microsoft engineers have not notified their front line technicians of the existence of said special connector dongle.

You have 30 days from the invoice date to return the monitor for refund.

Thanks, SP3 has been plugged in continuously and not running on battery while the monitors are on. Check.

Also this am had 25min of no blinking on Monitor 2 (up from every 2-5minutes) and no blinking on Monitor 3 for 35min until I had to leave. Maybe it needs to "settle" in.

don't really jiggle my cables, if they are faulty and and jiggle them, I should be able to see if they blink when something moves. Will try out newer cables and different setups and will look for the "dongle". thanks.

Hi Chris,

I can report back the blinking only happens when Monitor 2 has MST (MultiStreamTransport) turned on in the menu->display settings of the monitor.

When I turn that feature off and everything is the same per above (setup, cables etc), no blinking on either monitor. The problem is that monitor 3 now duplicates monitor 2 and the SP3 doesn't know their is a third monitor. This obviously defeats the purpose of having 3 screens and I bought these monitors specifically for the MST feature.

Also can't replicate the blinking by jiggling any cables. the cables seem fine when MST is turned off.

Sure it doesn't have anything to do with the firmware on the MST feature on the monitor? Should I swap them and have monitor 3 be monitor 2? How would a "Dongle" from Microsoft help here, what/how is that a computer issue and not a monitor issue?

FYI, post in the SP3 forum on the MS windows site for reference:

http://forums.windowscentral.com/microsoft-surface-pro-3/420964-blinking-monitors-sp3-2xdellu2417h-daisychained-dp-mdp-ports.html

When MST is turned ON, intervals have extended between "blinks"

Monitor 2 blinks the most intermittently, however over time it seems to have extended the time frame from the original every 2 minutes. Wrote down the intervals and they range now from 5 minutes (less frequent to about 30 minutes between "blinks" (1 second long). Tested over the course of 4 hours.

Monitor 3 didn't blink that often anymore, maybe every 20min to an hour within the same 4 hours.

Monitors never blinked at the same time.

Should I swap them and have monitor 3 be monitor 2?
* Yes. A good troubleshooting step but if the fault is on the SP3 end, the issue will be the same.

How would a "Dongle" from Microsoft help here, what/how is that a computer issue and not a monitor issue?
* The SP3 is not sending an active (all the time) strong enough signal through the two monitor MST setup. The dongle is supposed to correct this.

I swapped the monitors, same issue.

Where do I get the dongle? The MS SP3 forum, noone responds. MS support doesn't know anything about this.

Lastly, my firm also bought these monitors and they said they have Display Port issues as well (not exactly the same as I do, but related). Sure it's just a MS issue?

We have two alpha builds of the dongle from Microsoft in our lab for testing. It is not surprising that Microsoft support is not aware of the dongle because their engineering is still building and testing alpha product. So they are not going to release data on it yet. Our monitor manufacturer test on Dell computers to validate them, not on Microsoft products. In those tests, the monitors function.

Update May 24, 2016 = Microsoft has terminated the special dongle program. We are not sure why. Perhaps they are going to address the issue of the Surface Pro dropping the Link Training output  to multiple monitors by boosting the signal strength with firmware updates. We just do not know. All SP users should post the issues on the Microsoft Surface Forum.

Hi, 

I'm experiencing the same issue with my three newly purchased U2417HA monitors. Screens go randomly black for roughly a second every 5-10 minutes (never more than one screen at a time). This only occurs when daisy chaining. I use the included display port cables from Dell.

I disagree that this is a problem linked to the surface computer. I run the screens hooked up to a HP zbook 15. I've also tried other combinations of hardware and operating systems, resulting in the same issue.

Great monitors, but this really becomes annoying in the long run...  

Came here to report I'm reproducing the same thing on my end.

SP3 + 2 U2417H monitors daisy chained.

As well, I noticed the blinking occurred after turning on MST. Right now I've turned off MST on the last chained monitor. Going to bring my dock from home and see if that fixes anything

To clarify, in a daisy chain, the first monitor has MST Enabled, the second monitor has MST Disabled.

* The SP (Surface Pro) has been updated by Microsoft
* The SP is using its power cable, not on battery only
* SP mDP out --> Dell mDP to DP cable --> #1 monitor DP in (MST/DisplayPort 1.2 Enabled)
* #1 monitor DP out --> Dell DP to mDP cable --> #2 monitor mDP in (MST/DisplayPort 1.2 Disabled)

Thanks for the reply Chris, yes that's my current setup.

I only tried enabling MST on the end of the daisy chain for the sake of troubleshooting and now it's back off.

I brought my dock into work today and plugging it in the dock did not make any difference. Issue still persists.

My advice, post the issues on the Surface Forum to get other Surface users thoughts.

Rest assured this isn't a Surface issue.  I've just deployed 76 Dell T3620 desktops and 14 Surface Pro 4s - all with dual Dell U2417h monitors daisy chained.  All blink and are causing my phone to ring off the hook.  Monitor one mst on monitor two mst off.  From T3620 dp to minidp on monitor 1, then dp out to minidp in on monitors 2.  From Surface dock mini to dp on monitor 1 then dp out to minidp in on monitor 2.  

I've purchased two dvi to dp cables to test and on both units using dp to minidp AND DVI to dp no blinking.