Display stops being detected on UD-3900

We own two, identical Surface Pro 3’s and also two identical UD-3900 (Amazon.com order number 002-5456921-8813834) docking stations that were bought within the last month. Each one is connected to its own display via DVI. Surface Pro 3 #1 stopped detecting the external display connected to its UD-3900’s today. It worked fine with the display a week ago. When we plugged this Surface into our other UD-3900, it still would not detect the display connected to that one. Our other Surface, which I will call “Surface Pro 3 #2”, DOES detect and work beautifully with each UD-3900’s external display. To summarize, I can connect Suface Pro 3 #1 to either one of our two UD-3900s and it will never detect a display. I can connect Surface Pro 3 #2 to either UD-3900 and it will always detect a display.

Both Surfaces run Windows 10 Build 10240. They both have the same USB 3.0 eXtensible host controller drivers (version 10.0.10240.16461). We installed the same version of DisplayLink drivers on both Surfaces (version 7.9 M0). The only difference is that the device manager on Surface Pro 3 #1 (the one that doesn’t detect the external display) does NOT list the Plugable UD-3900 under USB Display Adapters when its plugged into a UD-3900, whereas Surface Pro 3 #2 (the one that works with the display) DOES list this item in device manager. Also, when reinstalling the drivers on the problematic Surface Pro 3 #1, the driver software does not detect the display when it asks us to plug in the DisplayLink display for first use. Of course, we always disconnected the UD-3900 from the Surface before starting the driver installation, then we reconnect it when it asks us to.

We’ve tried the following with no success:
Reinstalling the version 7.9 M0 DisplayLink drivers several times.
Installing a newer version of the DiplayLink drivers (version 7.9 M2).
Powering the UD-3900 off then on again.
Using an HDMI cable connection instead of a DVI connection to the monitor.
Rebooting the Surface.
Uninstalling the DisplayLink driver, running the DisplayLink driver cleanup tool, then reinstalling the driver.
Making sure that the DisplayLink manager service is running.
Swapping USB cables.
Plugging a different computer (Surface Pro 3 #2) into the UD-3900, which DID work with the external display.

Hi John,

Thanks for posting. I’m sorry the docks aren’t working properly with one of the Surfaces. I’d be happy to help!

Thank you for the very thorough description of the problem and all the testing you have performed already. Given your results we can rule out a hardware issue with both docks and focus on the software side of Surface #1. The next step is to have you connect one of the docks to Surface #1 (even though it isn’t working) and run our diagnostic utility PlugDebug –> http://plugable.com/support/plugdebug and send us the file so we can examine some logs from Surface #1. I see you have also reached out to us directly via our direct support email support@plugable.com. I will continue to work with you directly as we don’t want those logs posted in a public forum. I will respond to your direct inquiry shortly after I post this message with the same text as well to make sure I’ve covered all the bases.

Please respond to my direct email with the PlugDebug file when you have a moment and we’ll determine the next steps from there.

Thank you,

Bob
Plugable Technologies
www.plugable.com/support