Microsoft this week released a new Microsoft Surface Dock Firmware Update tool that supersedes the previous tool.

“Microsoft Surface Dock Firmware Update [is] newly redesigned to automatically update Surface Dock firmware while running in the background on your Surface device,” the Microsoft Docs website explains. “Once installed, it will update any Surface Dock attached to your Surface device.”

If only it were that easy.

This new tool, called Surface Dock Firmware Update, replaces the previous Surface Dock updater, which was called Microsoft Surface Dock Updater. (Yes, the old tool had an “r” at the end of its name and the new one doesn’t.) The old tool was previously available only via the Surface Tools for IT download package. (From what I can tell, that’s still true, but whatever.) The first version of this new tool is called Surface_Dock_FwUpdate_1.42.139_Win10_17134_19.084.31680_0.msi. Simple, right?

Wait, it gets worse.

According to Microsoft, to correctly install this tool and the latest firmware update for Surface Dock, you need to give the background service several seconds to check for updates; no prompt is provided. Then, disconnect the Surface Dock from the Surface PC and wait for 5 seconds before reconnecting. “The Surface Dock Firmware Update will [then] normally update the dock silently in background after you disconnect from the dock and reconnect,” Microsoft says. “The process can take a few minutes to complete and will continue even if interrupted.”

Yes, that’s the automatic process. If that’s not complicated enough, however, you can manually update the firmware instead. And this is where things get really crazy.

“Reconnect your Surface Dock for 2 minutes and then disconnect it from your device,” Microsoft explains. “The DisplayPort firmware update will be installed while the hardware is disconnected. The LED in the Ethernet port of the dock will blink while the update is in progress. Please wait until the LED stops blinking before you unplug your Surface Dock from power … You will need to disconnect and reconnect the dock twice before the update fully completes.”

Good luck!

Tagged with Surface Dock