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A Windows update a couple of weeks ago broke miracast on my laptop (Dell XPS13 9350 / i7-6560U / Iris 540). It broke on v1703, and the v1709 update did not fix it. My machine automatically installs all updates from Microsoft.

I depend on miracast, at home and work, and this has been pretty painful.

I know I can uninstall updates until I find the culprit (per How uninstall Win 10 update? (it broke my miracast) ), but I am more curious: How can I diagnose/troubleshoot miracast?

The symptom is:

My laptop sees the miracast display, and attempts to connect, but fails.

Sometimes it does connect, and it works for some minutes, before the entire wifi connection drops, losing inet and miracast in process.

In all cases I am using the microsoft hdmi dongle as the miracast receiver.

I know the problem is my laptop because:

1) Other laptops can connect to these same miracast receivers with no problem.

2) My laptop has the exact same problems across three different miracast receivers.

3) Before the updates, my laptop had no problems with any miracast receier

4) Installing "Feature update to Windows 10, version 1709" did not help at all.

I see multiple reports of this issue:

So, now that we have cooked it down, what do I do next to resolve properly?

Jonesome Reinstate Monica
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  • Duplicate : https://superuser.com/questions/1275745/how-uninstall-win-10-update-it-broke-my-miracast – Solar Mike Dec 10 '17 at 19:32
  • @SolarMike I don't think this thread is a dupe. This thread is a pure "how troubleshoot miracast" The other is "how uninstall win update" – Jonesome Reinstate Monica Dec 10 '17 at 21:27
  • They seem similar and so do the solutions : either un-update windows or check and see if Miracast has an update. – Solar Mike Dec 10 '17 at 21:31
  • @SolarMike how to see if miracast has an update? – Jonesome Reinstate Monica Dec 10 '17 at 22:55
  • Since you use it you should be able to find that information... However you could start here : http://www.thewindowsclub.com/set-up-use-miracast-windows-10 OR here : https://www.tomsguide.com/us/what-is-miracast,review-2284.html – Solar Mike Dec 10 '17 at 23:09
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    http://digitalmediaphile.com/index.php/2015/04/24/trouble-shooting-miracast/ also create a feedback hub entry to notify Microsoft about the issue – magicandre1981 Dec 11 '17 at 16:09
  • @magicandre1981 The link you posted did not help (I did all that stuff, and the problem persists). I submitted the issue on ms feedback hub, under "devices and drivers -> Wireless display and casting" – Jonesome Reinstate Monica Dec 13 '17 at 05:33
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    yesterday a new Win10 Rollup was released. test it again and maybe the issue is now fixed – magicandre1981 Dec 13 '17 at 16:11
  • @magicandre1981 Thanks for the great engagement! If you mean KB4053580, yes, I saw that install, gave the machine a fresh boot, and tried out miracast. Nope, problem unchanged. (waaah) – Jonesome Reinstate Monica Dec 13 '17 at 19:55
  • also try the upgrade to v1709, because KB4053580 is for 1703. Maybe the issue is fixed in last Windows 10 version. – magicandre1981 Dec 14 '17 at 16:00
  • @magicandre1981 Thank you! installed "Feature update to Windows 10, version 1709" , gave system a few cold boots. Regret to report problem is unchanged. Takes multiple attempts to connect, and connection fails hard, and dies. Aaack! – Jonesome Reinstate Monica Dec 15 '17 at 05:04
  • @magicandre1981 OP updated – Jonesome Reinstate Monica Dec 15 '17 at 05:06
  • I have no idea. also notify MSFT also by tweeting to https://twitter.com/JenMsft – magicandre1981 Dec 15 '17 at 16:03
  • @magicandre1981 Thanks for the note. I don't think using twitter is a useful channel. I used the feedback hub. I don't know what else we would do on this. Miracast was super cool for the two years I had it working. Now it is gone until I get a new machine. Sad! – Jonesome Reinstate Monica Dec 15 '17 at 19:49
  • MS listens to tweets and interacts with users. so give it a try. – magicandre1981 Dec 16 '17 at 16:28
  • @magicandre1981 Thank you again for your exceptional engagement on this thread. I am happy to interact and collab w MS via any reasonable channel. I use twitter at work, but not personally (this issue is personal level), and I find twitter to be an inappropriate channel for tech support. I have used the MS reporting hub, and SU, and that is enough in my book. I would open a formal ticket if I knew how, but twitter is simply out of scope for this convo, in my book. – Jonesome Reinstate Monica Dec 17 '17 at 20:02
  • Feedback Hub is one way but the suggested method of Twitter is another. – Ramhound Dec 17 '17 at 22:14
  • @Ramhound Thank you for the pointers. I tried both feedback hub and twitter and got nowhere. I finally worked out a solve, below. – Jonesome Reinstate Monica Jun 04 '18 at 00:42

1 Answers1

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It appears I have found a solution.

The wifi interface in this laptop is the Broadcom 1820A

I looked at the driver, and it was 1.566.0.2, from October 2017.

In one of the threads I had opened with Microsoft on this issue, they had suggested going back to earlier driver versions, but at that time, I did not see how or why.

My desperation to resolve this issue, however, has grown.

Today, I tried something new. I simply googled "broadcom 1820a driver"

This brought me to this Dell driver download page, which has the 1.566.0.1 version of the driver, from earlier in 2017.

As the problem started in November 2017, after a driver update, the October driver version is, in fact, suspect.

I uninstalled the 1.566.0.2 driver, installed 1.566.0.1 (no reboots required, though all wifi passwords are forgotten), and voila. I seem to have working miracast.

There are tears in my eyes. I so missed miracast (and cursed the return to dongles and hdmi cables).

UPDATE AUGUST 6, 2019

The recent win10 update caused most or all drivers to update, and the problem is back.

After using the Dell update tool to update all drivers, the problem seems resolved.

UPDATE DECEMBER 19, 2019

(Apologies for delay)

Nope.

The August 6 2019 update above did NOT resolve. Miracast will work for 5-20 minutes, then fail completely and only recover after full reboot. Other Windows 10 laptops on same display rig can miracast for hours.

Problem now seems to be that the wifi interface in this model laptop is the root problem.

Jonesome Reinstate Monica
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