hooray - a new Fimware!

[jrapdx]

Surely MS hears the rumbling on the ground. I can only guess what the lack of response from MS means. The image in my head depicts a Firmware Department with a half dozen scraggly guys, peering at monitors filled with indecipherable code, occasionally hitting a few keys and soon yelling "damn it".

Their "manager" is very edgy, closely scrutinizing the crew, frequently issuing a query, "are you done yet?" But of course they are not, after all, really, what defines "done"? No one wants to take the responsibility, you know, all those SP2 owners out there are going to scream if it ain't right.

Yup, those programmers are in a bad, bad bind. We're anxiously asking "where's the firmware fix?" Maybe the developer's quandary is why we don't see it, and leaves us wondering if we ever will.

Best advice: don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen. It's gonna be a while...

 

[mennogreg]

I think prevention is better than focusing on the response. Maybe a BETA firmware program of some kind, or at least far more thorough testing. There are very few people on these forums that have not been impacted by the firmware in some capacity, however small. The initial response was poor (after the holidays!). These are productivity machines, not toys. If you're worried about your employees holiday vacation, don't release firmware in December! There's no rule that firmware has to be released every month.

 

[macmee]

Just remember folks, once you get the firmware update: never update your surface ever again.

If there's one thing we've learned about trusting Microsoft, it's that we should never trust Microsoft.

 

[Dayton]

Just remember folks, once you get the firmware update: never update your surface ever again.

If there's one thing we've learned about trusting Microsoft, it's that we should never trust Microsoft.

Exactly, when and if this gets fixed I'm turning automatic updates off. When people ask me about the Surface Pro I tell them it was awesome until they broke it over a month ago.

 

[jrapdx]

Exactly, when and if this gets fixed I'm turning automatic updates off. When people ask me about the Surface Pro I tell them it was awesome until they broke it over a month ago.

I've already disabled auto updates. Then again, that's been my usual policy for any OS I've used (Unix, Linux, Windows). If the system is working, upgrades, bug fixes, etc. are optional, and installation can be delayed until fixes are known to be stable. But when the system is not functioning as required, critical bugs need to be squashed ASAP.

The SP2 issues are in the urgent category. However there's nothing we can do to rectify the problems, it's up to MS since they have sole custody of the hardware, firmware and software that run the SP2.

Comes down to this: if it can be accomplished, MS has the enormous resources to get it right. If not made right, it means one of two things: they can't, or they won't, get it done.

If they can't fix the SP2 it's a hopeless wreck. It they won't fix it, it's the epitome of deception. ATM, I prefer to believe they will live up to their responsibility, at least eventually. In the meantime, among those "bitten" by MS mistakes and cavalier attitude, no doubt some have already given up on the SP2 and are looking elsewhere.

Do you suppose the SP2 updates will ever be trustworthy enough to apply them automatically?

 

[infer66]

MS said that they are working on a fix before the holidays. Then they advertized that the fix is comming on the 14th. Seems like they just want to keep the sales up with the 2.5 unit and not bother with the rest.
They seem to be unable to fix the damage they created. What amazes me is the level of incompetence displayed. Is there no one at the wheel?

 

[jrapdx]

MS said that they are working on a fix before the holidays. Then they advertized that the fix is comming on the 14th. Seems like they just want to keep the sales up with the 2.5 unit and not bother with the rest.
They seem to be unable to fix the damage they created. What amazes me is the level of incompetence displayed. Is there no one at the wheel?

Hard to tell. I'm not sure I'd call it "incompetence", as MS has the resources to hire all the "competence" a project required, and my hunch is they did. I wonder if the issue is more like not quite realizing what they were getting into. Sure, MS had produced hardware before, but the SP2 seems more complex, perhaps trickier to program than prior projects.

Of course, they did screw it up last month--I was burned by it too. The bad part is the way it was handled, which seemed awfully cavalier, and the firmware rumor drama earlier this week didn't relieve that impression a bit.

To my way of thinking, the problem with MS is lack of "transparency" in the situation. Rather then opaque silence, MS would be better off to "come clean" about the problem, keep users informed of progress, and provide a realistic estimate of when the "firmware fix" will be available.

But you know, I'm not confident that would ever happen. Too bad though, the SP2 is a beautiful idea, and full of potential that may not be fulfilled if MS fails to live up to its responsibility.

 

[reach]

I will install every update immediately until warranty is over. I love the replacement SP2s. It's always a funny surprise which issue the new one has.
My current one finally doesn't suffer from backlight bleeding, but the Mahjongg Game keeps freezing after a few seconds.
Also, since I thought I'll keep this one I've put a protective film on it's back. So the back is fine, but now I see that the original pen in it's original position causes terrible scratches on the side of the body. Sure, the pen is made of massive plastic, obviously that's not something to be placed next to a sophisticated metal body.

So the 2nd replacement has massively lost value over night twice: scratches and still the old CPU.

Yes, I love the SP2 as a tool, but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be built properly.

 

[Ruffles]

I have to jump in here because I'm a software developer and I have worked for MS in the past. You people really have no idea what your talking about. Of all the companies I've worked for (Microsoft, ATI, AMD, S3, 3dfx, Intel, and McAfee), Microsoft did FAR more testing than anyone else. Code is frozen for months and changes require several signoffs.

You all act like MS is some fly by night companies with 3 guys in a garage that purposely don't test their stuff because they don't give a crap about anything or anyone. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have personally been involved in the death march of 60-70 hour weeks leading up to releases. Every night, every engineers test machines (usually there are 3 or 4 of them) run "stress" on nightly builds of the OS which is a test matrix of hundreds of different programs all run at the same time with the sole purpose of trying to kill a machine. Their first job every morning is to debug and find the root cause of any failure from the night before...anywhere within MS. Stress is run on the network. For example, any machine anywhere at MS that crashed with ati2mtag.sys on the stack is held in its broken state until an ATI developer debugs it and finds out EXACTLY what happened.

MS is not careless or negligent. The problems introduced with the last firmware are unfortunate and will be fixed. The fact that it is taking so long means it is not a trivial change. EVERY other computer/tablet/phone/gadget has has the same kind of thing in the past. You are not guaranteed a perfect device by buying Apple of Lenovo etc. There are temporary work arounds such as disabling sleep and using Airplane mode at night etc. Worst case scenario, you restore your factory image which doesn't include any of the updates.

 

[MickeyLittle]

I agree with you Ruffles 100% the only problem that I have with Microsoft or any other company for that matter is the silence... To me they admitted guilt once they pulled the firmware back 1 month ago so why not post on their support page or where ever some sort of weekly update as to their progress on a fix. If I'm not mistaken they did announce or sort of announced the 1/14/14 firmware solution and then it didn't happen. So the 14th, 15th, and 16th all come and go with silence... That's what ticks me off...

Come on Microsoft be a man and step up to the plate. If you tell me (us) that the firmware update that we are looking for has been delayed yes I (we) will be disappointed but at least I wouldn't have checked for update 60-100 times over the past 3 days in hope!

 

[roteweste]

Called the support a few minutes ago. They told me, that they started to roll out the new firmware in waves. So maybe some of you guys can confirm this?! I rly hope i dont get fooled by the support, cuz they wanted to buy themselfs time... :-(


@Ruffles: Yearh mby thats true, i have no insight. But you have to say, that MS products are highly polished. Anyways this company rly has to step up there communication.

 

[Ruffles]

I agree with you Ruffles 100% the only problem that I have with Microsoft or any other company for that matter is the silence... To me they admitted guilt once they pulled the firmware back 1 month ago so why not post on their support page or where ever some sort of weekly update as to their progress on a fix. If I'm not mistaken they did announce or sort of announced the 1/14/14 firmware solution and then it didn't happen. So the 14th, 15th, and 16th all come and go with silence... That's what ticks me off...

Come on Microsoft be a man and step up to the plate. If you tell me (us) that the firmware update that we are looking for has been delayed yes I (we) will be disappointed but at least I wouldn't have checked for update 60-100 times over the past 3 days in hope!

I agree with you there. I think people understand that issues happen but the key to either pissing off a customer or making them think MS cares about them is communication. There must be some unwritten rule somewhere that you never communicate with the customer because I can count on 1 hand the number of companies that have handled my issues this way.

It would only take their techs a few min to send an email to all the customers with open cases about this a short email saying they know we're waiting on a fix but they're still working on it and are sorry and appreciate our patience.