Lock-ups, spontaneous restarts and other glitches

[adrians]

After a few days of no significant issues and enjoying my Surface, I started experiencing problems. Yesterday evening, I couldn't bring it out of sleep (or whatever it was) state no matter what I did. Had to resort to a volume up + power button combination to start. When I did get to the Start screen, the tablet was unresponsive. Re-booted (don't recall if it was by press-holding the power button or using the volume up/power combo again) and things seemed fine. When I was done using it (just some web browsing), I put the tablet to sleep by closing the cover. This morning, my wife told me that there was a message about the system having re-started (unexpectedly, or something to that effect). Some more minor issues that I've had include were loss of network connectivity due to the wireless network adapter disappearing (resolved by re-booting) and once when I switched from landscape to portrait, the desktop became corrupted in the sense that the bottom part of the screen was inaccessible because Windows only "saw" the desktop extending vertically to the height it had in landscape mode. The display was actually visually split at the point where Windows thought the desktop ended, with the bottom part showing some disjointed rendering of the desktop.

Nothing other than the MS updates and the Wintab driver is installed on the tablet that should stress things (e.g. Hyper-V, anti-virus, etc), so seeing these problems has me feeling pretty disappointed. Hard hangs should not happen on a clean system with nothing very taxing going on.

Here's hoping that MS fixes things _really_ quickly. This tablet was kind of an expensive a toy for these kinds of issues to be acceptable a few days after purchase. What I'm comparing here is the stability I see with the Surface and several Windows 8.1 installs I've done for friends on desktop systems recently.

 

[puma]

same here man. i have to say though i have been ok for the last few days. i was getting wake ups resulting in reboots. i feel like most of these hiccups are going to be fixed with future firmware updates.

 

[TechGod2014]

After a few days of no significant issues and enjoying my Surface, I started experiencing problems. Yesterday evening, I couldn't bring it out of sleep (or whatever it was) state no matter what I did. Had to resort to a volume up + power button combination to start. When I did get to the Start screen, the tablet was unresponsive. Re-booted (don't recall if it was by press-holding the power button or using the volume up/power combo again) and things seemed fine. When I was done using it (just some web browsing), I put the tablet to sleep by closing the cover. This morning, my wife told me that there was a message about the system having re-started (unexpectedly, or something to that effect). Some more minor issues that I've had include were loss of network connectivity due to the wireless network adapter disappearing (resolved by re-booting) and once when I switched from landscape to portrait, the desktop became corrupted in the sense that the bottom part of the screen was inaccessible because Windows only "saw" the desktop extending vertically to the height it had in landscape mode. The display was actually visually split at the point where Windows thought the desktop ended, with the bottom part showing some disjointed rendering of the desktop.

Nothing other than the MS updates and the Wintab driver is installed on the tablet that should stress things (e.g. Hyper-V, anti-virus, etc), so seeing these problems has me feeling pretty disappointed. Hard hangs should not happen on a clean system with nothing very taxing going on.

Here's hoping that MS fixes things _really_ quickly. This tablet was kind of an expensive a toy for these kinds of issues to be acceptable a few days after purchase. What I'm comparing here is the stability I see with the Surface and several Windows 8.1 installs I've done for friends on desktop systems recently.

Sounds like you need yours replaced. Don't wait for a update just return it and get a new one.

 

[adrians]

Sounds like you need yours replaced. Don't wait for a update just return it and get a new one.

I could, but this doesn't seem like a "bad" unit kind of situation yet and I'm guessing I'd experience similar issues with a different SP3. The tablet isn't running hot generally and it's been behaving well for the most part. If an update to fix the lock-ups doesn't appear soon and they keep recurring, I will, of course, return it. One concern I have is that files and/or the registry might be getting corrupted by repeated hangs and forced restarts so other problems could crop up as a result.

 

[puma]

Sounds like you need yours replaced. Don't wait for a update just return it and get a new one.

i dont think this is the answer. its not a bad unit its a bad design or rushed one anyways.

I was just in a meeting.. using it to take notes.. switch to mail app.. freeze. from that point until I was able to restart (then have it come up and not be on the network and frozen).. 20 min. i just set it down, grabbed a notepad and carried on. These things need some serious updates.. it's not bad units.. the hard ware is fine.. its shit software and integration w hard ware (drivers etc.). I am telling you it's not a hardware issue where a swap is going to do it.

 

[plnguyen]

Anyone noticing lockups with f.lux? Its a program that changes the color of your screen to reduced eye strain.

 

[scfoster]

i dont think this is the answer. its not a bad unit its a bad design or rushed one anyways.

I was just in a meeting.. using it to take notes.. switch to mail app.. freeze. from that point until I was able to restart (then have it come up and not be on the network and frozen).. 20 min. i just set it down, grabbed a notepad and carried on. These things need some serious updates.. it's not bad units.. the hard ware is fine.. its shit software and integration w hard ware (drivers etc.). I am telling you it's not a hardware issue where a swap is going to do it.

Agreed. Been in the software biz for over 20 years... and this reeks of "get this out the door now!!" Hopefully it will settle down but my fuse is REALLY short with hardware/software combinations these days... must be getting older. I've left the phase of troubleshooting being something cool to do like a puzzle.

 

[TechGod2014]

i dont think this is the answer. its not a bad unit its a bad design or rushed one anyways.

I was just in a meeting.. using it to take notes.. switch to mail app.. freeze. from that point until I was able to restart (then have it come up and not be on the network and frozen).. 20 min. i just set it down, grabbed a notepad and carried on. These things need some serious updates.. it's not bad units.. the hard ware is fine.. its shit software and integration w hard ware (drivers etc.). I am telling you it's not a hardware issue where a swap is going to do it.

I still would take it back. As you can see by the limited replys you are probably the only one that's having that kind of a problem. I have yet to reboot my tablet since Monday which is the day I purchased it. If you have to constantly keep forcing a restart because you can't get it out of sleep then there is a major problem.

 

[Feoen]

Bought mine on Saturday and have used it extensively (8 hours a day, and a lot of gaming that pushed temps very high) with none of these issues yet. If they arise, I will come back and post here.

Definitely worth an exchange, imo.

 

[TechGod2014]

i dont think this is the answer. its not a bad unit its a bad design or rushed one anyways.

I was just in a meeting.. using it to take notes.. switch to mail app.. freeze. from that point until I was able to restart (then have it come up and not be on the network and frozen).. 20 min. i just set it down, grabbed a notepad and carried on. These things need some serious updates.. it's not bad units.. the hard ware is fine.. its shit software and integration w hard ware (drivers etc.). I am telling you it's not a hardware issue where a swap is going to do it.

I will also post back if this happens to my unit.

 

[adrians]

I still would take it back. As you can see by the limited replys you are probably the only one that's having that kind of a problem. I have yet to reboot my tablet since Monday which is the day I purchased it. If you have to constantly keep forcing a restart because you can't get it out of sleep then there is a major problem.

I've been reading quite a few threads since the SP3 arrived and there are a good number of reports of similar hang-ups when coming out of sleep that I know I'm not unique. Still, I am considering my options wrt to an exchange, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to do that at a local MS store since I ordered online through a pre-order. I'll have to call the store and see what they say.

 

[jimp]

My Surface is having similar problems, typically around sleep/hibernate and random restarts when it's not even on. I have read reports just like yours that hope updates will fix it, but I haven't seen an overwhelming response to suggests this is a widespread problem. Well known at best, since people are posting about it, but it's not like half the members of this forum are joining in the discussion. I've seen iPad threads on the Apple forums just like this, and have owned more than more iPad prone to frequent crashes (before exchanging for ones that didn't crash), despite popular opinion that Apple devices are perfect.

It's possible software is to blame, but I think it's more likely Microsoft will provide updates they hope will work around the flaws of a non-perfect (defective) component. The common factor is the wireless card in most accounts I've read, including my own, where the users with random restarts also have instances where the wireless card is simply missing after powering on. With the software approach to fixing hardware issues, some (most?) people will report success, others will never have it fixed. If you are still in your return window, I would try another new unit before you depend on an update that may never fix your problem. The worst that will happen is you get another unit with the same problem or a different problem (no guarantees, of course). Or you will get a unit with perfect hardware that the existing software stack drives just fine. Since Microsoft isn't talking, it's worth a shot isn't it?

I plan to return/exchange mine, especially if I see another hard reboot. The return window is so short (Best Buy... 15 days? Is this eBay??), and from what I've read about the Surface Pro 1 and 2 the warranty replacements tend to be refurbished (used) units.