Problem with my Surface 2

[joeka]

Just wanted to add that I've been having this exact issue with my S2 too!

Yet to perform a hard reset, but I will give this a try at a more convenient time.

For me I have found that when this happens, like others have said, if I press the sleep button to put it back in standby and then leave it for a minute or so... More often that not the issue goes away. There has been at least one occasion though that this didn't work and my only option was to force shutdown of the device and boot it up again.

What's been annoying though is that on two occasions now, I've had people say - "Oh... is that Surface - let's have a look..." - so I show them and then I get this problem. Both times the reaction was that more or less - "Oh, my iPad has never done anything like that before." - bah, typical, isn't it?!!

 

[EMINENT]

Guys, I did a hard reset the other day, not a refresh and restored with my backed up settings. Everything is fine so far for the last couple of days. I haven't seen the issue appear again.

So to recap. I had the issue. Refreshed 2-3 times and touch issue came back every time. Hard reset and installing updates in order again has solved it so far.
Strange that a refresh didn't work but reset did. Maybe corrupted drivers or update issues? It's got to be the 8.1 update. I know during my refresh the last time, I used it for a while with no problems before updating to 8.1 update and it was fine. As soon as I updated to 8.1 update, the issue came back.

Sucks that I had to go through this process to get rid of the issue, but as long as you have your settings synced, you can get everything restored in less than an hour.

If jeff4433's and myself are still working without issue after a reset, if anyone else that had the issue could report if a reset has solved their issue, we'll know for sure. Also, please tell if you have for sure updated to 8.1 update with the touch issue.

 

[typejt]

I've had this problem too. I did a full system reset about 1 month ago and it did not help. Would still show phantom touches, usually after I left it on the charger for awhile. However, I have not had the problem recently. Maybe a software update fixed this?

 

[EMINENT]

Guys, I did a hard reset the other day, not a refresh and restored with my backed up settings. Everything is fine so far for the last couple of days. I haven't seen the issue appear again.

So to recap. I had the issue. Refreshed 2-3 times and touch issue came back every time. Hard reset and installing updates in order again has solved it so far.
Strange that a refresh didn't work but reset did. Maybe corrupted drivers or update issues? It's got to be the 8.1 update. I know during my refresh the last time, I used it for a while with no problems before updating to 8.1 update and it was fine. As soon as I updated to 8.1 update, the issue came back.

Sucks that I had to go through this process to get rid of the issue, but as long as you have your settings synced, you can get everything restored in less than an hour.

If jeff4433's and myself are still working without issue after a reset, if anyone else that had the issue could report if a reset has solved their issue, we'll know for sure. Also, please tell if you have for sure updated to 8.1 update with the touch issue.

Ok. The reset didn't work and the phantom touches came back. Although, the sleep button makes it go away now when it didn't work for me before. I think it has to be a few seconds for it to work.

The Surface team really needs to know about this.

 

[typejt]

Ok. The reset didn't work and the phantom touches came back. Although, the sleep button makes it go away now when it didn't work for me before. I think it has to be a few seconds for it to work.

The Surface team really needs to know about this.

Yea, I spoke too soon . Reset didn't work for me either. Getting phantom touches again.

 

[joeka]

So I performed a hard reset about a week ago. All updates (including 8.1) installed, no other apps installed except NextGen Reader and the default apps. S2 was running well. About a day later the phantom touch issue came back!

For me, before and after the reset whenever I got the issue if I put the device to sleep AND detached the touch keyboard, left it for about 10 seconds - when I woke the device the issue generally went away. It was rare that I ever needed to force-shutdown the device. I was never sure if it was the act of removing the keyboard or sleeping that fixed it, or both... I seem to remember that on some occasions just putting the device to sleep and waking again had solved it, like some others have said.

Anyway, what I thought may be of interest is I recently purchased a 2nd hand Type Keyboard cover to replace the Touch keyboard cover - just found the touch version too frustrating to use for prolonged periods!

Since using the Type Keyboard for the last 3 days, I have not yet had the phantom touch issue come back - not once. It MIGHT just be early days yet (probably jinxed it now!), but I had been getting the issue almost daily up til then and the only change has been the keyboard cover.

For those people having this issue what keyboard cover do you use (if any) - Touch or Type? I'm wondering if it's actually a faulty touch keyboard cover that is causing the issue??

Not at all scientific, but perhaps something for you to try.

I'll let you know if/when the issue occurs again.

 

[EMINENT]

Touch here.

 

[EddySnoozah]

I have been having issues like this quite often over the last month or two. At times, when my S2 wakes up it seems to behave as if something else is touching the screen. On mine, it looks a little bit like a second or 'phantom' pointer becomes visible (usually on the top left of the screen near the volume control). If I try putting it to sleep and then cleaning the screen then sometimes that works, other times I have to power down and back on again. It's annoying because I use my S2 quite a lot and don't want to have to send it back - but it does happen quite a lot. I will have to look up this 'master reset' and have a go at that.

Forgot to say that I am using the Touch cover. Had been thinking about getting a Type cover for mine as it does seem a bit 'touchy' quite often in different ways, like not responding at all after sleeping for a few hours (please forgive the pun). Please keep us updated on how it goes with the Type cover.
I suppose I could try using mine without the cover for a while, see if it improves - will need to get a bag for it or something to protect the screen when I'm on the go.

If the Type cover sorts the problem then I might try that, especially if I can type faster on it, which I have seen reported by other users who have done comparisons. If it wasn't for little bugs like this, I would absolutely love my S2 - I use it loads at home and in the office and I really like the long battery life. But issues like this do make it harder to love.

 

[joeka]

Resetting is worth a try, but it didn't make any difference for me - always nice to give the device a refresh once in a while though!

Are you using a Surface keyboard cover? Which one - Touch or Type?

I was using the Touch cover. Since changing to a Type cover about 10 days ago I have not yet had this issue come back - I was almost guaranteed to get the phantom touch issue daily. I had also been having issues with my S2 sometimes only charging to 99%, where it says fully charged, but never reaches 100%. Since changing covers this is issue has gone for me too... So far, anyway!

I know this doesn't help to answer why there's an issue with the touch cover here - but for me, there seems to be a bit of reassurance at least that this isn't necessarily an issue with the actual device itself - it's the touch cover that appears to be the culprit... Or a dodgy batch of touch covers perhaps?

Admittedly, I never had the phantom touch issue when I first got my S2 (with Touch cover) - it appears to have occurred over the course of the last few months... So perhaps that has been as a result of software update that has caused this. I have always had the 99% charging issue though - even changed the device because of it, but the 2nd device has always had the same issue too... This all seems to have gone away since changing from Touch to Type cover!!?!

Also, I don't know if it's just me, but the whole experience just feels better, faster and more stable for me now!

I'm just interested to know what keyboard cover people are using who have the phantom touch issue - perhaps there'll be a pattern that will emerge here?

 

[smeyichou]

Same problem for me. I did a master reset, but the problem keeps happening sometimes.

I also got the Touch Cover.

 

[EMINENT]

Don't do a master reset. It won't solve the problem. This is looking like an 8.1 update issue that MS needs to address. One that happens with the touch keyboard and not the type, it seems.

 

[EddySnoozah]

Update. OK, so about a week or so ago I bought myself a Type Cover 2. I had been thinking about it for a while since I had read a few reviews and comparisons which said that typing is easier and faster with the Type 2 compared with the Touch 2 Cover.
Well, since I bought the Type Cover I have not had a single recurrence of the 'Phantom Touches' problem and my S2 has worked beautifully since I started using this Type Cover 2. Plus, for me at least all those reviews and comparisons that I read were pretty much spot on. Typing is a lot more accurate and faster with this cover compared with the Touch cover. I can touch type and I am able to type on this cover without looking down at the keys and I haven't timed it yet, but the speeds that I am hitting must be not that far off what I can achieve on a standard keyboard attached to a PC. Quite pleased about that.
This does not definitively prove that the 'Phantom Touches' issue is caused by the Touch Cover 2, but the association is starting to look pretty strong. When I get chance, I will get on to Microsoft and see if I can return my Touch Cover 2 and get my money back - otherwise it's going on eBay.