Surface Pro 4 cuts out a second after I power it on

[Radge]

I believe your USB external drive may be drawing lots of power from the Surface; faster than the battery can charge. So it is a good idea to use that car charger for now.

For a cold boot (also called a "Two-button reset", do this:

1. Press and hold the power button for 30 seconds.
2. After Surface turns off, press and hold volume-up button and the power button at the same time, for at least 15 seconds (The screen may flash the Surface logo before 15 seconds, but don’t release the buttons).
3. After you release the buttons, wait for 10 seconds.
4. Press and release the power button again, and your Surface will be turned on again.

You are making progress! Keep at it ...

I'm making progress and am extremely grateful to you as you have single handedly led me down the right path to at least recover all of my data.
I've tried the "cold boot" but that procedure somehow just brings up the UEFI screen. You did, however, say "Have you tried a cold boot (via UEFI screen)?" So is there something I should be doing on the UEFI screen?
I'm now at the stage where I can operate windows without it cutting out (but using power saving mode). It still cuts out when you remove the power though, even in safe mode.
One other problem is that I can't switch the wifi on and the little icon at the bottom of the screen has a red cross on it. I've checked device manager and Marvell AVASTAR Network Controller is missing. I'm thinking it might be possible that the hardware has been damaged as it was in the repair shop for 3 days and the guy said that he "made an attempt to take the screen off but something was sticking". I've read that it's the wireless adaptor that gets in the way when you are carrying out this process so that's fairly ominous!
I've also now rolled the surface back as far as it will go and all of these problems are still occurring.
Do you think it's time to format the machine and put a fresh install on? I've backed up all of my files so no problem there. My only worry is that the battery won't be able to handle it (although it was happy to be in safe mode for a long long time so maybe it will be fine). I could still put it in the freezer too if that will help! Nothing to lose now I have my files back!!

 

[sharpuser]

Oh my. You indeed may have damage to the WiFi controller - from the repair shop attempt. <gasp>

On UEFI screen, make no changes, but “Save changes and exit”.

 

[sharpuser]

On refresh: Either a fresh install, or Settings, Recovery, Reset (attempt to “Keep my files”) is probably a good thing.

 

[Radge]

On refresh: Either a fresh install, or Settings, Recovery, Reset (attempt to “Keep my files”) is probably a good thing.

Thanks again! The cold boot still isn’t working. If I do the reformat would you recommend doing this with the brick plugged in or the car charger?

 

[Radge]

Just to update……..

I woke up this morning and the surface was showing as “100% Fully charged” so I decided to go ahead with the format.

With a view to possibly having to send the machine back to Microsoft I first run the surface data eraser.

I then used my recovery drive using the following actions: “Troubleshoot” – “Recover from a drive” – “Just remove my files”

The recovery drive did it’s stuff and then when I got back into windows the battery was showing as “plugged in and not charging” and 100% fully charged. The clock had regressed a further 30 minutes from the (already incorrect) date and time it was showing yesterday.

The Network icon was showing “Not connected - No connections are available” and the red cross was still there. In Network adapters there were 8 “WAN Miniport” entries but no “Marvell AVASTAR Network Controller” (which I believe is the one that needs to be there). When I run a troubleshoot it said “Install a driver for your network adaptor” – “Windows could not detect a properly installed network adaptor. If you have a network adaptor, you will need to re-install the driver”. I assume this message has no bearing on the wireless adaptor, although I obviously haven’t yet run windows updates due to my lack of internet connection.

The other thing I did was I removed the “blade” connector and this resulted in the machine cutting out immediately.

I have ordered both a USB wireless dongle and a USB to Ethernet cable (which I will receive today), at which point I will install all of the windows updates.

In summary though, it looks like the “repair” guy has broken my wifi controller and the battery no longer functions. If windows updates fixes all of that later today then happy days but if not I understand that Microsoft will replace the (out of warranty) machine with a refurb for £333, which (with my data now backed up) now looks like the only option – UNLESS THERE’S ANY OTHER TRICKS I CAN TRY?

Just one final thing, I’ve been using an unofficial power supply for the past 6 months or so. Could this have anything to do with the battery problem?

 

[sharpuser]

Thanks for the update.

The "unofficial" power supply may have harmed the battery, yes. I think the refurbished route is probably the way to go. Your unit seems damaged from the repair shop, harming the Marvell hardware, and probably other things. The items you have on order will be useful for your new (refurbished) machine.

Sorry about how things turned out. You are an impressively diligent chap.

 

[Radge]

Thanks again Sharpuser and I can't thank you enough for all of the help you have given me, it's fantastic that there is someone willing to get involved, especially when my posts contain so much detail. Hopefully a few other may be able to benefit from this thread as well.
As far as I'm concerned, things have turned out extremely well as it's the data that matters and in the beginning it looked like it would be lost for ever! Maybe the Microsoft refurb will also come with a refurb official charger as well!
I actually need to be a lot more diligent when it comes to backing that up and have now learned my lesson!
If you are ever in the UK look me up and I'll buy you a few beers - I owe you for sure!

 

[sharpuser]

Thanks for the 'thanks'. A tip: OneDrive is a great way to have all your files ready for the new PC.