Surface Pro 4 type cover stopped working after update?

[bitterdog]

The Typecover is good, it works on another surface. I cleaned the contacts.
I updated the OS and firmware and the cover stopped working, the trade off is it did fix the dead area down the middle of my touch screen.

Is there a fix for this? or can I test voltages on the contacts? Roll something back?
I have had to use a bluetooth keyboard because of this.

It does not show up in the device manager either , only 2 instances of HID Keyboard Device
Surface pro 4 type cover integration does not



System UEFI 109.3192.768
SAM Controller 103.1837.257
Intel Management Engine 11.8.70.3626
Touch Firmware 1.107.0.106.28.3
System Embedded Controller 103.2851.256
Infineon dTPM 5.62.3126.2

 

[sharpuser]

I suggest removing all HID devices and USB hube, then restarting. Restart with keyboard not attached.

Remove drivers too.
They will be re-instated after the restart.
Let us know.

 

[bitterdog]

Just tried it. Did not work, still not showing up in the device manager.

 

[sharpuser]

Okay.
Try re-attaching keyboard with Windows key depressed.

Sounds nuts, but I’ve been around ...

 

[sharpuser]

Make sure the computer port has no metal fragments or shavings on its connector. Cleaning won’t usually clear this. The downside of magnetic connectors is that they attract metalic fibers or debris.

 

[bitterdog]

Okay.
Try re-attaching keyboard with Windows key depressed.

Sounds nuts, but I’ve been around ...

Tried that, still dead. This I feel is a software / firmware issue.
However, I can eliminate a hardware issue if there Is there a guide to test voltages on the surface contacts?

Make sure the computer port has no metal fragments or shavings on its connector. Cleaning won’t usually clear this. The downside of magnetic connectors is that they attract metalic fibers or debris.

It's clean under magnification

Thanks for trying to help me solve this.

 

[sharpuser]

This problem certainly is a mystery. You must be extremely annoyed by it.
How about a reset of Windows 10 ("Keep my files" option)?

 

[fonix232]

I'm having the exact same issue with my Pro4. Cover was working fine, tablet was pretty much sitting on the desk, not being moved around. One night, Windows Update hits, after the update finishes, the cover is completely dead. Tried all the methods available:

• Cleaned the port on both the tablet and the cover
• "Reset the firmware" (read it as a suggestion, basically you power off the tablet, then press and hold Power and Vol+ for 20 seconds. It boots into the UEFI menu, and then reboots. It apparently resets some low level stuff, similar to Apple's SMC/NVRAM reset, I guess)
• Reinstalled all drivers and firmware (latest)
• Removed all relevant devices in device manager to force a driver update
• Reinstalled Windows
• Tried a second, working cover (didn't work on my tablet)
• Force installed older firmware and drivers
• Used the Surface Recovery installer, did a full reset on the tablet, and upgraded Windows the user path

I grabbed my trusty multimeter and checked the pins of the cover port. There's 5V and 3.3V coming through, so it is definitely active. Yet the cover is completely unresponsive, no lights, nothing.

My theory is, since the Pro4 apparently uses some weird HID over I2C protocol for the cover, which I presume connects to the main system via a microcontroller. The firmware update (probably the Surface SAM module, but I'm guessing here) of this MCU was corrupted, pushing it into a state where it doesn't work, but also cannot be flashed anymore (not without directly hooking it up via a debugger).

Microsoft refuses to acknowledge the issue, even though there are numerous posts about the exact same thing - since September 2020, people keep running into the same scenario, cover works fine, Windows Update comes, and suddenly, no cover. There's posts on Reddit, on the Microsoft support forums, and even here.

Their offer was to use the "out of warranty replacement", through which they offered me a refurbished Surface Pro 5 with m3 CPU, 4GB RAM and 256GB storage... My Pro 4 is i7, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. Oh, and I'd need to pay £568 for this replacement - for the same price, I can get a Surface Pro 5 with the same config as my Pro 4, from eBay, with 1 year warranty. With Microsoft, they'd expect me to return my Pro 4 too.

 

[belkaze]

looks like bluetooth, stick a bluetooth dongle, now surface type cover working

 

[belkaze]

looks like bluetooth, stick a bluetooth dongle, now surface type cover working

dongle forced to update bluetooth drivers

 

[Tr33xx0rs]

dongle forced to update bluetooth drivers

Can you elaborate?

 

[Turbo4AWD]

My Signature Type Cover on my Surface Pro 6 is starting to act up, but I think it's just age and heavy use that's causing it to act up. The keys only work/light up when the 2nd magnet is connected to tilt the keyboard up. If I try using the keyboard flat like I usually do the keyboard disconnects even though the first magnet is connected and attached to the surface pro.
Also, whenever I plug the power cord to charge, the touchpad on the keyboard slowly stops responding after some time has passed. All the way to the point that I have to disconnect the first magnet, then reconnect and the keyboard starts working again, but if I disconnect the power cord, the touchpad mouse works just fine without issues. Very weird.

I'm looking to replace my Signature Type Cover soon though as this one is wearing out and getting a lot of scuffs/stains from being used out in public, etc so hopefully that resolves these issues.