The update is here (UK)!

[CreativeLemming]

Just for the fun of it, thought I'd take a peek at the update package as I was a little worried that although the firmware had been updated, the driver version had remained unchanged.

According to the contents of the update, first thing you notice is that the actual UEFI update capsule was prepared on the 9th January - so they've obviously taken some time (hopefully to test) before releasing into the wild:



Looking inside the INF file, we see that the driver version is still dated 20th December which allays my fears that the update didn't install correctly (although why they don't update this is anybody's guess, sure they have a good reason):



...well I thought it was interesting ...

 

[jollywombat]

Still awaiting getting the update here.

 

[tandao]

Just for the fun of it, thought I'd take a peek at the update package as I was a little worried that although the firmware had been updated, the driver version had remained unchanged.

According to the contents of the update, first thing you notice is that the actual UEFI update capsule was prepared on the 9th January - so they've obviously taken some time (hopefully to test) before releasing into the wild:

View attachment 1528

Looking inside the INF file, we see that the driver version is still dated 20th December which allays my fears that the update didn't install correctly (although why they don't update this is anybody's guess, sure they have a good reason):

View attachment 1529

...well I thought it was interesting ...

Compare the driver with my fail dec update, the fail firmware date and version was: DriverVer=11/11/2013,2.04.0250. So with the new firmware the driver was actually update in Dec.

Is there a way to update this manually if someone upload the firmware package instead of keep waiting for it to be available?

 

[drolem]

Is there a way to update this manually if someone upload the firmware package instead of keep waiting for it to be available?

pnputil -i -a SurfaceProUEFI.inf

 

[macmee]

Hi microsoft,

give me the update so i can use this $1500 paper weight I bought from you.

sincerely,
renewed apple fanboy

 

[Rvacha]

I put some of this in another thread, but this seems like the most appropriate one, so here's what Mary Jo Foley quoted MS as having said:

"This weekend we released an update that addresses the unexpected wake and battery drain behavior experienced by a small number of Surface Pro 2 customers who installed the December Windows Update. This should have no impact on users already running the October Windows Update. We’re working hard to address the remaining Surface Pro 2 items from the December Windows Update.”

But here's what PCWorld said MS said:

”This weekend we released an update that addresses the unexpected wake and battery drain behavior experienced by a small number of Surface Pro 2 customers who installed the December Windows Update,” according to a statement sent by Microsoft’s public relations firm, Waggener Edstrom Communications. “This should have no impact on customers who had not received the December update.”

But then PCWorld goes onto to quote MS (PR firm technically) as also saying

”We are working hard to deliver the rest of the December update to those customers who had not received it prior to it being removed from distribution,”

Microsoft releases update to patch Surface Pro 2 firmware | PCWorld

So my interpretation of this is:
1. You will not get the weekend update unless you have the December firmware installed
2. Those who did not get the December update have to wait for December update to be delivered (again, but fixed). Hard telling if it will come as one upgrade or waves
3. It sounds like what MS is trying to do is ultimately get everybody to the same baseline, NOT a bug-free firmware. I say this because the December update is still full of bugs that have nothing to do with unexpected wake and battery drain AND some people are reporting that even with weekend update not even THAT is fixed

I fear we are in for a very long period of pain

FWIW I have the December update installed and have yet to see the weekend update delivered. Seriously, how hard is this to do?

 

[FFX]

Hi microsoft,

give me the update so i can use this $1500 paper weight I bought from you.

sincerely,
renewed apple fanboy

Apple when will you fix iOS7, so I can use my iPhone 4 again? I paid the same amount of money as a Suface 2 PRO cost for this phone. My phone is so laggy, you are basically forcing me to buy a new phone. And you even failed to design the phone properly, and you had the nerve to blamed it on your consumers.

Sincerely,
I will never again buy Apple hardware.

Strangely enough, I dont spend my days whining on Apple forums.

 

[Rvacha]

I'd say "whining" is a bit much. Yes, it sucks that iPhones lag with iOS7, and it sucks more if you use it for business. My wife's iPad has bugs but they are quite tolerable because it is a *consumption* device. The SP2 is a *productivity* device and most people that rely on them do so to support their *livelihood*. Also keep in mind that these aren't minor bugs we're seeing - this are big time bugs like crashing (I lose my work, corrupt system files from time to time), and inability to maintain the only lifeline it has to the outside world (WiFi connectivity), waking it up to find your battery is depleted, etc. I for one haven't suffered anything of this magnitude since the early XP days. I can't trust mine for productivity except for some presentations and OneNote (I've so far never lost any notes) so now I use it only on weekends for surfing the web and serving music. Basically my SP2 has been rendered a REALLY expensive consumption device. I am personally way beyond "whining" (I'm in the pain stage, next is to dump the damn thing) and have great sympathy for others like me (which means essentially all other SP2 owners)

here are my "fixes" from the beginning:
1. "Fixed" keyboard problems on my SP by not using that feature (keyboard) at all
2. "Fixed" Wifi limited connections by rebooting multiple times a day (both SP and SP2)
3. "Fixed" horribly slow WiFi speeds on my SP2 by purchasing a $200 router I otherwise didn't need - of course this only fixes one location!
4. "Fixed" high CPU on startup with an SD card plugged first by purchasing a different card, then by not using this feature at all
5. "Fixed" the crash on wake by not using the sleep feature - I hibernate instead, but even that doesn't work all the time
6. "Fixed" my severely lagging Wedge mouse by purchasing another mouse (Arc mouse)
7. "Fixed" the degradation I get in WiFi performance (SP and SP2) when a Bluetooth device is paired by trying to avoid using the Bluetooth feature as much as possible

These are all issues that I have *personally* suffered from. Each of my fixes has cost me time in research, testing, configuration, lost productivity and sometimes money. Granted MS has permanently fixed some of these, but not ONCE have I have a Surface where I could use all the features I paid for.

 

[Rvacha]

Surface Pro 2 crashes when waking from sleep - Microsoft Community

If it helps anyone in this MS thread some people have said (summarizing)
1. Some think there is a generic issue with Intel GPUs on Win8.1 (i.e. it is not limited to the SP2)
2. Some claim that the crash on wake occurs if the screen was in the middle of a rotation and have fixed it by locking the screen so it doesn't rotate
3. Some tend to think there is an SP2 lot number related problem (which could explain the limited weekend rollout I suppose)
4. Many agree the weekend update hasn't fixed anything

 

[macmee]

Apple when will you fix iOS7, so I can use my iPhone 4 again? I paid the same amount of money as a Suface 2 PRO cost for this phone. My phone is so laggy, you are basically forcing me to buy a new phone. And you even failed to design the phone properly, and you had the nerve to blamed it on your consumers.

Sincerely,
I will never again buy Apple hardware.

Strangely enough, I dont spend my days whining on Apple forums.

tbh you should of known better than to put ios7 on an iphone 4...

 

[mtalinm]

So if they released the firmware update this weekend for those of us who got the buggy Dec updates, why haven't many of us seen it?

My SP2 was hibernate last night with healthy battery and woke up on empty this morning. Again.

 

[Joypat]

I still don't have it either.. sucks major...