Type Cover fails to work suddenly

[remix182]

Greetings all,

I have had my SP1 since July 2013 with little to no issues. I successfully upgraded to Windows 8.1 and had no performance or software issues. I bought the 1st gen Type Cover and it worked fine. When the Type Cover 2 was released, I bought one and used that as my main keyboard. Again, no issues. The December update tried to install (and failed) but I didn't notice any problems.

On Dec 29, 2013, my Type Cover 2 stopped responding. When I click it in, the keys light up but stay lit up indefinitely. The track pad does not respond, the keys do not respond. I did the normal reboot, reconnect, blah blah blah. I then went to get my Type Cover 1st gen and tried it out. Same issues (without the backlighting, obviously). I am using a Belkin Bluetooth keyboard now, but it's not made for my SP or Windows 8.

At first I thought it might be related to the horrible installation errors from the December push, so I waited patiently for the January 14 update. In the meantime, I tried to return my SP to its original state with Windows 8. I then tried the Type Covers and had the same problem. I upgraded back to Windows 8.1 and tried again - no luck. Now it's January 14th and I just finished installing everything, rebooted and checked. Low and behold, the Type Covers (1 & 2) still don't work. This seems like it's a firmware issue with the reader on the bottom of the SP.

I'm so annoyed and don't know what to do to fix this problem. Anyone?

Dustin

 

[macmee]

Greetings all,

I have had my SP1 since July 2013 with little to no issues. I successfully upgraded to Windows 8.1 and had no performance or software issues. I bought the 1st gen Type Cover and it worked fine. When the Type Cover 2 was released, I bought one and used that as my main keyboard. Again, no issues. The December update tried to install (and failed) but I didn't notice any problems.

On Dec 29, 2013, my Type Cover 2 stopped responding. When I click it in, the keys light up but stay lit up indefinitely. The track pad does not respond, the keys do not respond. I did the normal reboot, reconnect, blah blah blah. I then went to get my Type Cover 1st gen and tried it out. Same issues (without the backlighting, obviously). I am using a Belkin Bluetooth keyboard now, but it's not made for my SP or Windows 8.

At first I thought it might be related to the horrible installation errors from the December push, so I waited patiently for the January 14 update. In the meantime, I tried to return my SP to its original state with Windows 8. I then tried the Type Covers and had the same problem. I upgraded back to Windows 8.1 and tried again - no luck. Now it's January 14th and I just finished installing everything, rebooted and checked. Low and behold, the Type Covers (1 & 2) still don't work. This seems like it's a firmware issue with the reader on the bottom of the SP.

I'm so annoyed and don't know what to do to fix this problem. Anyone?

Dustin

My touch cover stops working and I have to unplug it and plug it back in again.

I called Microsoft recently and we believe either:

1) there is a connector problem with my surface causing the keyboard to short circuit

2) my cover is short circuiting on its on

My advice to you is to IMMEDIATELY UNHOOK YOUR KEYBOARD AND NOT USE IT WITH YOUR SURFACE. Call Microsoft. You do not want the keyboard. To damage your surface. My surface may have been damaged due to the cover and Microsoft is exchanging it for me, and will then exchange my cover if it too proves to short circuit on my new surface.

---

Is your keyboard just not working permanently or does it stop but start working after you unplug and plug it back in? Have you tried it on other devices?

 

[remix182]

Thank you for your reply, macmee.

Apparently my Type Cover was able to be reconnected by using the 2-button reset. I searched for ways to fix this issue for weeks, but noticed an addition to the Microsoft troubleshooting site under the Surface peripherals. It was the final solution at the very bottom of the page that instructed me to power down my SP, then power it back on while holding the Power and Volume Up buttons for 15 seconds. After doing so, the Type Cover worked properly and I haven't had an issue with it since.

Dustin

 

[DNP]

Hello;

Having a similar issue with the Type Cover 2 becoming partially disabled on an SP2.

When the Type Cover 2 is closed on my Surface Pro-2 (128) the track pad gesture functions are temporarily disabled? The track pad side-swipe gestures do not work and the scrolling option does not maintain its reversed setting (although the two-finger scroll still works albeit not in reverse). The typing and back light seems OK and all else appears to be functioning correctly.

I’ve read other similar posts, but haven’t found any new info regarding this issue other than to detach/reattach the type cover which only seems to be a workaround and not a long-term solution as it seems inconvenient to detach/reattach the keyboard each time the cover is closed?

All of the updates have been installed to date.

And thank you for this forum…it’s been very informative and was very helpful for me to review prior to my purchase of the SP2/128G (received 01-17-2014, Lot #1348, i5-4200U).

Thanks again for any assistance.

 

[DNP]

Quick Update:

It appears the disabling of the touch pad might have something to do with the lid closing settings. When the close lid setting is set to "Do Nothing" it appears the touch pad gestures are disabled and require the keyboard to be detached/reattached. When the close lid setting is set to "Sleep" the touch pad functions are maintained...or it appears to be the case so far. Don't know if this is good or bad since I'd prefer the close lid setting to be "Do Nothing" when plugged in...at least for now.

Is this something similar to what macmee indicated could be a defective keyboard?

Thanks and sorry if this hijacked the OP's thread, but I didn't want to create a new post about something that was similar.