Surface book: April 2020 firmware updates bricked my device

Anonymous
2020-05-21T22:11:24+00:00

This morning my surface book downloaded some firmware updates and asked for me to restart my device.

(Here's the details on the update: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4023488/surface-surface-book-update-history )

However, after the first restart, I find that the surface book is in a constant restart state. I cannot even force it to shut down or boot the UEFI menu.

This is exactly what it does:

Every 10 seconds or so, it will turn on, show me the "Surface" boot logo, and after 1 second immediately turns off. It does not even reach any Windows boot up sequence.

I found the following topic which advised doing a few steps but nothing works: 

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/all/surface-book-stuck-in-continuous-restarting-loop/91bc5782-aabf-4555-847a-05b92c88da6d

Could I please get some advice on what to do or how to fix this?

Thank you

Update: Seems the common factor between everyone who is having the issue is that the secure boot is disabled (I.e. there is a 'red strip' shown with an unlock icon being shown). 

Update 2: I have been told my Microsoft that they believe the fault has nothing to do with them. The high number of people who are in this thread with the exact same issue clearly shows that the fault is NOT ours. We are now looking to take legal action as this forced firmware update caused damage to our devices, for which we require compensation from Microsoft (a fix or a replacement free of charge).

For taking legal action and making complaints follow this link:https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/legal/arbitration/EU-ODR.aspx

Surface | Surface Book | Install and update

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-08-01T22:16:02+00:00

    interesting. i've seen the teardown on ifixit an it looked like a dip chip with exposed contacts and not smd

    or are they just too small?

    anyways, soldering a few wires shouldn't be difficult.

    have you heard anything from microsoft via the odr platform?

    Nothing for me on the ODR. Anyone else?

    The contacts are too small. Also, there are a couple of tiny resistors very close to it on one side and prevent the Pomona from gripping the chip from the bottom.

    I think wires is the way to go. I'll probably do that when I get the chance.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-08-01T18:06:27+00:00

    interesting. i've seen the teardown on ifixit an it looked like a dip chip with exposed contacts and not smd

    or are they just too small?

    anyways, soldering a few wires shouldn't be difficult.

    have you heard anything from microsoft via the odr platform?

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-08-01T17:15:01+00:00

    I got a Pomona 5250 a week ago and tried to connect it up but had no luck so far. 

    Problem is that the winbond chip that needs flashing is the wson type instead of the sop package.

    The pin spacing is the same, but it's a surface mount component with the contacts underneath the chip. There's a bit of solder exposed on the outside but not a lot. So it can't make contact with the pins.

    I'm planning to try 'adding' a bit solder to each pin so that the Pomona 5250 can make contact. I'm waiting on a new soldering iron to arrive (thankfully I was planning to get one anyway for other projects). 

    Feel free try it yourself though - see how it goes. I'll update you all if I have any luck on my end.

    But yes - my first priority is to download the faulty bios. The way I see, it's proof that Microsoft made the mistake.

    Fyi - surface pro 4 users would not have the same problem I do, since (i think) the winbond chip is the 'normal' SOP package. So the Pomona 5250 should work.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-08-01T16:34:20+00:00

    I have my Surface Book open and ready to flash. I am just waiting on the Pomona 5250 SOIC test clip to arrive.

    Has anyone been able to take a dump of the UEFI chip? I am curious of the file size, the reason I ask is when I extract the contents from one of the msi (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49497&WT.mc\_id=rss\_alldownloads\_drivers) I can find file SufaceUEFI_###.bin at 3.9 MB. Could this be what we need?

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-07-24T15:11:33+00:00

    Also it would be interesting to upload a dump of the bricked version to see if they can determined what went wrong or clean it up.

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