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
    2021-02-14T16:58:45+00:00

    Hi EnEuGee,

    Mine is a Surface Pro Model 1796 or 5Th Gen, like yours.

    I came up with a somewhat ragged device but it works. A rotary motor that fires a linear mechanism. That way, you just have to start it with a button and it intermittently presses the start of the Surface.So it drains the battery.

    Image

    Image

    Now I am designing a new, more commercial one, because my friends have asked me to.

    The important part is that once you effectively drain the battery, leaving it 6 more hours after the screen goes completely black to drain the part of the battery that powers the microdevices that contains the corrupted UEFI, you can access all your data as normal.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-02-14T16:52:23+00:00

    good point about holding the power button - i just tried it with a functioning surfacebook and it did not visibly powercycle

    that said, the original/bricked surfacebook did see a change in behaviour: before it would powercycle every couple seconds trying to boot. now it just stays static (look at the photo i posted) indefinitely.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-02-14T16:46:04+00:00

    BIOS and UEFI are used synonymously nowadays to describe functionally the same thing and purpose, so it's just semantics at this point.

    Doesn't really matter *where* its stored, either, be it NAND/NOR/SPI/CMOS/EEPROM: wherever it's storted, that thing has been bricked. By Microsoft. And thats the core of the issue.

    My guess is either the W25X40CL or MX25L4006E have been bricked by the faulty firmware update.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-02-14T16:34:23+00:00

    I think you have misconceptions. A BIOS is not the same as a UEFI. And the UEFI can be stored in a NAND flash memory on the motherboard, in a part of the hard disk or even in a network share.

    https://www.programmersought.com/article/86613359346/

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-02-14T15:46:21+00:00

    Looks like my problem might be same as yours wherein the Win logo stays on screen for few seconds. Mine is a 5th gen Surface. But I want to ask you one thing. With your device to keep the button pressed, was the screen flashing the WIN logo perdiodically or did you have had the black screen ? In my case, long press gives only black screen and not WIN logo.

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