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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

167 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2020-08-29T00:46:45+00:00

    My Surface Pro 4 has been on a restart loop since June after i let it sleep for >8hrs then did an update. Sometimes it would work fine for days then it would act up again. Tonight Im trying to finish an assignment due Sunday but my surface wont even turn on. Its stuck on that black screen with the word Surface displayed. Ive tried holding down the power button and volume up button together but nothing happens. I just wanna throw this laptop and send Microsoft an angry email but im too tired and stressed right now. Im going to best buy tomorrow to get an HP or talk to someone who understand computer language. Or maybe ill get an imac uuh im so tired of this microsoft problem!!!!!!!!!!!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2020-08-29T14:24:27+00:00

    My Surface Pro 4 has been on a restart loop since June after i let it sleep for >8hrs then did an update. Sometimes it would work fine for days then it would act up again. Tonight Im trying to finish an assignment due Sunday but my surface wont even turn on. Its stuck on that black screen with the word Surface displayed. Ive tried holding down the power button and volume up button together but nothing happens. I just wanna throw this laptop and send Microsoft an angry email but im too tired and stressed right now. Im going to best buy tomorrow to get an HP or talk to someone who understand computer language. Or maybe ill get an imac uuh im so tired of this microsoft problem!!!!!!!!!!!

    When looking for a solution to my problem, I found that a lot of surface Pro 4's have this issue where they only display the surface logo.

    But from what I remember, that issue is different to the issue most of us on this forum are having.

    I did see a few videos of people showing their solutions to forcing the device out of this mode. Maybe you can give that a go once you get that stressful assignment out of the way (good luck btw!)

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2020-08-29T14:28:56+00:00

    Hopefully you can get that working. I was able to get my screen off successfully with a hair dryer, guitar picks, business cards (for the areas I passed with the pick to prevent it sticking together again), and of course a large chunk of time. I did mess up the antennae at the top though.

    I haven't been successful with soldering to the chip's pins because I am not very good at it. I will be printing the pin probe soon.

    Has anyone else made any progress?

    Unfortunately I haven't been able to do this. I tried soldering to the chip but this ended up going very badly. I don't have such a fine tip in the soldering iron to do this.

    I tried to contact Microsoft, several times via email, but they have not gotten back to me. I'm pretty sure they are ignoring us and pretending like this issue does not exist!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2020-08-29T15:52:26+00:00

    Hi,

    I can add another similar case to the list.

    Windows update doing its thing during a restart.

    Reboot loop

    5ish seconds of the windows logo, blank screen restart

    no access to uefi bios, or boot from usb etc

    only thing that does anything is power + vol down hold to power off

    surface pro 6, been off for a while (so likely staged the windows update a month or so ago) before installing today on startup

    the microsoft devices portal shows i can send in for service, so may give that a go.

    At least they may say whats wrong (and im sure try to charge) then try to explain how its not entirely an issue of their creation.

    What a joke, but its just a paperweight right now so worth trying the service path, before following more legal routes.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2020-08-29T19:46:51+00:00

    the microsoft devices portal shows i can send in for service, so may give that a go.

    At least they may say whats wrong (and im sure try to charge) then try to explain how its not entirely an issue of their creation.

    I would love to hear an explanation. Because at the moment Microsoft are not explaining anything. Just saying "it's not our fault" is not good enough

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments