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
    2021-02-13T20:34:01+00:00

    you might have found/encountered a different issue alltogether there.

    i can safely say the issue of a bricked eeprom (which at least I have) aint gonna solve itsels by clearing cmos :(

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-02-14T15:38:52+00:00

    i'm pretty sure i have had taped my power button to the pressed position overnight and it didn't solve the issue.

    i'm willing to try again, however.

    I tried with rubber bands method overnight. Not sure if that drains the battery or not. I may be wrong but I think keeping the On/Off button pressed continuously doesn't do anything. It needs to be pressed and released. In my case, for the first press, win logo appears for about a second. Then second press onwards, logo remains for ~4 seconds (i checked it with timer). When button is kept pressed for longer duration , Win logo never appears, it is just the deadly black screen.

    Am struggling ..not sure how long will I need to drain the battery pressing the button manually :(

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