BitLocker Issue after Updates Surface Book 2

Anonymous
2018-08-06T12:04:27+00:00

A few months back I purchased the new Surface Book 2 for a bit over 3,000 EUR. I had high hopes that as Microsoft knows this hardware inside out (just like Apple does with their MacBooks) I would not anymore have to go through the usual driver issues and what not but instead have a nice, reliable machine at hand that would make my everyday work life easier, not harder. 

1. Sleep of Death

Before my holiday I then started using my old Dell notebook again, as there was no way, I could put this 3,000 EUR Surface Book 2 to hibernate (or sleep! - both did actually not work) without having to do press the power button thereafter for 20 sec or so and hardresetting the thing to wake up. It seemed to be the (what seems to be quite common actually!) sleep of death issue. In light of the many users seeming to have the same issues I was hoping Microsoft would get on to a firmware update during my vacation and all would be solved upon my return. In fact, after my return this morning there were about 20 or so updates that got installed after I powered the SB2 up, amongst them a firmware update.

2. Laptop Bricked after Update - for good!

After installing and restarting I then had this issue: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surfbook2-surfupdate/surface-book-2-bricked-after-latest-firmware/06fb11b2-4eb2-4141-9cd1-1e02d54afd78 - A blue screen with a prompt to enter the BitLocker key. Well, I looked it up and seemed to have recovered the key in my MS account (luckily! as other users seemed not to be so lucky as can be read in the link above). The (almost funny by now) thing is, that my keyboard does not work. My touchpad works just fine, I can "change keyboard layout" or "skip this drive" (obviously of little use, as this drive is my system drive with my Windows installation on it). But when I click into the blank field to enter the key, my keyboard does not respond at all and I cannot enter a key.

3. Excel Pixelated Issue with Surface Dock

Did I already mention how much I like the idea to have my two 1080p monitors hooked up to my laptop via Surface Dock with just one magnetic cable? Well, Excel becomes almost unreadable and in general the (text) image quality is poor compared to my old Dell, which has a HDMI and a Mini Display port so that I can hook up the two displays directly. This is sad...

Microsoft, seriously? I had such high hopes that (after investing 3,000 EUR) I would finally get a machine that would give me the same reliability as my Mac Book Pro. You cannot ask these prices, offer a super fancy top of the nodge notebook and then have issues like this. I mean, my laptop is bricked! I am having nothing but issues with the thing, can't even close the lid (to slee or hibernate) without recovering all my files as the bloody thing goes into a sleep of death. WTF is wrong with this thing ... I thought the old days of bootable CDs (or USB sticks nowaday) were kind of over by now... especially after paying this price!

Any ideas how to get around this w/o investing half a day to re-install Windows and all my programs?

Had I not started to like the new Windows 10 and have many programs that need Win, I think I'd already be back to a Mac Book. 

Thanks for your help in advance.

Moved from: Windows 10  / Windows update, recovery, & backup

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.

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Anonymous
2018-08-22T15:41:28+00:00

The Surface BitLocker Protector Check tool is now available to verify that the BitLocker settings are properly configured on your Surface Book 2 13” NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 and to help ensure that future updates go smoothly on your device.

For more information, please view our Known issues and additional information about Surface Book 2 article.

Updated 11/2/2018

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-08-11T12:52:44+00:00

    @Freminta, after complementing your suggestion with the code that can be found here under "Method 3" https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4057282/bitlocker-recovery-key-prompt-after-surface-uefi-or-tpm-firmware-updat it did finally work! 

    For everyone who has as little experience as myself working with commands ... what worked for me:

    1. manage-bde -unlock -recoverypassword <password> C:
    2. C:
    3. manage-bde -protectors -disable C:

    I ran into an error when jumping from 1. -> 3. as apparently the command prompt needs the info that the next piece of code (=3.) refers to the main drive C:

    Good luck everyone! I am now doing a full reset of the PC from within Windows hoping that after a subsequent update I will not run into these issues again!

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-08-11T12:32:12+00:00

    It is becoming funnier by the day. I want to download a recovery image for my Surface Book 2. For that I need a serial no. The serial no. can only be retrieved by detaching the Surface Book's screen.

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/surfacerecoveryimage

    Are you kidding me? I cannot detach the screen. The red LED won't turn off.  So now I cannot get the recovery image which I do apparently need to create a bootable USB stick because resetting the PC through the "Troubleshoot" options does not work. I call this the vicious circle of ever increasing dissatisfaction with an overprized and underdeveloped product.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-08-10T15:08:21+00:00

    Freminta, I am even ready to bite into the sour apple and reset the PC so that I can recover my data from backups, spend a day to reinstall all the software etc. But when going to "Troubleshoot" -> "Reset this PC" -> "Remove everything" or "Keep my Files" it just jumps back to "Chose an option".

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-08-10T15:04:17+00:00

    Dear Freminta,

    1. Deactivating Bitlocker from within Windows

    I wanted to try to deactivate Bitlocker inside WIndows like Cibo did using the detach screen trick. However, now my Surface Book won't allow me to detach the screen anymore. The LED remains red, despite it being powered off or displaying this ugly blue screen promtping me for the BitLocker recovery key. No way to detach the screen.

    2. USB Keyboard

    The thing is, as I decided to spend 3000 EUR for a laptop that can be turned into a tablet, my intention was not really to use that with a USB-keyboard. I have a Bluetooth keyboard, which now is of little help unfortunately. 

    3. Command Prompt

    I was not prompted to enter a PW and the first code did not work. The other did, using my OSV drive's recovery key. When entereing "...-status" code, it lists C:/ as "Unlocked". Now the issue is that when I press X to close the command prompt and then hit a) "Continue" or b) "Turn off your PC" to continue or reboot, the same blue screen appears again and when entering the "...-status" code drive C:/ is listed as "Locked".

    I need to use this laptop desperately, please can someone help me to unlock it as of now I am locked out permanently and the laptop sits on the rack in my room.

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