Surface Pro 2 - Surface cover telemetry driver / blank screen after putting tablet to sleep

Anonymous
2013-10-23T05:19:56+00:00

Hi, 

I just picked up my Surface Pro 2 256GB today and it ran into problems right after applying the firmware update that seemed to have been released just today on Windows Update.  I confirmed this problem was caused by the firmware update because I restored the tablet and the wireless was working fine and I applied the firmware update and that broke the wireless.

After the update, the Marvell AVASTAR Wireless Composite Device stopped working...meaning, the tablet does not recognize the wireless card.  This is confirmed by going into the Device Manager and seeing 2 unknown devices (one of them was the wireless card, the other unrecognized device I will explain in the next paragraph) When I tried running the update driver function, it tried to reinstall the driver but returned the following error.

Windows encountered a problem installing the driver software for your device

Reinstall the drivers for this device (Code 18)

I had to go the manual route and there were 2 Marvell drivers listed and one Microsoft driver listed for the Marvell card.  The 2 marvell drivers listed had exactly the same name.  However, only choosing and applying the second one worked.  So, the wireless was working again.

The other "unknown device" turned out to be something called "Surface Cover Telemetry".  However, trying the same troubleshooting process for the wireless card did not solve the problem and the devices still remains "unknown" in the device manager.  I just left it and carried on with installing my other software and apps as the tablet and the Type Cover 2 seemed to be functioning properly.

However, when I put the tablet to sleep by closing the Type Cover (while on battery power but charged up to 100%), the screen remained blank even though I opened up the cover again and tried to wake the tablet.  I knew that the tablet was still on but the screen remained blank even after I tried touching it, typing on the keyboard as well as briefly tapping the on/off button.  When I touch the Windows icon on the bottom frame of the tablet, I can feel a slight vibration and that told me that the tablet was on but the screen somehow is totally off.

I decided to do a soft reset of the tablet by holding on the on/off button for more then 10 seconds.  However, the screen only worked properly after many attempts.

My questions are, could it be that this "unknown device" that needs the "Surface Cover Telemetry" driver is causing this blank screen problem?  And if so, where can I download a driver that works?

Thanks.

Surface | Surface Pro | Install and update

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-11-29T23:06:57+00:00

    Hi,

    I'm having the same issue after reset my sp2. And now my touch cover 2 stopped working. I having 2 unknown devices in device manager.

    Is there any workarond for this without having to reset my sp2 again??

    Hi Strandman, unfortunately you cannot fix the issue without a reset. There are 2 solutions at the moment, both involve a reset.

    Temporary solution (you have to apply this every time you reset): Reset your device then immediately install the telemetry driver BEFORE running Windows Updates

    Permanent solution (you only have to apply this once): Follow this guide http://systemsadminguy.wordpress.com/2013/11/16/how-to-update-surface-pro-2-recovery-image-drivers/

    I'm using the permanent solution at the moment. Seems to have also resolved a whole bunch of other issues I was having with sleep / crashing.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-11-29T20:12:08+00:00

    Hi,

    I'm having the same issue after reset my sp2. And now my touch cover 2 stopped working. I having 2 unknown devices in device manager.

    Is there any workarond for this without having to reset my sp2 again??

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-11-29T17:37:36+00:00

    Well I was so frustrated with all the problems since my reset and then the missing driver issue on the reset that I finally followed the updated advice from davidb1234 on November 10 (page 7) and

    performed another full reset according to his recommendations. At least on the front end all drivers are installed and seem to be working as they expected.

    It just didn't fix the missing driver it fixed a whole lot more.

    For something that causes this many problems, Microsoft really should do something about it or people will just believe their surface pros are meant to be **** and give up on them. Fortunately this is a fixable issue if you just spend the time and effort...

    I will update the forum in a few days to let you know if all is going as well as I expect, but I can already tell today that the machine is back to where it was when I received it.

    Thanks... especially to davidb1234

    Orgbrat

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-11-29T11:44:37+00:00

    I have to say one last time doing what davidb1234 on November 10, (page 7) said has changed my device totaly.

     im on my 3rd day now of mostly idling/email and occasional RDP into my surface and. its on 81% battery

    It didn't just fix a missing driver it fixed a whole lot more......

     For something this bad Microsoft really should do something about it or people will just believe their surface pros are meant to be **** and give up on them :¬(

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