System Firmware Update - 12/10/13 fails to install

Anonymous

Got the updates on todays patch Tuesday, but the firmware update failed to load. Rechecking for an update does not give the opportunity to try and reinstall.

Anyone else having this problem? I do notice that my telemetry driver is now loaded. so not sure what is going on here.

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

Josh,

We are working through the holidays to deliver a fix for the small number of customers that have experience decreased battery life and booting/sleeping problems as a result of the December update. We took the update down to prevent additional customers from ending up in this state. All hardware failures, none of which are known to be caused by the December update, are being handled promptly through our warranty exchange policy.

The UEFI firmware that we released in the December update prevents some devices from entering sleep mode (and other low power states) properly during periods of inactivity. In order to release an updated version of the UEFI firmware we need to test the new version with the other drivers in the set to make sure we are not releasing yet another unknown state to customer machines. We certainly feel your pain and assure you that we are doing everything possible to make this right, as quickly as we can.

Thank you,

Tim

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Anonymous

Greetings all,

We understand that the February Firmware Update has fixed the Battery gauge issue and the Firmware showing as failed. However we can see that there are some customers who are still experiencing issues with their Surface Pro 2 going into Sleep mode and Hibernate.

So we can better track those particular issues, we have decided to close this thread off. We encourage you to create a thread related to your Surface Pro 2 not going to sleep or not going into Hibernate. Please give as much detail as possible to your scenario.

We understand that the February Firmware update did not resolve the issue with waking from Sleep or Hibernate, as it was not intended to fix that particular issue. We are continuing to work to deliver a high quality solution. More updates will become available as this effort progresses.

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Anonymous

The February update has resolved all issues for me. The firmware installed with no issues. Prior to this, I had all sorts of problems with the December firmware. Sleep and hibernate issues were rampant. The January update helped a bit, but the battery meter was always getting off calibration.

With the February update, all issues have been resolved and my Surface 2 128gb is working as it was prior to the December updates. Very solid and all is back to normal.

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997 additional answers

Anonymous

2014-01-03T05:58:26+00:00

That doesn't make this entire experience any less bogus.

Hey! Buy this insanely expensive device! Now... let us screw it up on you for an entire month or more to the point that it is half unusable... offer no real deadline for a fix... and watch us sell other folks fully functional units with better processors for the same price as you paid! Sorry guys! Your fault for trusting us!

Frankly, I am pretty disillusioned over the whole ordeal. The product is two month old. I have had mine for almost a month and a half... and half that time it has been completely screwed up. Are we all supposed to just be ok with it?

What is MS going to do for us folks with messed up machines?
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Anonymous

2014-01-03T04:32:15+00:00

the processor was upgraded to a i5 4300U

First I've heard of it, but you're not alone:

http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Surface+Pro+2

Maybe I should pit in for a replacement instead of waiting for this fix. It would be worth reinstalling everything if it guaranteed a specs bump.

Does CPU-Z agree it's a 4300? http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html (download link on right hand side)

If this is true, I and any other early adopters will be extremely angry.

well time to get angry.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/2/5266988/surface-pro-2-intel-i5-processor-updated-specifications

can this get any worse? my surface is limping and it's resale value just went down. seriously!

Yup, I was just about to post this: http://www.winbeta.org/news/replacement-surface-pro-2-devices-being-sent-out-upgraded-specs-includes-newer-cpu

I could understand if it was, say, six months (perhaps), but this really annoys us early adopters. I had mine pre-ordered and delivered on day one.

It's not that the people who got 4200Us were unlucky or wronged in any way; it's simply that the people who got the 4300Us were lucky. There's a difference.

We all bought the machine having seen it advertised as 4200U. That people are now getting a 4300U shouldn't make us upset, even if it's notably faster.

We should focus on getting answers and fixes for the firmware problem. That's a complete screw-up, and for that, we deserve better answers.

Absolutely agree... technology eras have short term lifespans. For those who received upgraded CPUs good for them. By the time these arguments ended, Surface Pro 3 with Core i7s will be out. It's best to focus on demanding Microsoft for the firmware fix.

Read this... http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-upgrades-surface-pro-2-cpu-but-is-there-more-to-the-story

Microsoft has quietly updated the specs of the Surface Pro 2 by including an updated CPU, but don’t expect any major performance gains from the modest upgrade. The updated tablets now appear to include the Intel i5 4300U clocked at 1.9GHz, whereas the device was previously used the i5 4200U running at 1.6GHz.

The discovery was first spotted over in the official Microsoft support forums, where one Surface Pro 2 owner wrote the following post:

I returned my Surface Pro 2 (v. 256GB) because of the poor performance after the failed 12.10.13 firmware update. I recall the SP2 I returned having a i5 4200U processor. To my surprise, when I checked the System Properties in the Control Panel on my replacement SP2, the processor was upgraded to a i5 4300U @ 1.9Ghz. - 2.5 Ghz

The small gain in clock speed and the slightly newer CPU aren't much to drool over, and the reason why Microsoft didn't announce the upgrade is likely simple.
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