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

Anonymous
2013-12-10T19:14:53+00:00

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.

Surface | Surface Pro | 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
2013-12-19T06:53:02+00:00

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
2014-02-15T00:49:31+00:00

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
2014-02-13T22:35:08+00:00

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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  1. Anonymous
    2014-01-05T18:28:40+00:00

    I have tried this only to find my SP2 back on after shutdown. This happened when the type cover was connected.  If I shutdown without the type cover, it stays off.  Hibernate seems to work most of the time.

    These problems defeat the purpose of having a mobile device.  Sending it back tomorrow for a replacement.

    I'm not relying on the power button or the type cover to shut down the computer.  I'm explicitly shutting down using the Metro or Desktop options. 

    I agree that doing so would be an unacceptable restriction in the long run, but doing so for a few weeks until a bug fix is issued is far less trouble than configuring a new computer.

    If this is all it takes as a workaround, it is surprising that Microsoft doesn't issue such advice.  In the first few weeks after the 10 December firmware update I spoke to two Microsoft representatives, and they were completely unaware of the firmware problem.  It sounds like now they know about the problem but are giving silly advice.  When Microsoft was run by the original team of techies they didn't act this ineptly.

    You know you have to be careful with that.  "I spoke to a Microsoft Representative" is like saying I drove a Chevy.  Microsoft is so departmentalized that its completely true that a representative may not know what is going on.  In addition, the Surface department is small, and very guarded. 

    What I question is the testing practices.  I am not one and never will be one, that will believe that testing will capture all the bugs.  I believe everyday usage introduces things that sometimes can't be tested.  But that does not account for everything wrong that we see.   If you've read the news about the inner workings at MS in the last 5+ years, you see employees engaged in Stack ranking wars and good reviews rather than quality products.  Gone are the days when a product is released when its done, having a release date is far more profitable.  I am not saying that any employee is negligent.  I am saying that I feel there are different priorities. 

    Really.  MS is saying these issues impact 3 of 1000.  You can only know this is true, if you are in proximity of more than 3  Surfaces.  On a daily basis I see hundreds of Surfaces.  I 'KNOW" 3 in 1000 is not accurate. 

    Though your statement about Microsoft Representatives I believe is not accurate, I do agree with your statement about the update.  It was obvious to any one doing the update there was something wrong with it, immediately. It took 9 days to pull the update.  Why?  Because of the famous Microsoft Christmas holidays?  Or because people in charge of the update realized an incomplete or improper test pass was done and this will directly impact their Stack Ranking?

    The next scheduled Patch Tuesday is Jan 14th.  Coincidentally that's the day the updated patch will come out.  If they have cleared up the stack ranking issues, the patch may have actually been tested, period, and we may see a resolution to not only the problems caused by the old update, but also the actual intended updates. 

    Really, think about it.  How could they have missed what they missed.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-01-05T15:42:54+00:00

    While a lot of you are talking about the life span of the SSD drive, while the actually MEMORY will last that long, many times the components needed to interface will be the likely culprit of a dead SSD. I mean, come on. If SSD is supposed to last YEARS and YEARS longer than traditional HDDs, then why is the warranty worse than a standard HDD? My Caviar Black in my Desktop has 5 years warranty! My other USB HDDs and standard HDDs always come with one, MAYBE 2, year warranty. It's because the other components die out faster. Regardless, 

    One could also argue that the battery life of keeping it in standby instead of hibernating would adversely effect the longevity of the battery. Also, the heat dissipation could be another argument.

    I mean, come on guys. Hibernating is a NORMAL process, you're not going to damage your SSD from hibernating. The standard power plan is sleep then hibernate, so if you really want to argue, then you're killing the battery and then the SSD. Also, the screen since they pixels will eventually burn in or burn out, too!

    Enjoy your devices :) Don't worry so much about sleep vs hibernate.

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