Surface Book - keyboard and mouse freeze up

Anonymous
2015-10-31T19:53:35+00:00

Today is my first day where i have worked about 6 hours on this new machine. The keyboard and mouse has locked up 4 times where i had to reboot the machine to get it working again.  Last night it froze two times and today it froze 4 times. The onscreen keyboard would work but that is worthless when you're actually working.

I did turn off Bluetooth to disable the pen and the surface mouse - and will continue to monitor BUT this is pretty disappointing.

If anyone at MSFT actually reads this, i'm happy to send logs.

Last freeze 2:45 pm CST (not to self - if i need to look it up).

Damon

Surface | Surface Book | Power and battery

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Anonymous
2016-02-05T14:29:58+00:00

Hi Pr2459.

I'm sorry to hear about the issues you're experiencing.

What I would like you to try is what we call a 2-button shutdown, instructions below.

Step 1: As your Surface is powered on, press and hold the Power-button for 30 seconds.

Step 2: Press and hold the volume up-button and the power-button at the same time for atleast 15 seconds, then release both.

The Surface logotype might flash on the screen while performing this step, but just keep both buttons pressed for the 15 seconds.

Step 3: Wait for about 10 seconds after you released the buttons.

Step 4: Start your Surface again by pressing and releasing the Power-button.

Let me know if this solves your issue.

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Anonymous
2016-02-14T15:55:42+00:00

I have exactly the same issue - keyboard and trackpad stop working. When this occurs the only keyboard key that functions is the Detach key. Detaching and re-attaching the clipboard from/to the keyboard base temporarily solves the problem. I have seen this happen waking from sleep and hibernate as well as spontaneously while browsing a website. I have applied all the updates, cleaned the connectors, etc. The symptom suggests (to me) that the clipboard has lost communication with the keyboard base. It happens to me roughly 2-3 times per day.

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-01-13T21:04:56+00:00

    Disconnecting and reconnecting does not work.  Rebooting with the tablet attached doesn't work.  Rebooting with the tablet detached and then attaching afterwards does not work.

    If I try all of this standing on my head, it still does not work.

    The keyboard is literally inactive except for the detach key.  Oh, and all the contact points are indeed clean.  It's new equipment.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-01-13T20:10:54+00:00

    Does disconnecting and reconnecting the display not get it working again? When this happens to me (as I'm sure it does everyone with this piece of **** untested frustration inducing device), detatching the screen and reattatching usually gets the keyboard and mouse working again, but causes a huge host of other issues with any other attachments (most notably, the Dock becomes completely unreliable)... So I always end up having to close out of everything, disconnect everything, do a full reboot, then do a shut down, then plug everything back in, then turn it back on in order to get it to work agian... and even then, I sometimes have to repeat that song and dance as some piece will not properly function. But hey... at least it wasn't the most expensive laptop on the market or anything.... oh... wait...

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-01-13T16:45:44+00:00

    As I read through different posts, this seems to be a common hardware issue with different flavors.  Here's mine:

    The keyboard on the Surface Book is completely unresponsive aside from the Detach key.  This also means the trackpad on the keyboard does not work.  When I boot to the login screen, the touch keyboard does not even appear.  I have to turn on the Accessibility keyboard just to be able to screen-touch my password to start Windows 10.

    I've tried the two-button restart numerous times.  I've tried uninstalling the keyboard from the Device Manager.  The keyboard and tablet are completely charged and have been plugged in straight for three days.  When the tablet is detached, the keyboard detach button displays a red light.

    From what I can tell, this whole problem possibly started after the keyboard lost its charge.  During that period of time, the tablet could not be detached and the detach button blinked red slowly.  After leaving everything charging for a long period of time, I can at least detach the tablet, but the keyboard has never physically come back to life except for the detach key.

    Extremely frustrating for such a premium product.  Is there a Microsoft keyboard defibrillator?  How do I breathe life back into this keyboard?

    Best Regards,

    Mitch

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