Surface Pro 9 won't enter tablet mode after disconnecting the type cover

Anonymous
2023-04-02T21:43:46+00:00

So it's been two days of back and forward with customer support and cannot get a resolution on this issue. Bought a brand new Surface Pro 9 and out of the box have had issues with basic functionality. Initially we thought that the auto rotation was janky but eventually discovered that we could boot up the device without keyboard attached and tablet mode worked great, but once we connected the type cover keyboard and then removed it, the device stays in desktop mode. I've reinstalled a fresh version of the OS three times, run all Windows updates, downloaded and installed the Surface Pro 9 drivers from the Microsoft site, done the 20 second power down... none of it makes any difference.

Anyone have any advice? If I can't solve this I will need to return and repurchase etc, which means I may just go elsewhere, this has been a pretty poor user experience and I was pretty excited for this purchase. Hoping to get some help, much appreciated 🙏

Surface | Surface Pro | Display and screen

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-06-15T10:12:05+00:00

    From my experience, this is definitely an issue with the Surface software and not the hardware. You'll be able to see this if you re-install Windows and stop the update to the Surface app. Works fine on the ancient version but not on the latest. Absolutley not acceptable considering the cost of these devices...

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-06-15T10:05:06+00:00

    Have had my Surface Pro 9 for a few weeks now. Excact same issue. Sleep + re-awake works. But overall really annoying. No way this is a hardware problem - Is Microsoft reading this? A firmware fix is desperately needed!

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-06-14T05:43:25+00:00

    I have now had the exact same problem on two brand new surface pro 9s. The first time round I thought I had gotten a dodgy device and returned it. Unfortunately I have the exact same problem with my new device. I wish I'd seen this thread earlier and just gotten a refund. It's beyond frustrating as this functionality is the only real reason to buy a surface pro in the first place. I could have got a separate tablet and laptop for cheaper.

    I can't find anything from Microsoft that even acknowledges the problem, let alone advises that a fix is being worked on. Really poor.

    The work arounds are clunky and aren't practical in my work context.

    I'm hoping someone from Microsoft acknowledges soon or I'll be seeking a refund.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-05-24T13:38:49+00:00

    Hi Marrion,

    Thanks for the reply. I have already sent the unit back, but would have loved to have tested your steps. Basically, the unit would enter tablet mode if booted up while disconnected from the keyboard type cover. Once the cover was connected, it stayed in desktop mode regardless of whether the typecover was removed and/or replaced. It seems that it never detected (or responded) to the typecover being removed so it could return to a mobile-respnsibe state.

    Hi there!

    I'm having exactly the same issue, the "sleep and boot" workaround works but it's just annoying that a key feature of this device does not work as should. Please do something on this!

    It's unbearable that this issue has been a month now and I still encounter it. You guys should have resolved this by now.M

    Nico

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-05-24T02:07:10+00:00

    I have the same issue. Contacted MSFT support, was advised after reinstalling OS, etc. to exchange the Surface Pro 9 for a new one due to a hardware issue. After exchanging it and going through the setup process I was delighted to find the problem was not there and it worked perfectly ... until the next morning! Having a look through the logs, automatic Windows Updates were applied overnight and since then the new one has been in exactly the same state as the first Surface I returned so I too can confirm with certainty it is a bug in one of the updates. From that list of updates, I believe the bug exists in one of these packages as they are the most applicable to the issue from the ones that were installed (excluded solitaire/etc, updates):

    Surface - Firmware - 161.3.0.16

    Surface - Firmware - 6.89.139.0

    Surface - Firmware - 9.12.143.0

    2023-04 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5025239)

    2023-01 Update for Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems (KB4023057)

    Surface - Firmware - 3.8.0.0

    Surface - Firmware - 3.10.0.3

    Surface - Firmware - 1.25.1865.1

    Surface - Firmware - 93.0.0.49

    2023-04 Update for Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5026039)

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