Surface Pro 4 - Screen won't wake from sleep

Well... like I said, even after two full weeks of unprecedented success, I do still cringe a bit.  Yet clearly, something is very different, and I'm installing stuff the same way (mouth closed, teeth clenched). 

If this new unit does ever develop the problem, I'll post back and let people know.

Thanks for that useful information.  The unit I just got looks new, although the first battery report I ran showed 7 charge cycles after I had only connected the charger to it twice.  Its serial number (0965....) is lower than my original device (1045.....) which makes me wonder about its age.  What are the first few digits of the serial number of your replacement?

While I'm glad to hesr things are working for you now, I don't think there's an actual hardware fix available yet.

This problem is most likely a very complex and pseudo-random interaction between various hardware, firmware, driver, and software components, and it appears that the problem can be triggered by a great many things, possibly including how you hold your mouth when you do the installation and configuration.

I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but based on my own experience, as well as that of others, I wouldn't break out the bubbly yet - from other reports, it seems likely that your system may develop sleeping problems.

Although I think this IS a hardware problem at its core, I'm convinced that that fundamental hardware flaws exists in ALL SP4s, even the newest ones.  Intel and Microsoft have built a house of cards in patch-around code and drivers that works sometimes, but not others, and there's no real understanding of why it doesn't work sometimes, or if there are other possible patches that can prevent the internal fighting.

BTW, I put my SP4 to sleep two nights ago with the power button, and when waking it up last night, it rebooted, and reliability monitor says that it was shutdown unexpectedly back at the time a put it to sleep.  (A 24+ hour gap is unprecedented for me, but I was on a non-business trip and didn't touch the computer yesterday.)  I definitely did NOT shut it down, nor do a forced power off.  It apparently killed itself, perhaps when I plugged it into the charger after putting it to sleep.

The Surface Pro 4 just flat don't work (nor does the Surface Book - there are many complaints for that one, too, it's just that we can't easily share our complaints due to the way MS Forums work).  I guess I could try swapping machines out again and again, but I'm on my seventh or eighth Surface 3 or 4 now, and I lose a full day every time I swap, so I'm not really interested in painful actions that are almost as likely to pay off as the lottery...

Hi Everyone,

It's clear that stories on here are wide and varied, but I will follow-up and share the outcome on mine anyway.  I had posted earlier on April 19 (when my frustration with this issue finally boiled over) that I had a surprisingly easy time getting an advance replacement sent by dealing with Microsoft on-line via their surface support website. The support rep said during that chat that he would put in a request that they send a new unit rather than a refurb. 

The old device was lot 1548, it was not fixed by any of the many steps listed earlier in this thread (including complete refresh from iso), and it still exhibited the black screen crash from sleep with high frequency after applying the April 19 updates.

I don't know the lot number of the new device (no box), and I don't have a way to confirm for sure or not if it really is a new unit, but it was definitely in like new condition, and *I have not had a single black screen wake from sleep failure on it with pretty heavy use*.  That's not a single crash like this from April 21 though today. At this point I've got more software on the new unit than I ever managed to get going on the old one (although admittedly still no print drivers from HP or cannon... which were not necessary for the crash on the old unit).

So... for me at least, new hardware seems to be the fix. Like some others in my situation, I'd encourage people to keep replacing them till you get one that works, as clearly, some do.  I wish there was a better answer as I have lost untold hours to this, but there it is. Even a working surface doesn't have quite the same shine for me now, as I somehow still cringe a little wondering if it will wake... but really, objectively, this is quite a long time now with no failures at all, and when working, it's still a fantastic device.

If there are any other details about a working unit that might be helpful, let me know. 

Actually, in that regard - CPU-Z numbers on the working unit are identical to the failing lot 1548 unit, and identical to some of those posted earlier on this thread.

The only vaguely similar issue I've had with the new unit is I've noted that if it goes to sleep, and then the type cover is closed, and then the power button is pressed without opening the type cover, the IR camera for windows hello can come on and start looking for me. When it only sees the type cover, it can keep looking for a long time, and this can heat up the computer a bit and drain the battery a little. However, this is not the same as the black screen of death sleep issue we all know and hate because opening the type cover reveals the IR light is on, and then pressing power once to go back to sleep, and once to resume, reliably gets it out of this situation. A bug still, yes... but infrequent, and much less devastating. 

Good luck to everyone.  

J...