Surface Book 3 Nvidia Graphics card disappears after updates.

I'm already running Win11. It does seem more stable or at least predictable. I still need a restart if the screen has been detached and I want the NVidia GPU. Also some software seems to 'hold' the driver or perhaps lock the card to itself. This needs, yep you guessed it, a restart to fix.

I do recommend Win 11 on the SB3, seems more stable. I also recommend using GeForce now to always have the latest drivers (gaming or productivity version).

I had something of a breakthrough, the other day.

While my Book 3's nVidia GPU fan was spinning like mad while charging, I thought to check the drivers installed.

Back when the Book 3 first came out the screen would randomly blank. The solution then was to get nVidia drivers and control software.

Well, Microsoft have finally addressed the issue and now the nVidia drivers and control software conflict.

Uninstall everything nVidia, get Windows Update to perform a check and pull the Mircosoft drivers down, and now the GPU does not disconnect when closing the lid, the laptop doesn't get hot when charging and everything seems much more stable.

If only the Book 3 could have been like that straight from the box.

My prognosis has expanded due to verifying that temperature falls short as a factor. Certain forms of software will entice the graphics unit to disconnect and the weight of the load has little relation. I have executed programs that are either old and heavy on graphical demand or known to have questionable development yet light. Both of these frequently falter the device. Whereas some modest, modern, and well built programs retain the utility, despite being under heavy or sudden strain. My conclusion is that the issue is with firmware.

Looking around on Reddit, I found this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/SurfaceGaming/comments/s8h2gm/request_surface_book_2_switching_from_dgpu_to/ The last comment was made a month ago and the user averted the issue by upgrading to Windows 11, which makes some painful sense.

My nVidia GPU wasn't disappearing after updates but it would disappear seemingly randomly.

Also, the base would get overly warm when charging with the Microsoft charger.

I discovered that the likelihood of the GPU going missing increased when I exercised the hinge.

I disconnected the tablet portion, cleaned the three data/power connectors and the two lugs on the base (I used one of those magic sponges to delicately wipe the conductive bits and then a mildly damp cloth to wipe off any residue) and then reconnected the two halves.

This seems to have improved the reliability of the connection when folding the laptop and the base doesn't become quite so warm when charging.

However, I am concerned that the base does become warmer than I expect when in use and charging (given that many of my uses shouldn't be using the nVidia GPU).

So, am I the only one that believes losing connection to the GPU should not be happening? Period. I get that this is tied to the Attach/Detach sequence of the screen. Unfortunately, I am now beginning to experience issues with the keyboard as well on my SB3 (I can't type and have to reboot the machine by using an external mouse of holding down the power button). We experienced the video issue, went through Microsoft repair, got a new machine, same issue. Microsoft has washed their hands of the problem for me and, as evidenced here is these threads, many others.

My original post pointed out that this would NEVER happen on a normal laptop or desktop. I should not have to disconnect the screen, rescan in Device Manager or restart my machine/operating system just to have access to the GPU or keyboard! Some of these don't even work consistently. This is akin to the old "If Microsoft Built Cars" joke below... (I know it is old but it still applies in light of the SB[2/3] problems!)

"IF MICROSOFT BUILT CARS…..

1. Every time they repainted the lines on the road you would have to buy a new car.
2. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason, and you would just accept this, restart and drive on. (Insert laptop GPU here for car)
3. Occasionally, executing a maneuver would cause your car to stop and fail and you would have to re-install the engine.  For some strange reason, you would accept this too.
4. You could only have one person in the car at a time unless you bought “Car95” or “CarNT”.  But, then you would have to buy more seats.
5. New seats would force everyone to have the same size butt.
6. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast, twice as easy to drive – but would only run on 5 percent of the roads.
7. The Macintosh car owners would get expensive Microsoft upgrades to their cars, which would make their cars run much slower.
8. The oil, gas and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a single “general car default” warning light. (Can anyone tell me what the exact error is here that causes these problems?)
9. The airbag system would say “are you sure?” before going off.
10. If you were involved in a crash, you would have no idea what happened.

"

Why hasn't Microsoft fixed the issue? There has to be some form of Action we can take here. This is beyond ridiculous. I, for one, will not buy another piece of Microsoft hardware (gaming-remember the red ring of death on the XBox or otherwise). As my mom use to say, "Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."