Surface RT "dead"/black screen after installing optional upgrade(s)

Anonymous
2018-01-23T22:02:45+00:00

Hello!

I've recently reset my Surface RT to factory settings.

Now after setting it up again and installing all needed updates via WindowsUpdate, I also wanted to install the optional ones - especially the one with the Windows 10-like start menu because I like it much better than the big tiles :D

So here I go... but after the needed restart the screen stays black with a blinking WiFi icon in the bottom left and a mouse arrow when I touch the screen or the touchpad (watch here: Youtube Video)

I waited a few hours if there was an update to be finished (until the battery ran out!) - but nothing happened.

  • I already did a complete factory reset
  • Also a complete reset with a recovery USB drive (Windows 8.1 RT image 20.8.17.0)
  • I am out of ideas...

I tried these procedures already...

  1. The first time I installed many updates by hand because WindowsUpdate got stuck - OK I thought this was the mistake...
  2. So the second time I installed only KB2919355, KB3173424 and KB3172614 by hand because of WindowsUpdate stuck again... afterwards I thought this was the mistake because it didn't work...
  3. So the last time I tried everything over WindowsUpdate - which worked only because I flushed the DNS cache before and did the WindowsUpdate repair option from the settings. Again it didn't work...

It works completely flawless until I install an optional update.

PS: I've seen there are already others with this issue which seems to happen since this january...

Please help!

Thank you.

Surface | Other

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.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2018-02-14T04:32:38+00:00

You can remove KB3033055 after getting the flickering wifi icon, no need to reset from scratch.  

 - Interrupt the boot process a couple times by holding down the power button to force windows into startup repair.

 - Open the command prompt from the menus. (Troubleshoot, Advanced, Command Prompt)

 - You will be prompted to enter username and password

 - At the command prompt type:

dism /image:c:\ /get-packages > c:\dism-output.txt

notepad c:\dism-output.txt

In notepad press ctrl-f and type 3033055, you should find the full name (In my case it was Package_for_KB3033055~31bf3856ad364e35~arm~~6.3.1.19)

Back to the command prompt, In my case I typed:

  dism /image:c:\ /remove-package /packagename:Package_for_KB3033055~31bf3856ad364e35~arm~~6.3.1.19

  exit

From there you should be able to continue to Windows as normal.

Was this answer helpful?

10+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2018-08-15T17:57:24+00:00

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your feedback. We have identified the root cause and published a fix through Windows Update. This fix is available in the August 14, 2018—KB4343898 (Monthly Rollup) package.

  • Addresses an issue that may prevent your device from starting up properly if you install KB3033055 (released September 2015) after installing any Monthly Rollup dated November 2017 or later.

If your device is already booting to a black screen, you may need to Restore/refresh Surface with a recovery image.

Greg

Was this answer helpful?

3 people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

78 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2018-04-01T15:57:46+00:00

    Can someone offer me some help?? I have tried to reset this surface 2 RT 32GB several times.. i tried using the volume down and power to turn it on into safe mode and immediately releasing the volume down button once surface comes onto the screen but it still loads the black screen with wifi logo flashing.. what do i do to get this thing to work again? and if anyone has a direct link to the file needed to put onto the usb drive that would be super helpful. the folks at microsoft just sent me the windows 10 update to download but i am not to sure that is what i need right now.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2018-04-01T19:03:53+00:00

    Can someone offer me some help?? I have tried to reset this surface 2 RT 32GB several times.. i tried using the volume down and power to turn it on into safe mode and immediately releasing the volume down button once surface comes onto the screen but it still loads the black screen with wifi logo flashing.. what do i do to get this thing to work again? and if anyone has a direct link to the file needed to put onto the usb drive that would be super helpful. the folks at microsoft just sent me the windows 10 update to download but i am not to sure that is what i need right now.

    Not sure why you are resetting to start with.

    Booting to this black screen is caused by a current conflict in two updates.  They can both be installed but is has to be done in the correct order. From where you are now you can not get to a state where the Surface 2 can be fully updated. There is no magic bullet to fix this. You have to start over.

    Updates have to be downloaded and installed again anyway so you might as well download the important ones and get past this update conflict.

    see my post here

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surfwinrt-surfupdate/get-surface-rt-devices-around-the-current-windows/914b69f2-54ec-4d7c-be38-5c5c3f1923f0

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2018-04-02T01:03:18+00:00

    ok but how do i get to do anything past the black screen? i cant get rid of it.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments