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

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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.

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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

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-04-02T01:56:08+00:00

    Need to know how you got there.

    You installed optional updates on a running system  or

    You refreshed or restored from within windows  or

    You booted using a recovery USB drive to repair or restore the system

    Which one?

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-04-02T02:19:31+00:00

    Need to know how you got there.

    You installed optional updates on a running system  or

    You refreshed or restored from within windows  or

    You booted using a recovery USB drive to repair or restore the system

    Which one?

    installed optional updates

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-04-02T03:21:41+00:00

    All you need is a good name brand  USB drive, at least 4GB, freshly formatted to FAT32

    Download the Windows RT recovery image

    https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/downloadablerecoveryimage      SurfaceRT_BMR_10.8.17.0.zip  3.033GB. 

    Extract the file and paste all of the folders and files in the SurfaceRT_BMR  folder to the USB stick.

    Restore or refresh your Surface RT with the recovery image, booting from the USB drive.

    Turn the RT off. To boot from the USB drive, press and hold the volume-down button while you press and release the power button. When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down button. It will take a while to boot, maybe a minute or longer.

    Go to troubleshooting.

    Restore or refresh your Surface RT with the recovery image, booting from the USB drive.

    Refresh will save your data but it needs at least 3.5GB of free disk space and you will have to enter the bit locker key associated with your Microsoft account. Get it here

      https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4026181/windows-find-my-bitlocker-recovery-key may not be needed.

    Restore cleans the drive.

    If your restore, on the page that asks for a drive encryption key, go to the bottom of the page and select ‘Not this Drive”, tap the screen to get rid of the keyboard.

    Partition selection, Select Yes, repartition the drives.

    In the setup, select your color, you can’t change this later, skip connecting to WiFi, you can add your account later, you do not have to enter a password when you set the user name.

    When the reset finishes, in settings go to ‘Power and Sleep’, ‘When plugged in’ set to ‘Never’. Setup anything else you need, like connecting a mouse.

    Now start on the page I gave the link to'

    Turn on WiFi, Search for updates from the Control Panel, Windows

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