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... The first time I installed many updates by hand because WindowsUpdate got stuck - OK I thought this was the mistake... 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... 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.

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

I had the same problem after installing KB3033055. I successfully followed timpeq's advice (thank god) and now have a working RT again without going through the immense pain of resetting it. I can confirm that KB3033055 was installed immediately prior to my Surface RT breaking. I reset it a while ago, got bored after going through the whole Searching for Updates forever issue, so was a bit behind with my updates when i went to use it today. I also checked through the output from dism to see if KB4056895 was in there, intending to remove that instead and therefore retain the Start Menu, but it wasn't there. So while KB3033055 is definitely part of the problem, it can't just be KB4056895 that triggers it to fail. My only advice would be, never reset.

KB3033055 is still the update causing this problem for me. I tried (as seen in the other thread about this) NOT restarting after install, but shutting down and waiting a few minutes, but on startup I got the black screen with blinking wifi icon again. Any other suggestions???

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

Anonymous

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...

The first time I installed many updates by hand because WindowsUpdate got stuck - OK I thought this was the mistake...
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...
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.

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.

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

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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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

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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78 additional answers

Anonymous

2018-02-25T19:06:48+00:00

I had the same problem after installing KB3033055. I successfully followed timpeq's advice (thank god) and now have a working RT again without going through the immense pain of resetting it. I can confirm that KB3033055 was installed immediately prior to my Surface RT breaking. I reset it a while ago, got bored after going through the whole Searching for Updates forever issue, so was a bit behind with my updates when i went to use it today. I also checked through the output from dism to see if KB4056895 was in there, intending to remove that instead and therefore retain the Start Menu, but it wasn't there. So while KB3033055 is definitely part of the problem, it can't just be KB4056895 that triggers it to fail.

My only advice would be, never reset.
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Anonymous

2018-02-21T05:18:36+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.

Tried this several times and no joy. Text file always had an error 1639 (I think) in it and no listing of KBs was present. What a mess Microsoft can create and leave unattended. It wasn't as if they didn't have a hand in both the hardware and software design. They should've pulled the update if it had issues. I had the Feb KB before I installed KB3033055 and it still resulted in the wifi icon issue.

Thanks anyway.
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Anonymous

2018-02-20T23:20:22+00:00

KB3033055 is still the update causing this problem for me. I tried (as seen in the other thread about this) NOT restarting after install, but shutting down and waiting a few minutes, but on startup I got the black screen with blinking wifi icon again. Any other suggestions???
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1 person found this answer helpful.

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