Surface Pro 4 Type Cover Stopped Working

Anonymous
2017-09-20T12:40:04+00:00

The type cover on my Surface Pro 4 suddenly stopped working.  There are several similar issues on this forum, but none quite fit what I am experiencing.

I tried cleaning the contacts, doing the 2-button reset, using system refresh, and finally I "restored" windows from a USB drive.  And then it worked again! Until the next day, when the type cover no longer worked.  

So, I tried 2-button reset again, didn't help.  I did a little more research, looked at the device manager and noticed only the HID keyboard driver showed up.  I saw online that upgrading Windows 10 to version 1703 seemed to fix things for some folks experiencing this issue, so I tried that, and it worked again! Until the next day.  I tried 2-button reset again, didn't help. So I tried downloading the latest firmware and drivers from Microsoft; no help. I ran the SFC utility, it didn't find any issues.  I created a new USB restore drive, and restored from it, but that didn't help this time!  I have not tried restoring from my "old" USB restore drive, because I think that may be a temporary fix, but wouldn't help permanently. I have taken the type cover off and  put it back on, giggled it like crazy, etc, but I really don't think this is a hardware problem.

So, as a final step, I am going to re-image my machine.  In the meantime, any suggestions?  I'd be willing to buy a new type cover if I thought it would help (my type cover is a #QC7-00001). I'm tired of spending 3 hours a day trying to get my keyboard to work!

Moved from: Surface / Surface Pro 4 / Install, update, and repair

Surface | Accessories | Surface Type Cover

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
Barb Bowman 80,810 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2017-10-02T17:05:46+00:00

Ruth,

My contact gave me the following for you to try (this is only for non US typecovers for  SP4). Please let me know if you try these and results either way:

Workaround #1

  1. Power+volume up to boot into UEFI settings.
  2. Choose Devices.
  3. Toggle Type Cover Port off and then on.

Workaround #2

  1. Check Settings > Ease of Access > Keyboard and ensure that Filter Keys is disabled.
  2. Check BIOS and make sure Type Cover is enabled in Devices.
  3. In Device Manager, click on the View menu > Show Hidden.
  4. Under HID (Human Interface Devices), scroll down and find Surface Pro 4 Typecover Integration > right-click - Uninstall. (chose option to delete driver/software.)
  5. In Device Manager, under Keyboard, if you do not see the type cover, no need to do anything else. I; if you do see it, right-click, uninstall (check to remove software).
  6. Shut down (hold shift for a clean shutdown).
  7. Hold power and volume up for 30 seconds. The device will flash to EFI and back until it eventually powers off fully.
  8. Power on the device. Now the keyboard should work, and all the drivers should be re-installed that we removed earlier.

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62 additional answers

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-01-05T13:42:49+00:00

    I did already and my keyboard does not work..

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-01-05T11:21:48+00:00

    Hi,

    You can download and install the latest Firmware and drivers for your Surface device from this link.

    Update us with the outcome so we can provide further assistance.

    Regards.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-01-04T09:40:02+00:00

    Dear Sdchris85            

    This is good news for you and maybe for us too. we have a hope.

    I tried all me too but still my keyboard not work.. I am very mad with Microsoft for they assistance provide to us. I paid 2000 USD and after normal updating the keyboard crashed . I CANT BELIEVE.

    May I ask what steps you did to making your keyboard working?? Also what you meaning with: manually installing the latest firmware and drivers for surface?? I really feel frustrated and so MAD.

    I should bought  MacPro instead this **** device

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-01-04T08:48:54+00:00

    Thanks for the update.

    You may want to download and install the latest Firmware and drivers for Surface from this link and see if it helps.

    If the issue still persists, we suggest that you send your device for repair or you may drop by the nearest Microsoft Store to have it assessed and be received should a repair be advised.

    Keep us in the loop for the result.

    Regards.

    Alright, So after trying the different solutions listed in other forums, The two that I remember doing for sure was uninstalling all and reinstalling all the latest updates. As far as the last solution I did was manually installing the latest firmware and drivers for surface, the issue didn't get get fixed right away. I did restart, shutdown and full shutdowns after installing and still nothing. I decided to call it a night 2 days ago and shutdown the surface and left it since then. Today, just randomly turned it on to try other solutions and long and behold, the keyboard decides to work again! So it's difficult to pinpoint which solution worked for me since I performed multiple solutions 2 days ago. Since the latest firmware and drivers is the last thing I did, I recommend anyone else experiencing the same I problem I had to try the same thing as you got nothing else to lose. For now, my wife's surface is back in working order but also crossing our fingers until the next Windows update.

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