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

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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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  1. Anonymous
    2017-10-06T12:43:46+00:00

    Hello Barb 

    I seem to be stuck with the same problem with my non-us typecover.

    At first I tested my typecover on another SP4. My typecover worked perfectly on the other SP4. The typecover from the other SP4 did not solve the problem with my SP4. Therefore my problem must be either software-related or related to my SP4. Not related to the physical typecover.

    Yesterday I tried workaround#1 without luck and moved on to workaround#2. After removal of typecover in Device Manager and a restart, the driver was not reinstalled and I had to do it manually by dowloading the driver files and installing them. This did not work either. 

    This morning, I tried workaround#1 again but this time with a restart after toggling the typecover port off and a restart again after toggling the typecover port back on. This was a success and my SP4 and the typecover worked perfectly! 

    However, after 2 hours, my SP4 once again became non-respondant to the typecover and when I removed the cover and put it back on, the screen turned black. 

    I tried workaround#1 again both with and without restarting between toggling off and on, but neither helped.

    I have tried comparing the driver information found in Device Manager for both of the SP4s,  but I am unable to detect any differences. Both SP4s and their typecover drivers are updated.

    Do you have any other suggestions of how to fix this problem?

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  2. Barb Bowman 80,810 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2017-10-05T10:10:22+00:00

    that is what I was told, but no harm in trying them no matter what keyboard you

    have.

    >> are both of these solutions only for Non-US keyboards?

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-10-05T02:54:25+00:00

    Barb, are both of these solutions only for Non-US keyboards? Thanks!

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  4. Barb Bowman 80,810 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2017-10-04T14:28:10+00:00

    (I would think you'd know if you had a non US cover, but the fix might work FOR US covers. Good to know it helped)

     see https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/page/faq?auth=1 who's who in the

    community.

    >> Barb Bowman:  as a Community Moderator do you work for Microsoft?

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