GPU not detected in Surface Book 2

Anonymous
2018-01-26T04:42:59+00:00

Hello MS support,

I bought surface book 2, 256 GB, NVIDIA GeForce 1050, 2GB model  in November, 2017 and it worked pretty well until recently. I don't know why it stopped detecting the GPU. It's not showing up in the display adapters. I tried detaching and attaching the screen it gets detected for a moment and goes off again. I tried one solution offered in the Microsoft page to uninstall the driver (checking the delete software ) and restart the PC but with no luck.

Is it a hardware problem or a frequent software problem ? I will be really glad if you can provide me a solution to this.

Thanks,

Rajeev

Surface | Surface Book | Install and update

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Anonymous
2018-05-21T18:09:16+00:00

Hi Robert_at_lane,

I had the same problem as you the last days and I also tried the different solutions posted here in the community I nearly gave up but today I tried it the last time on a different way and it seems like it is working now. Graphics card is still there and isn't switching off anymore even if I use programs which need a lot of performance, also waking up is working super fast again without any problem and the power button is working as well. (I guess there is some issue with the power management because when my power supply was plugged in the power button and the startup worked, unplugged I could press what I wanted, only the detach button was waking up the device and the Nvidia cards always disappeared after a short time except when I was using Rhino3D plugged in with best performance)

Maybe my solution helps you as well....

  1. Make sure that all windows updates are made and the latest firmware is installed, also the latest Nvidia driver (397.64)
  2. Put the power settings to best performance (plugged in and in battery mode)
  3. Open the device manager and keep it open
  4. Unplug your SB2
  5. Detach the tablet and wait for ~10-15sec until the system updated the connected devices (the device manager should flicker once or twice until it stops, maybe there is a sound as well)
  6. Reattach and wait until the Nvidia card pops up in the device manager
  7. Quickly make a normal shutdown as long as the card is still visible in the device manager
  8. When the device is off, do a hard reset by pressing the volume up button and the power button for at least 20 seconds (Press and hold the volume up button before pressing and holding the power button)
  9. The UEFI interface might appear, just exit and let the system restart.

These steps seemed to work in my case...I hope they help you as well...if there are any changes during the further use of my SB2 I will inform you.

Best regards.

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Anonymous
2018-03-19T23:28:32+00:00

Thank you for your feedback. We have completed our investigation and have published a set of drivers and system updates which includes a fix for this issue. This is now available in Windows Update.

We recommend that you install the latest updates to keep your Surface performing its best. You can get updates now by checking Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update.

  • Update 8/1/2018: New drivers are available for Surface Book 2 15” PixelSense™ Display with NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060
  • Update 11/28/201 8: New drivers are available for Surface Book 2 13.5” PixelSense™ Display with NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050

You can find the details of the latest update on our Surface Book 2 update history page.

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-08-05T07:04:38+00:00

    Am I completely mistaken or does Windows 10 1803 build 17134 provide means to set which GPU should be used? 

    In "settings display graphics" there is a feature that allows me to choose which GPU to use, for UWP (Windows Store Apps) as well as for any Classic Apps (any .exe file) .

    The Nvidia App is officially not available anymore but can still be activated from the Nvidia folder. This App lets you set the GPU for any . exe file and also provides GPU choice on the right click menu of an exe file or on it's shortcut. 

    It does not let you set the GPU for UWP Apps.

    Earlier Windows 10 builds did not let you set the GPU other than with the Nvidia Apps. UWP Apps were supposed to automatically switch to the best suited GPU, possibly driven by a switch coded into the respective Apps, i. e. "If dGPU available then use dGPU else use standard GPU." 

    The new feature works perfectly on my SB 2 15" since the new build, the old builds were somewhat haphazard, possibly due to missing switches in UWP apps.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-08-04T22:36:52+00:00

    ....so I changed back that Windows is controlling which GPU is used and since then everything works fine...

    Isn't this one of the fundamental issues here?

    Windows doesn't actually do _anything_ to control "which GPU is used".  Windows itself just ignores the fact that you paid extra for a high-power dGPU and uses the woefully under-powered GPU that comes on your "primary" video card.

    Sadly, the best implementation for handling GPUs comes on macOS which makes switching GPUs a first-class experience and an OS-level concern.  Not only does it make switching GPUs trivial for even non-technical people, it provides "automatic graphics switching" to/from dGPU based on your preferences: https://youtube.com/watch?v=KtpZF22H9no&feature=youtu.be&t=44

    Just like with Apple and their MacBook, Microsoft controls both the hardware _and_ the OS with their Surface Book.  Given that, there's simply no excuse for falling behind on a semi-basic feature that Apple made available to its users over 5 years ago.  :/

    If Windows did provide both auto-switching and user-friendly GPU switching, we likely wouldn't see the issue we are seeing.  While no one really knows what the problem is exactly, it's clear that there is not a well-defined standard for handling GPU concerns on Windows, and we are stuck trying to figure out who to blame or simply how to hold them accountable.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-08-04T22:03:35+00:00

    Hi,

    I left it unplugged until the system completely rebooted because the graphics card should get enough power through the battery.

    I never had the problem again that the Nvidia GPU disappears....but I had the detaching problem as well which was completely my fault.

    Because I use the Nvidia drivers and update through the Geforce Experience software I also have the Nvidia Control Panel and once I changed the settings that the system is forced to use the gtx 1060 which causes the problem that when I run a program which uses the gtx1060, the detach process has the failure, so I changed back that Windows is controlling which GPU is used and since then everything works fine...

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