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
    2018-12-27T11:43:42+00:00

    "does this error you talk of stop you from using the GPU?"

    "What GPU? There is only the UHD 620." - Windows 10

    Yes, it does, because the OS fails at detecting the GPU in the base it is clearly connected to, meaning it'll fall back to integrated one.

    NVIDIA has this thing called GeForce Experience. If you manage to install it while the GPU is still being detected by the OS before it's lost, you can update the GPU driver, which should fix it.

    Of course, the prerequisite is that the OS manages not to lose the GPU half-way through.

    First thing's first: Download the installers for GeForce Experience and the NVIDIA control panel (nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/141171/en-us) and then move downwards...

    "1. Make sure that all windows updates are made and the latest firmware is installed, also the latest Nvidia driver (397.64)

    1. Put the power settings to best performance (plugged in and in battery mode)
    2. Open the device manager and keep it open
    3. Unplug your SB2
    4. 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)
    5. Reattach and wait until the Nvidia card pops up in the device manager
    6. Quickly make a normal shutdown as long as the card is still visible in the device manager
    7. 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)
    8. The UEFI interface might appear, just exit and let the system restart." - Philip_Aaron

    Once that's done, install the NVIDIA control panel and run it.

    Do this:

    1: Under "3D settings" go to "manage 3D settings".

    2: Under "Prefered graphics processor" choose the "high-preformance NVIDIA" one.

    3: In the settings directly beneath it, find "Power management mode" and set it to "prefer max preformance".

    And if the power mode is also set to "max peformance", the GPU will be used by some pre-installed apps once they run, keeping the GPU in use and prevent the OS from losing it while you install GeForce Experience.

    In my case, WinStore.App and Calculator use the GPU when going for max performance.

    No idea what's so graphic-demanding about a simple calculator, though...

    Of course, you can skip the control panel and install GeForce Experience immediately, but there's always the chance of the OS losing the GPU half-way through...

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-01-02T02:36:47+00:00

    Hi,

    Thank you for your reply.

    I understand what your telling me, although I cant install Nvidia GeForce Experience because it keeps telling me that no Nvidia GPU is detected. Also, even as I carried on with the steps you gave me, the GPU does not pop up in device manager at all when I detach the screen. 

    Once again thanks for trying to help!

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-01-02T17:03:33+00:00

    I'm sorry that it didn't work. Although...

    Just to make sure there is no misunderstanding: are you sure you were using the base with the GTX inside, and not the base from the i5 model?

    You can easily see the difference: the i5's battery base has no openings (aside from the ports), while the i7 battery/GTX-combo base has a large gap pointed to the hinge.

    This is on the SB2, never saw a SB 1, so no idea how that'd look...

    Just making sure you weren't trying to get a non-existant GPU to work...

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