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I have a Surface Pro 11 where the keyboard will not respond when turning it off at night and turning it back on the next morning. The only way I have found to get it to respond is to unmount and mount keyboard. It will not occur when putting it in sleep mode overnight. It will not occur when turning the tablet off and back on when not sitting overnight. I have checked for updates. I have tried cleaning the contacts.
I have contacted support through the Surface app doing a chat session. I was transferred to 4 different departments. More time was spent transferring me then resolving the concern. Yes, the concern was never resolved. The last transfer was to the business department because although I purchased both the Surface Pro and keyboard online through retail channels support says the keyboard is a business keyboard. I haven't heard back from business support yet. I don't know if they will tell me that since the Surface Pro is retail so they will not be able to help me. Another remedy was to reinstall the recovery software but there would be no guarantee the problem would be resolved. I declined since I spent hours installing all my apps.
I also contacted CoPilot but it had the usual remedies. I do not want to mount and unmount the keyboard every day to use it. The Surface Pro and keyboard is still within the return period.
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.
I have the non Bluetooth surface pro keyboard bought brand new from Microsoft. I've used Surface pros for many years, and am pretty sure this is a driver issue. To save our poor planet from needlessly shipping keyboards all over the place, I'll just deal with removing and replacing keyboard to give you guys time to fix this issue. If it still doesn't work in 60 days then I'll return.
Thank you
I have the same problem. I've had the Pro with the standard keyboard for about 3 weeks. I habitually put it in Hibernate mode using the power button (a historical habit) and then fold the keyboard over. Often, but not always, I have the unresponsive keyboard problem described above on restart.
Another curiosity: Device Manager shows five "Surface HID Keyboard" entries under the Keyboards node. Is this normal?
The "Location" in the General property page varies. In order:
In the Events tab they were configured on different dates: 1, 2, and 5 long before the device was shipped to me, and 3 & 4 when I first connected it.
It seems several people have reported exactly this issue in recent weeks. We can't all have bad keyboards?
Thanks for the verification. I never tried hibernating my Surface Pro. I either turn it off or put it in sleep mode. This concern will not happen for me in sleep mode. I used to have 5 Keyboards listed in the Device Manager but now I only have 4. I don't have one of the Locations. All the Drivers are dated pre first Surface Pro setup.
Presently, I have given up trying to resolve this. I am still deciding what I will do. I have a week left to return the keyboard and/or Surface Pro. The last communication I had with business support regarding the keyboard was to return the keyboard although they said communication with engineering said it was a driver issue.
I found the easiest way to get around this is to just delay folding the keyboard over the display for a few minutes and it will start with the keyboard enabled (desktop mode). I relayed this over 3 times to support but they still keep on insisting I should unmount and mount keyboard. to make the keyboard function. Like, how long will the keyboard last if we unmount and mount it daily? I find it is far easier to remember to delay folding the keyboard over the display.
Just a note, as both retail and business support communicated. If the keyboard or Surface Pro is determined defective you will get a refurbished keyboard or Surface Pro in return. The only way to get a new item is to return either/both before the 60 day return period and repurchase.
Yes to all of this. However I just restarted after an overnight hibernate; I think the keyboard was inactive but I only tried swiping the trackpad and didn't see the pointer but can't be sure (I'll re-run the experiment later). I tapped the Windows icon and from that point the keyboard was working.
Having to wait a few minutes before folding the cover over is unacceptable in practice. Having to tap the screen first is barely acceptable, and I'm really not sure that happened.
My keyboard arrived well before the Surface itself (it was an online order), so my 60-day window is closing soon.
FWIW, driver version 10.0.26100.1, dated 6/21/2006 (!!!). Update doesn't find a newer one.
Has anyone on this thread replaced their keyboard and had the problem definitively go away? I just hibernated overnight and it woke up with a responsive keyboard, although a few days ago it didn't.
I usually just close the lid to initiate sleep now anyway. I got in the habit of hibernating (using the power button) because my Surface 7 would stay hot when sleeping and plugged into the power, even overnight.
