June 2021 Firmware Update for Surface Laptop 3 gave rise to USB C & cannot-shut-down problems and many more

Anonymous
2021-07-02T07:52:18+00:00

After applied the June 2021 Firmware Update for Surface Laptop 3, this issue occurs:

  1. At the first time plugging a External SSD into USB-C port, it works fine. But when you click Safely Remove Hardware in notification area (but keep the device plugged), the Device Manager shows that the Storage Controller of the device got something wrong.
  2. After pulling off the external SSD, any other device doesn't work USB C port; sometimes the USB A port fails too. Device Manager reports a Unknown USB Device (Port Reset Failed), with an error code 43. Windows Hello Camera might fail because of this.
  3. Now, the computer cannot manage to shut down or reboot. After the "Shutting Down/Restarting" mono-colour screen disappears and the monitor turns off, the fans keep rotating and the back-light of keyboard is still on. One can only force the laptop to shut down by long pressing the power button.
  4. After re-start the computer, problems can reoccur following 1. to 3.

By the way, this error seems making the computer fail to enter hibernation from sleep, which induces heating of the computer in backpack and extreme battery drain.

On Reddit there are lots of report on similar issues:

Surface Laptop 3 not shutting down properly and battery draining a lot during sleep

Surface Laptop 3 battery drain after shut down

SL3 is overheating in my backpack, even when the device is turned off. What is going on?

Also, on Microsoft Forum:

Surface laptop 3 hot and won't turn on

Battery drain during sleep

Surface Laptop 3 does not completely shutdown.

I've tried reset my computer, which does no help. I do hope Microsoft can handle this issue as soon as possible.

Update on 24 July 2021:

After installing the 23 July 2021 updates](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/surface-laptop-3-update-history-7471eff4-8de2-1616-5b7b-241e28c2236b "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/surface-laptop-3-update-history-7471eff4-8de2-1616-5b7b-241e28c2236b"), one of which (Surface - System - 14.502.139.0) claims to "improves USBC performance", the same issue can be reproduced, as pointed out by @[JDPurcell2 and @Hanxxxx

Update on 3 Sept 2021:

I'm elated to share that after the 31 Aug 2021 Updates, which "addresses the system hang and shutdown issue", my USB-C port works well.

I've tested it 3 times, and then the Laptop can restart normally, after which the USB-C port still works normally.

Surface | Surface Laptop | USB-C

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Anonymous
2021-07-19T17:06:12+00:00

Updated 9/1/2021 -

Thank you for reporting the issue. A fix is available through Windows Update.  For more information about updates for your Surface available through Windows Update see the Surface Laptop 3 update history page.

Marking as "Answered" for now to raise visibility.

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-07-31T15:57:27+00:00

    Thank you for posting those detailed settings! I’ll try them

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-07-31T12:30:23+00:00

    Ok, so I tried to reproduce it again, but I seriously cannot: for me usb-c works consistently after unplugging and plugging the usb-c devices. I tried a DELL monitor and a DELL docking station with several devices daisychained, everything works.

    BUT, I suspect my conditions are not the same of yours. Following the multiple suggestions found around the web, this is how my surface laptop 3 ended up being setup:

    • Latest drivers: SurfaceLaptop3_Win10_18362_21.071.8480.0.msi
    • fast startup disabled
    • hibernation used both when closing the lid and when manually finishing to work (via start menu)
    • standby never used

    I did a clean reboot of the laptop as well and usb-c still works. I did try a clean shutdown as well, and the system powers off correctly (keyboard backlight does not stay on, and pressing the power button once does correctly start the pc).

    If this still happens for you, it could be that we are hit by a severe bug that gets triggered only on certain minor hw revisions/software combinations/usb-c peripherals characteristics.

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-07-30T16:45:00+00:00

    MSFT (also wintel) can even screw up the firmware on their own products and take more than one month for fixing, not to say SL3 has buzz noise/USB-A socket issue/screen crack/flash issues, which are the design/manufacturing flaws MSFT would never admit

    Considering the Surface series is not cheap, next time I would try App** laptops lol.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-07-30T16:31:08+00:00

    Ah snap, that explains why I didn't hit the same USB-c issue. It's an improvement at least :(

    Microsoft, how about going back to the sane firmware and call it even? :)

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