Type Cover not Working but ...

Your mention of the fault being intermittent on your Surface is different from most people here, who have found that the typecover fails and stays failed.

It's an interesting thought that perhaps the power management and keyboard fail are linked. Somehow the battery level gets to a certain point and the typecover connection area in firmware goes to sleep.

And I can see the frustration of connecting a USB keyboard and having the typecover deciding to work again.

These things are weird.

I don't think the contacts are the issue.

It's intermittently disconnecting related to something with power management and battery.

If you get the small .exe called mousejiggle, it keeps the computer from falling asleep.

That also seems to help a bit too.

In response to your question 'How do I upgrade the firmware?'

I don't know how much you know of the internal operation of the surface, so this might be a bit basic but it might also help others who happen to read it.

There are two levels of software in the computer. The top level is the Windows operating system and all its drivers etc. These are easily managed by the user and can be changed at will. When you install a new program on the computer it goes here.

The lower level is the firmware that is the coding applied to the UEFI - the United Extensible Firmware Interface. In earlier computers this was called the BIOS - Basic Input Output System. This is the chip that turns on first when you boot the Surface and tells the rest of the system what memory address to put everything, such as hard drive, video board etc.

The UEFI coding is not accessible to the user. Updates come out from MS as they see fit and are automatically applied. We can update top level software drivers etc, but the UEFI is locked away from the user.

If you go into Settings/Update and Security/View Update History/Driver Updates you will see that some of them are for Surface System and others are for Surface Firmware.

The problems we are all having with the keyboard and battery management are due to errors in how one or more firmware updates have been applied. Although we can chase up new keyboard drivers at the top level, it is the UEFI that tells the computer what memory address those drivers have to use. And the UEFI is not giving out that info. Imagine being in a five piece band but the sound guy only has a four channel mixer and the guitarist has nowhere to plug in.

What many of us have asked in the past is, 'How can I roll back firmware updates?' And the answer is, we can't. Software updates can be rolled back, although MS is making that less easy. Firmware updates are there to stay until MS applies the next one.

And a final point. I don't know why your keyboard sometimes works and sometimes doesn't as you have described but some people have found a fix by cleaning the contacts. This is not a symptom of the firmware fault. Being detachable is not the problem, that's just a design thing so the Surface can be used as a tablet. Many of us have survived the frustration by buying a Bluetooth keyboard. The one I bought is a Brydge and is similar size to the Surface itself and it makes the Surface into a normal laptop configuration. Since buying this I've seen bluetooth keyboards the same design as the original Typecover and they are a much cheaper.

thank you for explanations on firmwire / bios history. really helpful. I always called that thing the bios. good to know there is new name... but I will forget it and call it the "thing that replaced bios"

Has anyone noticed that the keyboard disconnects less when you have a second USB keyboard plugged in to USB?  Does that point to a driver issue?

I bought a 13 dollar wired only insignia keyboard at best buy.

Seems to be disconnecting the surface keyboard less often now.  Of course it doesn't happen as much when I buy a backup keyboard.

how do I upgrade the firmware?

One observation I wanted to share.

After battery drains and after hard restarts and after trying flipping the keyboard upside down, reattaching in the upside down position and back, and then hard restarting some more...

connect to the internet and also wait a while.

I notice when I open up edge sometimes with my Bluetooth surface arc mouse in frustration that that keyboard isn't working to check my email... then move the computer a little and bam, the type keyboard is working again, I usually pick up on that it is working again when I brush over the track pad and think "the mouse is moving!"

I will likely never buy a detachable again from Microsoft - only hardwired keyboards.

I also want them to come out with a Surface USB wired and wireless combo keyboard for the Surface Studio line with more F1-F12 buttons. Maybe a mechanical keyboard for the geeks who want that.

Call it like Surface Studio Gamer Mechanical Keyboard?

This whole fiasco has showed me not to trust Bluetooth, not to trust detachables - only trust hardwired laptops that don't detach and usb wired keyboards for work and work travel.

detachables are not for work. They can't be relied on.