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Surface Pro 4 infrared camera always on

Anonymous
2016-03-20T06:01:38+00:00

Hi there,

I have a Surface Pro 4, it is two months old. For the past few days, the infrared camera has been on constantly, never turning off. In Task Manager, the process that is causing it is called Sensor Data Service; if I click End Task, the red light goes off for a short moment before the service causes the process to start again. Any ideas/solutions?

Surface | Surface Pro | Display and screen

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.

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Anonymous
2016-03-20T10:36:37+00:00

try a two button reset:

Step 1: Swipe in from the right and tap or click Settings, tap or click Power, and then tap or click Shut down to shut down Surface. If you can’t shut down Surface normally, press and hold the power button on your Surface for 30 seconds.

Step 2: After Surface turns off, press and hold volume-up button and the power button on your Surface at the same time for at least 15 seconds, and then release both.                                                                             

        The screen may flash the Surface logo, but continue holding the buttons down for at least 15 seconds.

Step 3: After you release the buttons, wait 10 seconds.

Step 4: Press and release the power button again to turn your Surface back on.

if that does not resolve the problem, contact support https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/contact-us

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Anonymous
2016-05-27T19:31:53+00:00

Since the two button reset did not resolve the issue we recommend you reach out to Supportfor assistance.

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4 additional answers

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-06-27T18:13:50+00:00

    I already did... they remote logged into my PC for over an hour installing all sorts of updated and integrity checks and came up with nothing... they were unable to fix it. Which is WHY I reached out to the internet to see if anyone has a solution.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-05-24T12:14:25+00:00

    I have the same issue which started only recently. Because it started recently it makes me think its related to one of the latest driver or firmware updates for the cameras. The little RED IR light is on all the time after waking the PC from sleep using Windows Hello. A temporary fix is to disable Windows Hello facial recognition in Settings under "sign in". However, this is not a fix as disabling one of the premier features of the Surface Pro 4 is NOT a solution.

    The OP is correct that in task manager there are two services that are running constantly causing the IR issue, one is called Sensor Data Service and the other is called Windows Biometric Service (or similar).

    The 2 button reset method does NOT work. I have tried it now several times in addition to rolling back drivers.

    Please help someone if you can. Thanks!

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-05-06T04:35:09+00:00

    Hi,

    My SP4's infrared LED (for front camera) is always on. It couples with the heat of SP4, especially hot around camera area. I also see the battery draining very quickly. 

    I followed the above steps to reset it but all things remain unchanged. Please help.

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