my pen won't enter pair mode, nothing blinks on it, and it doesn't appear on the device list.

Question

Split from this thread.

Well, it looks like in my case my pen is dead.

I tried changing batteries, and no luck.

Lastly I tried re-pairing my pen, following steps I found here:

https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/touch-mouse-and-search/troubleshoot-surface-pen?os=windows-10.

But my pen won't enter pair mode, nothing blinks on it, and it doesn't appear on the device list.

I hold the eraser button down for seven seconds, and nothing.

So, I guess it died. Sigh... Not good for being 3 days old.

Answer 1

Split from this thread.

this just happened to me this morning... ��

Answer 2

My pen was dead right out of the box. I opened a ticket with Surface support and they sent me a new one. I should get the replacement sometime next week.

Answer 3

Split from this thread.

Hi Saro33,

Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

Can you confirm “System Firmware Update – 10/23/2015” or “System Hardware Update – 10/23/2015” is successfully installed when you view your update history?

You might also find Troubleshoot Surface Pen (Surface Pro 4 version)  helpful.

Kind regards,

Clare

Mine has the a "System Hardware Update - 10/23/2015" installed, I don't see a Firmware one.

I tried that link, no luck. My pen doesn't seem to recognize or power up anymore.

Answer 4

OK, I'm about ready to return everything...

Unless I'm not reading the instructions right. I'm supposed to hold the eraser button down for 5-10 seconds until a tiny light flashes on them pen right?

Well, I went out to Best Buy and bought a brand new Surface Pen, and it seems dead too!

I opened it up, made sure that sticker on the inside is out, put it back in, held the eraser down for 5-10 seconds and NOTHING. Same as the original SB pen.

I even tried this new battery in mt SP3 pen and it works... So ****?!

So am I to assume I got a second dud?

If there is another way to sync the pen, please let me know!

Answer 5

So, here's an update. I took the new pen I bought back to Best Buy and exchanged it for another one.

It turns out that the 2nd new one works fine. So, not only did my pen that came with the Surface Book die, the replacement I bought new was also dead. I'm now questioning the quality of these new N-Trig pens... 

I've bought 5 Surface Pro 3's in the past year and never had a pen issue. In the first 4 days, I've already run into 2 for the Surface Book... The dead pens basically don't register on the screen, and they don't emit a bluetooth signal. The battery was fine in both units, since I was able to put the batteries into my Surface Pro 3 pens, which worked fine on the Surface Book.

I also noticed the new pen registers and tracks better than the original one that came with my Surface Book. So, it must have been dying since day one.