Surface Book 2 stuck on boot loop with "Preparing Automatic Repair", can't boot from USB

Anonymous
2022-01-03T10:31:39+00:00

Yesterday my SB2 with Windows 10 Pro entered blue screen when I was using it as per normal. The blue screen stuck at 5% for a bit when collecting more data, then restarted on its own.

Since then, every time I power it on, it shows the Windows logo for ~3 seconds, then "Preparing Automatic Repair" under the Windows logo for ~5 seconds, then restarts and repeat. Later on, the message turned into "Preparing BitLocker recovery" and still restarts without letting me enter anything (more on that later).

I've been trying to create a USB recovery drive and boot with it. Problem is, I can't get it to actually boot my SB2.

Here's what I've tried. The only backup computer I have now is a Mac (which has no Windows installed).

  • Downloaded the official SB2 recovery image with the latest version of Windows 10 Pro I could choose (1909). Then burned it to a USB drive - tried both copying files directly, and using a 3rd party app on Mac (UNetBootIn). (No Rufus on Mac.)
    • The USB drive could boot the backup Mac, where I got to the menu with reinstall and repair.
    • However, when booting with this USB on SB2, it shows the Windows logo for about 15-20 seconds without spinning circles, then restarts.
  • Alternatively, downloaded the Windows 10 ISO and burned it to another USB drive using UNetBootIn.
    • I didn't know about the issue with 4GB files on FAT32 when doing this, so even if it booted, I wouldn't have been able to install anyway.
    • But despite the 4GB issue, the USB drive could still boot the Mac. It had the same boot loop on SB2 with 15-20 seconds of Windows logo, same as above.
  • Ensured both USB drives are FAT32 with GUID partition map (same as GPT I believe).
  • Tried holding Volume Down to force USB boot.
  • Entered UEFI successfully, then made USB the top booting method in the list.
  • Tried launching USB boot directly from UEFI by swiping left.
  • Turned off Secure Boot and TPM.
    • After I turned off Secure Boot, the "Preparing BitLocker recovery" message started showing instead of "Preparing Automatic Repair" when I boot without USB. However, it doesn't let me enter anything, just reboots after a few seconds of Windows logo, same as before. This new message remains even if I turn on Secure Boot again.
    • I have the BitLocker key on my Microsoft account in case I need it.
  • Did a "diskpart clean" equivalent in Mac using this.
  • Renamed the USB drive "BOOTME". (As crazy as it sounds, it worked for someone else. Not me.)

At this point I've checked almost every single post on Google and the Reddit sub, and I'm out of ideas. Right now I'm trying to download the recovery image for version 1809 (I bought my SB2 in September 2019 when 1909 had not been released yet), and if that doesn't work, I have no idea what to do.

I will probably try to find a 3rd party repair service later today or tomorrow (my SB2 is out of warranty), but if anyone has any thoughts or ideas to try, please. I'm open to basically anything at this point as long as it gets me to boot using USB, or fix the boot loop, or both.

Surface | Surface Book | Power and battery

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-01-03T11:48:57+00:00

    Can you ask a friend with a Windows computer to format and prepare the USB recovery stick? Or worst case, a retail store like Best Buy would be able to do this (for a fee). Since the drive is now in an unknown state because of various things you've tried, suggest you first use the Surface Data Eraser; documentation is at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/microsoft-surface-data-eraser   the download itself is at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=46703 - again, use a Windows computer to prepare the USB stick. Then use the recovery drive.

    Sorry, there is no support for using a Mac to prepare the USB Recovery or Data Eraser sticks.

    Here's what I've tried. The only backup computer I have now is a Mac (which has no Windows installed).

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-01-03T21:32:13+00:00

    I tried creating a recovery drive again by installing a Windows 10 VM on the backup Mac, then followed this official guide scrutinously: Created a Recovery Drive using the Windows 10 built-in tool on the VM, and copied all files from the Surface recovery image. Still can't boot the SB2. When I first tried it, it was stuck on the surface logo for 2 minutes instead of 15-20 seconds, but eventually still reboots. Now it's stuck with 15-20 seconds again. Tried both USB ports as well.I also verified the USB drive can still boot the Mac.I noticed the Windows tool converted the partition scheme of the USB drive back to MBR instead of GUID, which to mu understanding can't boot UEFI. I'm now trying to reformat the drive to GUID and copy all files over. If that still doesn't work, I'll try to find an actual Windows machine to do this, but I'm not sure if that will succeed either.

    I'll give the data eraser a try too once I find an actual Windows machine. Unfortunately, there are some important data on my SB2 that I have not backed up yet. Do you know if there's any bootable tool besides the recovery drive that at least has a chance of transporting the data to an external device?

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-01-08T23:45:34+00:00

    I'm experiencing what appears to be the same problem on my SB2 running Windows 11. Everything was running fine, then I rebooted my PC for an unrelated reason and it hung on startup. I also had the "Preparing Automatic Repair" message after a while, but still hung indefinitely. A couple of force reboots didnt help.

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