Surface Pro Type Cover Not Working Sideways

Question

I recently bought a Surface Pro a week ago and I noticed that when it's rotated to it's side (portrait mode position) with the type cover still attached, the type cover just shuts down. I like reading books and playing games with my laptop sideways while lying in bed or on my couch and I was wondering if anyone's found a way around this problem.

Answer 1

Did you buy an old original Surface Pro from 2013 (which is this topic) or a
newer SP3/4/5 or 6?

Answer 2

I can't tell. I bought it from best buy and I think it's just a Surface Pro. Here's a link for reference: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/microsoft-surface-pro-with-black-keyboard-12-3-touch-screen-intel-core-m3-4gb-memory-128gb-ssd-platinum/6347210.p?skuId=6347210&ref=212&loc=1&ref=212&loc=DWA&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIt6LcrMLq5AIVkcDACh2Qsw1sEAYYASABEgLnh_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Answer 3

It is probably a Surface Pro 2017 5th generation. If you run

msinfo32

the System SKU would help us identify for sure.

In any case, open the Action Center, last icon on the taskbar on the right and
lock rotation while in portrait mode with the typecover detached. Does this make
any difference to you?

(I'm curious as to what you would do with the typecover while in portrait mode
or are you saying when you rotate back to landscape it still is dead. If the
latter, if you detach and re-attach it, does it come back to life?)

Answer 4

When the type cover is attached, the lock rotation switch on the action center is grayed out and can't be accessed. As for an example of how I want the keyboard to be positioned, see this picture: https://i.stack.imgur.com/Oog2m.png

When I have the surface on it's side, I want it locked in landscape mode while the keyboard is still attached  and positioned like the picture. Whenever I try doing it now, the keyboard just deactivates and I want to get around that. As for why, I like playing games that require a keyboard while laying on my side once in a while.