Surface Book 2 GTX1060 recognized in Device Manager but not in Task Manager

Question

Mine is a Surface Book 2 15-inch model with GTX1060.

Before a certain date, it all worked well until several weeks early. I found my applications use 1060 by default not using 1060. Then I checked Task Manager, there's no GPU 1 (GTX 1060) at all. However, the most strange thing is that the GTX1060 is still recognized by Device Manager and shown on the list.

I tried restarting the computer, reinstall the driver, and wait for an official patch. But the problem still occurs.

It seems like the 1060 is detached automatically after I'm not using it for some minutes. When my computer is idle and entered the black screen mode (might be the sleep mode), before that the 1060 is recognized by Task Manager. But when I wake it up, I can hear a sound of hardware detach, then dismiss the lock screen to enter the desktop, I found my 1060 gone.

Though this problem can be solved by detaching the tablet and reattach it, then there is a hardware detected sound and 1060 is back. But it is still annoying.

Answer 1

Hi William_King,

If the suggestion before doesn't work try that solution step by step....helped already some people here in the community

1. Make sure that all windows updates are made and the latest firmware is installed, also the latest Nvidia driver (397.64)(updates from the GPU can only be made when it is recognised.....if the GPU doesn't show in the device manager just detach and attach the tablet to reactivate the GPU and update the driver)
2. Put the power settings to best performance (plugged in and in battery mode)
3. Open the device manager and keep it open
4. Unplug your SB2
5. Detach the tablet and wait for ~10-15sec until the system updated the connected devices (the device manager should flicker once or twice until it stops, maybe there is a sound as well)
6. Reattach and wait until the Nvidia card pops up in the device manager
7. Quickly make a normal shutdown as long as the card is still visible in the device manager
8. When the device is off, do a hard reset by pressing the volume up button and the power button for at least 20 seconds*(Press and hold the volume up button before pressing and holding the power button)*
9. The UEFI interface might appear, just exit and let the system restart.

Best regards.

Answer 2

Hi William,

The problem is most likely due to the software you are running on your Surface Book 2. Does the GPU appear in Task Manager when you restart the device without detaching then reattaching the tablet? How about when you perform a two-button reset? Please go ahead and try if you haven't done so. Here's how to perform a two-button reset:

1. Shut down your Surface normally.
2. Press and hold the volume-up button and the power button simultaneously for at least 15 seconds. It will enter the UEFI. Wait until the screen goes off before releasing both buttons.
3. Switch on your Surface.

After following the suggestions above, if GPU 1 (GTX 1060) still does not appear unless you detach then reaatach the tablet part of your Surface, I recommend that you download and install the recommended Surface Book 2 drivers and firmware. You can do that by going here. Perform another two-button reset afterwards so the new drivers will be loaded properly upon booting the device.

You can get back to me through this post so we can check this further.

Regards.

Answer 3

Thank you both. The hard reset seems solved the issue.

The GPU didn't appear in Task Manager when restarting the device without detaching then reattaching before.

After the hard reset, the GPU is always shown in Task Manager and all worked well for the last 20+ hours. Entering and leaving sleep or hibernate mode doesn't detach the GPU as well.