pen and touch screen continuously dies in Photoshop, have to restart many times

Question

the problem seems to only happen when I'm working (drawing) fullscreen in photoshop. it started last year when I was using PS 2020, and persisted in PS 2021 that I'm currently using, the pen would suddenly disconnect itself, not responding to any action, and photoshop freezes, I won't be able to use the touch screen to manipulate but can do with a mouse. meantime in other applications, the touch works fine, but the pen completely dies, replacing the battery and re-pairing do not work. I need to restart surface every time to get the pen and touch back. it can happen several times in just one hour. I tried trouble-shooting surface and every method posted online related to surface pen disconnection and touch screen issues, such as reinstalling drivers, and nothing works except restarting. I bought a new pen, but the same problem is still here. I didn't find anyone asking the same question so i assume it's new and different than previous instances, hence I'm posting here. this problem really damages my workflow and speed and everything else because i need to restart everything. please help.

Answer 1

Hello ArRorschach,

Thanks for posting your concern here. We're sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you.

In this case, since the issue persists even using another pen, then we know this issue might have something to do with your device or the Photoshop app itself. Please give these methods a try and observe your device:

• Uninstall and reinstall the Photoshop app. Open Control Panel, go to Program and Features, then locate the Photoshop app and click Uninstall. Force a shut down and restart your Surface and reinstall the app.
• Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit and check for Windows Update. Make sure to check View Optional features and select all necessary updates for your device. Restart the Surface after installing updates.
• Update drivers and firmware Check what is the current OS Build of your Windows version by typing winveron the search barnear the Windows logo. Go to Download driver and firmware for Surface**,**choose (your Surface model) then click Download.
  Choose the .msi file that matches or nearest to your current OS Build and click Next.
  After downloading, run and install the .msi then Restart.
• Run System File Checker in Windows 10.

In any event, the issue persists after performing the above mentioned, we would highly recommend that you reset the Surface using a USB Recovery Image. This option reimages the entire device, including the partition on the hard drive. It is the most complete form of reset.  You must have at least 16GB/32GB of USB Flash drive and it must be formatted to FAT32 prior to downloading the Recovery Image.

Note: This removes all the files and apps on your device. You will need to back up your data and reinstall the desktop apps or run updates after the completion.

To download the Recovery Image:

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1. Visit the page at http://www.surface.com/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/downloadablerecoveryimage
2. Sign in with your Microsoft Account (this is the email address we asked you for at the start of the call)
3. From the list of Surface devices available, select the device that you need a recovery image for
   Please note that while you will only be presented with devices that are currently registered on your account, you will also be presented with the option to get an image for a different type of device. If you try to use this option, you will be prompted to enter the serial number for that device
4. Download the recovery image using the button on the page
5. When the download bar pops up at the bottom of your screen, save the file in a location you will be able to find it.

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Format USB Drive:

1. Insert your USB drive into the USB port of your PC.
2. From the desktop, open File Explorer
3. Tap and hold or right-click on the USB drive and choose Format
4. Select FAT32 as the file system and enter a Volume label to name the USB drive, such as RECOVERY, and then tap or click Start
5. Tap or click OK to erase the contents of the USB drive
6. Tap or click OK when the format is complete

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Create a recovery drive:

1. On your Surface or PC, open recovery image that you downloaded by double-clicking it
2. At the top of the window tap on Extract and then Extract all. Select the USB drive you formatted earlier for the location and click Extract.

Perform USB recovery image:

1. Turn the Surface off by pressing the power button
2. Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port
3. Press and hold the volume-down (-) rocker
4. Press and release the power button
5. When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down (-) rocker
6. When prompted, choose your language options and keyboard layout
7. Select Troubleshoot
8. Select Recover from a drive. If prompted for a recovery key, select Skip this drive at the bottom of the screen.
9. If prompted, select Repartition the drives.

Hope this helps. Keep us updated by simply replying on this thread.

StevenK

Answer 2

Hi ArRorschach,

Thank you for reaching Microsoft Community.

When the Surface Pen disconnects and stopped working, does that include the pen cap functionality also?

Please run these steps first on your Surface Pro 6 then check if the issue on Photoshop and pen persist:

1: Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit and check Windows Update

2: Update drivers and firmware

                               Check what is the current OS Build of your Windows version by going to Settings > System > About.

                               Go to Download driver and firmware for Surface, choose Surface Pro 6 then click Download on the next page.

                               Choose the .msi file that matches your current OS Build and click Next.

                               After downloading, run and install the .msi then Restart.

3: Run System File Checker Tool in Windows 10

If in case the issue persist, kindly try these steps below:

1. While the Surface Pen is paired on your Surface, open Device Manager.
2. Click View on top and check Show hidden devices
3. Expand Human Interface Devices > HID-compliant pen > Uninstall device

                                                                Surface pen settings > Uninstall device

Surface pen integration > Uninstall device

HID-Compliant touch screen > Uninstall device (if you have 2 of these drivers, Uninstall both)

                                                                Intel (R) Precise Touch Device> Uninstall device

                            Note: If prompted with a checkbox stating "Delete the driver software for this device", leave it uncheck then hit Uninstall.

4. Expand Firmware > Surface touch > Uninstall device

                            Note: If prompted with a checkbox stating "Delete the driver software for this device", leave it uncheck then hit Uninstall.

5. Expand System devices > Surface pen pairing > Uninstall device

Surface Touch Servicing ML > Uninstall device

                           Note: If prompted with a checkbox stating "Delete the driver software for this device", leave it uncheck then hit Uninstall.

6. Restart
7. After Restart, check in Settings > Devices, if the Surface Pen is still paired on the device. If it is still paired, Removed then Add the Surface Pen again.
8. Test the Surface Pen

Hope this helps. Please keep us posted.

Answer 3

hello Marrion,

I've said that these methods that had been posted by other people previously do not work because I have tried them many times before coming here to ask. just in case I missed anything, I have done these again following your steps very specifically several times this week. The problem is still here. i believe there is something wrong with the touch screen driver, not just on my surface, but the official driver package itself. because I have updated and reinstalled them many times.

I've also been updating photoshop many times during these months whenever it asks me update. and I have not find anyone using ps on other touch-screen devices (like a touch-screen notebook or other tablets) encountering same problem.

what I found new in this week is when it happens, it is the multi-point touch function disappears. i can still click with one finger, but no response when I put on more than one finger. this is happening in all the applications (eg i cant zoom in/out webpages in chrome) but single-point touch still works. the pen just completely dies. sometimes when i go to device management to uninstall, the driver "surface pen pairing" disappears. but sometimes it would still be there.

now every time it happens, i no longer care for uninstalling those drivers, i just restart. it's the same. whatever is wrong can be corrected by restarting surface, not the photoshop application. even if i reinstall adobe as a whole when it occurs, i still need to restart surface to get the pen back to working

Answer 4

Hello Steven,

I have tried reset Surface as you suggested. I had lots of other works going on here and they all had to be suspended because of this, therefore it was the last choice. eventually, I did it because nothing else worked. since the reset, I've only installed minimum essential software and the latest version of Photoshop. the problem did cease for about one week. sometimes PS froze a little bit during using and the pen and touch stop working, but if I switch between different windows they would come back. the pen and touch worked fine even if I run Photoshop for a whole day. I have 16GB ram. PS along with everything else running in the background took about 60% of it, so I thought it's only a minor glitch due to heavy use (though not really heavy). however today the problem re-surfaced. the pen and multi-point touch died after I started using PS for about an hour, and the single-point touch is working, precisely like before. I restarted and it worked for about half an hour and died again. I have tried to run photoshop on another HP touch device and it works fine.

Answer 5

I always read the same responses to these pen inking problems. This isn't the solution. The issue started with the APRIL updates (whether it was the firmware updates they gave us, or the graphics drivers). Ever since then, my pen will die in the middle of presentations.

What is happening is not OUR faults, it's almost like if MS messed up their own product and is not owning up to it. Sorry if I sound frustrated, but I've been dealing with this issue for months.

The best way to fix the issue is either one of two ways:

1. Do a HARD RESET of your product by holding the power button for about 10 seconds, then start it up again. Guaranteed fix.
2. Buy a new Surface Pro 7.

I prefer the first option.