Surface Pro 3 Type Cover Not Working, In BIOS/UEFI or Windows 10 after 1803 Update

Question

My Surface Pro 4 Keyboard with Touch is no longer being recognized by my Surface Pro 3 after updating to 1803.

I have disconnected and reconnected dozens of times.  

I have cleaned my connectors on both the Surface Pro and the Keyboard unit.

I have uninstalled the keyboard in Device Manager, as well as the mouse however the only things showing up there are HID compliant Mouse and Keyboard, nothing that says Surface or Type Cover.

I have hard reset the device several times (Volume Up and Power), also booting into UEFI/BIOS several times where the keyboard also does not work.

I registered my device with Microsoft to of course be told it is Out of Warranty.

I am in the process of downloading the Recovery Image from 2015 from a trustable 3rd party website since I cannot find any links to the recovery image on Microsoft's website.  This will I think put me back in time to before the 1803 update as far as Windows is concerned, however I am not sure if that will fix my problem since it is not being recognized in the BIOS.

Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

>I am in the process of downloading the Recovery Image from 2015 from a trustable 3rd party website since I cannot find any links to the recovery image on Microsoft's website.  This will I think put me back in time to before the 1803 update as far as Windows is concerned, however I am not sure if that will fix my problem since it is not being recognized in the BIOS.

there are NO trusted 3rd party websites. where are you downloading from?

Go to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/surfacerecoveryimage   (if you enter

the serial number it should offer the correct download)  and download a recovery

image for your Surface. You will need a 16GB USB stick formatted FAT32.

Unzip/extract the recovery zip to the formatted USB stick and then-

To reset your Surface from a USB recovery drive:

Step 1:    Make sure your Surface is turned off and plugged in (hold down the power

button for 30 seconds).

Step 2:     Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port on your Surface.

Step 3:    Press and hold the volume-down button while you press and release the

power button on your Surface.

Step 4:     When the Surface logo appears, release the volume button.

Step 5:    When prompted, select the language and keyboard layout you want.

Step 6:     Select Troubleshoot > Reset your PC.

If prompted for a recovery key, select Skip this drive at the bottom of

the screen.

Step 7:     Select the target operating system you wish to reset. This

refers to the current operating system installed on your Surface.

Step 8:    Select Yes, repartition the drives, and on the next page, select Next.

Step 9:     Choose Just remove my files.

Step 10:    Select Reset.

Surface restarts and the Surface logo displays while the reset process

continues (this can take a while).

If it does not work in the UEFI, it is very unlikely imaging will fix this.

Answer 2

I tried to recover with Recovery Image from 2015. But nothing happens. But my Surface Pro 3 is under warranty. So I contacted to MS Support. But they coudn't resolve this. So now MS support asked me to replace this with the stocked one.

Answer 3

Hi James

I have had the exact same problem with my SP3 over the last week.  Updated using the latest firmware and because of that the type cover is no longer working.

Have tested different type covers from other SP3 and SP2017 on the non working SP3 with the same result yet they work flawlessly on their own machines.  The type cover from the faulty SP3 works flawlessly on the other two Surfaces.

Have over the last few (sleepless) nights:

Reinstalled with different versions of Win10 (1709, 1803)

Disabled and reenabled drivers in device manager

Tried the 2 button reset (Volume up and power button)

checked for updates

Downloaded and ran (twice) the diagnostic tool

Created recovery image from MS website which installs 1511 for it to then update itself.

I was on the telephone yesterday with a MS Surface support technician who ran me back through the bottom four of the above methods to no avail.

I was then told my only recourse to get a working machine was to buy a new one for around $500 (why dollars? I live in the UK!) which works out to around 600 UK pounds!  I have to pay for MS breaking my computer!  Now that's a business plan!

This problem was caused by the latest firmware Bugs that MS pushed out to everyone and they should be fixing it.  They have already acknowledged that they bungled the SP4 update (see Surface Pro 4 - broken after 26th July update) and will be fixing it.  

Will MS be issuing a fix for their botched SP3 firmware update too?  The problem is not with Windows.  It is with the Firmware/EUFI.  How do I know this?  because the keyboard does not work when booting into the EUFI setup whereas on a working SP3 it does.  

MS needs to fix this as they broke it.  I do not want to be told its "tough luck" and "You'll have to go buy a new one" by the MS support technician!

Answer 4

Exactly the same problem for me. Keyboard borked after update. Had done nothing with surface, it had sat on a shelf unused, so def nothing I did. Now doesn't broken. Thanks MS.

Answer 5

I am facing the same problem. Whatever you did, I did it exactly for many times. But still could not get off it's rid. If you solved you issue any way please convey me dear friend on my mail id ******@gmail.com .

thnxx