Reinstalling UEFI firmware on Surface Pro

[IrfanL]

Hi,

 

My experience with Surface Pro is getting worse and worse...

 

Yesterday my Surface Pro (5th Gen) received and installed a UEFI firmware update (Surface – Firmware – 234.2706.768.0) after 2 reboot and firmware flash process, the touch screen and pen stopped working.

 

I checked device manager and did not find any malfunctioning driver. Did uninstallation of all relevant firmware  and HID touch screen drivers and reinstalled them using Windows Update, to no result.

 

I want to attempt reinstalling / re-flashing of UEFI firmware, to me this caused the problem, but I could not figure out a way to force it. I was able to download current and older versions of all Firmware but applying/installing them to Firmware devices in Device Manager does not seem to trigger the on-boot flashing process.

 

Wondering if someone here knows of away to force reinstall of the firmware on Surface Pro.

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

 

It looks like it is a somewhat convoluted process, but an article at

 

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/askpfeplat/2014/10/19/how-to-update-the-surface-pro-3-firmware-offline-using-a-usb-drive/

 

outlines the process for creating USB firmware installation media for the third-generation Surface Pro.  Perhaps the process is similar for yours?

 

Failing that, I would suggest making an appointment with the nearest Microsoft Store to have it repaired.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

 

[IrfanL]

Just wanted to drop an update on this case.

 

I tried pushing the old and current firmware using WinPE bootable flash drive method (as explained in the article above) but was not successful. This is not to say the method does not work, it works but there are built-in checks in place with boot loader and UEFI update module which actually stops old firmware to be pushed on better version firmware. You can manually change the version (make it newer version then what is already installed) in the INF file for the old firmware driver and install it. At next reboot Windows boot loader will start pushing the firmware update capsule to UEFI. But when UEFI updater will start the update process it will fails with Last Attempt Status 0xC0000058, which is related to version mismatch. Unless someone can open and change the version in update capsule files (the .bin or .cat files in the driver pack) it is not possible. (Ref: Windows UEFI firmware update platform )

 

Anyhow, I took it back to repair shop which actually did my battery replacement, thinking I will have another US$ 200+ bill. But the guy wanted to experiment and we opened it up again. Inspected and cleaned the connectors and ribbon cables and re-seated the display and it started to work fine. 🤷‍♂️

[Brandon H Supervisor]

glad you got it working; the ribbon must have partially come loose or maybe there was some dust on the connectors or something then. props to that repair person for checking on something like that

[rainyman1984]

On 8/22/2019 at 5:37 AM, IrfanL said:

Just wanted to drop an update on this case.

 

I tried pushing the old and current firmware using WinPE bootable flash drive method (as explained in the article above) but was not successful. This is not to say the method does not work, it works but there are built-in checks in place with boot loader and UEFI update module which actually stops old firmware to be pushed on better version firmware. You can manually change the version (make it newer version then what is already installed) in the INF file for the old firmware driver and install it. At next reboot Windows boot loader will start pushing the firmware update capsule to UEFI. But when UEFI updater will start the update process it will fails with Last Attempt Status 0xC0000058, which is related to version mismatch. Unless someone can open and change the version in update capsule files (the .bin or .cat files in the driver pack) it is not possible. (Ref: Windows UEFI firmware update platform )

 

Anyhow, I took it back to repair shop which actually did my battery replacement, thinking I will have another US$ 200+ bill. But the guy wanted to experiment and we opened it up again. Inspected and cleaned the connectors and ribbon cables and re-seated the display and it started to work fine. 🤷‍♂️

Hi, I am having almost same problem with my surface book, touch screen stopped working since an update in Jan 2018 and now I see a yellow exclamation mark on Touch Firmware. I saw your post and managed to detach the screen.  Do you remember which cables/ribbon cables he cleaned? And btw did he tear it down completely or he did it without opening up all the screws? Really appreciate your help!

[kamojamo]

Hi there,

I'm new and inexperienced but I've had exactly the same issue and I find it difficult to believe that this can spontaneously die overnight on a $3000+ device.

If this helps, the standard Microsoft support team on the phone don't seem to be aware of a fix for this issue. Despite explaining the processes I've been through they painfully (and in broken english) had me re-install drivers, uninstall drivers, etc.

Apparently some people have had the screen still working in UEFI mode (when booting with volume + and power button pushed together) but I'm guessing you don't have that issue either?

They decided the only option is to pay $700+ to replace the device - essentially paying them to send me some old stock that's probably still way above what it costs them to make and is 2/3 models obsolete.

Were there any solutions on this end?