So my machine recently had a push from Microsoft which would “significantly improve battery life”. It was part of a December Firmware update for my Surface Pro 2.
The experience was like most updates. It silently downloaded and installed in the background, with just a small note saying it would restart shortly (a couple of days) to conclude the installation.
I don’t remember if those two days arrived or if i selected “install and restart” but either way the firmware update began to install… That was the last time my Surface Pro 2 worked properly.
After that installation I have had nothing but trouble. First of all the device wouldn’t charge at all.
I plugged it in in the evening, expecting it to be full charged in the morning. When I looked at it the following day I was surprised to see it wasn’t charged. I assumed i had failed to plug it in properly.
This was not the case, as even when properly plugged in the device wouldn’t charge. I had left it for one hour and seen no increase in charge in the battery icon. I then looked closer to see it say “plugged in, not charging”.
Most online posts blame the charger when this happens, but the charger hadn’t moved. It was impossible that it was to blame.
I decided it might be the patch, as a few posts suggested there might be a problem.
I did a refresh which should have brought the machine back to a good state. After completing a refresh it STILL wouldn’t charge.
Next I did a full restore. I let it trundle on and returned to it that day after work. I pull the power cable out and the device just powers down. The battery was at 0% and wasn’t charging at all.
I then found a post which suggested uninstalling the battery driver. I did that, plus did the same with the power adaptor. Did a shutdown and restarted. The battery and power reinstalled hut still no charging.
I then tried the “power button and + volume button together” trick. This solved the charging issue but then caused the battery calibration to go completely mad.
It was discharging, showing me a lower percentage and then magically returning to 100%.
Someone had been told by Microsoft support to do a full discharge and recharge. As this would reset the calibration. Yesterday I did that. Full discharge, full recharge and for a short time that worked.
Today the battery is at about two thirds power (i know this via the powercfg -energy cmd prompt) but the battery charge icon is at 100%. The battery believe it has a wear of 36% (based on using battery care software) and to top it all the device will no longer go into ant sort of sleep mode.
If i leave the device it will stay constantly on. None of the sleep timers or pressing of power to put it to sleep will work. I know this as i attempted to put it to sleep last night. This morning the charge was down by 30-40% (or there abouts)
This is an absolute disgrace for what is a very expensive product. I am keen to know what compensation (or replacement!) Microsoft will provide for people like me who have been effected with something that has now become a VERY expensive digital picture frame.