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I used the surface book one evening and put it to sleep with the power adapter connected. The next morning I was unable to turn it back on again. The detach button on the keyboard is constantly lit red and I can’t detach the tablet from the keyboard. I tried the one button and two button methods described by Microsoft to reset the device without success. The device appears dead if it was not for the red detach light. Is there another way to hard reset the device or to make it reboot?
had the same issue I undocket it the normal way tried all options what worked was power+volume + and hold it really really long turns on, boots to uefi, select exit and reboot fixed
There are buttons on either side of the surface (4 holes up from the keyboard) that if you press in with a paper clip and it will release the keyboard. Then just charge the tablet and you should be good to go. I spent hours on Microsoft’s customer service hotline and they wanted to replace the tablet. They definitely did a poor job of documenting this feature! Make sure you check for firmware updates and dirver updates, these may prevent this happening in the future….
I had the same problem. I used a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fVGQPQ3… to see how to detach using a paper clip in the hole 6 holes up on the side of the clipboard. Took some tries to get it to detach one side (each side has its own release). In my case, the power on the clipboard wasn’t all the way drained. So while it was detached on one side, I pushed the power button to turn it on. Once on, I slid it back onto the keyboard and it recognized it as attached and started charging and detaching/attaching normally again. I haven’t had a problem for the last few days after doing this, and it saved me the hassle of getting it repaired.
I have the same exact issue. I tried the manual detach using the two holes in the Clipboard and I managed to detach the Clipboard and then charge it. Now, it is charged; however, this is not sufficient to restore the problem. I connect the Keyboard again, the PC does not recognise the Keyboard, and the Red Light comes back on to be turned constantly. Tried to clean the connectors, still didn’t work. Tried the BIOS, restart, still nothing solved. Tried to recovery, and restore the PC, same, did not work. I disconnected manually the Keyboard and connected it several times, and still doesn’t work. … The USB in the keyboard does not charge another device… Is the 8 days waiting the solution ? i.e. completely drain the second battery before connecting them and charge again… ?
i had the same issue and i get crazy. only thing how i got fix it: lift the display on the one side and push it hard back. after i tried this on both sites a couple of times, than it recognized the display
The only way to hard reset the device is if its on, i will link you to a website on how to hard reset it. http://www.hardreset.info/devices/micros…
I had this problem. I took my Surface Book back to Microsoft Store and they had to replace my Surface Book.
I had the exact same symptoms: tablet thinks its disconnected from keyboard while being stuck attached and the red light staying on all the time. No ‘usual’ rebooting, bios fixes helped. In my case it got stuck when I attached the tablet to base while in sleep. While it got stuck, it did not actually lock in properly, so after some panicky hours I noticed that clipboard would actually lift a bit under serious force. So after trying every single troubleshooting guide/post I could find, I just took a deep breath, closed my eyes and ripped it off! I noticed there was a smudge on contacts and when I cleaned it off, it started working again. But again, in my case it wasn’t properly locked in so just removing it by force worked.
I had the same issue (clipboard wouldn’t recognize keyboard), and there was a constant red light on the eject button. Also, Battery one (keyboard base), was not detected. Though this is not documented by Microsoft, this is a total and complete hardware failure of the dock base (keyboard). Since they are paired by serial number (and various other identifiers), you can’t just swap it out. You have to get the whole thing replaced. I had the Intel Core i7 1TBB SSD 16 GB RAM with Nvidia Graphics (total beast of a machine) for less than 2 weeks. I used it for work only, and treated it with the utmostcare. Microsoft says they have to swap out the whole machine due to a failure in the dock. There are way too many bugs/glitches in the Surface Book. Extremely disappointed and would like a new one NOW, but since they are backordered, I have to wait weeks, I couldn’t conscionably recommend anyone to buy this machine until these hardware failures and software glitches are fixed. My two cents. Update (12/15/2016) This is a complete hardware failure located in the base. Believe it or not, you can take the tablet/clipboard off with a little force st the right angle. It if it’s red constantly, that won’t help. It is totally done my friend.
I have the same issue, I have tried all the above but red light still stays on , let it drain for 12 days also it’s doing my nut in!
Before i accidently found this solution i might think i would need change new notebook.. So i am not sure if this method can work for others just sharing my experience. I just did press power botton and at the same time press vloume buttom hold for a seconds or even longer.. (Power+volume bottom together) Cheers bom
I had the same issue and managed to solve it by applying pressure at the back of the tablet towards the keyboard with the screen at ~45 degrees
lift the screen part up a little press down hard.***** hold the power button done for a little until it powers off.*****
Mine was stuck with the eject button on red after I accidentally forced the tablet on turned it on then shut the screen down. Tried to yank it out. Wouldnt Budged. Unplugged usb for wireless mouse kept tryin to hard reset with charger in.
Just life screen a little push down hold power button for a little bit and it will power down. Then power on or hard reset and follow prompts. Wahbam.
Tried most all of the above and nothing worked. Took it to MS for repair they wanted $600 for a new base. Decided wasn’t going to throw good money away again after being burned once…tablet was only two years old. Stashed the tablet and forgot about it. A couple months later decided to recharge the batteries and see what would happen. To my surprise everything worked! I clicked the display back on the base and it’s been running fine ever since. I did read and tried one of the solutions that stated to let the batteries drain completely for a couple weeks and try it but that didn’t work for me…guess I didn’t let the batteries drain completely. Hope this helps someone…good luck!
I have the same problem as well, tablet blackout with detach button red light on, and the tablet is not able to charge even I detached it from the keyboard. Right now I am using a tape with a memo to stick down the power and + volume button as I don’t know how long it takes to get to the UEFI menu come out. I’ll just wait till I see it or wait another week to let the battery flat out. To detach the tablet, 6th ventilation hole from both side and insert in adjacent angle for about 1 inch then you’ll hit the click to detach. Tricky part is to hold one side detach while fixing the other side, which makes it very easy to attach again…
