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FIXED: Touch/Type Cover Issue

MamaN

New Member
Hey folks,

I ordered my SP 128 from MS store online, and my white (if that matters) touch cover from Amazon, received both a few days after launch. Had no issues with either until yesterday, when the SP stopped recognizing the touch cover. I have *usually* left the cover on the tablet at night, with the tablet plugged into an outlet. Two nights ago, the adapter was disconnected from the unit at some point during the night (I blame the dog), and the next day the keyboard's key recognition was very erratic. That night, I neglected to plug the AC adapter to the tablet, and left the cover on and covering the unit. OOPS. The next morning, on resuming from sleep, the unit stopped recognizing the cover at all.

Tried all the recommended steps, removed/reattached the cover 20x, cleaned the connectors on the cover with rubbing alcohol, yes all six connector "dots" are present on both the cover and the SP, shut down/rebooted in various configurations (cover on, cover off, cover on before login, cover off before login... blah, blah, blah). I turned off auto-updates, uninstalled the last updates, let them all reinstall, etc. I spent an hour on the phone with MS Tech Support last night, who recommended I refresh the system--NOT optimal!! Since we'd spent an hour on the issue, he had to reschedule a follow-up for tonight. I decided to try to fix the issue myself.

Today, I uninstalled the HID keyboard device in Device Manager, shut down (not plugged into AC adapter), waited for 20 minutes, and rebooted without the keyboard attached (kickstand down), logged in, did another hard shut down, waited 20 minutes, rebooted without the keyboard attached (kickstand closed), logged in, THEN opened the kickstand and attached the cover. IT WORKED.

I'm convinced that the issue is related to something in the firmware not releasing/refreshing drivers after sleep--the system doesn't seem to have a way to check in with the hardware. I'm convinced that this is NOT a hardware issue, just a firmware/driver issue. I'm not willing to allow the unit's battery to completely discharge, as this will damage the already terrible battery, which isn't easily replaced.

HTH!
My type cover keyboard quits working frequently. I have to go to Settings, Change PC Settings, and then under Useful Keys, turn off the Filter Keys. That fixes the problem for me.
 
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