[German]Microsoft released a Firmware update to fix two issues with Surface Book 2 running Windows 10 1903. The CPU throttling to 400 MHz and the disabling Nvidia dGPU bug shall be fixed.
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Some details about the two issues
Owners of a Surface Book 2 has been facing two issues. When installing the Windows 10 May 2019 Update (Version 1903), the Surface Book 2 caused trouble with the separate GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card. This graphics card was supposed to relieve the internal graphics chip of graphics-intensive tasks. However, models with this graphics card had the problem that the graphics processor on the additional card separated at random. This had a huge impact on the graphics performance of the Surface Book 2. The thread here at reddit.com describes the issue.
Surface Book 2 BSOD and GPU disabling problems since 1903
Evere since I updated windows to 1903 and got new firmware I have been having a lot of problems that I hope you can help me solve:
1- I am getting BSODs regarding VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE and nvlddmkm.sys. I reverted the nvidia drivers this morning and I haven't got a BSOD yet but it's only been a few hours.
2- My GPU disconnects randomly. I am using the pc attached to the base and I hear the USB disconnect sound and I no longer see the 1060 gpu. At the same time I notice that my wacom tablet acts as if I just plugged it.
Between the freezes and the disconnects I am driving myself crazy. I already lost hours of work because of one BSOD (BSOD showed up as I was saving a file and corrupted it). can someone help? Is there a way to not only go back to 1809 but to also go back to the previous Surface drivers? Thanks!
I had discussed this issue within the blog post Surfaces Book 2: Issues with Windows 10 V1903 and Nvidia in June 2019 and Microsoft had confirmed this as a known issue. Microsoft also set an upgrade stopper for Windows 10 version 1903 for Surface Book 2.
The second issue: Devices like the Surface Pro 6 or the Surface Book 2 sporadically throttle the CPU down to a clock frequency of 400 MHz. I've mentioned this issues within my German blog post Surfaces durch Firmware-Update auf 400 MHz gedrosselt in mid of August 2019. The problem seems to be due to a wrongly set CPU flag called BD PROCHOT (bi-directional processor hot). This flag tells the processor to slow down due to high system temperatures.
A Microsoft spokesman had said in August 2019 that the developers were working on a solution through a firmware update. In the blog post mentioned above, I had announced a fix at the end of September 2019, and that Microsoft run internal tests with fixes. A few days ago I became aware, that affected people were informed in the Microsoft Answers forums to join the Insider program of Windows 10 in order to get the fixes in advance.
Firmware update with fixes in broad deployment
Now several media reported, that a firmware update with fixes are available. The Surface Book 2 update history enlists the following firmware updates for October 2019 for Surface Book 2 devices running Windows 10 April 2018 Update, version 1803 or greater.
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- Surface – System – 1.75.139.0: Surface Base 2 Firmware Update – Firmware 1.75.139.0 improves battery stability.
- Surface – Firmware – 182.1004.139.0: Surface System Aggregator – Firmware 182.1004.139.0 resolves an issue where the CPU will throttle down to .4GHz, and improves battery stability.
- Surface – Firmware – 389.2837.768.0: Surface UEFI – Firmware 389.2837.768.0 resolves an issue where the display adapter disappears from Device Manager.
Martin Geuß at German site Dr. Windows reported, that his Surface Book 2 still says it's not ready to upgrade to Windows 10 version 1903. But Microsoft has updated the Windows 10 V1903 status page, mentions the dGPU issue has been solved at October 11, 2019. Martin Geuß mentions also at Dr. Windows that there are Firmware updates for Surface Laptop 1 and 2 and for Surface Pro 4, 5 and 6, improving battery stability.
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